Not Every Port Is a Postcard: St. Maarten and

By the time we reached the Caribbean, our floating hotel had developed a new onboard attraction.

A shipwide coughing competition 😷

Somewhere during the crossing, a respiratory virus had begun making its way through the passenger population. By the time we arrived in St. Maarten, coughing echoed through elevators, dining rooms, hallways, and theaters.

The soundtrack of our vacation had become throat clearing and cough drops.

Our visit to Philipsburg wasn’t focused on beaches or sightseeing. We had a mission: Find medicine!

We spent the morning walking the streets near the port searching for pharmacies and grocery stores. Every stop became an opportunity to find something that might help Justin’s increasingly persistent cough.

As we wandered through town, St. Maarten never quite clicked for us.

The Dutch side felt heavily commercialized and lacked the charm we were hoping to find. Nothing was particularly wrong with it. It simply didn’t leave much of an impression.

Oddly enough, the experience made us appreciate home. Travel has a funny way of doing that. Sometimes a destination inspires you to move there. Sometimes it reminds you how much you already enjoy where you live.

As we walked through Philipsburg, I found myself thinking about Ohio.

Not because I missed winter. Absolutely not. But because travel often provides perspective, and on that particular day I felt grateful for what we already had waiting for us back home.

The French side remains on our list for a future visit. Friends and fellow cruisers consistently speak highly of it, and I suspect our opinion of the island might be different if we explored beyond the Dutch side.

A few days later we arrived in Falmouth, Jamaica… but never left the ship.

Normally we’re eager to get off and explore somewhere new, but this visit felt different.

Only months earlier, Jamaica had been hit by a powerful hurricane. From the ship, we could see damaged roofs covered with tarps, uprooted trees, and signs of ongoing recovery.

Combined with the illness making its way through the ship, neither of us felt motivated to spend the day ashore.

Judging by the unusually crowded lunch venues onboard, many other passengers reached the same conclusion.

Instead, we enjoyed one of those rare cruise days where the ship becomes the destination.

No rushing.
No excursions.
No transportation logistics.

Just a quiet day at sea while docked in port. Not every stop becomes a highlight. Some simply become part of the story.Read more