TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin We have arrived

Our trip started off with a jolt Tuesday morning for our 3 am car service pickup for our 6 am DFW flight. Our driver called around 2:40 am asking where we were. He was at our new home, 71 miles to the north. After a lot of swearing on his part, he met us at the old house, and got us to the airport with plenty of time to spare.

The flight was uneventful, with only a TSA sidetracked by my carry on bag at their checkpoint getting examined, and our full tube of toothpaste being confiscated.

It took us about 2 hours from deplaning to exiting the airport. Weather was pleasant, and I knew by the airport arrival schedule that the 2 Air France jets were already there, and so the wait would be longer than normal. We were talking to the couple in front of us, and they mentioned they on had carry on baggage. I mentioned that they didn’t have to wait with us, they didn’t believe me, I called over one of the line patrols, and she took them to immigration. They were very happy.

Incidentally, a KLM flight arrived after us, they were let into immigration before us, and their bags took s long time to finish before ours. I guess one of the perks of being from the Netherlands.

We decided to go the Marigot way, after seeing that Simpson Bay route was backed-up onto the causeway, as was the Orange Grove route. They stopped us right before Marigot, and the Gendarme told us to go the back route via Maho and Cupecoy. You’ll have no problem getting into Marigot. No problem getting in, but no signage as to how to get out heading to Grand Case. There were people all over the streets, walking, talking, eating, partying, watching activities from their rooftops—just having a grand old time. We finally found the escape rout and slowly inched on the main road, until traffic cleared by the Agreememt round-a-bout.

We rolled into Grand Case Beach Club around 8 pm, and received a rousing welcome. One of the perks of ownership. I headed to the bar for a well deserved Ti Punch, and my wife followed shortly for dinner at Sunset Café. I was told that I may have needed reservations (a good idea on the island this time of year anywhere), so I walked next door asked for a reservation in 5 minutes, and was granted my request with a chuckle.

My meal was tuna tartar, with fries—crisp on the outside, soft inside—and Mrs. Cruser had the small Caesar salad. No pix, as I’d left my camera, ok IPhone, in the room. A very satisfying conclusion to a long day

Seems like the road sides are full up parking lots anywhere we go within Grand Case.

Wednesday was planned to be a more active day on our quest for doing as little as possible this trip. OK, a bit more active in that last trip I didn’t plan to write a trip report, and succeeded spectacularly. We picked up essential at Super U—water, Presidente, and cat food, disinfectants at the next door Pharmacy for Mrs. C’s thumb, and a great selection of cheese and Jambon at Bacchus.

Breakfast wa a caramel waffle with Chantilly for me, and Eggs Benedict for Mrs C (pictured).

Dinner at Le Bistronome was exceptional, and we have dined there many times. But, the last 2 times we were here they were closed, so it had been over a year. We started off with an app of wahoo and tuna carpaccio in a Tahitian dressing. This was preceeded by a wonderful amuse of a broccoli puree with a stick of baked parmesan. We both had the chopped lobster with sauce and spinach in a pastry shell. Excellent!! We followed up with a “fudge” and decaf Cappuccino, their shots and called it a night.

As an aside, we are in the process of moving to Lake Texoma from our house in Plano. We have fully moved out, but not fully moved in. Smarter people may have cancelled the trip to complete the move, but we have no problem doing this. Having been here for around 40 hours leads me to the conclusion that we made the right decision.

Nice pictures. Hopefully, when you find your report, it will say what some of those foods are. Will be interested to hear how you got to GCBC, with the festival going on in Marigot.

It's all there Carol. Right now, I'm not too sure about recovery, but I'm ready to get the support of a Ti Punch.

cruzer--carry on!

Carol, I managed to redo my narrative, with the assistance of a second Ti Punch and a desire to contribute to this forum as it has been really helpful to me. Any chance you can merger the two postings, or at least link them?

cruzer--check to see if you can edit your post. You might still be able to edit the original post.

Did it. I didn't think we had this much time to edit messages, I'll now try to delete my other post.

Great. I took care of the other post.

Nice report and lovely pictures. Pretty kitty!!

Nice pics and report. I wonder why KLM was allowed to go ahead of your flight? That would stink. Maybe Brian Mingo had relatives or friends on KLM?

Enjoy.

I thought I heard one of the gatekeepers say that transatlantic flights have priority. Why, I haven't a clue. I'll go with your guess..

Imagine that!

Airfrance and KLM always is allowed out first because of their landing position at the Airport and its nothing about privilege nepotism being mentioned.
Do enjoy your vacation.

Lesley--what do you mean "because of their landing position at the airport"?? Don't they have a preferred position for gateways, etc? Aren't they usually at A-1?

Yes they both have special landing areas , while the smaller planes if landed after them sometimes they have to park all the way outside far from the building itself .

So their luggage gets delivered first because they are closer to the building even though another plane may have arrived before them?

I can't understand why the arrival gate determines when the baggage is transferred...same process

Yes , that's why I do suggest to our customers to only travel with carry on.

Not an option for some travelers that need stuff not able to put in carry on.

What stuff that can't be bought in SXM? Not being sarcastic but curious since the next trip we plan to use only carry-on. I'm just racking my brain as to what I can't bring.

I've found stuff at Maho pharmacy that can be bought over the counter while in USA a RX is needed. French cosmetics, cream, sunscreen as well as Olay, powders, available at Carrefore,

Yes Dear try to figure it out clearly because it does get real bad sometimes for both sides i.e you arriving and me waiting lol.

I have beach stuff, workout stuff, casual clothes and stuff a bit nicer. And the footwear that goes with those activities. No way I can just use carry on. Get over it folks. It’s a pain for a couple hours and then you are on your way. For the rental car people it’s part of doing business.

Well said.

I too have beach "stuff" ( 2 suits, cover-up, water shoes), nylon shorts, T's for work outs, casual and dressier clothes, one pair of sandals, sneakers that I wear on plane. We each bring our own carry-on and pack with bags that roll to let out air resulting in more suitcase room. I guess we've mastered the art of packing?

Has anyone seen or used the new carry-ons that advertise a closet in a case? Can't remember name of them but the ad shows 2 weeks of clothing and when case opened a lift out sectional that is supposed to hang in the closet. Waiting on reviews before I purchase.