TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Workers comments

At Arhawak bar in Marigot and had a discussion with the Barman. He is French and lived there for 20 years. He said they call the Islands the Friendly Islands. Far from the truth. Police have been told to go for the whites and leave the locals alone!!!! They have the money, Local’s don’t and have no room to house them in jails. Whites have the money as in monopoly to use their get out of jail card? Water problems in France. Dutch propaganda! French Government way behind Dutch in funding. Police cannot be bothered to control the situation with the bikers. They tried but it’s now totally out of control. Cruise passengers spending at its worst level of spending he has seen. And the ones that do want a drink quibble about the prices. And on and on it went, in one ear and out the other but the black/white comments are open to debate and slightly thought provoking.

In years past we spent a lot of time on the French side. Not so much anymore and almost never go at night. It's a shame as we used to enjoy our evening dinners on the French side.

Maybe because I am old now. But when I go on vacation now I want everything and everybody bending over backwards to make my hard earned vacation dollars spent the best vacation for me. I don't to be worried about local politics etc. I just want the best vacation experience. SXM has been going "downhill" as a vacation destination ( in my opinion" for years. I too used to go to the French side late at night to do things like people watch. Every year I hear more of don't go there and don't go there on the island. I don't want to worry about a crazy biker getting run over by the car in front of mine and this episode on the minds of me and my spouse for the rest of my vacation trip.


As for cruise passengers spending less. uh. the cruise lines do a high pressure upsale for their drink package. You can drink all day starting in the morning. Why would I want to get off the ship and pay $.50 for a beer or $8.00 for a pina coloda. As for food $20.00 for a hamburger for that matter.


And for cruises, passengers get shot in the head all the time. It can happen on any cruise. Ain't that right?


Wendell

Just read an article that stated their,a cruise company, drink packages averaged 55 dollars At 50 cents a beer or 8 dollars a mixed drink, that's over a case of beer or 7 mixed drinks. I couldn't function drinking that much, so I,myself wound go to the port and drink and not feel I had to drink 55 dollars worth on the ship. They sell the drink packages,and everything else,such as excursions, to make more money.

Hmmm...thanks for the post. I can remember, going all the way back to our first trip in 2004, that members of TTOL would give advice to be cautious of driving at night and just be vigilant and aware of your surroundings. We will be on the French side in the Orient Village area for a good portion of our trip. My biggest worry is driving over there, though we will be doing that in early afternoon.

Are things worse now since Irma, related to crime, or is this thread a conversation to be especially vigilant? I would think the bartender is referring to people who would drink and drive attracting particular police attention. Though he did indicate a "target group".

Our intent is to arrive on the island and enjoy every day we are there, being careful, but not worrying as to distract from the relaxation that is the goal behind going in the first place And....invest our money into the island, which is what they desperately need as they recover.

Lancer,
Don’t give it a second thought, around the world stuff happens, but always be vigilant wherever you are. Press and talk will also always be prominent on bad news, but never any good news and there is plenty of good news on SXM.

Agreed 😊 Thanks !

Am I the only one who thinks this Barman should get out of the customer service tourism business? Some of his issues may be relevant but he should keep his opinion to himself when working and speaking to visitors who are on vacation. If I heard him having those type of discussions with my customers, he wouldn't be around for long. He's a real downer!

We had a quick chat with a sales lady in Marigot marina last February. She was saying that the reason why the French side is so run down is because there is way more welfare and socialism on a French side than on a Dutch side. Lots of Frenchmen come over from France and just survive on a welfare payments. Especially if they have kids... French side spends all the money on welfare and there isn’t much left for the infrastructure and other projects. Dutch side is different, more like “if you don’t work- you don’t eat”.