ST. Maarten, that bad??

[ThreeCircles]

Originally posted by ruvidu
Our tour guide on our trip over to Orient Beach said that everyone has taken the money they got for hurricane damage and bought jewelry.

I seriously doubt that your "tour" guide could possibly know what "everyone" did with money received from hurricaine damage.

In fact, I would probably guess that a majority of individuals on the island have no form of insurance at all. This little "social mistake" is primarily a US phenomenon.

 

[ruvidu]

When you go on an Eastern Cruise and visit St. Maarten be sure and correct the inhabitants if they say somthing you do not agree with. I was just passing on what we were told.
And who mentioned the word insurance. It was not me. I assumed that the local government had tried to help them out after the hurricanes.
Have a great day,
Russ

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi Russ.

Our tour guide on our trip over to Orient Beach said that everyone has taken the money they got for hurricane damage and bought jewelry.

By the way, Orient Beach is not just topless. It is clothing optional. We saw lots of folks with no clothes at all.

If it were me, as the expression goes, I'd forget the jewelry and buy a pocketwatch big enough to hide Uranus (and My Anus)...

 

[ruvidu]

It would have to be one big watch to hide some of the things we saw. They had real pretty tans though.
Russ

 

[rae519]

Ohhhh, were they reading that famous book by Melville?

Rae

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Ohhhh, were they reading that famous book by Melville?

No, too "heavy" for a vacation, Rae. They were reading the unauthorized sequel by M.Y. Dick...

 

[justcruisin]

Not to change the subject .... but ...

How does St. Maarten compare to Jamaica?

The best tip we heard about Jamaica was to "stay on the ship", ... a tip we didn't take, but most definitely will on our next western excursion. It wasn't the poverty that bothered us, (I think it's important for the kids to learn life in the rest of the world isn't like upstate NY) but the pushy and rude people litterally following you trying to get you to buy something! DH gave someone $20 just to leave him and DS12 alone (and this was at Dunns River!)

 

[Buckaroo's Dad]

Hi justcruisin.

DH gave someone $20 just to leave him and DS12 alone

The same thing happened to me here on Long Island. Not $20 but more like $200,000 - it's called a divorce settlement! And I got custody...

 

[rae519]

ROLF!

YOU deserved custody, BD! And Buckaroo is glad of it!

Rae

 

[KatrinaB]

Thanks everyone for posting. Lots of good info. I'm still trying to decide what to do when we get to St. Maarten, and this helps.
--Katrina

 

[tinkfan]

We had a great time in St Maarten in July 2001. We did the early Golden Eagle Catamaran excursion which was a blast. We went back to the ship, changed and grabbed a snack. The kids stayed on board and the adults went shopping. We made a quick stop in one of the small casinos and I actually won $250. We had a great time taking samples at the guavaberry shop.
Not sure how long it still stays in port, but after dinner we got off the ship to get a view of it all lit up at night and that was cool.

 

[midnitemist]

Hi, we did the Orient beach and loved it. Yes the prices are a little higher for shopping than St Thomas. My boyfriend was telling friends last night about our cruise 2 yrs ago and discussed St Martin more than St Thomas.

 

[disneyliz]

I didn't care for the island to much. we went on the glass bottom boat tour and then into some town to shop. I was very disappointed on the excursion. The boat was dirty and I almost got sick when I had to take my son to use the boat's bathroom. I was very surprised this was sponsored by disney. If you like straw market shopping you will like that part. The place was very poor. my husb. and son went to the shopping and said that was nice but when they say they won't take you back past 4 because of crime. that disturbs me having a small child.
Another passenger went to the butterfly farm by taxi and after they got there, their daughter was scared of them so they tried to leave but there was no taxi's to be found. the owner had to drive them over to the beach to get a taxi because he said the taxi's won't come out there.

 

[andybear]

St. Maarten is the reason we go on the eastern trip. It is NOT like America, but it IS like most of the "unspoiled" caribbean. Our favorite islands are the BVI's, and St. Maarten is close to that laid-back attitude. We take the 12 metre challenge in the morning (sailboat racing), then either go over to Marigot or shop in Philipsburg. The merchants will haggle all day, and consider it almost rude if you just ask a price and pay. The Guavaberry shop (#10 Front Street) is not to be missed, and on tuesday nights (what a coincidence) the Greenhouse, which is right at the water taxi dock, has 2/1 Carib beer - my favorites! We were just sailing in the BVI's for 2 weeks in June, and are on the 8/9 Magic....the kids (12,15) are more excited to get to St. Maarten than they are to be on the Disney boat! They see it as a vehicle to take them back to the caribbean. Relax, look, and listen - don't try to evaluate the island by US comparisons, but rather enjoy how different it is.

Steve

 

[rae519]

Originally posted by tinkfan

Not sure how long it still stays in port, but after dinner we got off the ship to get a view of it all lit up at night and that was cool.

That was our favorite part of the trip!!! It is so beautiful lit up and we watched the captain taking her out....just fascinating!

Rae