TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Stretch the Loonie

Pineapple Pete, do you mean you will accept Canadian dollar cash in payment? This is how Canuck54 seems to have interpreted your post.

What a nice gesture, Pineapple Pete! See you in a few weeks.

This thread is of particular interest to me. I have not been on TTOL in a couple of weeks, but over the last few days our soft dollar has really been weighing on my mind. I came here today to moan about it a bit.

There's not all that much to be done I suppose. I usually adhere to a kind of carpe diem kind of life - esp on vacay - but adding 30 percent onto the cost of carpe diem-ing is getting a bit scary. For sure a bit of eating in our room will offset some of the cost. We are staying in an apartment so close to Orient Beach this time that strolling home for lunch will not be an issue at all. We almost always have coffee, fruit, and pastries at home for breakfast, esp since we are usually still stuffed from some outrageous dinner, so that's okay.

I am interested to hear more ideas about dinner options - esp nearer Orient - that are somewhere between The Talk of the Town and Le Pressoir for price.

Activities/Day trips are not a great cost for us, 'cuz we have been to SXM enough times that we have done all that needs doing. Our daily itinerary usually contains little more than a long walk, lazing on a lounger on some (usually Orient) beach for the day, cocktails, then dinner. Carpe Diem is latin for expensive laziness.

Perhaps I am mistaken but I read it as PP with take CAD 1.20 as USD 1.00. Basically a 20% premium versus the higher 35%+ premium.

Just to clarify about the so called Canadian banks you
mention. The Scotia Bank and RBC are not the same as our Canadian banks. There is a Canadian interest in them, but they do not do business like our banks in Canada. In fact, their rules and regulations are very different. I was sorry to learn that as I too thought they would be similar.

We have such a great banking system in Canada that we are spoiled when visiting other countries.

I guess when visiting Pineapple Pete's, Canadian cash can be used to pay the bill at a better exchange rate which will be appreciated by many Canadian diners.

Still not sure if PP means Canadian cash or a Canadian CC. Hoping they will clear up the confusion.

Credit card was not mentioned so I personally would take it as a cash deal. Not sure how often Pierre reads this so it might be best to call the restaurant or contact him directly.

Agreed, best to contact the restaurant directly. Plus he said it was also for a limited time.

For years now we cook about 1/2 the time we are on island. We get tired eating out every night so with my wife being Italian we do pasta a couple of times. It's very easy to make in a limited kitchen you get at most places. Pizza to go is another reasonable dinner with a salad from produce purchased at the market. Although I am not a big fan of pizza in the Orient area (because I live and work in an area with fantastic pies) I shut up because I'm on vacation. Another good alternative is to get a whole rotisserie chicken sold at the small store in the village but you have to get that early because they are gone by 4 pm. A few years ago I bought a cheep grill at the Ace but the meat sold on island is not that good so we don't do that anymore. Some nights a baguette and some good salami and cheese will do if we had a big lunch.
One of our must haves wherever we stay is a table setup on the balcony. Nothing better than breakfast or dinner with a nice tropical breeze

I believe that canuck54 has contacted PP in a private message, but has not as yet had a reply.

Any of the beach bars on Orient fall within the "less than Le Pressoir" price range. Our favorite is Kakao; we often have our main meal there at lunchtime, and then just have cheese, crackers, and fruit with a bottle of wine for dinner in our unit. A very nice meal for two there, including a bottle of wine, usually runs slightly under $100, which would seem like a lot for lunch, but if you consider it's really dinner, then it's pretty reasonable.

It is actually more like 40%...the current exchange rate is 1.382 to purchase a US dollar, plus whatever % the bank charges. We live near the US border and the art of "cross-border shopping" for Canadians has ground to a halt.

John

As I suggested, I would call the restaurant or if you have a direct email to Pierre, use that as he is not on TTOL on a regular basis. A private message will ONLY be seen if he logs on and that has not happened for a few days.

1-721-544-6030

headpineapple@gmail.com

I know how you feel, I lived on a border for 40 years, fortunately on the hard currency side.

