Someone mentioned poor planning above. I would suggest that there had been really no planning at all. This all just evolved into a big mess on its own, through management by reaction, rather than by any plan.

Looking down on Cruise Ship Tourists is most certainly plain old snobbery, a snobbery of which I am guilty as much as the rest of you. Cruise ship passengers are not seen as "insiders" like those of us who go to SXM regularly and repeatedly, and are therefore scoffed at. Visitors to Florida mentioned above the are same thing.

Are we regulars "cooler" or more deserving? Cooler, possibly (you couldn't pay me to go on a cruise ship), more deserving, not at all. We're all guests of one kind or another.

At the end of the day, does a full-time resident appreciate those millions and millions of tourist dollars? Of course. Do they get frustrated by the crowds? Yep. Is it going to change? Nope.

Every time we go we get closer to buying a condo, but at the same time, every time we go the place is more choked with people, making you not want to live there. I am sure we will be nosing around real estate offices in February.