Weekly Snapshot: Cruise Ports

Dr. A. C. Wathey Cruise & Cargo Facility – Point Blanche, St. Maarten

Cruises are a popular way to travel to different cities in one single trip.  Today you’re in Aruba, tomorrow in Curacao, and the next day in St. Thomas, and so on.  Not only do you enjoy your time while at each destination, but you also enjoy your time traveling to each of them while aboard these cruises – famous for their All Inclusive Holidays and joyous environment.  But, an often-overlooked aspect of cruise ships is its ports of call – especially the ports themselves.

It’s interesting to see how the character of a small Caribbean island cruise port –like St. Maarten’s port– changes when these mega vessels dock on its sides.  From an urban point of view, when these ships dock, these ports become an extension of the city itself; an artificial street lined with ephemeral floating buildings that bring life and activity to their surrounding.

These artificial urban streets are filled with avid visitors looking to discover a new place.  Street shops settle for the day to sell souvenirs and traditional treats – a welcome and a taste of what lies ahead.  This is the interstitial funnel between the ephemeral lifestyle aboard and the local way of life.   Travelers get off, walk the waterfront promenades, and then disperse to explore the place they’ve just been welcomed to.

Ports are more than just the infrastructure to dock cruises; they are portals to new experiences.

Then by late afternoon, visitors return into their floating vessels, the floating walls disappear, shops close, and the city draws its limits back to land.  The ports are now empty.  That is until the next cruise docks and brings fresh visitors to welcome again.