SouthCaribbean2017

Dear Friends of Sint Maarten Guavaberry,

I am writing to give you a brief update on the visit of Hurricane Irma on 6 Sept 2017. Our Guavaberry office PCs were out for six weeks. If you wrote to us to offer moral support I am writing to thank you and to apologise for this long 8 week delay.

On 6 Sept, we on Sint Maarten/St Martin, St Barts and Anguilla, lived through the visit of eye of Hurricane Irma, 185 mph winds, gusting to 215 mph, the single strongest and most dangerous storm on record. Everything was knocked out - roads, seaports, airports, electricity, telephone, internet, water, transportation, homes, schools, churches, shops, supermarkets, marinas, boats etc. Every car on the island was damaged.

All our staff are OK. Some lost “everything”. Many lost their whole roof. Some had to evacuate to safer locations, in unheard-of lethal wind and blinding rain, terrified, alone or with young children and babies, in complete darkness, in the middle of the storm, in the middle of the night. And others, retreated to concrete bathrooms or huddled and piled up in concrete shower stalls for hours on end until the winds subsided. Young homeless families have been split up with children farmed out to those friends, relatives and neighbours who could help. And a few, some in houses with flat concrete roofs, suffered only minor damage. Outside of nuclear power plants elsewhere and the like, little was specifically built to withstand 185-215 mph winds.

The ancient Guavaberry Emporium, on the front of our idyllic premises in the middle of Historical Philipsburg at #8-10 Frontstreet, is a National Monument. It sits on the site of a short-lived Jewish Synagogue, built around 1784 and abandoned in the early 1800s. It contains our flagship shop, our offices and our small factory. It stood up to this storm really well. Our larger surrounding buildings – outhouses and storerooms were very badly damaged or destroyed completely. All our treasured trees, ancient tamarinds, almond and sea grape trees were decimated. I think we lost 30-40 years of tree growth.

Large natural disaster emergency response teams from France and the Netherlands brought huge quantities of water and food and supplies and machinery, materials and manpower to assist with the clean up. A dozen international charities showed up with tarps and water and food, tents and more. Marines from both nations provided vital security and enforced the curfew which facilitated a swift and orderly cleanup. They are still involved in rebuilding, even on a grand scale and also on a personal level, fixing roofs and houses in the neighborhoods.

While the airport has been receiving lots of emergency flights all along, on 10.10.17, Princess Juliana Int Airport reopened for commercial air traffic. Temporary buildings have been created while the beautiful almost new airport building undergoes extensive $100 Million repairs. Many of the airlines are flying again. Few in the outside world realised that the small airport in Grand Case, French St Martin, was open and fully operational from mid September with three daily Air France flights to and from Guadeloupe and the world.

Cruise ships will return in mid December. The world famous Frontstreet stores are eager to reopen but at this time there are no potential customers walking the streets. I expect that most will be open in a week or two, even if just to show some signs of normalcy. If you or your friends are on Sint Maarten, shoot us an e-mail and we will be delighted to open our shop just for you.

The clean-up efforts have been incredible. Parts of the island look good. Alas, other parts of the island bear witness to what transpired here and those horrors will not disappear anytime soon. The emphasis on cleaning and fixing up and jump starting the economy is progressive and essential and a testament to the resilience of local people and businesses and government. But take a moment to recognize that there is and has been an enormous amount of human suffering and hardship here. By dawn on 7th September, this island looked like a warzone. Most sane people were in a state of shock.

The Guavaberry retail stores are still closed. Our internet business allows our friends in the USA to keep our hot sauce products in the kitchen and on the table and this is always important to us. At this time when all our other wholesale and retail sales are below zero, our internet business keeps us busy and gives us hope. Remember that we cannot ship any of our rum products directly to “end-users” off island.

Our Guavaberry Rum Liqueur and our Republic Rum 5 and 8 year old vintage rums are available in liquor stores in the USA. You will read some locations on our website if you dig down well. Unfortunately inventory in the US is a bit low now and it will take some time to get it replenished. We received an order for the US in late August. Well September and October were wiped out by the storms, first preparing for them and the clean up and recovery. So, next week we will finish that order for the USA. It will leave here in two weeks. It will take 2 weeks to get to the US. Then it will take another 2 weeks to get to the stores. This is my best estimate for the time frame involved.

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for your support.

Stephen Thompson

Managing Director

Still wondering if anyone knows what happened to Sarafina's in Marigot and the Guavaberry Emporium in Phillipsburg?

Thought I'd see again if anyone has heard anything about the Guavaberry Emporium...their socials have been quiet and I haven't seen them mentioned in any media reports...

Important question: Does anyone know the status of the Guavaberry distillery?!

The service was $40/hr. There were 2 of us, unclear on how many could be accommodated.

Our tour was approximately 6 hours total - and again I'd say going up to St. Nicholas Abbey took up a good chunk of that time - we spent probably an hour or so there, and the drive each way was 30-40 minutes. Not somewhere I would visit again on a cruise due to the limited time in port.

Leaving out of San Juan on RCCL very soon. For a party of 9 should we expect to be put in multiple cabs to get to the RCCL terminal? If all in one, what should we expect as an extra charge for the additional people in our party?

They might have a van big enough...but if not, it would be 2 vehicles. Each vehicle would be the $24 rate, so $48 total.

Just did the tour last week.

Had an excellent dessert crepe at Serafina's, but their turnaround time is a bit much...it took 20-25 minutes for the food to come out, and that's half your time right there (and it doesn't take that long to make a crepe).

The "market" is really a bunch of tourist trinket stalls where everyone is effectively selling the same stuff. Nothing local or interesting to buy. A short walk nearby is the West Indies Mall, which has some more upscale brand stores if you're interested in that.

