No indifference here but I assume as us, many who visit the island are of limited time off and means and while we would like to support the islands we won't be returning until there is a whole vacation experience... beach, lodging and food. When you only have 7-10 days a year to travel you want to have the best time you can which is why we have traveled to St Martin so frequently...it's the complete package. Then of course there are all the life long friends we have meet who also return the same time year after year. It's hard not returning for perhaps years to come.

Having spent 6 months in New Orleans as part of the post Katrina recovery effort I can honestly say it's going to be years considering the destruction was so much worse. I hope we are surprised . Yes there will be pockets of recovery and if we had many weeks to vacation a year we would give it a go. Until then I assume many including us will not be returning for a while. So at best 2019 but most likely not until 2020 till we return, So options are the Costa del Sol in Spain (Vera Playa) expect Nov through March appears to be very beach weather friendly. The cost of accommodations (rental apartment is $60-90 a night far better then Club O and makes the cost the same when you add in the extra cost of airfare. There are even indoor heated pool and outdoor pools. So will give that a try and spread our wings a bit. Will surely miss St Martin but this give us a push to experience more of the world.