Hurricane Irma and St. Maarten

Really? Which cruise line and ship?

 

I haven't heard of a cruise line making definitive port changes beyond October.

Could it be the MSC Divina ?

Could it be the MSC Divina ?

Yep!

HAHAHAHAHA Amazing what reading the thread your posting in can do for your knowledge.

HAHAHAHAHA Amazing what reading the thread your posting in can do for your knowledge.

Who/what are you laughing at?

gary

Who/what are you laughing at?

 

gary

From what I heard Dominica and PR and USVI were affected the most from Hurricane Maria. St. Maarten was expecting a rain event mostly. No news is probably good news here.

The British/Dutch/French military hurricane relief operations are being coordinated from Curacao. HNLMS Zeeland is now in Dominica which is in dire need after Maria. The Karel Doorman, a joint support and the biggest ship in the RNLN fleet is now on her way to St Maarten.

Really? Which cruise line and ship?

 

 

 

I haven't heard of a cruise line making definitive port changes beyond October.

Perhaps St. Maarten will not be able to accommodate as many cruise ships as it used to into the near future? The island may want to reduce the daily passenger load while rebuilding is going on. If that's the case then the bigger companies like Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean will likely get preference and smaller companies like MSC may have to revise their itineraries.

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I just received another message from the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in St. Maarten. Currently, they are officially closed to the end of the year, and they are also refunding money for any reservations to all their properties (3) on St. Maarten until March 31, 2018.

This, of course, is very sad news. In my opinion, I really don't see any cruise ships returning to St. Maarten earlier than this March date. There is nothing to go to at this point. I hope the Dutch and French governments help this lovely island quickly rebuild their beaches, resorts, infra structure, etc.

Just like Puerto Rico needs the US government to come to a quick rescue.

According to the message from Sonesta, Dutch military, as well as, US Marines are aiding the islanders with daily necessities. I also read elsewhere, the French military were aiding in relief.

St. Maarten's economy is based on tourism. Mostly land vacationers, who use hotels, timeshares, restaurants, car rentals, bars, casinos, supermarkets, movie theaters, etc..that employ the majority of island residents. According to the message, dated Sept. 22, communication on the island is still out.

Of course, cruise ships bring in money to the port, but that is such a small part of the employed population. Once in Philipsburg, where will the cruise passengers go...beaches have been washed away, trees and landscape destroyed and roadways connecting the Dutch/French island's beaches impassable. Cars, buses, boats destroyed. Everything new has to be shipped to St. Maarten, meanwhile the people there are dealing with no electricity, water, food, jobs.

Friends of mine, who's retirement home is on the shore of Simpson Bay, has not been able to get any news regarding the condition of the home, but more importantly the safety of their many St. Maarten friends. Their flight to St, Maarten the day after the hurricane was canceled and no news on any commercial flights in the near future.

St. Maarten is one of my favorite islands to visit both by land or sea. I just returned from another wonderful land vacation this summer. I pray that all the French and Dutch and American people who frequent this island return when possible. But before they are healed, tourists are only in the way. Help the islanders by donating to the various organizations providing them daily necessities.

Cruise companies need to be up front with changed itineraries, so those who are concerned with specific itineraries, can make their decision before final payment. And cruise customers need to be realistic in expectations of when this island, and other devastated islands, will again be a place to visit, relax and enjoy. Help all these islands with donations in the meantime.

I just received another message from the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in St. Maarten. Currently, they are officially closed to the end of the year, and they are also refunding money for any reservations to all their properties (3) on St. Maarten until March 31, 2018.

 

This, of course, is very sad news. In my opinion, I really don't see any cruise ships returning to St. Maarten earlier than this March date. There is nothing to go to at this point. I hope the Dutch and French governments help this lovely island quickly rebuild their beaches, resorts, infra structure, etc.

 

Just like Puerto Rico needs the US government to come to a quick rescue.

 

According to the message from Sonesta, Dutch military, as well as, US Marines are aiding the islanders with daily necessities. I also read elsewhere, the French military were aiding in relief.

 

St. Maarten's economy is based on tourism. Mostly land vacationers, who use hotels, timeshares, restaurants, car rentals, bars, casinos, supermarkets, movie theaters, etc..that employ the majority of island residents. According to the message, dated Sept. 22, communication on the island is still out.

 

Of course, cruise ships bring in money to the port, but that is such a small part of the employed population. Once in Philipsburg, where will the cruise passengers go...beaches have been washed away, trees and landscape destroyed and roadways connecting the Dutch/French island's beaches impassable. Cars, buses, boats destroyed. Everything new has to be shipped to St. Maarten, meanwhile the people there are dealing with no electricity, water, food, jobs.

