TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Paradise damaged (crime report)

Does anyone think that the Ministry of Tourism has a clue as to what's going on? Has anyone taken notice that the Cruise Ship traffic has dropped dramatically? It may be a blessing for those staying on Island for their vacation but it has to hurt the local businesses and anyone who works for them.

Without ships in port the number of people employed will go down. If the number of people employed drops I fear there will be more people with time on their hands and not enough money. That can lead to more crime. More crime will lead to people who read these blogs discovering that their relatively safe Island vacation is no longer as safe. People like Wendell, long time visitors, will stop coming. And then the snowball down hill effect/affect (I never really know) will be out of control.

We are going the last week of July and I know that if we feel uncomfortable in any way, it will be our last visit. As I stated earlier, the freedom to explore Sint Maartem/St. Martin, with it's beautiful beaches and many restaurants, is the attraction. There are many Islands in the chain. We happen to have fallen for SXM first and hardest. Breaking up is hard to do, but I will do it.

As always, JMHO

As far as cruise ship traffic in general, I think the actual number of cruise ship passengers is about the same as in previous years. Disney has pulled out with most of their ships, yes, but my personal perception is that it didn't have much to do with SXM as a destination, but because there wasn't a dedicated "Margaritaville" type destination in SXM where they could guarantee themselves a really large percentage of the money from their passengers.... They went to Tortola, which really is not a great cruise ship destination, but where they built a pier facility where they keep their pax kind of 'captive' and retain all their money. Hard to do that on SXM, where there are a lot more things that cruise ship passengers would like to see and do.

Crime is everywhere, every State, every Country, every Island. Just be careful and use common sense and enjoy the beautiful Island. Going to deserted beaches, beaches after dark or Restaurants that are known to be in a shady part of town should be off the itinerary, as I'm sure you are well aware. Just come and have a good time.

I think you need to re-read the original post. He was mugged on the main road in Simpson Bay at 8 in the evening. Nothing shady about where he was, and it certainly wasn't late. He parked in front of a restaurant and was attacked when he got out of his car. The victim in this case did everything right, and was still a victim of crime.

So, in essence, Disney went to Tortola so that they could be an "all inclusive".

Absolutely.

I wasn't responding to the OP, I was responding to RicknGrace LI NY. in no way did I think the OP did anything wrong. Things happen and I'm sorry for that. I was only saying (to RicknGrace) that they should be aware, not the OP. I agree you can do everything right and still be a victim. Sorry you misunderstood. I guess I didn't push reply to their post.

We have always been aware of our surroundings. More so now than ever, naturally.

We have been going since 1993. In 1994 my wife, 3 children and myself were walking in Phillipsburg near 10pm from dinner to our car. I never felt threatened in any way.

My point is that since that time, and more so recently, the crime rates have risen. With Social Media word of incidents such as Walt's, travel very quickly. My post above was to hopefully, make the Authorities aware of what is happening and if something is not done tourism will suffer.

Although I know crime is possible anywhere, when on vacation I hate the thought of having to constantly look over my shoulder.

Don't think the authorities pay any attention to this forum.

I was not thinking of this forum in particular, but Social Media and print media in general. If people never speak up, nothing will ever be done.

JMHO

Hi Walt, I've been traveling and just read about your terrible experience. My thoughts are with you and your wife and I wish you both a very speedy recovery. All the best to you and your wife.

We spent 2 weeks , June 4 -June 17 , at The Villas on Great Bay in Philipsburg. We noticed that only 3 ship in 2 weeks came in. In 2014 when we stayed there, on some days, there were as many as 4 ships in a day. The taxi drivers and store owners we talked to said that business was way down and felt the crime had a lot to do with it. We were even told by one of the store owners, for our safety, that we probably shouldn't be on that street ( I don't remember the street name, but it was a block from back street). He said there had been several robberies on that street. It was early afternoon and we hadn't had any problems, but we took his advice and didn't go back down there.

And that's the shame of it. I too, remember ships in port every day and many days with more than one. Cruise Lines, travel professionals and just tourists in general will hear the rumblings and will start to avoid SXM. That may start the snowball factor. More crime...less tourists. Less tourists...less jobs. Less jobs...more crime and so on and so on.

I will not write SXM off yet. I love it too much.

There have never been many ships in June. We see up to 6 daily when we're there in March. I think June/July is when the ships reposition to Europe--at least we always get offered for that. Then they return later to the states. Only Carnival hasn't approached us offering repositioning cruises so I guess they stay stateside and travel to Mexico & Caribbean?

Yes, ships go to Europe and to Alaska in the summer... Not many ships in the Caribbean in the summer.. The cruise lines can get much more for their cruises in Europe and Alaska than in the Caribbean. Just the laws of supply and demand. The season for Alaska is very short, for Europe, not that much longer. For the Caribbean, year round..

