The evolvement of St Maarten to a Cruise ship destination, in my opinion, has impacted the Hotel and Restaurant economy. When staying at a hotel the odds are you would take a day to shop and have lunch at a place away from the beach. And none of the cruise ship guests will be having dinner on the Island. My guess is that cruise ship patrons ( having never been on a cruise ) would choose to go to the beach for their day on the island and lunch there. I have seen an enormous drop in Evening dining over the years. There was a time when each and every high end restaurant on thr Island was packed and without a reservation you were out of luck......