Today was our first port stop of the trip at the beautiful island of St. Maarten (or Saint Martin).  The last time we were on St. Maarten, we took a bus tour of the Dutch and French side.  This time, we decided on something much simpler.  We were planning on a self planned beach day.  We started the day off with a quick breakfast at Cabanas.

One of our favorite podcasts, the DCLDude, had discussed a recent seven night eastern Caribbean cruise his family had taken.  When his family stopped in St. Maarten, they had visited the Holland House, which is a beachfront hotel in St. Maarten.  We decided to look into it ourselves.  Here is the information we found on their Facebook page:

--- INFO ON BEACH CHAIRS & DAY PASSES ---

Dear Friends, We are getting many request for information about day packages for 
the beach from those of you who are visiting us on a cruise. The following 
information might be helpful and we look forward to welcome you!

The package we offer is $25 and includes;


- 2 beach chairs and 1 umbrella from the time you arrive
- 4 beverages consisting of beers, water and soda.
- Free WiFi
- Shower on the beach that you can use.

- We serve lunch on the beach and have a full cocktail menu available for your.
- Bathrooms are inside of the hotel and free to use.
- First come, first serve. We do not take reservations.
In case you want to make reservations for lunch,

please email oceanlounge@hollandhousehotel.com

Kind regards! Holland House Team

The Fantasy docks at the double dock on the southern portion of the harbor, so we had to get over to the Holland House.  We decided to take the water taxi.

As you enter the port area, there is a mini shopping mall with most of the stores you would expect in a port area (Diamonds International, Majesty Jewelry, etc).  There are also a few places to drink if you would like.

There is a sign as well if you want to get your picture taken next to it.

There is a booth in the shopping area for the water taxi.  If you look in the above photo, it is the light blue booth with the sign pointing to it.  You can buy one way or round trip tickets.  We selected round trip tickets and we received wrist bands.  The wrist bands would allow us to to board the water taxi at either end.  The person in the booth then directed us to the water taxi dock.  The path takes you through the stores and down a pathway next to the water.  You can go onto the dock from there.

Here is a map I made with the help of google maps.  The Holland House is also marked on the map.

As you enter the dock, there is another booth to purchase tickets for the water taxi.  If you already have a wrist band, you can go on board the water taxi.  The water taxi is a huge catamaran with lots of seating. 

Once on board, it is a short ten or so minute ride over to the main dock, which is located in the middle of the beach strip.  During the trip, the crew of the boat was selling water, sodas, and beers for $1 each. 

 Here is a look back at the Fantasy.

As you approach the water taxi dock, you can see the the Holland House with the white umbrellas.

Here is the water taxi after it dropped us off.

After you land at the dock, you take an immediate right to head to the Holland House.  There are a number of hotels that pretty much have the same deal as the Holland House.  Two Chairs, Umbrella, and a number of drinks for $20-$25.  Most of them have WiFi available as well. 

We checked in at an outside bar were we got the WiFi password (which never worked at the beach but was fine near the bar).  We decided to wait a bit on our drinks, but didn’t have any problem getting them later delivered in a bucket filled with ice. 

Right next to our chairs was an area where you could rent jet skis.  In hindsight, we probably should have sat at the other end chair section (away from the Fantasy).  The problem wasn’t the jet skis themselves, it was the guys smoking who were renting out the jet skis. 

The beach was great though.  The sand was nice and the water was clear.  The island views were fantastic and we had great weather.  We could go inside the Holland House (which is a hotel) to use the restrooms.  You can also order food or drinks directly to the beach (the wait staff walks around).

After sitting at the beach for a few hours, Nancy headed back to the ship because she wasn’t feeling well.  The rest of us decided to stroll around the town for just a bit, then we would head back.  There are a lot of bars and restaurants trying to get tourist business.

We spent another hour or so walking around and looking in shops, then boarded the water taxi for our return trip to the Fantasy.  Since we hadn’t eaten in the town, the kids and I headed to the pool deck for a quick service lunch.  The ship was pretty crowded at this point, which meant it took quite a while to get some food.  Then I promptly dropped my tray.  So, I spent another ten minutes getting more food and finally met up with the kids (who were smart and got their own food).  We ate and discussed what we should do.  We finally settled on riding the Aqua Duck.

We returned to the room to shower off after our beach day and found this waiting for us.  It was our first platinum welcome gift, a box of chocolates.  We received a note in our stateroom when we first checked in offering us a fruit tray, sparkling wine, or chocolate and we selected the chocolate.  It was delivered to Nancy while the rest of us were still at the beach.

There were five chocolates inside the box.  We ate a few and they were delicious!

We rested until it was time to leave St. Maarten.  We got to see the St. Maarten Coast Guard ship as it escorted the Fantasy out of the harbor.

We were also treated to a wonderful sunset!

Tonight was the Pirates in the Caribbean party, but we decided to take a pass on it.  I don’t actually remember what we did instead of the party, probably watched movies in the room.  Tonight’s dinner was in Animator’s Palate, but was the Pirates in the Caribbean Menu.  The normal screens that show Crush were instead showing various Pirate themed scenes.

Nancy still wasn’t quite feeling up to snuff, so I headed back to the room with her.  Here was our towel animal for the night.        

As we were getting ready for bed, my youngest daughter came back a bit early from the Edge.  She said she was going to watch “Solo” in the Buena Vista Theater.  It sounded like fun, so I headed off with her to watch the movie.  There was a light crowd there considering that it started around 11:15 pm or so.

Once the movie ended, we headed back to the room to get some sleep.  Tomorrow we would be stopping at St. Thomas!

Boarding | Exploring | Sea Day 1 | Sea Day 2 | St. Maarten | St. Thomas | Sea Day 3 | Castaway Cay | Disembarkation

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