I'd say skip the market and just grab some local food while you have the chance.

Phillipsburg IS the Dutch capital of Sint Maarten - anywhere serving Dutch food! Even if you don't know what it is! I had two very enjoyable sausage-inspired items at a random place I stopped at.

I would say 10 minutes is about right if you keep a good pace. I bought some guavaberry rum myself - but I'd recommend browsing around the other downtown shops for a better deal. I got my bottle for $20 cash from one (as well as Sheridan's coffee liqueur for $18 from another place!)

I'm back! I utilized Andrew Transport for a customized tour that visited Mount Gay rum, St. Nicholas Abbey rum, and Banks brewery. We also stopped at a local bakery for a quick snack. The service was $40/hour - and that does not include entrance fees to the facilities.

My driver David was great, knew Barbados very well.

Of the three, I thought Mount Gay rum was the best. St. Nicholas Abbey was certainly neat for the history - plus it is right near Cherry Tree Hill which provides a great photo op - however I honestly didn't care for the rum whatsoever. Additionally, St. Nicholas Abbey is to the far north of the island, and takes 30-40 minutes to get there (and back!) which is a pretty big chunk of the day.

We had just enough time to grab some beers at Banks brewery, which has one of the nicer brewery gift shops I've been too. The beer was nice too.

http://www.andrewtransportbarbados.com/

Hi, I just did the tour last week, and I'd describe it as a highlight of the cruise!

Some caveats:

1. it really is all-day, about 6-7 hours.

2. The roads in St. Lucia are like a rollercoaster - constantly winding left and right, up-and-down hills. It can take some adjusting.

You're in a van with about 10-12 people total. However, at various points, you will meet up with other vans on the tour - when the gigantic feast happens. And that feast was the best part in my opinion! Also, nonstop Piton beer and rum punch all day!

Some parts are a bit rushed, but that's because of the distance traveled, and they definitely want you back to the ship on time. We did everything on the tour's itinerary - my guide was the Yellow Bird, and he was a real pro- answered any and all questions and has clearly been doing this a long time. I ended up buying some banana ketchup to take home too.

You do not have to tip the various vendors that pop up along the way at all.

I didn't fill the boat, two of us paid the charter price for the half-day.

My ship docked at West Indian Company Dock in Charlotte Amalie, but I'm under the impression that they'll meet you wherever you dock.

After evaluating various fishing operators (many are about the same price), we decided to go with Capt. Alvin Fishing Charters - his experience as a pro in this industry is well-documented, he's received many positive reviews from others, and I personally liked that they keep their social media active.

Alvin met us right off the cruise pier in the morning. You walk out the gate, hang left and he was right there in the boat. We had a half-day of inshore fishing, and throughout that time we reeled in gulf shark, kingfish, snapper, and more. Alvin was a real expert who got us on top of the fish and we learned a lot. I'd love to go back for a full-day some time.

At the end, he helped us make arrangements with a local restaurant, and we had an incredible lunch eating some of our catch.

If this is something you're looking to do, definitely go with Capt. Alvin.

http://www.fishinginstthomas.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Capt.AlvinFishingCharters/

So just an update: in fact, all I had to say was the "Carnival cruise terminal." It was a flat $24.

Urgent taxi question: when arriving at the San Juan airport, if I'm taking the cab to the Carnival cruise terminal, is that all I need to say as the destination? "Carnival Cruise Terminal?"

I'll try again: As there's no Alchemy Bar on Fascination, what's the next best choice for interesting cocktails/drinks?

Cruising on the Fascination this summer with 6 ports and 1 sea day. I'm trying, but finding it hard, to justify the Cheers program with this itinerary. Plus, no Alchemy bar!

Instead, I think we might Cruise the Vineyards.

 

 

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I'm doing the same ship/itinerary this summer too. Went with cheers...I know after the ports I can have enough drinks for the program to pay for itself, even if I don't come close to the limit.

Hi, I'm a guy in my early 30s. I cruise with my brother, who is slightly younger than me. We've been on multiple cruises together - as the more organized one, he lets me handle the intinerary.

1. I recommend doing the Cheers Program for booze. It's fantastic.

2. The Comedy Club every night

3. The night club every night (very easy to make friends with others)

4. I appreciate the Adult Serenity deck with no kids

5. I think the art auctions can be fun, even if I'm not buying any art. Just not something you get to do or see every day, plus you get to see some cool stuff.

6. When it comes to ports, I arrange all of own excursions independent of Carnival, by doing thorough investigation and research (the subforums here are helpful). If there's a port where I can't find something I want to do, I go exploring - I head out, maybe grab a cab, and have a local direct me to a nice restaurant or bar where I can take in some local food and/or culture.

Do you pay for the Cheers program on embarkation day/debarkation day? On the Carnival site, it indicates it's purchased for each day of your cruise, but on debarkation day, you're usually off the ship before 9am. To me, that day would be a waste. If we do purchase it, we will buy it in advance, but I'm curious on an 8 night cruise how many days you'd pay. Thanks!

If I recall correctly, a cruise "day" for the program is 15 drinks from 6am -> 6am.

You can either pay for it in advance for $49.99/day, or pay for it on the cruise for $55/day. You can buy it on day 1, or on day 2.

If you have 5 alcoholic beverages a day it pays for itself. Easy!

I just wanted to say I ended up booking a custom-designed tour with a local operator. I cruise soon, so I'll return with how it went!

Alchemy bar deck 9 aft. The ship should have one.

 

 

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Another thread told me there is no Alchemy bar on Fascination...??

I suppose this is a good place to ask - which Fascination bar menu has the best cocktails? Or most interesting?

Ok, this will be my last check-in, as my cruise is next month. I am going fishing, and I will report back. In the meantime, has anyone else fished recently?