Unrest in St Martin

[PG Cruiser]

Has anyone heard about the unrest on the French side of St Martin?  I wonder how this will affect Oasis' stop on the island?  Which side is the Topper's Distillery on? 

[smokeybandit]

https://www.cruisehive.com/royal-caribbean-advises-guests-to-avoid-tensions-in-st-martin/59664

[Jill]

Just go Dutch. It’s more fun on the Dutch side anyways 

[twangster]

The French also struggled after the most recent hurricane that damaged the island a few years ago.

 Like then Royal recommends guests stay on the Dutch side.  No need to skip the port.  

[smokeybandit]

9 minutes ago, Jill said:

Just go Dutch. It’s more fun on the Dutch side anyways 

Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side?

[Jill]

9 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side?

I say pass the Dutchie ‘pon the left hand side 

It a go bun (give me the music, make me jump and prance)
It a go dung, ya know? (Give me the music, make me rockin' at the dance) 
 

[Floski]

The French government pretty much left them to rot after the big hurricane, while the

Dutch sent a lot of relief to help re-build.   We were in Marigot in '18, after the storm, 

and there was a house fire downtown.  The hoses and fire equipment was abysmal.

[RWDW1204]

1 hour ago, PG Cruiser said:

Has anyone heard about the unrest on the French side of St Martin?  I wonder how this will affect Oasis' stop on the island?  Which side is the Topper's Distillery on? 

Dutch.

[12thman]

 

[SPS]

12 hours ago, PG Cruiser said:

Which side is the Topper's Distillery on? 

Topper's Rhum is on the Dutch side. We have visited them twice at their original location. 

They have just recently relocated the restaurant and the distillery to Welfare Road in Cole Bay.

[loki007]

12 hours ago, Jill said:

Just go Dutch. It’s more fun on the Dutch side anyways 

Way more fun!

[Jacqui]

We stopped in St. Maarten on our cruise on Symphony 3 weeks ago.  We did the double decker bus tour which went through both sides of the island.  We didn't see anything concerning, but I think our stops were mostly on the Dutch side.

[PG Cruiser]

39 minutes ago, Jacqui said:

We stopped in St. Maarten on our cruise on Symphony 3 weeks ago.  We did the double decker bus tour which went through both sides of the island.  We didn't see anything concerning, but I think our stops were mostly on the Dutch side.

I booked this excursion too last September.  I booked it again for my sailing on the Oasis this month.  I promised my friends I'd get them flavored rhums from Topper's and I liked the cheese place... ha ha

[Jacqui]

On 11/12/2021 at 2:20 PM, PG Cruiser said:

I booked this excursion too last September.  I booked it again for my sailing on the Oasis this month.  I promised my friends I'd get them flavored rhums from Topper's and I liked the cheese place... ha ha

I bought a bottle of the peach habanero rum from Toppers.  Pretty much every flavor we tried was good though!

[MuttMutt]

Supposed to be in St Maarten next year after Thanksgiving so hoping that things will be settled down by then or escalated to the point where the ship will just shift to a different port instead.  Not that I really intend to go to many places on the island but wondering what could happen while I am there is a pain.  

[Ray]

Read report that mentioned that the french are building barracades so it  makes their retreat easier and the dutch just want everyone to chill out

[smokeybandit]

I didn't get the impression the unrest was any cause for safety concern for tourists, just a traffic nuisance that could affect getting back to the ship on time.

[Ray]

21 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

I didn't get the impression the unrest was any cause for safety concern for tourists, just a traffic nuisance that could affect getting back to the ship on time.

Think my joke got lost somewhere lol like the one about french army vehicles only having 1 gear....reverse and the dutch always being stoned and chilling out

[MinnesotaCruiser]

Harmony XMas Cruise just changed ports from Antigua TO St. Maarten….interesting.

[Dlove707]

Will be in St. Maarten in 2 weeks and booked a tour with Bernards Tours, does anyone think this will cause any disruption with the tour and getting back to the ship on time?

[MuttMutt]

59 minutes ago, Dlove707 said:

Will be in St. Maarten in 2 weeks and booked a tour with Bernards Tours, does anyone think this will cause any disruption with the tour and getting back to the ship on time?

Right now it shouldn't.  Haven't heard a lot in the news but it was all happening on the French side of the island and you will be going into the Dutch side.  After that it's a matter of taking stuff with the cruise line or just avoiding the French side right now, if your tour stays on the Dutch side then it's a non-issue.  The only thing I would worry about is regular traffic for delays though.  My best guess is the tour operator will be avoiding any major problem areas either way.

As best as I can tell it was mainly just some roadblocks and demonstrations so unless something changes between now and then I wouldn't have too many worry's about it.

