After a very short night, which made for a very long day yesterday, I arrived SXM about 3:15 yesterday. We got out of DAY early and landed in ATL almost 1 hour early. A very smooth flight with just a little turbulence at the end. This made for over a 3 hour layover, the plane was boarded and full and ready for departure about 10 minutes early. I heard some announcement about security (after the doors were closed) and then sat at the gate for 40 minutes. No idea what that was about. I was on Delta coming to SXM
I was in regular coach and was next to a couple from SD who were first time visitors. They had a lot of questions and were surprised when I told them to NEVER leave anything in the car unless they were with it or could live without it. We continued our conversation while in the long and ETREMELY slow line for the kiosk where you scan your passport. A conservative estimate would be LESS than 10% of the arrivals had filled out the form ahead of time and were painfully doing it then. It was excruciating to watch as what should have taken us less than 10 minutes took about 40. Once in a while you would see an arriving passenger scan their passport, get a photo and get a green check mark and proceed in a matter of a minute or so. That is how it is supposed to work.
I got to a kiosk, and it scanned my passport successfully but would not take my photo. An agent assisted me (when she was not manually doing the entries for the clueless who had not done the form online) and finally told me to proceed to the next line to see an agent. This moved very fast. My luggage was waiting and my friends who had arrived on Friday met me in front of the airport.
I am with my usual March travel group, with the addition of a young man who is making his second visit to SXM. We have a 3 bedroom penthouse unit at Royal Palm. A great view and nicely appointed as it is a wholly owned unit and not rented as a timeshare.
After some unpacking it was off to Lee's for me while I dropped the others at The Greenhouse. I had a couple of drinks and an excellent Mahi with rice and fried plantain. Service at the bar from Val and Germaine and a visit with Lee who made an appearance. He looked very good and was a pleasure to talk to. I walked to the Greenhouse to meet the others, who were just finishing their meals. Both Lee's and The Greenhouse were very busy, with The Greenhouse being at full capacity.
After a couple of glasses of water on the deck, it was time for bed.
I will attach a picture of the Mahi.
If you know anyone arriving, stress to them to fill out the arrival form online. It will make things so much easier for everyone.
Also, please excuse any grammar or spelling issues as my spellcheck is not working for some reason.
So, here's the question. If you don't come here to TTOL or other social media sites, how do you know you are supposed to fill out the form?
When I reviewed my trip itinerary on Delta's website there was a message at the top that said something like "you have travel documents to review". One is to verify your passport and the other is the link to the entry.sx website. I don't know what other airlines do. But I did know about the form from TTOL.
