Solstice Cruise

Before I blog about St Maarten, just an added comment to Jamie’s information on San Juan.  We had a dinner at a restaurant called Marmalade that deserves mention.  About 14 of our group met there and enjoyed their Tapa’s special menu…about 15 courses!  The food ranged from sashima ahi tuna, to red snapper cerviche, scallops, a bean soup to die for, several pasta dishes and a myriad of deserts.  I know that I have missed some, but if you are ever in San Juan, be sure to try stop at Marmalde Restaurant…you will not be disappointed.  I should also note that the wine list is extensive and that the service was exceptional.

St Maarten – both a French and a Dutch Island, there is much to do for the cruise tourist, whether it be beach time, shopping, diving or exploring.  Having been to the Island a few times and the last time being this January past, we decided to visit Maho Beach, also known as Sunset Beach or Airport Beach.  The novelty of this beach is its location.  It’s a relatively small beach but has a good bar and some food to accommodate the many tourists that come to see the planes.

This beach is located right at the beginning of the runway of the St Maarten Airport.  There’s the beach, a small road and then the start of the runway.  The planes are incredibly low when they fly over the beach and that’s the novel appeal of the beach.  The bar even has a surfboard with a sign that announces all the arrivals of the planes.  I swear you could almost reach up and touch the wheels of the planes as they land on this relatively short runway.  So it’s fun and interesting to lay on the beach or play in the water, have a beer or rum punch and even have lunch there.

When the planes take off, the jet blast can be significant and we saw many hats being blown into the water and the blast can create quite a sandstorm behind the jet engines.

For the more daring, there is Orient beach on the other side of the island that does feature full nudity.  It connects with another beach for the more tamer of us that like to keep our clothes on but beware; the clothing optional people sometimes wander over to the other side.

Philipsburg has a nice downtown area with lots of shopping and many restaurants.  The water taxi from the cruise terminal is only $6 return and not only do you get a nice boat ride out of it but you can avoid the traffic of the streets which can get very jammed up.

The Tuscan Grille was where we ate tonight…a specialty restaurant that charges $35 each as a cover but it was well worth the extra money…great food and very attentive waiters featuring the fare from…you guessed it…Tuscany.

Overall the food on board has been very good and the only thing that I have noticed is that the daily buffet for breakfast and lunch is basically the same every day.  There is lots of choice though and if you wanted there are other dining options.

After dinner we took in one the shows…this time a pianist accompanied by the Celebrity Orchestra.  I thought he was excellent with a full range of music from show tunes to the Beatles and even some current songs.  There always seems something to do if you want.

Our general feeling for the ship is very positive to this point and would say Celebrity is an excellent choice in the mid to upper price range.

Ed Buchholz