TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Tested and anxious

Tested at Walgreens (PCR) (2-3 days results) today at 1130 for Thursday 1030 out of Charlotte,
Taking back up ID Now tomorrow with results in 24 hours, (Biturbo I will be forever grateful as you live in my area and I'm following your way)
Wife is extremely stressed
With all the positive information on the site, I have assured her that all will be okay
I made her cancel a paid for test that would have guaranteed results in an hour, I'm screwed if Walgreens results don't come through in a timely manner or we have any problems with EAHS
Staying first week at Grand Case Beach Club and really looking forward to not having to drive to Grand Case almost every night.
Will be touring some villas in Orient and the lowlands for next year's visit with another couple. Better bang for the buck in lowlands but again don't want to drive to Grand Case or through Sandy Ground (not our favorite on the island with everyone on street hanging
Fine dinning is a priority with these in mind Spiga (just before their vacation), La Cottage (favorite for food), La Villa (favorite for service and our anniversary dinner), Bistro Caribes (biggest lobster in tank), Astrolab (great value, atmosphere, value)
Not sure evenings may include Le Pressoir, Barancco, L'Atlier (big steak or tomahawk chop), Sol E Luna (although recent reviews have been mixed) , Le Piment is closed so that's off the list
The new restaurant in Orient Village looks good with a different menu . It is the one reviewed recently on line with the BBQ octopus and means slum or something like that
Definitely hanging with JC and Luke at Orange Fever
Captain Frenchy's and Rainbow also in order for lunch and of course the Sunset cafe
would like to get to Bachus for lunch if any cloudy days
We usually don't wing it too much but wouldn't mind a good orient lunch that would include a trio of fish tartars
Always check out Sky's the Limit and have been at many of their closing night vacation parties

Second week at Royal Islander and sure will miss Sheryel was has retired, I hooked her up a with fresh Starbucks every morning and I was well cared for concerning late check or staying in same room if staying an extra week
Definite dinners include Mario's, Rendevous Lounge, Altro, Pineapple Pete's (surf and turf).
Probably a good steak at either Jax or La Papyla,
May give Sale E Pepe another try as the food was very good but the service was not very organized.
Jai's contemporary Indian is going to be a new one this year

Little Jerusalem is a cant wait for the best Shwarma anywhere, just need patience
Driftwood Pizza is convenient and pretty good
Captain D's is great for take away
May spend a day at Mullet and get ribs from Rosie's or try the new place.
Like to get to Mark's for a lunch of mussels
also going to try pollos Hermanos in Simpson Bay for their chicken and more islandly food

Pretty sure Anas Marcel will be closed for vacation
Will try our luck at Larry the Lobster slot machine in Cupecoy casino as it has been very kind to us in the past

Need to make a visit to Haresh (Laurent Avenue) (Phillipsburg) who sells me the newest Robert Grahams shirts and DK Gems for my wife's 25th anniversary ring which was postponed from last year

Always open to other restaurant ideas
Plan on making good use of the Magic of the Caribbean Card

I plan on daily reviews and the curfew may make it all possible unless sand gravity takes over or maybe too many mojitos or wine

Unfortunately this is not a vacation for me but I will be doing menu designing and food research for my catering business. It's a tough job!!

And all this depends on a timely negative respond, EAHS approval,

Biturbo lets get through this with no problems

Mahokid,

Good luck with all your testing results and approvals. We’ve had issues with them for two trips since these particular hoops were added to the trip but in the end, even with all the self-imposed stress, the trip was was worth it.

“Will try our luck at Larry the Lobster slot machine in Cupecoy casino as it has been very kind to us in the past”

Not familiar with Larry the lobster. Am I misunderstanding your post or has the Cupecoy Casino (Starz?) actually opened? When we were there in both November and April there was no sign of life.

I’m hungry now reading all your dining plans. Enjoy all of it.

My fingers are crossed for you. Regarding coming home testing - we used the Bellevue Pharmacie. Close to The Causeway and $46. Made an appt. the day before, had printed results while we waited.

We would recommend Isola next to Hollywood Casio. Wonderful high end and inventive Italian food. Excellent service as well!

Nope. Stars is not open - but the casino in Porto Cupecoy is

Legal49 I like how you keep same profile picture, keeps you looking the same age. We do that on holiday cards11

Isola is always a possibility as Marco runs a good dining room.
Always make a quick stop at the casino there but it is always smoky

Yes we go to the casino in Cupecoy, Larry the Lobster is the name of the machine.

Wife is freaking as if we don't get results by noon tomorrow which is barely over 24 hours for the ID Now results she has made appointments ($265 each) for testing with almost immediate results

We have taken the ID Now test at Walgreens twice and have received the results in less than 2 hours both times.

Don't know where you live but we are in Florida. We took the ID NOW at Walgreens around 1 PM and had results back by 3:30. Uploaded everything to SXM and got our ok in about another two hours. We were not charged for the ID NOW. You should be ok. Good Luck. We know what you mean, though, about feeling stressed.

Kim--does the casino at Puerto Cupecoy have tables or just slots?

mahokid--hope it all works out for you. We had a major clusterf*ck with our Walgreens test in June this year, as the test did not come back for over 3 days and paid out the nose for another test that was immediate. Hope yours goes better. I am starting to get worried about getting a test result timely for October, as someone who needed to get a test here locally could not find ANYWHERE that they could get an appointment for one....

Kim and Maho - I keep forgetting about the casino at Porto Cupecoy. Thanks for the reminder..……

"Always make a quick stop at the casino there but it is always smoky"
Not anymore as smoking was prohibited when we were there on May.

Remember.....the IDNOW test can be done 72 hours in advance. No need to wait until tomorrow.

Test results back within the hour but not before some worry as their test email did not go through, said it may be their portal wasn't working and may need to come back if no results within 4 hours.

Wife freaking out again while pharmacist try's to figure out problem, she immediately make appointments for latter tonight at one of those to pay places which is fine if that's where you want to waste your money

Stressing doesn't solve the problem and I have faith like all before me that has used the ID Now test will work out.

She calls before I'm even home and said her tests came in followed by mine minutes latter.
Now just the EAHS .

For some reason the results are timed for latter this afternoon so we are awaiting to submit EAHS

Got to enjoy a smokeless casino

Thank you to everyone who has posted how they got tested and approved.
You gave me the confidence to go through Walgreens and saved $265 times two

OK, so far, so good! Best wishes!

It'll all be fine! Hope you have awesome time. Have a cocktail poolside at LaPlage. Wish we were heading there soon. It was so much fun sharing time with you two on our last visit.

Jerry sorry we will miss you

I have received my negative covid and preapproval in less than 4 hours. Definitely not worth the wife stressing

Wife had to get nails done so doing hers tonight and she was the one that was worried.

Only decisions are where to eat on what night.

Again a big thank you to Biturbo as your experience made today painless