Brittany C

Hi all, as per the release from MSC, Cruise Critic has updated our story to reflect that Ocean Cay is not scheduled to open until December 5 at this time https://www.cruisecritic.com/news/4751/

Thanks!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Destinations Editor

any news on the tiki snorkeling barge?

Hi!

Unfortunately, I'm not aware of the tiki snorkeling barge. Maybe contact the tourism board for more information.

Cheers.

Brittany, when we were in St. Maarten this past April, we had scheduled a tour that took us to Orient Beach and Maho Beach. When we boarded the tour bus, the driver told us that the French government would not allow them to take us to Orient Beach because of the hurricane debris. Is this still true? We absolutely love OB and that's the main reason that we chose this cruise and this tour. Do they expect recovery to start soon and allow tourists to visit OB? If not, is there any indication as to when they will?

Hello!

There is not as much debris now, but because of the lack of concessions (bathrooms, snack bars) in some areas, some tour operators have decided to reroute for the time being for a better experience. When we were there in July, Bikini Beach, on Orient Bay, was just opening and looked great -- not sure if cruise tours are including this stop. If anything, it is possible to take a cab there on your own. Maho Beach is open as is the Sunset Bar & Grill.

Enjoy!

Hi everyone!

Our Hurricane Recovery landing page is live -- video soon to come. Featured is a story on St. Maarten/Martin as well as a story on the future of these islands.

Thank you for your support!

Best,

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Hi everyone!

Our Hurricane Recovery landing page is live -- video soon to come. Featured is a story on San Juan as well as a story on the future of these islands.

Thank you for your support!

Best,

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Hi everyone!

Our Hurricane Recovery landing page is live -- video soon to come. Featured are stories on St. Thomas and St. John as well as a story on the future of these islands.

Thank you for your support!

Best,

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Thinking about visiting the butterfly farm. Is it open?

I'm sad to report the butterfly farm is closed, but I believe they are looking to rebuild.

Thank you Brittany. Really terrific to hear this and the link is very helpful. We look forward to our visit! Now the question is, St Johns or main island...such great choices!

Were there many trees remaining at Sapphire?

Glad to hear it! I did not personally visit Sapphire during my time in St. Thomas, but an Adobe crew was there doing a photoshoot, so it must look good. Can't speak to the trees.

Cheers,

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

How's the SXM traffic to/from the Port, as there has been mixed messages regarding congestion caused by road workings?

I can't speak to what traffic is like on a regular basis in St. Maarten, but it didn't seem impeded by roadwork during my time there. On busy ship days traffic is a factor, but there are plenty of pedestrian and water taxi routes to also utilize upon leaving the cruise terminal.

A report on St. John, USVI, on your St. Thomas stop would be appreciated.

When we were there in January, it was still in bad shape.

The national park has a lot of recovering to do, but Cruz Bay is open with plenty of shops and restaurants. Trunk Bay is open with a waived fee, for now -- rentals and bathrooms no food or drink stands at this time. A few trails have reopened in Virgin Islands National Park, but that is going to improve with time. A more thorough report is coming. Stay tuned!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Hi,

I would love to hear any updates of the Grand Case area restaurants, beach and Le Petit Hotel. We have pre-cruise plans to stay in this area December 2018.

Thank you!

Hello!

Grand Case was hit very hard, but businesses, beaches and restaurants are already reopening. I know a lot of hotels are aiming to be open by the end of the year, but I would contact Le Petit Hotel to make sure it will be open by the time you arrive (I can't confirm if it is open.)

Have a great time!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Hello, I also loves to hear any updates on Dawn Beach in St. Marteen. Thanks

Hello,

I wasn't able to visit Dawn Beach specifically during my time, but most beaches are open to visitors -- they just might have limited concessions meaning bring your own food and drinks in just in case. Oyster Bay Beach Resort (nearby) has reopened and is a lovely spot for some lunch and their killer infinity pool.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Hope someone tells about their recent visits!

 

 

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I will post my full report here once it's live on the site! It's a different island, but plenty of plans for the future, and lots to enjoy for a day in port.

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Would love updates on Emerald Beach, Sapphire Beach, Orient Beach and Water Island. To include food/drink availability, restroom facilities, chair/umbrella availability and actual beach conditions. Would also love to know about the French side of St Martin - in the marina are the bakeries up and running, are the vendors back? How long does it take to get back and forth between French and Dutch side and what time did you go? TYIA!!!

Hi there!

The beaches are good, but concessions are few to none. The shoreline on Sunset has been drastically reduced; replaced by rocks, but work is being done to remove them shortly. Time to move between is typical; depends where you are coming from -- the port to the French side is about 15 to 20 minutes. Traffic will depend on how many ships are in port. Zee Best has reopened in town. Unfortunately, many smaller bakeries remain closed. For more on beaches check out our roundup of St. Thomas and St. John: https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1636

Bikini Beach in Orient Bay is back and looking great. Water Island is open to visitors and shore ex.

Thank you for your interest. Our stories will be up in a few weeks as part of our ongoing coverage, and will culminate with so photos and video in late August/September to commemorate the one-year mark of Irma and Maria.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Also lime to see a St Johns report. I know the park beaches are open. How is the rest of the island recovering.

