TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin OUR TRIP FROM THE 15TH-23RD

We arrived on Friday the 15th. Went from Hartford to Phila to St. Maarten. Flights were great. Actually arrived 1 hr early. No problems at airport till the luggage carousel. With 1 carousel and more than 1 plane there, it was a while before our luggage came out. Leaving with luggage, we found a Hertz rep and went to get our car. Again a smooth operation. Went to Simpson Bay Resort and checked in. The process went well and we were off to the room. We had an up and down unit in the upper "B" building. We had the lower room and it was very clean and big enough for us. Got settled quickly and went down to the Buccaneer for some drinks and a bite to eat. The waitress that met was was GINA. She was fantastic!!! She made sure we had our drinks and food very quickly. The 2 for 1 is a great deal and Gina made sure we were well hydrated. We were pretty tired from the travel so it was an early night. The next morning and every morning after that, we had breakfast on our friends balcony. After breakfast, we made sandwiches, packed the cooler with drinks and were off to the beach.. Mullet is our favorite beach so we spent every day there. The 1st day we didn't get chairs on the front row, so i made friends with Pete and everyday after that we had 4 chairs and 2 umbrellas on the front row! The water was refreshing and clear as a bell. Pretty calm everyday so we could easily take our drinks out and relax in the water. as for dinners, we cooked a couple of times on the grills that were near the pool near the building. When we went out to eat, we ate at Jimbo's, Toppers, Skipjack's and Isola. Enjoyed each place. One day went shopping to Phillpsburg. It was on Sunday and only 1 cruise ship was in. Not A lot open, but found enough open stores to make purchases. On St.Patricks day, went to the Red Piano Bar. Had a great time. Place was packed and everyone was dancing, singing and have fun!! We left on Saturday the 23rd. Go to airport 3 hrs ahead of time. Check-in was about 20 min. TSA went quickly too. Then immigration. 2 people working the booths. Line started baking up quite a bit. Still made it thru in plenty of time. went to waiting area and found some seats. This is a very chaotic area. People all over the place rushing to get in line to get on plane. Its getting close to when we should be boarding, but no American Airline plane can bee seen. The announcement finally comes on that the flight was delayed and we will be leaving later than scheduled. Didn't seem like a problem right away. We had a 2+ hr lay-over in Phila so we should be ok. Plane finally arrives and while going boarding area, i get randomly selected to have a screening. I have nothing on me but my wallet and cell phone. Finally get on plane and pilot says we have to take off in the opposite direction than they usually do He doesn't know when we be allowed to go but last week they held him for an hour. We were lucky,it was 15 mins. We got to Phila and had 1 hr and 5 min to make our connection. After getting off plane, we ran thru the remaining areas very quickly. We got to the gate about 10 minutes before the door was to be closed. So all in all, I CAN'T WAIT TO DO IT ALL AGAIN NEXT YEAR.

Nice report. Crazy close in Philly, but you made it. Smart move with the two-hour plus layover time there. The random screening process is frustrating. I realize it has to be random, but I think they're overdoing it these days. My wife got selected and got a 'positive' result for something in her purse. So, she had to empty the entire purse and they checked everything. Of course it turned up nothing (no one slipped weed in her purse on SXM). It turned out that her change purse had too many coins in it and they can't tell if something is being smuggled among all the coins. But, if you have a tight connection these kinds of delays can be brutal.

Overall, sounds like you had a great visit. Not sure about doing the same beach every single day (there's 36 others to choose from), but Mullet is really looking good these days and I can't blame you for wanting to spend most of your time there. As for the SXM airport experience, let's all hope it will be better the next time you return and less chaotic.

Thanks for the report! Sounds like a great trip!

Nice report. We have less than 2 months to wait.

Thanks for the report. Mullet Bay has been my favorite beach for 28 years.

Last year we spent quite a few gays at Buccaneer and Gina was our server too. She was fantastic and a great person. Nice to know she's still there. We'll have to stop in to see her in June.

You mention going through immigration at SXM when outbound. Is US immigration now in the Princess Juliana Airport?

Everyone is entitled to a few gays:-))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

No

bran--you're a bad person!!! I didn't even notice that typo until you pointed it out.

Darn We had US customs when we left Ireland several years ago It was great. Is this still in the works for SXM

Darn we had US customs when we left from Ireland a few years ago and this was great. Is this still in the planning for SXM

It has been said that it IS still being talked about. But then so is everything else and little is getting done. Good news is we saw men working on the roof. Lots of materials on the ground. Airport must be completed before the US customs will be implemented in SXM.

It's Emigration you go though when leaving, US immigration at SXM is a long time away

Haaaaa I wish I could blame that typo on fat fingers but those 2 keys are not right next to each other. I guess I'll have to try to blame my failing eyesight!

And we somehow have to come up with a ton of $$ to pay for US services here. Won't happen anytime soon. But they HAVE had meetings, which they are so good at.