I totally agree with you Sammy. Perhaps they are not spending money shopping on Front Street, but they definitely are spending money on the tours organized from the ship. The reason for choosing ship excursions is they don't have to be concerned about carrying a lot of money when going to shore as these excursions are all charged to their account . Also if for any reason, they are late getting back to port, the ship always waits for everyone on the excursions arranged by the ship. The local tour operators are doing very well with these tours. When on the tours, the passengers spend money for lunch and drinks at many different locations. I know they spend money for chairs on Orient Beach and perhaps other beaches as well.It seems the only problem that currently exists is the lack of sales in the stores . It has become easier to purchase your souvenirs, clothing etc... on the ship as you do not need any money when shopping as all purchases are charged to your account and you pay upon departure from the ship. I have been on boat excursions, when there have been cruise ship passengers enjoying a cruise around the island and all say they will be back to spend more time there.
Many of these cruise ship passengers have made many return trips to the island and some have even purchased property there. St. Maarten/St. Martin can complain about the lack of business from these people, but the island would be in a much worse situation without ships coming in to port. They need any type of tourist trade they can get as the people need these jobs to survive!