 

Friends of mine, who's retirement home is on the shore of Simpson Bay, has not been able to get any news regarding the condition of the home, but more importantly the safety of their many St. Maarten friends. Their flight to St, Maarten the day after the hurricane was canceled and no news on any commercial flights in the near future.

 

St. Maarten is one of my favorite islands to visit both by land or sea. I just returned from another wonderful land vacation this summer. I pray that all the French and Dutch and American people who frequent this island return when possible. But before they are healed, tourists are only in the way. Help the islanders by donating to the various organizations providing them daily necessities.

 

Cruise companies need to be up front with changed itineraries, so those who are concerned with specific itineraries, can make their decision before final payment. And cruise customers need to be realistic in expectations of when this island, and other devastated islands, will again be a place to visit, relax and enjoy. Help all these islands with donations in the meantime.

Even April seems early for the Sonesta and other resorts to be up and running IMHO. There is way more time needed to get the land vacationers in big resorts back compared to cruisers. I really hope that you are wrong though about the island losing all cruiseships until April. I think that this is the perfect time for the cruiselines to secure some great boat trips and tours and make some money themselves in St Maarten as this is an island that most passengers have used as a DIY day in the past.

I think that if St. Maarten had been the only island devastated by a hurricane this year then the cruiseships might very well pack in the season but they really do need ports to use so I hope that they will wait a little while before making their decision.

Which roads connecting the French and Dutch sides " are impassable "? It's September 24th and the hurricane happened on September 6th. I have not heard anything at all about this from the people we know and they have been driving on the island since the Friday (two days) after the hurricane.

Also, my friends in the Phillipsburg and Cupecoy areas have reported having electricity for well over a week now. There is still a curfew in place but during the daylight hours they are out driving the streets and yes, even going to their jobs. They are doing different things at work in some cases though.

I just received another message from the Sonesta Maho Beach Resort in St. Maarten. Currently, they are officially closed to the end of the year, and they are also refunding money for any reservations to all their properties (3) on St. Maarten until March 31, 2018. St. Maarten's economy is based on tourism. Of course, cruise ships bring in money to the port, but that is such a small part of the employed population. Once in Philipsburg, where will the cruise passengers go...beaches have been washed away, trees and landscape destroyed and roadways connecting the Dutch/French island's beaches impassable. Cars, buses, boats destroyed. Everything new has to be shipped to St. Maarten, meanwhile the people there are dealing with no electricity, water, food, jobs. Cruise companies need to be up front with changed itineraries, so those who are concerned with specific itineraries, can make their decision before final payment. And cruise customers need to be realistic in expectations of when this island, and other devastated islands, will again be a place to visit, relax and enjoy.

Appreciate these various posts and these added details as to the challenges and updates with the difficult recovery in these eastern Caribbean islands. From the London/UK Daily Mail yesterday, they have this headline: “Looters steal DOZENS of rare animals from zoo destroyed in 225mph hurricane on St Maarten” with these highlights: “Looters have stolen dozens of rare animals from one of the best-loved zoos in the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma destroyed cages and enclosures at the park on St Maarten. Staff are fighting to rehouse and protect rare breeds at the site that was home to more than 300 animals. One rare lizard, a salamander called Big Lizard, one of the zoo’s star attractions, died of fright as the worst storm ever to hit the Atlantic lashed his enclosure last week. A well-loved toucan was also killed when it escaped its broken cage and was eaten by a caiman -- a ferocious type of crocodile -- which was lying submerged in a pond in its enclosure. The caiman also ate one of the rare rabbits."

Lots of visuals are featured in this interesting article that shows the huge depth of damage that hit this zoo facility and this island. Very sad and tragic!!

Full story at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4903302/Looters-steal-rare-animals-zoo-destroyed-hurricane.html

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 53,478 views for these postings.

Appreciate these various posts and these added details as to the challenges and updates with the difficult recovery in these eastern Caribbean islands. From the London/UK Daily Mail yesterday, they have this headline: “Looters steal DOZENS of rare animals from zoo destroyed in 225mph hurricane on St Maarten” with these highlights: “Looters have stolen dozens of rare animals from one of the best-loved zoos in the Caribbean after Hurricane Irma destroyed cages and enclosures at the park on St Maarten.Staff are fighting to rehouse and protect rare breeds at the site that was home to more than 300 animals. One rare lizard, a salamander called Big Lizard, one of the zoo’s star attractions, died of fright as the worst storm ever to hit the Atlantic lashed his enclosure last week. A well-loved toucan was also killed when it escaped its broken cage and was eaten by a caiman -- a ferocious type of crocodile -- which was lying submerged in a pond in its enclosure. The caiman also ate one of the rare rabbits."