[Floski]

Bernard's does go to the French side - Marigot, Orient Beach, at least.   

I hate that there are issues but when we were there 3 years ago, it was evident that

the French government wasn't helping their citizens, and probably still haven't done

much.   Hard to blame the residents.

[AHollyS]

14 hours ago, Dlove707 said:

Will be in St. Maarten in 2 weeks and booked a tour with Bernards Tours, does anyone think this will cause any disruption with the tour and getting back to the ship on time?

I'm farther out than 2 weeks (more like 4), but I'm 100% same. I WANT to visit the French side to get a geocache (it is my VERY serious hobby). Bernard's is my chosen way to go. The last time I was in St. M I didn't get to the french side. In fact it was a miserable. I was in the first stages of Noro. It was a "fun" cruise.

When you get back share with us how it goes.

[steverk]

I'm boarding explorer which stops at st. Maarten. I have a custom tour set up with a cab driver and will discuss they issue with him. I'll let you know how it goes 

[WAYNO]

 

My Wife was on St. Maarten on November 11th.  Her ship-provided tour purposely did not cross to the French side.  Seemed a privately booked tour could come and go as they pleased, with the associated risks left to the individual tourists. 

[Snotarni]

We're on an ATV tour that will head over to the French side as well in early December.  I guess we'll wait to see what everyone else reports!  Thanks!

[barjpoe]

We just came off Allure of the Seas, did the trolley tour (booked through Shore excursions). It just drove around the capital. Did stop at a cheese store and had about a half hour of shopping in Philipsburg. Looking back over the info we got, the only restrictions where when we got to St. Kitts -all guests had to book a tour through Royal.

[BrianAlt]

1 hour ago, barjpoe said:

Did stop at a cheese store...

What kind of cheese did they have?

[steverk]

I just completed a private taxi tour of the whole island. Had no trouble at all.

For anyone interested,  I used taxi 222 driven by Ramon. I highly recommend him. He's knowledgeable, friendly,  prompt and funny. You can contact him at ramon.amador74@hotmail com

[wordell1]

No issues with going to the French side today. We took a taxi to Orient Beach.

The driver said you never know but that he didn't think there would be a repeat of tbe road blocks anytime soon. He said a lot of people were hurt financially and were angry with the protests.

[barjpoe]

On 11/24/2021 at 8:56 AM, BrianAlt said:

What kind of cheese did they have?

The shop is called the Amsterdam Cheese shop and Liquor store. I really don't remember , though I did buy a package of asparagus flavored cheese, (haven't tried it yet). many different flavors mild to hot. Got a sampling of 2 gouda type. At the end the tour guide offered either an almond cookie or Hoodsie cup type of ice cream. Some one in our group didn't think much of the vanilla flavor, she also had pistachio didn't get a reaction on that flavor.  

[smokeybandit]

42 minutes ago, barjpoe said:

asparagus flavored cheese

[barjpoe]

1 hour ago, smokeybandit said:

 as I said haven't tried it yet. will let you know when I do

[PG Cruiser]

I asked our tour guide on the Double Decker Bus Tour about this.  She said it happened 3 weeks ago and it was not an issue for us yesterday.  With these ongoing protest actions, you'll never know when they will organize rallies and roadblocks.

[PG Cruiser]

23 hours ago, barjpoe said:

The shop is called the Amsterdam Cheese shop and Liquor store. I really don't remember , though I did buy a package of asparagus flavored cheese, (haven't tried it yet). many different flavors mild to hot. Got a sampling of 2 gouda type. At the end the tour guide offered either an almond cookie or Hoodsie cup type of ice cream. Some one in our group didn't think much of the vanilla flavor, she also had pistachio didn't get a reaction on that flavor.  

The store has skimped on their samples on our visit yesterday.   In September, they had about 3-4 sampling stations and I was able to sample about 10 kinds of cheese.  Yesterday, there was only one station with three kinds of basic cheeses.   No asparagus flavored ones.

Maybe I'm the one to blame here... I tried 10 kinds of cheese but I did not buy any ha ha

[Dlove707]

For anyone interested, I kept my booking with bernards tours and I am actually posting this from the French bakery. We have not ran into any issues at all and our tour guide told us that the issues were pretty much in one certain area which we avoided. The tour has been great and we are now headed to the Dutch side. 

[AHollyS]

22 minutes ago, Dlove707 said:

For anyone interested, I kept my booking with bernards tours and I am actually posting this from the French bakery. We have not ran into any issues at all and our tour guide told us that the issues were pretty much in one certain area which we avoided. The tour has been great and we are now headed to the Dutch side. 

Thank you!!! That is exactly who I’m booked with!!!