Sharon,
Thank you for all of those details. The port fee is much less than I had calculated based on what we have paid to the cruise line. Must be the taxes are much higher than I thought.
The trend you outline is indeed disheartening to hear.

Carol I follow the government follies like a religion because it does have bearing on the cost of living as well as the enjoyment of life for all on the island so when I give info it is usually something that has been in print time & time again. There have been three, I believe, separate Integrity reports on government & its functioning & not one of them was positive especially when regarding the port, the airport & GEBE.

It is true I did not factor in cruise visitors who might become stay overs but since government keeps no real figures on anything that is not a known number therefore I could not include it..

For me the ultimate question is how beneficial are the large amounts of cruise ships coming in for the guy on the street & the answer is not positive since nothing really gets,passed down. However, the negative part of the large influx of people, busses, etc. is definitely huge on the general population.

Again let me reiterate I cruise so please don't jump on me for being snobby or whatever, I am just giving my opinion based on many years living here & following, or should I say trying to follow, where the port fees end up & for whose benefit.....

One thing I forgot to mention is that the port & Royal Carinbean are building this huge entertainment center & hotel right at the port so how do they think this will affect Orient, the stores in town, small beach bar restaurants, etc? The answer is they don't care!! I believe that if people are kept right there it will also decrease the amount of converts to the island since they will never see anything but the port area. This government, or certain people within, don't give a darn about the local people it is all about filling their pockets & nothing else. Once that thing gets built with water parks, restaurants, stores & on & on Front street is done & Orient will take a big hit as well IMHO....

Thank you, Sharon. Exactly what I've been thinking for ages. The cruise lines benefit the few - and most probably NOT your typical islanders, and at the same time, they create a lot of disruption in the everyday lives of everyday people. So IMO, it's not the cruisers that are the problem but once again, it's the island government in collusion with the cruise lines that are the problem and the only ones who really benefit. That's MHO and until I see otherwise, I'm stickin' to it!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

Sharon - thanks for info for us inquiring minds.

Not that I expect you to have any necessary interest in responding - but for the still inquiring minds - so, is the head tax now $10? And, does it still go completely to Port not Government? And, does Port also get other direct payments from cruise lines for other services? Theo (what a surprise to know he was and is involved!) got the original head tax going back in or about 1997 (?) for $5 and arranged to have it go to Port (I think) instead of Government. I think it went to $7 at some point - ? Now $10 - ? In fairness to those involved, at least at the time, I think the port took on huge debt to finance new pier and get the "new" system set up that involved most if not all of the stakeholders.

The Florida-Caribbean Cruise Conference and the Caribbean Tourist Organization put out all kinds of statistics online, but I no longer have much interest in these numbers and just to me it seems harder to easily get at simple numbers such as a table of head taxes, other direct payments from cruise lines, and information about where that money goes.

For me, Sint Maarten has always been a fascinating place politically. I grew up in a town slightly larger than the current legal population of Sint Maarten and can only imagine what the powers to be that were in my old town would have got up to with millions sloshing through the town. When you look back decades and consider the challenges that Sint Maarten and Saint Martin have faced and continue to face, the place really runs pretty well. Well enough for us to love going there anyway.

The evolvement of St Maarten to a Cruise ship destination, in my opinion, has impacted the Hotel and Restaurant economy. When staying at a hotel the odds are you would take a day to shop and have lunch at a place away from the beach. And none of the cruise ship guests will be having dinner on the Island. My guess is that cruise ship patrons ( having never been on a cruise ) would choose to go to the beach for their day on the island and lunch there. I have seen an enormous drop in Evening dining over the years. There was a time when each and every high end restaurant on thr Island was packed and without a reservation you were out of luck......