St. Maarten/St Thomas--first trip back for DCL

wjs3

Mouseketeer
Joined
Aug 1, 2015
Hi--

We were on the Fantasy this past week for the first return to the (modified) eastern Caribbean itinerary--including St. Maarten (in place of Tortola) and St. Thomas.

The staff and crew were very good about managing expectations for the hurricane-impacted islands. They reinforced how important it was to the islands for cruises to return, but that we would still see damage and problems.

For anyone going on this itinerary, I thought it would be useful to report a few things, at least as I saw them, in case it helps. Everything was safe...and there were a few eye-opening pieces of damage still to be seen. In general I thought we came back to St Maarten a bit too soon, but to St Thomas at a better time.

On St. Maarten, expect to see lots of building damage. Even in the immediate port area of Phillipsburg, with newer buildings/structure, a piece of dock was missing, light poles were gone and there was roof and building damage. In Phillipsburg itself, it was worse. There were a lot of buildings with missing or destroyed roofs and other structural damage. I would estimate that half of the shops/restaurants in the Phillipsburg area were shuttered up. There were plenty open, don't get me wrong, but it was less open for business than I expected. Many places appeared to be running on generator too.

Also in St Maarten, there were a few problems with port adventures. The hurricane took out most of the buses (used to transport people on excursions, of course) and there was some miscommunication with the ship about how many people to book. We were left stranded at the bus stop because there were more people booked than there were buses. Don't expect things to run smoothly quite yet.

Though the trees are growing back in Phillipsburg, it is definitely not as lush as it once was. That will change with time. A bigger problem is that because port adventures are limited (and three ships were in), many people took the water taxi to Phillipsburg and the beaches, making them quite crowded. But it appears only one water taxi survived the hurricane. That one boat was quite overworked and as all aboard time approached, the queues for returning to the ship got quite long as the crowded beaches emptied.

Interestingly, Google has put a few of its project loon balloons over St Maarten to provide better cell and wifi coverage. You could see three of them the day we were in port.

St Maarten...a bit too soon.

St Thomas also had evident damage. Even at the docks, you will still see buildings with their roofs peeled open. The tramway is still down. There is tree damage still evident, though that is starting to recover. You will see many, many, many "FEMA tarps" on houses if you venture out on the island, and will see areas that were washed out from flooding and hurricane debris on the sides of the road in places. There are literally fields where they have taken all of the broken appliances and other miscellaneous stuff that the hurricanes destroyed until those things can be removed form the island.

Several resorts are closed with evident damage to buildings. I did not get into the shopping/business area at Charlotte Amalie, but it looked ok from a distance. I understand that most of the power grid has been restored, and most of the stores in the immediate dock area looked fine and unimpacted from the hurricane (other than the warehouse with the roof peeled off...)

i did not do a port adventure in St Thomas, but did take a taxi to Sapphire Beach. I don't know if port adventures are impacted in St Thomas as they were in St Maarten. Roads are no worse than they ever have been, though traffic lights are not right still.

All in all, St Thomas seemed to be recovering faster than St Maarten. While it still seemed early to be back, St Thomas was a better stop on the cruise. Still not what it once was, and much less pristine and polished than before the hurricane, but better than St Maarten by a lot.

Hope this helps. I'm sure that every week things will improve and am eager to hear from others as things change.

wjs3
 
I would agree that St Maarten was either hit harder or is just not recovering as quickly. On St Maarten, we did the bus tour that went around the island and the French side of the island had even more damage than the Dutch side. The driver said there was more water damage on the Dutch side and more wind damage on the French side. We stopped for shopping at an open air market and the vendors were thanking all of us for being there. The driver said most of the hotels were too damaged to be open, even now, so the cruise passengers were their only visitors.

We did the "secret beach" getaway on St Thomas and the beach was lovely but it was our first visit so I don't know if there were more trees in the past. We saw some damage but it didn't appear to be as bad as on St Maarten.
 
Anyone know how Magens Bay fared in St. Thomas? Also Simpson Bay in St. Maarten?

I would agree that St Maarten was either hit harder or is just not recovering as quickly. On St Maarten, we did the bus tour that went around the island and the French side of the island had even more damage than the Dutch side. The driver said there was more water damage on the Dutch side and more wind damage on the French side. We stopped for shopping at an open air market and the vendors were thanking all of us for being there. The driver said most of the hotels were too damaged to be open, even now, so the cruise passengers were their only visitors.
Our cruise is in March. If you were doing it again, would you choose something on the French or Dutch side, given what you saw?
 