 

Lots of visuals are featured in this interesting article that shows the huge depth of damage that hit this zoo facility and this island. Very sad and tragic!!

 

Full story at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4903302/Looters-steal-rare-animals-zoo-destroyed-hurricane.html

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 53,478 views for these postings.

That is old news. Gary started a thread here on September 13th about the looting at the zoo.

It's title is........ Irma: And then there's this.

I guess it's good news for the island if the looting stories are all from shortly after the hurricane though.

TLCOhio - Is the advertisement below for your blog necessary on every post that you make? :rolleyes:

From our Jan. 25-Feb. 20, 2015, Amazon River-Caribbean adventure that started in Barbados, here is the link for that live/blog. Many visuals from this amazing river and Caribbean Islands (Dutch ABC's, St. Barts, Dominica, Grenada, San Juan, etc.):

www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2157696

Now at 53,478 views for these postings.

The Heineken Regatta announced on September 21st

on their website, that the regatta is still scheduled for March 1-4, 2018 in St. Maarten. It's an important event both economically and for the morale of the citizens of the island.

The Heineken Regatta announced on September 21st

on their website, that the regatta is still scheduled for March 1-4, 2018 in St. Maarten. It's an important event both economically and for the morale of the citizens of the island.

I am very glad to hear your friends in Philipsburg and Cupecoy are unharmed and have electricity. Hopefully, a little "normalcy" can return to them.

I agree that the Heineken Regatta will be a great boast for the island in March and should bring in people from all over the world for this event. Hotels and restaurants will economically benefit from this as well as, indicating to the world they are ready for business again.

Since opening the ports of severely damaged islands benefits the cruise lines too, it would be great if the cruise lines also help in rebuilding. Sounds like a great idea, especially in helping tour operators acquire vehicles/boats for business.

The road I was talking about is the main road that circumvents the island. The two lane (one way each lane) road that changes its name depending what town your are in. Front Street in Philipsburg, Rue Hollande in Marigot, Airport Road in Simpson Bay. It's the road that goes up and down the hills around the island. The road that goes to Orient Beach, Dawn Beach, GrandCase, Carolita Beach..etc. Glad that it is cleared in most Dutch towns, but it is reported that some of the French side towns are still cut off due to impassable roads. Some of the north French roads were "interesting" on a good day.

My friends still have no news on their home in Simpson Bay and pretty much accepting it is destroyed. It was just "things" that can be replaced, it is their friends lives they are concerned with now.

Hoping that the island can come back from this destrucution and be stronger. The people of St. Maarten are friendly and warm. That is way we keep going back to vacation there and will again someday.

Any more news from your friends would be greatly appreciated.

I am very glad to hear your friends in Philipsburg and Cupecoy are unharmed and have electricity. Hopefully, a little "normalcy" can return to them.

 

I agree that the Heineken Regatta will be a great boast for the island in March and should bring in people from all over the world for this event. Hotels and restaurants will economically benefit from this as well as, indicating to the world they are ready for business again.

 

Since opening the ports of severely damaged islands benefits the cruise lines too, it would be great if the cruise lines also help in rebuilding. Sounds like a great idea, especially in helping tour operators acquire vehicles/boats for business.

 

The road I was talking about is the main road that circumvents the island. The two lane (one way each lane) road that changes its name depending what town your are in. Front Street in Philipsburg, Rue Hollande in Marigot, Airport Road in Simpson Bay. It's the road that goes up and down the hills around the island. The road that goes to Orient Beach, Dawn Beach, GrandCase, Carolita Beach..etc. Glad that it is cleared in most Dutch towns, but it is reported that some of the French side towns are still cut off due to impassable roads. Some of the north French roads were "interesting" on a good day.

 

My friends still have no news on their home in Simpson Bay and pretty much accepting it is destroyed. It was just "things" that can be replaced, it is their friends lives they are concerned with now.

 

Hoping that the island can come back from this destrucution and be stronger. The people of St. Maarten are friendly and warm. That is way we keep going back to vacation there and will again someday.

 

Any more news from your friends would be greatly appreciated.

