TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Cruise ship stop Jan 14

We had a 2-week Carnival cruise out of Baltimore with a stop in St Martin. Rented a car and toured the island. We have friends that live in Marigot who asked us to bring in some construction supplies, so it was good that we could drive to the port. That extra bag was almost 50 pounds. When we tried to leave the ship, we were told to get it cleared with customs. So we had to go back to the service desk, who contacted customs, who quickly cleared the bag without even seeing it.

The roads were in pretty good shape, but almost all of the street sights were gone. So most of our driving around was based on memory. Drove around Phillipsburg, then drove passed the airport. The airport will need a lot of work. Casino Royale was utterly destroyed. Other buildings had damage. Then on to the French side. Downtown Marigot was a mess, especially down by the waterfront. The tent market was open when we drove through. It was getting late so we bypassed Grand Case and toured the Orient Beach area. It really looks different and sad with all the beach bars completely gone. You cannot drive over to the Club Orient area from there, so we had to drive out and use the main CO entrance. Actually, you have to turn left right before the main CO entrance, and park near the new Perch lite. We go there too late to tell how many people were enjoying the beach. It was even to late to rent a chair for a few hours.

Thanks for that report.

Thanks for the report. I'm interested as to what areas on SXM that they were promoting on the ship, if you listened to the port lecture or looked at any handouts.

We're on a Holland America ship that will be stopping there on there on the 25th of February, I'll let you know.

thanks!

I am curious about what construction supplies you brought with you. What was it that your friends could not get on island that you were able to carry on board? Or was it a question of big cost differential to get same on island?

With all the looting, it is very hard to get construction equipment. What we bought were construction boots and plastering equipment. I even had a hard time finding everything on my friends list at our local Home Depot. There was a lot of metal in that, so it was heavy.

Thanks for info.