Thanks for your input! As stated on the SXM board, we have (sadly) changed our original St. Maarten trip to Curacao for this October/November. While no place is St. Maarten in our minds, we are hoping to find some semblance of a beach vacation, while actively working to shake the sadness from our souls. We tried Aruba last year and didn't care for it. Curacao was recommended to us by several people, so we'll see how it goes. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />