Sint Maarten: Philipsburg
Philipsburg is the capital of the Dutch part of the island – Sint Maarten. And it’s all about cruise ships and shopping and restaurants and more of the above. The town itself is just a couple of starters along a narrow stretch of the bay between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond. The town was founded in 1763 by John Philips, a Scottish captain of the Dutch navy. The town really rapidly developed into a major port and a trading center (just like it is today a major cruise ship terminal, perhaps the largest in the Caribbean). Probably millions of cruise ship passengers descend here to shop on extremely useless and overpriced trinkets instead of exploring the island. But that’s the very essence of the cruise ship industry.
