TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin One week since arriving

The weather has been wonderful to date. We arrived last Saturday to sunny skies and little to no humidity. Each day has brought sunshine, relaxation, good food and great company.

Yesterday we spent the morning floating in the water and reading before breaking for lunch. Burgers at Buccaneers were good and quick service.


Buc's blue cheese/bacon burger


Colour1 and Wingman - aka David, Mike



After lunch I wanted ice cream so we checked out the Carousel. Very picturesque place with many choices of gelato, tables, chairs a child play area along with the Carousel in the back. They also had several machines for cotton candy and popcorn which were not in use. One has to assume they are used for children’s birthday parties. I had a small cup of coconut that had two small scoops, $4. It was good.







Took a ride pass Red Piano. It's so random how some places were severely damaged and others next door weren't. We saw more visible work being done on new construction rather than repairs on some of the bigger resorts.

We dined at The Greenhouse in Simpson Bay. This was the first restaurant we've visited that was packed. Given how crowded it was and seeing multiple ppl in front of us our wait wasn't more than 35 min. It was so worth the wait.

We passed the time at the bar with 2-for-one cocktails while both are served simultaneously the bartender only iced the first drink. Great idea so as not to water down the second cocktail. Without having to ask, ice cubes arrived just as we were getting to our second drink. The bartenders and wait staff were working hard so once we sat for dinner it didn’t take long to be served. Milena was our waitress once again and she’s my Johnny Cake connection (LOL) but unfortunately they had no more and the kitchen was too busy with dinners to make more. I love their Johnny Cakes.






Random photo of coconut shrimp appetizer at Topper’s the other evening

Looks good. Now I'm hungry.

Great stuff! Thanks for posting! Sounds like you're really having a great time. I know it's been a while for you, so glad it's going well.

Great pictures! Up close and personal with the lobster...

I have a food Instagram account, so I take a lot of close- up food photos @lohudlou

Thanks for the pics. Man i'm hungry, and making notes for April!..............Have a great time!

Hey Leona, perhaps you could follow suit???

YUM!! Been craving Lobster!!!!

Looks good.

Hungry hear too. Making notes for our March trip. Have you stayed at BSV before? If so are there any changes? Is tv, internet up and running? Wasn't when we were last there.

TV and internet were working fine at Beachside when we were there in June 2018. No changes at Beachside, other than the changes of enclosing the atrium and putting in a/c, in the living room, which was basically done before the hurricane.

Yes, this is our 7th or 8th time. No problems with Internet or TV. We have a love seat and couch, one chair in the unit in past there was two chairs. Big Flat screen TV on wall and some new art work. As Carol mentioned Atrium is closed in and a/c now in the living room. New kitchen appliances other than that looks and feels the same, heavenly.

Thanks for your post. Pics are a plus. I am in Vermont this weekend and it is snowing. Enjoy the weather and keep posting please!

Yes, there is great internet and DISH tv. I don't belive DISH gets regular networks.

Had two of the guys in last night trying to help us figure out how the heck to the the World Series. Apparently they don't get FOX, ABC, CBS, or NBC? What the what?!
Just Fox News, CNN, etc and all the stuff we do not need. Anyone else figure it out? Guess it's a good things we didn't get it last night considering it went 18 innings!!! Holy cow.

Heading to Dinghy Dock for steak night and the game!

I think Louise has been eating better than us! Only been here 24ish hours. Last night was 4 Driftwood Punches and a pizza. I think hubby had some calamari somewhere along the way as well...lol.
Needless to say I poured myself into bed last night. Arrived at BSV 12 plus hours after the limo came at 3:50am. LONG DAY.

Her picture are awesome. I will begin following her Insta!

Leona--we got regular networks at BSV. Couldn't figure it out to begin with, then Eric eventually figured it out.

Please send Eric down before the 5th inning and we leave Dinghy Dock! Lol

Hey, sorry, he has things to do here tomorrow. Sorry. I really can't remember how he was able to do it. It had something to do with TV settings about HD versus non HD. There was a setting where it showed only HD channels, and he turned that off, to show HD and non HD channels. The regular network channels were only on the NON HD channels.. Not sure if that helps you or not..

