Wow sounds a lot worse than the tents then, very Strange

As far as 'bringing water', even if the regular airport, pre-Irma, there were no water fountains, so you had to buy water. And you CAN'T bring water through security. Would be interested to hear more particulars about their experience though, and whether they had been through the tents or not.

Their arrival was through the tents a week earlier. On departure they spent 90 minutes waiting in line for boarding passes and baggage check. Also long lines for Passport Control, and for Security. They hit the Superfecta - New terminal, Saturday, no Boarding Passes and Checked Bags. It would likely have been much easier on a different day, and with carry-on and pre-printed boarding passes.

Have had several friends transit via the "new" terminal and all said they had no issues. But they don't fly Saturdays.

OK. I wonder whether they have the machines that print boarding passes or whether everyone has to stand in line to get them? Maybe not. The machines were a big help at the terminal. Print boarding passes and bag tags there..

And yes, we never fly on Saturdays either..

Editorial in the Daily Herald today.
Link

We got there early, before the long lines, and had our passes printed in a minute. Johny Burger & Domino's have trucks outside, you can either eat there at the picnic tables or they will have the food delivered to the waiting area. The only issue: They never announced boarding for our flight, we heard our names paged, in a rush to board I tripped & fell. I think we were the last ones to board, but there was still a line in the cabin, so we didn't delay anything. A shock to our system when we reached EWR - 37F & pouring.

So, there is not food INSIDE the waiting area? If you have your food delivered inside, not sure how that would work?? Did you notice whether there is in fact a VIP lounge?

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I hope you didn't injure yourself?? Welcome back to cold reality!!

We flew out Sunday afternoon. We arrived 2 hours before our departure time. Ticket lines were long but AA did go pretty quickly. Johnny Burger and Dominos were selling in the departure area. They may have been getting the food from the trucks, I know Dominos did. Bar was busy. Other than leaving an hour late because folks could not figure out how to store their carry-ons, the experience was ok.

We departed SXM yesterday (very sad!) Our departure experience was not bad at all. We got to the airport about 12:15 for our 3:15 flight to Newark on United. There was no one ahead of us at the united counter so check in was fast. Passport control and security were likewise quick. We got to the departure area about 12:30. Departure gates are out of the old "B" gate areas. You can't go into that area until about 30 minutes before boarding so it does get over crowded. There is a big area before that with a bar, several food concessions and a duty free liquor spot and restrooms. It was pleasantly cool. There were a number of flights on Sunday afternoon including KLM. It was full but there were almost always seats available. Once we got into the B gate area it was very crowded, about like it's always been down there, but still not hot. We were able to walk to our plane. Stairs to the front and back which proved a huge challenge to several people who were in wheelchairs. Overall we were really pleasantly surprised. Not a bad experience at all. I posted some pictures on the "Friends of Simpson Bay (Pelican) Resort St Martin SXM" Facebook page for those that have access. It's a closed group. Sorry.

Thanks for the info. Was that the only food in the departure area? Again, did you notice if there was a VIP lounge? What about a smoking lounge?

I did not see a smoking lounge or a VIP lounge. There were 5 or 6 separate food concession in the departure lounge area as well as a bar.

OK, thanks. Actually doesn't sound like there is a heck of a lot more food available than in the tents. The Daily Herald story seemed to indicate there was going to be a VIP Lounge, but perhaps it just isn't open yet.