In response to both of these comments, I have no horse in this race either way, be it towards the 'gawkers' or the reactions (and on rare occasions the behaviors as well....) of some of the OB denizens towards those visitors, and I really could care less about the cruise ship guests one way or the other as far as their presence goes, anymore than the real St. Maarteners object to so many of us visitors invading their home and wanting change.

Economically, obviously the cruise ships are a large boon to the island and that is a good thing. As far as the infrastructure to support so many of them, this has never been much of a major priority to the island powers that be and I doubt it will ever change so we all need to either accept it is what it is or keep looking for our individual paradise. I've found mine already.

And what I do strongly object to are the beach visitors, and particularly those off the large party boats, who come to the beach to enjoy it for a bit and then leave, leaving their trash behind on the beaches, and even more than that, I truly resent the boat companies themselves for not doing a thorough clean-up of their own trash both in the water and on the beach, where their guests have dropped it. That's about my biggest pet peeve over all the island faux pas. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />