Day 4 Philipsburg, St Maarten. Arrived in Philipsburg early in the morning and as our tour wasn’t until 1:30 pm we almost had the ship to ourselves. It was nice to wander around without the crowds. This ship holds around 6,800 passengers and I reckon we’re pretty full. When everyone has an early tour it gets very quiet. Enjoyed a quiet breakfast and lunch.

Off the ship for our tour. It’s hot today, the sun is really strong. Found our spot to pick up the double decker bus and wait half an hour in the heat. We were told to stand two by two along the toilet block in the shade. Reminded me of primary school, I thought she might tell us to hold hands.

Decided to sit inside the bus as the top is open and with our delicate skin we didn’t want to be burnt to crisp with a 4 hour tour.

We’ve got 4 stops on this tour, a market on the French side, the beach where the planes come in low to the airport, a Rum Cocktail outlet and a cheese shop.

All the places were quite good BUT because of the terrible traffic we only got 10-20 mins in each place. The rest of the time was crawling along the streets in the heat and no aircon.

I would not recommend this tour if you come this way.

Bought a new hat to keep the sun off my face,ears and neck.

We returned to the ship just before 5:30 pm. We had tea in the Main Dining and went to bed and crashed.

Tomorrow Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas in the US Virgin Islands