This thread is of particular interest to me. I have not been on TTOL in a couple of weeks, but over the last few days our soft dollar has really been weighing on my mind. I came here today to moan about it a bit.

There's not all that much to be done I suppose. I usually adhere to a kind of carpe diem kind of life - esp on vacay - but adding 30 percent onto the cost of carpe diem-ing is getting a bit scary. For sure a bit of eating in our room will offset some of the cost. We are staying in an apartment so close to Orient Beach this time that strolling home for lunch will not be an issue at all. We almost always have coffee, fruit, and pastries at home for breakfast, esp since we are usually still stuffed from some outrageous dinner, so that's okay.

I am interested to hear more ideas about dinner options - esp nearer Orient - that are somewhere between The Talk of the Town and Le Pressoir for price.

Activities/Day trips are not a great cost for us, 'cuz we have been to SXM enough times that we have done all that needs doing. Our daily itinerary usually contains little more than a long walk, lazing on a lounger on some (usually Orient) beach for the day, cocktails, then dinner. Carpe Diem is latin for expensive laziness.