TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Day 1 and 2

It's always good to be back home on the island again. After 30 years.....it still doesn't get old. Took the direct JB flight out of FLL yesterday. Airport in Lauderdale still seems to be hopping. Boarded on time....and then sat and sat till finally the pilot came on and said the third power source was acting up...and not sure if they will be able to fix, or a possible plane change might happen. Bout 30 to 40 minutes....the whir of the motors came back on....and pilot assured us that the problem was very fixable, and we should be on our way within a few minutes...after all the paperwork was turned in. OK....about an hour late leaving....but rest of ride was very uneventful. The plane was probably about 3/4 filled....and it was one of the brand new ones introduced by JB recently. Pretty comfortable seats....and the new entertainment screens in front of each seat were larger than the old...with plenty of choices of games, tv shows...satellite tv(which didn't work for most of the ride because supposedly out of range), and PLENTY of movies to choose from, including a few pretty new ones...Joker...Bombshell...and others. FREE. Also...JB internet was free. Landed in SXM and had to bus to immigration. We got there just before another plane...and for the first time in years...it took probably an hour to get through the lines. I never have arrived on a Thursday before....but even on Saturdays never saw lines as long as they were yesterday. Good news is...once at the window it is a quick slam dunk. Got to baggage...and low and behold our bags were already on the carousel...and out the door, and there was AAA waiting for us. Quick ride the office, and within five minutes we were on our way to Mary's Boon, where we are camping out till tomorrow when we really get home to Royal Islander. We chose Mary's Boon, after all the recomendations I received from this forum. We did go cheap, and are staying in one of the garden basement untits, without any real windows and light....but the room is clean.....well equipped..even though we didn't need a kitchenette...VERY comfortable king poster bed...and a clean bathroom. Staff is fantastic. Within a few minutes of arrival...we were out at the beach....split a club sandwich for lunch, a couple of BBC's to wash it down, and a couple of hours of beatch time...we were in heaven. Last night for dinner, we had previous dinner plans with local friends here at Dinghy Dock. First time we ever ate there....even though we have driven by it a zillion times over the years. No reason for never going there before...just didn, 't... Had a wonderful meal there service was FANTASTIC. I had the ribs, with an asian spice sauce...my wife had the coconut shrimp po boy. Both of us were very happy and quite contented with our meals. I got a feeling we will be back. Our friends had fish and chips...which they say they love there, and get often.

This morning we both ''overslept''.....in fact was late morning when we finally awoke. Even the sounds of the planes landing and taken off didn't wake us up. we were amused by that. Beauty of staying at the Boon....within another ten minutes...we were beachside, and in the water. Waves were a bit higher than normal...but water was great. Lunch we ate right here at the Boon....Had a fantastic HUGE burger....wife had a salad with salmon. Both meals again were great...and pretty reasonably priced. Tonight, had to feed my addiction, and went to Chesterfield's for my "usual" meal there. Duck, and a lobster bisque. Wife had stuffed Mahi with crab. Once again....as always with us and Chesterfields....We were not disappointed at all!!! We arrived late, and i would say the restaurant was a bit quieter than usual. Service was very attentive...but for the first time going...did notice that they added a fifteen percent service charge, which i do not remember from previous million times there. no big deal....just left an additional five bucks to bring it up to the 20 percent we usually leave. Easy ride back to the Boon.....but another craving was hitting us on the way home...and that was a trip to the Carousel. Almost was disappointed there when we arrived, and didn't see any pineapple gelato there, but said something to the girl behind the counter...she went in back.....said they have a fresh batch there, and brought us out two cones. Ahhhhhh all is good.

So far, observation is, that most here are watching very close to see what is going on back home. I have heard a bunch of times already....If we get stranded going home...there is NO BETTER place to get stranded than in SXM. I do feel safer being here right now, than in Florida....since one of the latest confirmed cases is within a mile from our development. Hope everyone remains safe...no matter wherever you are reading this. I will add to our report, as time goes on. We still have almost thee weeks to go.

And...one other thing we heard here...not confirmed.....that Roxxy Beach is being taken over already by another group, who wants to put a hotel there too. This info came from a local. No doubt that...the locals lving in Simpson Bay HATE the place...the late night noise is driving plenty of people crazy...and this is before Royal Palm, and SBBR open up again. Also, the neighborhood business' aren't too happy with the noise level too. Restaurants even a distance from them are saying their patrons can't even have conversations because of the noise. I guess TECHNO and island people just don't jive together. Will post more is i hear more.

Are at the Atrium now. No loud music from Roxxys!!!

Thanks for the report, I think you mean Royal Palm and Flamingo as Simpson Bay Resort (SBBR?) is open.

There is some thumping music from Roxxy Beach there is music from BBB but as Mort said, it is not overly loud and has not been bothersome while at Atrium. Heck, I heard pretty loud music coming from Nowhere Special and Snoopy's while driving by last night.

I actually find the noise from the septic truck pumping out the tanks below us at 7:00am every morning way more annoying than the music from Roxxy Beach. I also understand the pumping of the septic system is a necessity so you learn to deal with it.

Nice report Ed. Glad the flying was somewhat smooth. We are supposed to do that in 18 days. Last April we stayed at the Atrium, facing Royal Palm, and was only bothered one night by loud music till 3 am. I believe it was Thurs.night/ Fri. morning, and that was before Roxxy Beach was open. It sounded like it was in the direction of Toppers.

Thanks for the report! Can't imagine anyone would be able to get a permit to build a hotel there where Roxxy is, but of course this is SXM..

Thanks for the report. We love"the worst fish and chips" to quote their menu, at Dinghy Dock. Enjoy your stay.

If their pockets are deep enough anything can be arranged, or so I’ve been told!

Ed,

Great beginnings to your trip and will look forward forward to the rest of it.

I will make one small criticism, suggestion, request or whatever you want to call it. Any chance you could use more paragraphs? Older eyes sometimes get lost in those really long ones but at the same time, don’t want to miss a word if it.

Enjoy the balance of your trip and say hi to the Birthday Girl and her crew........

I would agree with that.

"and this is before Royal Palm, and SBBR open up again. "
SBBR is and has been open for over a year now.

Nice report!

Enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for your report. Got to visit Roxxy Beach last Sunday, and it was loud over there. It appears to be attracting a younger crowd than what many of us are used to, so maybe that's a good thing. Didn't eat over there, so I can't comment on the restaurant or the quality of the food. Ruralcarrier and I were discussing this place, and this was the place that was adding a 5 percent entertainment charge to the bill. There were two DJ's in a separate booth pumping out tunes on some serious looking amplifiers. Didn't bother us, however when we walked back to Kim Sha for a quick afternoon nap.

Yes, they are attracting a younger crowd, but this 70-year-old and her 50 and 60ish friends had a blast there. We even got the DJ to play some Barry Manilow with a Techno vibe. Lots of fun, and a great bar!