French side protests #2

Please continue any discussion here..

I was trying to determine whether any cruise ship passengers missed their ships yesterday or whether anyone trying to fly out missed their plane home. So far, the only story I could find is this, which reads like an ad for the cruise port.

I have not seen any mention of pax missing ship on Cruise Critic because of events in SXM - if that had been any problem, I would expect lots of posts about it.

Vive la France
I support my St Martin Friends and anything that keeps the French side of the island as is and not overbuilt and commercialized.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Clapping.gif" alt="" />

We went shopping today in Phillipsburg. One of the jewelers told us that they sent boats to the French side from the cruise ships to get the stranded passengers back. We are about midway through our 15 day stay here and it looked like business was back to normal today. Only one ship was in port, but the roads are busy. We are heading to the French side in a few minutes for dinner. The people spoke yesterday and their voice was heard. That is part of freedom.

Barbara
Captain
What you are saying is and will continue to fall on deaf ears. For years I have been posting that non-Americans can have very different ways of looking at things and just because they are different they are not necessarily wrong or should be changed. This goes from simply they people are greeted and restaurant etiquette to outlook on life. France has had a long tradition of public protests (manifestations) being tolerated. All parties and the general public know what will happen and things will work out. We Americans, I can't speak for Canadians need to understand this and respect their way of thinking, just as we expect the same from them. It is sad that we go to a foreign land to experience something different and then expect things to be just as they are back home once we get there. Sad.

You should also add that in France 99% of the protests, marches, blockages and strikes are announced well in advance so that everyone can plan around them. I knew weeks in advance that Air France was planning a strike while I was in Carcassonne...When I was in Paris I knew days in advance that the cabs were going to do a blockade of the roads leading to and from CDG

As far as I know that did not happen in ST. Martin and this makes a BIG difference

Thank you for your understanding <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

As an American, you can't speak for me either.

I'm sorry but it WAS announced and everyone knew about it including the cruise ship lines. How do you think they get participants in the protest if there is no announcement of the plan! Just because you didn't know about it does not mean the local population didn't know.

I was also affected by the Air France strike the Sept before last and there was no mention of it in the local NY news. I did my due diligence checking in on my flight arrangements before printing my boarding pass. I'm sure people in France knew about it. I was delayed a day and had to rebook with Lufthansa through Munich and then to Paris and coming back from Paris, because I saw in the news that the strike was continuing, I had to stay 2 extra days at my own expense. But as it typical in France, Air France reimbursed me for 759 Euros per person for my trouble without even asking!

Bob--no, you can't say 'everyone' knew about it, perhaps many or most locals knew, but most tourists did not, as there were several people here who got caught off guard. It was in the Daily Herald that there was going to be some type of a protest that day, yes. But it wasn't very specific. And I believe it was only in the paper that day, there was no other advance warning in the paper. As far as what was on the radio or not, I have no idea. As you know, many or most tourists don't read the DH, and I suspect that most visitors had absolutely no idea it was going to happen. As far as the cruise ship passengers, it definitely appeared that the SHIPS knew what was going to happen, yes. I don't know whether they notified their passengers or not.

We agree with DPD1968 & Julie&karl. The French side has a unique character that we enjoy! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/toast.gif" alt="" />

"The Friendly Island" isn't so friendly any more...

That is sad...

...and purposly trapping those with ship departures and flights home on the French side of the island...NOT the way to encourage tourists to come and spend their vacation money on YOUR island vs. all the others!

what? how dare you say that?
did you read what Bob wrote?
the cruise ships knew.
I am furious at all the negative and insulting comments posted here. some of you really need to take a look at yourselves. we used to have tourists who really felt sxm and the people here were family and like a second home but I am afraid that is only a handful now, as evidenced by the comments here.
All you want to do is criticize and whine that people were inconvenienced.

I went thru both threads and did not see any post from anyone with a username "Bob", nor with a signature "Bob".., so no, I did not.

I will not comment on this any more...and my concern stands...

Bill_S I know you will read this and I doubt you can not resist responding.

How many years have you been coming to St. Martin?

How many times have you been inconvenienced but a strike or protest on the island? Probably never. And probably never will!

So because of something that did not affect you and never will you say you will never come back to St. Martin. Luckily we have millions of tourists that don 't agree and will never see your point of view.

I'm the "Bob" Barbara is talking about.

I totally agree with Barbara. There are so many posts of people whining, complaining, and bashing St Maarten, I wonder why they bother to come here. There are many other Caribbean islands. Maybe they should visit them to see if they stand up to the whiners standards!

Watch what you wish for, because if you significantly hurt tourism on the French side than it will become the new Haiti of the Caribbean.

Barbara. Give up. Don't waste your time with these trolls. They don't understand what the issues are. All they care about is how their vacation might be affected. I'm in full support of what the French residents got accomplished in just one days protest. Good for them.

Maybe Barbara can clarify this for us, but I think what we saw yesterday was not a one day thing. From what I read, this has been an issue for 2 years and yesterday was the culmination of the frustration of the people who were not getting any response from their government.

If I am understanding things correctly, then I support these people even more since if the government was going to give in, they should have done so prior to the people having to resort to the protest. And any blame should then be attributed to the government, not the protestors.

(This is based on my readings, I am not there and I do not claim to be up on the issue.)

Trolls?? Because you don't agree with people, they are trolls?

Did you expect any less from some of the members on the forum.

It really is very interesting that a few of the residents talk about advanced notice and that the cruise ships were aware, etc., and nothing could be further from the truth. The cruise ships only found out about the protests after they had started and the St Maarten Group of Harbor Companies and the local police then jumped into action and sent a boat to retrieve stranded tourists from Marigot. If schools would have had advance notice than the schools would have been closed for the day prior to the protests.

I am done with this topic.

Troll signing off.

I do not blame you for this bdeeley, but think now the appropriate time to close this one. It's unfortunate when people start throwing around the word 'trolls', as that just will never end well.