Press 02, 04, etc for Network TV on remote.

Lucky to be on island, nice report. Where was the lobster at and how was it? It looks good. 63 days to sxm.

Whats wrong with resorts leaving directions to all these tv issues. Seems like an easy fix.

Lobster tail was eaten at the Greenhouse in Simpson Bay.

Carol is right, it’s in the settings. If I remember correctly, press and hold the button under the LG logo, that will take you into the main menu, and you can navigate from there. And also ask Nicholas for the real tv remote for the tv, he’ll get you one if you don’t have one already, the LG one not the dish net one. Y’all have fun and send pics!

If you are looking for network channels you use the remote (there is one remote) and key in the appropriate network channel with 0 (zero) in front of the number. Our friends have used or tried to use netflix and on demand. Not sure of the results but ask when you see one of us.

They have Netflix and other Apps built into to the LG TVs. We used Netflix within the tv and had no problem what so ever. There is a kind of learning curve with those TVs, lol!

This is all I'm working with here! lol....Emmanuel brought a second remote as the first one didn't really work the tv. So now there are two. And a sheet that shows channels. No instructions (Scuba! lol)......and honestly, I am NOT a Luddite!
"watched" the game last night online with a play by play update, but not visual. irritating.

Not seeing a button under LG. HD, non HD? aggghhh

It's not a BUTTON for HD versus non HD. It's a setting. Eric says he thinks it's the Dish remote, 'options', and that gives you the option to view non HD channels. And, as Louise said, you can just type in the number and it will work. It just doesn't show on the channel guide.

Edited to add---Eric says that the looked it up on the internet, on the Dish website, how to do it...

We have one remote which says Dish on bottom of device. We've done nothing different except to navigate either through the up/down buttons or pressing the number on the keypad to get network TV and cable/dish stations.

Louise--your TV was probably already defaulted to show all channels, including non HD channels..

There ya go beachkitten, the home button on the remote to the left opens all kinds of doors on your tv. The one in the center. The button under the LG logo is what is referred to as a one touch button or access. It is hidden by design, just press up and hold for a few seconds and, from there you can use the same button to navigate all within the tv. Just have a few more drinks and start playing with it, you can’t break it, lol!!

Foxie! There is no button under the LG logo. That is on the bottom, below the red, green, yellow, and blue buttons. Touched all around that sucker...nothing hidden...ha ha.
I'm like Claire on Modern Family. Until I'm not.

Hey, go down and talk to Louise (fabila) and find out what the numbers are for the network channels and just put them in on the remote...….

Hi there. Thanks for sharing all the great pics. Question,,,is that lobster from the Greenhouse? If so, how was it? We will be staying at the penthouse apartment right above the greenhouse. I cannot recall eating at the greenhouse other than apetizers,,,,it looks yummy> Cannot wait till January 2019! Also, the Buccaneer Beach Bar burgers look just as fantastic as I remember them! Enjoy your trip ,,,,looks like you are doing a great job at that!

Ok beachkitten I know there is a button there, or maybe your tv is different. But I know they bought all the same TVs for every villa, that being said I ripped out a page from the owners manual, hope it comes out in the right size and position, lol! All kiddin a side, this time have 5 drinks and run your finger under the LG logo. I promise you will not break it. Now this is for laughs and giggles, so no one please beat me up, but it’s there.

Hey while we’re on the subject, not. We need to start seeing some more pics! We have a ton of great ttol folks on the island now with very few pics. Y’all are over in Paradise and we’re stuck here with our noses to the grindstone! Lol!
Only if you have a chance, everyone have a fantastic vacation! NOW SEND THOSE PHOTOS, LOL!

Yes the lobster tail is from the Greenhouse. It was delicious. We've never had a bad meal there.

SXMFox, I think you have to change the settings on the dish box, so you would have to use the dish remote to do that. I think that is what I remember doing. Actually think that is the only time I used the dish remote.

Yes your right Eric, you do. But once I configured our tv to our use I never used that dish remote anymore. I used the iPad to control everything and just bypassed everything else. It’s amazing what you can do with WiFi and a WiFi tv!