I would be very surprised to hear that the main road was blocked for more than a few days except perhaps in Marigot where a detour would be quite easy and perhaps better as they dealt with large amounts of debris on the main road. That road that circumvents the island is important for the safety and security of the residents and would be a major priority to be cleared for those reasons.

I hope that your friend's neighbors, and friends are safe, and their properties as well. There are places with better cell coverage and internet access than others and Phillipsburg is definitely one of them and we have heard from people who find it easier to drive there and do their phone calling and emailing from the centre of town. That was a week ago so hopefully things are better but I to would be very concerned if I had not heard from people on the Dutch side this far out.

This weekend Gary posted that he had heard that Club O ( aka the clothing option area of Orient Beach) was in the stages of setting up chairs and umbrellas and food and drink. I thought that I should share that here as it demonstrates the resilience of the island people and their will to get things up and running again.

I read in the Daily Herald that the municipality of Amsterdam is giving 850,000 euros to St Maarten which is about 1 e per citizen of Amsterdam.

The Red Cross in the Netherlands has raised about 15.5 million euros which they will purchase supplies with and send them to Dutch St Maarten.

I read that 2 Garbage trucks were delivered last week via ship from Curaçao. Also stores in Phillipsburg started opening last week with more stores, businesses and grocery stores and some restaurants reopening this week.

There was also a great picture of downtown Phillipsburg from the 22nd but I don't know how to post it. The lack of vegetation was what stood out to me from that particular shot. Most of the buildings looked much the same to me as they did last month on my vacation.

Progress will be slow from Mother Nature's hard punch but they are getting up and trying.

I read in the Daily Herald that the municipality of Amsterdam is giving 850,000 euros to St Maarten which is about 1 e per citizen of Amsterdam.

 

The Red Cross in the Netherlands has raised about 15.5 million euros which they will purchase supplies with and send them to Dutch St Maarten.

 

I read that 2 Garbage trucks were delivered last week via ship from Curaçao. Also stores in Phillipsburg started opening last week with more stores, businesses and grocery stores and some restaurants reopening this week.

 

There was also a great picture of downtown Phillipsburg from the 22nd but I don't know how to post it. The lack of vegetation was what stood out to me from that particular shot. Most of the buildings looked much the same to me as they did last month on my vacation.

 

Progress will be slow from Mother Nature's hard punch but they are getting up and trying.

Karysa, did you see this? Credible?

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69678-first-cruise-ship-back-on-nov-11

Karysa, did you see this? Credible?

 

 

 

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69678-first-cruise-ship-back-on-nov-11

It's from the same news source that she was referencing in a previous post. Why would you doubt it?

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Karysa, did you see this? Credible?

 

https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69678-first-cruise-ship-back-on-nov-11

From yesterday's local newspaper so I would say that it is credible.

Nov 11 is St Maarten day so I think that this would be a very symbolic date to welcome the first cruise ship back.

The Dutch government and islands seemed to leap into action fast and with more of a plan than some other countries helping out their islands to me. I always said that having two governments to help rebuild one small island should work in their favour and that seems to be the case here at least according to the articles in the Daily Herald.

I hope people go to St. Maarten with a smile on their face and money in their wallet because the islanders need both.

Thanks so much for posting this link.

It's from the same news source that she was referencing in a previous post. Why would you doubt it?

 

I don't doubt the source - - I just appreciate her knowledge of the island and the infrastructure and was interested in her take.

 

Perhaps the word 'feasible' would have been better.

KLM plans to resume limited service with an A330 October 29th.

gary

KLM plans to resume limited service with an A330 October 29th.

 

gary

I know people who travel from St. Maarten to Curaçao for business so this must be good news to them as well as those who have families in Curaçao. Airport workers would also be on the list of those happy to hear this news.

KLM plans to resume limited service with an A330 October 29th.

 

gary

Limited service because the airport will not be fully operational for the next 35 weeks, according to the Airport Authority. However, only a few cruise line starts or ends in SXM.

Airport News:https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69706-irma-causes-millions-in-damage-to-airport

St-Martin News (Fr): https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/69702-gibbs-st-martin-facing-prospect-of-massive-unemployment-post-irma

Damage estimate for St-Martin (FR) is about 2.5 billion euros. You can have all the regatta or Diamond shop you want, they will not make a dent in the recovery. Good for them if they can operate. Money is mostly coming from the respective gov. Add to that the revised building code they are working on, construction permit and all the red tape, they do not want to repeat the mistake that happen after Hurricane Luis in 95'.