Carol & RonDon,

You are both 100% correct. All anyone had to do was go to the forum top menu and choose cruise schedule and they could see the past 3 years history. This time of year, you average about 1 ship a day. One thing I have noticed is a fair amount of fear mongering going on. I truly feel sorry for WALT and his wife and I really appreciate him sharing with the forum. But, some others seem to throw out quite a bit of anecdotal comments that have limited to no accurate facts. I do think that incorrect information needs to be called out and corrected to prevent these scare tactics.

I for one agree bdeeley about calling out incorrect info. Bravo for posting.

We were there 5/31 to 6/11 and heard the same remarks from the few locals (cab drivers etc.) about the lack of cruise ships.
The Port of Sint Maarten web site's Cruise ship schedule shows that for the entire month of June the count went like this for the last few years...
2013 - 19 ships
2014 - 25 ships
2015 - 21 ships
2016 - 18 ships
2017 - 19 ships (scheduled anyway)
They saw a 15% to 25% drop recently not a drastic change but not growing. Certainly not "bad" info. either.

I agree with bdeely. Things unfortunately happen to good people that are careful. I'm sure it happens on every island in every port and even in Europe.

I feel awful that it happened to members of the board but it's a chance we all take going to a foreign country.

Just my two cents.

If you were referring to my reply, you said they average about 1 ship per day this time of year. I just made the statement that there were only 3 ships in the whole time we were there, 14 days. That is fewer than we had seen in the past. We always travel in June. I'm not trying to misinform or scare anyone. I was just saying what I had experienced and was told to me . I thought that was what this form was for.

While it really doesn't matter but is the posted cruise ship schedule completely wrong? Because during the days you posted the schedule says 8 ships had been in port? Are they changing itineraries? That could be distressing to the economy of the ships aren't coming as expected

The cruise schedule that is linked here is the official port schedule, and it appeared to be spot on, from May 26 through June 6, when we were on island. Specifically I know there were ships in on June 4, 5, and 6, because we saw them on those days. So oceangirl is mistaken. There certainly are a ton more ships in port in the winter though.

I certainly didn't report unknown or made up information. I have not had conversations with shop owners or cab drivers. However I did read a published article near the beginning of the year (i do NOT recall where) stating that cruise ship visits to SXM were down significantly.

25 in 2014/ 18 in 2016 7 doesn't sound like a lot but it is 28%. How many passengers on each ship? Use 2500 for round numbers. 17500 less visitors in a month. Now 7 ships sounds like a bit more.

I am not "Chicken Little" ranting about the sky. I am not sugar coating it either.

We love SXM and will continue to visit until it feels unsafe. I will not visit SXM and stay in a compound that I can never leave out of fear. The beauty has always been the freedom to "see" the entire Island.

Cruise ship schedule aside (it doesn't really matter how many ships were in port in June), I don't see any real 'fear mongering' going on in this post. People are just reporting things as they know them, and I for one, would rather know of these things, than not. The truth of the matter is that crime is increasing on the island; tourists are being attacked and robbed (sometimes in broad daylight); and the police are doing little about it (at least on the Dutch side). Even when one does wish to file a police report, as Walt said, they have to jump through hoops to get it done. The police couldn't even say from where they recovered Walt's wallet. Really? As I posted, there were 3 incidents that I personally knew about while we were on island this month. One happened to friends we had made while there this trip. We ourselves noticed many more young guys hanging out in parking lots. This is not fear mongering -- it's making people aware of situations. These crimes have been happening more and more in busy areas, and earlier in the day/evening. Some people, it seems, like to put their head in the sand when it comes to our favorite island, but I'd rather be aware of what's going on than not. We travel a great deal to foreign countries, but this last trip was the first time that I felt truly uncomfortable because of what we saw personally. Walt did the same things most of us do on every trip, nothing more, and still became a victim. Same thing with our friends. This 'crime is everywhere' mentality doesn't hold up when the police and government do little or nothing. We have crime here in the US too, yes, but I don't walk around looking over my shoulder in most vacation places I travel to. We will take a 'wait and see' attitude for now, but the time will come when each of us has to make an informed decision about whether or not SXM continues to be a vacation destination where we feel comfortable enough to spend our hard earned dollars. We love the island and all it offers, so we are hoping things will clean up some.

Most of this is pretty far afield of the original post. But your numbers regarding cruise ship passengers are way off, at 2500. The new Royal Caribbean ships hold well over 4000 passengers on a routine basis and maximum capacity is close to 5000 passengers. 2500 passengers is a relatively 'small' ship these days. Ships are getting bigger and bigger every year.

I think that is a good place to end this one.