Hi--

We were on the Fantasy this past week for the first return to the (modified) eastern Caribbean itinerary--including St. Maarten (in place of Tortola) and St. Thomas.

The staff and crew were very good about managing expectations for the hurricane-impacted islands. They reinforced how important it was to the islands for cruises to return, but that we would still see damage and problems.

For anyone going on this itinerary, I thought it would be useful to report a few things, at least as I saw them, in case it helps. Everything was safe...and there were a few eye-opening pieces of damage still to be seen. In general I thought we came back to St Maarten a bit too soon, but to St Thomas at a better time.

On St. Maarten, expect to see lots of building damage. Even in the immediate port area of Phillipsburg, with newer buildings/structure, a piece of dock was missing, light poles were gone and there was roof and building damage. In Phillipsburg itself, it was worse. There were a lot of buildings with missing or destroyed roofs and other structural damage. I would estimate that half of the shops/restaurants in the Phillipsburg area were shuttered up. There were plenty open, don't get me wrong, but it was less open for business than I expected. Many places appeared to be running on generator too.

Also in St Maarten, there were a few problems with port adventures. The hurricane took out most of the buses (used to transport people on excursions, of course) and there was some miscommunication with the ship about how many people to book. We were left stranded at the bus stop because there were more people booked than there were buses. Don't expect things to run smoothly quite yet.

Though the trees are growing back in Phillipsburg, it is definitely not as lush as it once was. That will change with time. A bigger problem is that because port adventures are limited (and three ships were in), many people took the water taxi to Phillipsburg and the beaches, making them quite crowded. But it appears only one water taxi survived the hurricane. That one boat was quite overworked and as all aboard time approached, the queues for returning to the ship got quite long as the crowded beaches emptied.

Interestingly, Google has put a few of its project loon balloons over St Maarten to provide better cell and wifi coverage. You could see three of them the day we were in port.

St Maarten...a bit too soon.

St Thomas also had evident damage. Even at the docks, you will still see buildings with their roofs peeled open. The tramway is still down. There is tree damage still evident, though that is starting to recover. You will see many, many, many "FEMA tarps" on houses if you venture out on the island, and will see areas that were washed out from flooding and hurricane debris on the sides of the road in places. There are literally fields where they have taken all of the broken appliances and other miscellaneous stuff that the hurricanes destroyed until those things can be removed form the island.

Several resorts are closed with evident damage to buildings. I did not get into the shopping/business area at Charlotte Amalie, but it looked ok from a distance. I understand that most of the power grid has been restored, and most of the stores in the immediate dock area looked fine and unimpacted from the hurricane (other than the warehouse with the roof peeled off...)

i did not do a port adventure in St Thomas, but did take a taxi to Sapphire Beach. I don't know if port adventures are impacted in St Thomas as they were in St Maarten. Roads are no worse than they ever have been, though traffic lights are not right still.

All in all, St Thomas seemed to be recovering faster than St Maarten. While it still seemed early to be back, St Thomas was a better stop on the cruise. Still not what it once was, and much less pristine and polished than before the hurricane, but better than St Maarten by a lot.

Hope this helps. I'm sure that every week things will improve and am eager to hear from others as things change.

wjs3

Thanks for your update, we are headed to St Thomas and St Maarten on the Fantasy, we leave on Saturday....I was surprised when Disney switched to St Maarten from Tortola, I know the islanders need the cruise ship passengers to stop to help restore their island's economy, I just think i am going to feel bad getting off the luxury ship while there is still so many things in disarray on the island
 
Thanks for your update, we are headed to St Thomas and St Maarten on the Fantasy, we leave on Saturday....I was surprised when Disney switched to St Maarten from Tortola, I know the islanders need the cruise ship passengers to stop to help restore their island's economy, I just think i am going to feel bad getting off the luxury ship while there is still so many things in disarray on the island

If I had to do it over again I would have just stayed on the ship. Not for feeling bad, but just because so much was shuttered or damaged. If you want to lay on the Phillipsburg beach for the day (and don't mind the crowds nor the iffy water taxi lines), it might work out for you. For my family, looking to sightsee and shop, it did not. No doubt it will be a bit better every few weeks, but that was my take when I left. Good luck.


Our cruise is in March. If you were doing it again, would you choose something on the French or Dutch side, given what you saw?

