I will try this again. Also before you delete this again please realize I do have permission from Rikki Zart to repost this. She was happy to do so if the information could help someone.

Reposted from Facebook link above:


Trip report 10-13 to 10-15 2017: My husband and I flew into SXM on Friday afternoon on Delta...PHL to ATL to SXM. The flight from ATL to SXM was virtually empty...maybe 25 people on a 737. Our reason for flight was to pick-up two rescue dogs. A one-eyed Coconut Retriever named "Sylvie" who would live with us in Philly and "Shorter" a puppy who we would transfer to a network here in the states that would get him to his forever family anxiously waiting for him in Vermont. Our trip was riddled with unexpected twists including being struck head on by a bus in the French Quarter and Delta playing "3-card monty" with our flight arrangements and animal accommodations after booking them, with a "pet supervisor" in advance...but these stories are not what I wish to convey here. I would like to give my personal impressions as a long time visitor (two weeks yearly and/ or multiple trips a year since 1999). I have followed the devastation since the hours before Irma hit because we had planned to have these animals before the storm. We followed all the details of them and their caregivers as Irma struck, and then daily as the aftermath unfolded. That is also another story in itself but I have had the chance to speak one-on-one with quite a few of the survivors and their harrowing stories are mind-bending and hair-raising...In our wildest thought I believe we could never understand what they endured. So, having followed this FB page and many others I too saw the horror pictures and pretty well knew what to expect. Our plane flew the normal approach to SXM and out the window the first thing one encounters is the sights of what look for all intents and purposes like bombed out buildings. After landing the process of entering the country is swift, but rudimentary. Once outside the airport I could not contain my emotion any longer and choked-up with tears running down my face. I was not prepared for the reality. As we drove our rental car (Soualiga Car Rental) to our accommodations at Simpson Bay Suites I felt very strange...like a dream where you are in a place you know but things are very out of place. I was unprepared for the 20-30 ft tall mountains of twisted metal (collection spots for debris) that greet you as you enter Grand Case and Simpson Bay. The photos you see do not convey reality. I agree with those who say that they need tourist dollars to return to normalcy, and I so strongly agree that now is not that time. First, there are few choices in lodging, and what is available may not be up to normal resort vacationer standards. We knew what to expect at Simpson Bay Suites. It was clean, but it is well worn. However more importantly, anyone expecting a tropical vacation need go somewhere else for many many months...I would repeat that again in bold italics if FB had that option. On Saturday we took Sylvie to Orient beach for some time to get to know each other better before flying together. Dear friends, Orient beach is a wasteland. That is not hyperbole, it is fact! Sunning oneself and swimming that beach would be equivalent to the surfing scene in the film "Apocalypse Now"...I'm not trying to make colorful references...that is reality. In fact, much of what used to be Resort Chic is now third world. There is almost no tourist infrastructure to speak of...yes some restaurants are open. I went to The Greenhouse (Simpson Bay) to grab take-out because we were recuperating from our collision and stint in the Marigot hospital in our apartment. Take-out would have been our only option anyway because they are fighting what seems like a losing battle with large flies, which I assume is a result of current conditions. Also the islanders I met, I believe, are not ready for tourism, even though they need the money desperately. Yes, the cashiers at Garden Market were as surly as always but there is also now a blankness in their gaze. We went across the street to Burger King to grab a cup of coffee because that seemed like the only place around at the time and we were most definitely met with the feeling of not really being welcome. We were an annoyance that needed to be endured. "The Friendly Island" of the past is hurting bad and needs time to understand and heal it's wounds before that smile can return to those faces. This is an observation I made in quite a few instances...including the bus operator that rammed us head-on in Orleans. However not all is lost. The owner of the car rental (I won't use his name because I do not know how private a person he is) but both he and his wife came to the scene of the crash and stayed with us through the entire ordeal of being extricated from the wreck, immobilized and packed into the ambulance for the long bumpy ride to Marigot and for the full time we were in hospital. They took us to the Pharmacie for our prescriptions and braces and then returned us to our hotel. Oh yes and they picked us up the next day and brought us to Princess Juliana Airport...people we had never met before Friday have become like family to us. So that trait of going above and beyond is still ingrained into these folks...we just need to let it return naturally. Harry and I will not return in May to our timeshare at Flamingo Beach as is our custom. We are instead pushing plans back to Oct/Nov 2018. I must admit I think even that may be too soon but we shall see. If I detailed all my emotions, all I saw and experienced these 3 days this post would be unbearably long...probably tedious. I would want to share with you the details of the stories told me by those who lived Irma. In the same breath I am glad we went and sad we had to experience Saint Martin as it is. This trip has substantively changed me. I now realize how deep my love is for this place. It is so much more than a crazy-cool place to unwind, tan and re-energize. This is my second home and where my heart would like to be all the time. In our early years going to the island I would always comment on how as we were driving from the airport to our resort that "I feel like I'm coming home", I'll bet many many of you feel that way too. You yearn to see what happened, how bad it is. You are curious as to all of the how's and where's of what's open and what's destroyed. So many of you are owners of property by way of timeshares like we are and want to know the status of our investment. All these are valid wants and concerns. I have never been in a war zone before but the damage sustained from Irma makes the island look like pictures from Alepo Syria or Beirut. Yes, these people are resilient and will bounce back but I can not overstate that this will take (here comes that 4-letter curse word) TIME. I have never posted anything more than comments in this forum before. I hope this post hasn't broken any guidelines. These are the personal observations and opinions of someone who has traveled to this island very often, for weeks on end. My husband and I have been to most of the beaches, lodged on both sides and eaten our way through a significant number of eateries. We have made life-long friends whom we visit and now have two dogs living with us in Philly that we rescued with the help of Ursula Oppikoffer at the "I Love My Island Dog" rescue and shelter. These are my only qualifications for this post and my opinions are simply that. I hope this adds to the base of reports for on-the-ground eyewitnesses and brings one more point of view. I apologize for being so verbose....even my island friends comment on my lack of brevity in communication. And yet I feel like I have left so much unsaid. One last note (and I put this last because this is not what I want this post to be about but feel the need to vent)...totally based on this trip...We will never, ever fly on Delta Airlines ever again. We were sold our seats in good faith (booked with a pet specialist and supervisor) disclosing our agenda and conforming to all regulations. After we were already in the air headed for our destination we were singled-out, dismissed, mistreated and then down-graded due to what they agree is their mistake. Seems we are not the first. Our previous experience on American Airlines were wonderful. If you have read this far you are a trooper...thanks.