When you look at unemployment rates in the USA and Canada (which is one of the major indicators that federal banks look at), I don't think that the Canadian Dollar will be rising against the USD too soon.

This situation could even last several years.

The real killer to our dollar is the price of oil. Our economy was stupidly biased toward $110/bbl oil. Hopefully with our recent change in management someone can focus on building a more diversified economic base.

15 years ago when I was a film producer, I thought the soft dollar was pretty great. American films flocked here for the cheap labour and would hire me to run them.

Hello all! Just want to clarify for everyone. Pineapple Pete will accept $1.20 Canadian for US$1.00. This is only for cash sales and not in conjunction with any other offers or discounts. We cannot offer the discounted rate when using credit card as we have no control over the rate the credit card company will charge.
All of our staff are aware of this and more than happy to assist the Canadian visitors! Please just keep in mind that this is for a limited time only as we do not know when the rate may change again.
Wishing everyone a very happy and prosperous New Year!

Thank you Pierre for checking in and clarifying this. Happy New Year and see you in a couple of months.

Thank you Pierre for the clarification.

Simply in Sandy Ground is 1:1 exchange rate.
I think it is there to stay..
Bring US Cash, NOT Credit cards!

Monoprix in Baie Nettlé and Bellevue also, but their meat is edible ..

Today's CBC News headline:

"Canadian dollar dips below 71 cents for 1st time since 2003"

My vacation may be limited to icewater and soda crackers this time out.

Simply in Hope Estates was giving 1 euro to $1USD, cash only, this past week. It is a well stocked store.

I feel sorry for our Canadian friends. I just ordered some tickets for the Stratford Festival this summer, and my bank gave me over $1.40 CDN for $1 USD on my credit card. If only someone could do something about the astronomical airfares between the US and Canada. $765 USD RT, Philadelphia to Toronto - for a one hour flight !

Options:

Drive....about 10 hours from Philly.
Fly to Buffalo...2 hour drive to Stratford, about the same from Toronto.
Use US Airways or United FF points on Air Canada.
Wait for Air Canada seat sale.
Check pricing from other north east airports.
Welcome to my world!

We have done the PHL - BUF flight in the past. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it gets cancelled, and we end up getting stuck at the Philadelphia airport. I have driven straight home from Stratford to Philly, twice. It would have been a 10 hour trip, if not for a 2 hour delay on the Peace Bridge returning to the USA ( rarely any delays entering Canada ).

We are driving up this year. Roads are not too bad, and gas is cheap.

I just printed off some coupons on sintmaartenrentalweeks. There's a mega coupon book with printable coupons for food discounts, and one for Grand Marche that will definitely get used!

many of those coupons have expired

I'm gonna look at those coupons, because the Cdn dollar slipped even more yesterday. Crazy.

The ones I printed expire December 2016

There is a small booklet in the rack at the airport just after luggage retrieval. It is full of coupons including one for the Grand Marche.

Thanks!

Coupons.....we need more than coupons......any places doing 1:1......kate <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/canada.gif" alt="" />

What we need is 1 to 1 Canadian! LOL this vacation is going to be a pricey one.

that's what I was getting at 1:1 US to Cdn.....lol kate <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/canada.gif" alt="" />

WHEW! I found one St Martin location that will do 1:1 Cdn!

http://tinyurl.com/z3kt8pu

Pineapple Pete is offering 1:1 Canadian but don't know for how long. See higher in the posts.

Actually Pierre was offering 1:1.20 but only for a limited time. Below is his post that appeared earlier in this same thread. His last post was 12/30/15

Even worse news for the Loonie, forecast to go to 59 US Cents by the end of 2016..http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/record-low-loonie-in-top-forecaster%E2%80%99s-sights-amid-commodity-rout/ar-CCrFgi?ocid=ansmsnmoney11

Sorry about that error. Wishful thinking!!

Took Pierre (Pineapp Pete's) up on his offer tonight. As promised, multiply bill by 1.2 then pay in Canadian cash. Was awesome, food service, and the favorable exchange was a bonus. Thanks Pierre and staff!!