Though you didn't ask me, assuming the French side is worse than the Dutch, I wouldn't do either at this point. Again, by March, as money starts to flow, it should improve. Best of luck.
 
If I had to do it over again I would have just stayed on the ship. Not for feeling bad, but just because so much was shuttered or damaged. If you want to lay on the Phillipsburg beach for the day (and don't mind the crowds nor the iffy water taxi lines), it might work out for you. For my family, looking to sightsee and shop, it did not. No doubt it will be a bit better every few weeks, but that was my take when I left. Good luck.

Though you didn't ask me, assuming the French side is worse than the Dutch, I wouldn't do either at this point. Again, by March, as money starts to flow, it should improve. Best of luck.
Thanks. I appreciate your views. So much is unknown right now.
 


Thank you for this; we go at the end of Feb so nice to have an idea of what to expect. I have the luxury of never having been to either island, so at least I won't have memories of "what it once was" to compete with current reality.
 
Thank you for this; we go at the end of Feb so nice to have an idea of what to expect. I have the luxury of never having been to either island, so at least I won't have memories of "what it once was" to compete with current reality.

Same for us.

Thanks to the OP for posting such a detailed description. I'm going to pass the info along to my mom and MIL that will be traveling with us. Only 47 Days to go!
 
We did a boat tour with Souliga Destinations in St Maarten and it was awesome! We went all the way around the island, stopping at several coves to snorkel or just float around. The beaches and water are still beautiful.
 
This was such a great description of what to expect. We leave on 1/27 on the Fantasy for these two islands, we will also be going to St. Marteen in August on Allure of the Seas (RCCL), so it will be interesting to see how much more progress has been made by then.
 
We did a boat tour with Souliga Destinations in St Maarten and it was awesome! We went all the way around the island, stopping at several coves to snorkel or just float around. The beaches and water are still beautiful.

We are booked with Captain Bob for our February cruise. I was initially very disappointed because we were originally supposed to stop in Tortola and we had an excursion booked with Aristocat Charters that we had really been looking forward to, but we have heard great things about Soualiga as well!
 
A bigger problem is that because port adventures are limited (and three ships were in), many people took the water taxi to Phillipsburg and the beaches, making them quite crowded. But it appears only one water taxi survived the hurricane. That one boat was quite overworked and as all aboard time approached, the queues for returning to the ship got quite long as the crowded beaches emptied.


One can walk (or take a taxi) back to the ship. The water taxi isn’t the only way.

Yes it’s hot and about a mile. So this option isn't going to be for everyone. But it’s possible.
 
We are booked with Captain Bob for our February cruise. I was initially very disappointed because we were originally supposed to stop in Tortola and we had an excursion booked with Aristocat Charters that we had really been looking forward to, but we have heard great things about Soualiga as well!

One thing I'll note about Soualiga right now is that apparently they are doing cold lunches on the boat right now and may not yet be doing hot lunches depending on your dates and the progress. The area where they used to do lunch was pretty destroyed. Bob has not been disclosing this to people until they arrive, per Cruise Critic.
 
Thanks for the detailed report. We leave on the Fantasy on Jan 27. Our plans for St Maarten are to go to the Yoda Guy Museum and then find a beach to be lazy at. I guess worst case, we could go back to the ship for shorter lines on the Aquaduck!

I can't even remember what our plans are for St Thomas, but I'm not as concerned about that stop as I was St Maarten.

Thanks again!
 
I'm really appreciative of this thread and hope people continue to keep the rest of us updated on subsequent Eastern Caribbean cruises! Our cruise supposedly will be one of the first back at Tortola, but I am interested in what is happening in St. Maarten too, as I would not at all be surprised if we end up there instead as well.
 
Thanks for the realistic update! We too were disappointed that Tortola was removed... but understand.

Our plan is to taxi to Mullet Bay beach for a few hours, then back to Phillipsburg to see Yoda Guy and shop. Has anyone been back to this beach? Also, how was regular taxi service?

And most importantly, can you still get guavaberry rum on the island? Lol...
 
Our plan is to taxi to Mullet Bay beach for a few hours, then back to Phillipsburg to see Yoda Guy and shop. Has anyone been back to this beach? Also, how was regular taxi service?

And most importantly, can you still get guavaberry rum on the island? Lol...

Beth, that is my exact plan, though I am also considering Karakter at Simpson Bay Beach...so I am also interested in hearing about regular taxi service.
 

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