St Maarten, and the big surprise!

Our final port stop had arrived - then 2 days at sea to home.  This was going to be a big day in port - with 6 ships total (and 5 at 8am)   We were scheduled to meet the taxi driver at 1030am, figuring that would give us enough time to have the crowds die down a bit - and boy, were we wrong!  The whole taxi process was a complete cluster......there were way too many people for such a small space, and it wasn't set up particularly clearly on where to get a taxi to a specific location - lots of shouting, people waving their hands and whistles from directing traffic.  We weren't able to find our scheduled driver, so we finally just hopped in a cab with 2 open seats to downtown for $6.   Made our way over to Shoppers Haven and look who we found........!

Such a wonderful surprise - Pam and Michael had flown to St Maarten for a few days (it was her birthday after all) and were meeting us there for the day.  We had some cake and got serious about our shopping expedition.  After picking out a few pieces and wanting to take a quick lunch break, we headed over to the Blue Bitch Bar to grab some sandwiches and a few drinks.  It was a beautiful day, we had a nice view and the company was outstanding!

After lunch, we headed back to make our final decisions and get everything squared away payment wise - I did come home with a pretty new bracelet, so ask to see it!  Pam and Michael had a rental car, so they drove us back to the port where we said our goodbyes and promised to get together again soon.  We got back onboard with about 20 minutes to spare - we were the first ship to leave at 5pm - which was interesting since 2 of the ships would be back in Florida with us on Sunday......

Dinner was very good - we ate in Tuscan Grille for the 2nd time this trip - it was very good and I'd recommend it. The Martini bar was fun as always and then off to bed!