What can I say!! LOVED IT!! (The shopping anyway). We had an afternoon excursion so the morning was free to shop. We got off the ship and was met me eager taxi drivers. It cost us $3 per person each way to hitch a ride to town to shop. We drove to downtown, but there is a shopping mall within walking distance of the ship. Much of the same shops as downtown, but not as many sidewalk vendors. The sidewalk vendors are what I really liked though. A wide variety of t-shirts, island wear, and best of all, designer purses. A word to the wise…if you see something you like, BUY IT. I didn’t buy a purse I really liked thinking I would find the same things on St. Maarten. Didn’t happen. People, don’t waste your time shopping on St. Maarten. Buy it on St. Thomas. After leaving the island, I joked about asking the captain to stop back by St. Thomas and let me get the purse. Our afternoon excursion was the St. John Beach Tour. Highly recommend it! We went to Trunk Bay and it was absolutely beautiful. We were able to snorkel and no additional charge and it was amazing. I tried to snorkel in Hawaii and hated it. But the waters here were so calm it was wonderful. I only wished I had spent the whole time snorkeling.