Is Grand Case just restaurants?

[Pugdog007]

or are there shops there too? Any recommendations on shopping or restaurants in St. Maarten?

 

[MarkRG]

Certainly there are shops on St. Maarten. In fact we bought a ring there that is excepional. I honestly don't remember the name of the shop. But what you need to do is pay attention to the Shopping in Paradise talk, wether in person or when they re-run it on the inroom tv(and they do that in an endless loop until you reach port). They list the shops that have been personally been checked out and you have guarantees that if there is anything faulty with the merchandise bought you can get exchanges and refunds.

 

[AprilN]

Grand Case is almost completely restaurants - definitely not a shopping mecca on St. Maarten/Martin. We didn't actually find the shops there, but we didn't look very hard either. There are quite a few shops in Marigot, and obviously a huge shopping area in Phillipsburg.

If you're considering dining in Grand Case on your cruise, I would highly recommend it! We had a fabulous lunch at Le Tastevin, a prix fixe 4-course lunch (3-course and ala carte also available) with a different wine accompanying each course, at a lovely table overlooking a small beach and the gorgeous Caribbean. The manager let us keep a copy of the menu, so if you have any other questions about the food or the prices, let me know!

Keep in mind, however, that most of the restaurants in Grand Case are not open for lunch, at least on Tuesdays when the Magic visits St. Martin. Our first choice was actually Le Cottage, but alas, they were not open for lunch.

April

 

[MarkRG]

Hm, that was a long time ago. (whips out the Passporter)
Oh yes, Grand Case, sorry didn't know much about the French side as it was closed for some French holiday when we were in port. We kind of skipped it, as they just about rollup the sidewalks. Stopped in Margot as that's where the tour boats loaded, but the whole town was closed. Stuck around Phillipsburg for the shopping. And note you have a lower customs limit in St. Maarten, but I think there are some better deals to be found there too.