TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Trip report first days

We arrived on island on November 1st after a somewhat difficult start. After 17 years of coming here , we decided to invite our son and DIL to join us for the first time. We drove from our home in Knoxville to their hometown of Charlotte, NC on Tuesday, Oct. 31st. Woke at 4 am on Wednesday morning to catch the 7:12 am flight with connection in Miami. That first leg went fine, other than the fact that CLT didn’t have a wheelchair ready for my DIL; when asked about it at the front desk, the AA rep merely pointed and said,”wheelchairs are down the other end”. Um, okay. We were somewhat concerned about the connection time of 58 minutes, as the Miami sky train was out of service, and the original connecting gate was all the way at the opposite side of terminal D - a mile walk from our arrival gate. Upon arrival, we found they had changed our departure gate to one directly across from our arrival gate, so it was an easy walk. They had the requested wheelchair waiting on the jetway for my DIL upon arrival in Miami; absolutely no problem or delay with that. Service was prompt and courteous. And although we didn’t need to make use of it, they did have courtesy carts available to shuttle passengers to their gates. It was all rather organized for Miami airport.

The problem arose on the connecting flight to SXM. We were settled in our seats and they were getting ready to close the door when a man sitting one row behind and across the aisle from us had what appeared to be a cardiac event. He had boarded the plane looking very pale and sweaty, according to one passenger, and suddenly passed out in the aisle and stopped breathing Several passengers (2 nurses, a marine, and another man who I believed was a CRNA) jumped up and immediately began CPR on the man. They resuscitated him a couple of times and used the onboard defibrillator twice over about a 10-minute period. The fire department arrived and their paramedics took over. The man was conscious when he was carried off the plane. He was apparently traveling with a woman companion who didn’t seem to know much personal information about him (prior health history, known allergies, etc). I hope he did alright. The passengers who assisted were amazing. There was a bit of trouble with some of the medical equipment on board. The O2 mask wasn’t the right size for the oxygen bottle and there were a few other issues. But everyone remained calm and did what needed to be done. The flight was overall delayed 2 hours because we had to wait an additional 40 minutes while the AA staff tracked down replacement equipment for the items used on the ill passenger. Federal guidelines prohibit the plane from taking off without it. Not sure where they had to get it from, but it took a while. My son, who is a somewhat fearful flyer to begin with, was getting a bit anxious, but he did fine.

It was a long day, pretty stressful, but we arrived safely in SXM around 3:30 pm, happy to be here. Lesley was waiting for us with our car and quickly got us on our way, as always. It was good to see his smiling face.

After getting settled in and unpacked in our BSV unit, #5 this time, it was off to the Yacht Club for an early dinner. I can’t remember what everyone ate, but I had the chicken parm, which hit the spot - helped along by a delicious White Russian.

The next few days have been spent mostly beaching (Orient), eating, and relaxing in front of our unit. The ‘kids’ are loving the island and have been in the water on ‘our’ beach almost every day. We’ve mostly eaten simple as the ‘kids’ prefer that. This far, we’ve eaten at the Yacht Club, Fat Tony’s, Bar Code, the Palms, and the Rib Shack (where I had a very delicious Creole Shrimp dish). Lunches have been on the beach - the Perch (always good), Orange Fever (beachside service was good but the food was disappointing - all our dishes came out cold and my Mahi fish sandwich was super thin and dry), and Aloha, which was fun with very good food. Breakfasts have either been at the Yacht Club or pastries from Zee Best. We will get over to Reveil Matin before we leave, as we do enjoy their breakfasts.

As I write this, it’s now Tuesday and we are taking a shopping day in Philipsburg. Let the parking fun begin.

Robin,

What an arrival!
So glad we finally got to meet and wishing you and Ed a really good visit after a rather rocky beginning. Very nice trip report and I know how much the people at home will enjoy it. At least, I know I always love other peoples’ perspectives on this place we love………

Thanks for the report. Wow, what an eventful flight down!! Glad they were able to revive the person enough that he was conscious. Hope he is OK.

Looking forward to hearing more about your trip. Enjoy!

Blessings Folks and do enjoy your stay once again.

Great report! A frightening start to your trip, but hopefully every day will prove to be enjoyable. Time is flying past quickly!

A similar thing happened to me on a flight a year or so ago - used on-board equipment and couldn't take off until it was replaced.

Sorry dinner didn't work out tonight but hope we can manage to get together before you leave.

Time IS indeed going by too quickly. This is a relatively short stay for us this time around due to a number of factors beyond our control. No complaints, though, as we’re thoroughly enjoying our stay. Miss you - feels strange not having you for our neighbor. Next year we’ll do better.

We’re sorry we couldn’t swing it tonight. Hope to see you soon. Next November will be a longer trip for sure!

Nice to meet you last week. Only home 3 days although feels much longer. We had the creole shrimp last year. Loved it.

I can’t believe we haven’t run into you !
Have you been to the pool? It has been pretty busy there at times.
Lots of new and old faces—