TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Day One -- Our Arrival

First time back since July, 2017, and I have to say, pleasantly surprised at how easy the day went, how welcoming everyone was and how great it is to be back.

JetBlue from JFK, no issues, very accommodating--it was the first time traveling with my mom in a transport chair. Arrival in St. Maarten was just as good and we literally were through immigration faster than I can ever remember. We arrived just ahead of Air France which I'm sure helped. We felt the airport was very well organized with lots of help available. We had our luggage and rental car from Michael (unity) quickly, and we were on our way to Divi. The ride to Divi gave us a good glimpse of some of the scars from Irma. Certainly the sight of what's left of Great Bay was a sad reminder.

We were scheduled for a "refresh" before Irma and happy to report that our unit has been redone, new furniture, appliances and even a washer and dryer. The washer and dryer are not hooked up but they will be a welcome addition when they are functioning. The resort looks great, lots of construction still going on but the landscapers have been busy making the walkways beautiful again. Saw a lot of old faces and we were welcomed like family. Interesting that the bonus for attending the update is $100 Divi dollars which can be used at either of the restaurants--better reason than most years to attend the update.

Long day of travel. We capped off the night with church at St. Martin of Tours and dinner at Gizmo's at Divi. Gizmo's just reopened within the last week with an updated menu; all was delicious. Kind of breezy tonight and probably one of the coolest evenings we can remember. Looking forward to a beach day tomorrow.

Good to hear. Was it a true update or a sales pitch?

I'll let you know tomorrow Sxmscubaman. We are scheduled for 9 am. Although given the current weather, I wish it was today. No visible sunrise this morning. Rain showers last night and this morning, it's considerably cloudy, looks like we may start the day with a little more rain. First stop today is the grocery store where Sangs was by the cruise ship terminal. I think that's the closest one to Divi given that Carrefour is still closed.

Thanks for the report.

Thanks for the report. Regarding the rain this morning, not good for you, but the island desperately needs rain. Hope you have a wonderful trip! Looking forward to hearing more!

You can send the rain here to Cupecoy, we've had none! LOL Sahara Dust has lifted a bit today (that's why it's grey and no real sunrise/sunset), we can see Saba just a little bit!

You stated your Mom used a transport chair. What exactly is that? How did she disembark from the plane? Just curious as I have a relative that wants to go to SXM but cannot walk down stairs. Thank you.

The transport chair is a light weight wheel chair that requires someone to push it. It's really the best thing we did for her. As for the plane, we had a ramp in the front to deplane and stairs in the back. The transport chair was waiting at the bottom of the ramp. Not sure how you can guarantee the ramp, but maybe it's something that can be prearranged by the airline.