 

 

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We did stop in St. John and it is coming back. Large swaths of the parklands were severely damaged, which is sad, but Cruz Bay was bustling. Cinnamon Bay is still negotiating with the Park Service about fully reopening; Caneel Bay is closed at this time. The ferries from Red Hook in St. Thomas are running so we encourage a visit -- Trunk Bay is open, free of charge for now. Rentals and bathrooms are available but no food/drink.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Love to here about progress or any kind of time table for Orient Beach to have some places up and running. Seems like most of the reports are cabs are hard to get and there is only a few p,aces on the clothing optional side running.

 

 

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Hello there!

A small bar/snack shack was open and running on the clothing-optional side, with chairs and umbrellas. Luckily, Bikini Beach in Orient Bay is back and looking better than ever -- they reopened to locals during the World Cup finals; we visited the facilities last week and they're gorgeous. Not a lot of concessions elsewhere in the area, outside of Bikini, that we are aware of at this time.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

I cannot wait to hear your reports. We sail to St. Thomas and St. Martin this fall. It will be good to know how things are progressing post hurricanes.

Reports will be posted here in mid-August! Thank you for the interest and enjoy your cruise in the fall. We think you will be pleasantly surprised.

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

I would love to find out how Little Divi Bay and Pinel Island are doing. They are my two favorite places in St Maartin. When we stopped in St Maartin while on our January cruise, it seemed that Sunset Beach in Maho was just fine......but my two favorite places were still having repairs. If you have time, please report if Little Divi Bay still has the soft sand going gradually into the ocean that they did last year before storm.

 

Thank you. :)

 

Kris

Hi Kris!

We're so happy to hear you made it back in January, and so much has continued to reopen in the past six months. The Divi Little Bay Beach Resort has reopened and even though we didn't personally get a chance to dip our toes in the sand, the cheerleading squad of the New England Patriots were there during our time in St. Maarten and we hear they were enjoying the amenities and shooting their calendar -- so we assume it's back!

We heard that Pinel Island has reopened and on ship days, ferries do run. We were unable to visit during our short stay, so we can't report on the conditions, but the beaches seem to be recovering the best of all the attractions.

Thank you for the interest -- our full report will be published in the coming weeks so stay tuned.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Question, it was reported the Dutch side was able to begin repairs sooner because of French Bureaucracy. Is this true? The French side did seem far behind on May 1st, 2018. Any update on the French side. An update from Club Orient would be nice.

Hi Bill,

Due to government regulations on the French side that are dictating stricter building codes, it is a slow but steady recovery process there. Still, there are patches that are reopening for business. Bikini Beach, in Orient Bay, just reopened a few weeks ago with gorgeous new facilities -- we highly recommend checking it out.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

We spent a delightful week on the beach in a condo right next door to The Rainbow Cafe in Grand Case a few years back. Please visit Grand Case and let us know how The Rainbow Cafe and all the other wonderful restaurants and the people that work and live there are doing. Thank you!

 

 

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Hi Ski Mom,

While the French side, including Grand Case, was hard hit, we are happy to report that the Rainbow Cafe has been renovated, reopened and is better than ever! Unfortunately, that is not the case with many of the surrounding restaurants. We have faith that in time, more will come back.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Can you get to Friars Beach?

You can!

We’ve seen mixed reviews on Case Beach, and it’s currently available facilities. Would love to know if it’s worth the drive over as it stands now. Thanks!!

 

 

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Hi Megan!

We did not visit Grand Case Beach proper, but we did drive past the area. Select businesses and areas are open, but we will be honest that this area was hard hit, and it's still recovering. Still worth a visit -- most of the beaches are open despite a current lack of concessions (might be smart to bring some drinks and snacks). Rainbow Restaurant is open for business!

Have a great time.

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

I want to go with you!

Thank you and look forward to your reports, I'll be down there on the anniversary of irma.

 

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Hi!

It was a great trip, returned late last week. Islanders are in fantastic spirits. Coverage coming to the site midway through the month, so please look for it! (I will post here.) Have a wonderful trip.

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

Will you be posting a link to your article here? I’m curious to hear if turtle bay near st Thomas has recovered, I’d seen some reviews that suggested the sea life there had been badly impacted by the hurricane.

 

 

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Hi there!

I will be posting a link to the stories when they are live on the site -- looking like two weeks from now. I can't speak to the sea life, but I know Turtle Bay and Water Island continue to be some of the most popular ship excursions from St. Thomas, and it's beautiful out on the water. We only did a little snorkeling at Trunk Bay in St. John but can report that we saw fish and other sealife!

Thank you for your interest and stay tuned for more.

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor

We've just started looking into excursions for our November RC Cruise and we're wondering about St. Peter Greathouse Gardens and Coral World. We were looking to book private excursions or handle transportation ourselves, but am now wondering if booking through the ship might be better in terms of not being caught off guard.

Hello!

Thank you for your questions. Good news and bad news: Coral World is open on cruise ship days (by appointment when ships aren't in) and we visited and can attest that it's open and the animals are doing well. Most of the experiences are available, including SeaTrek which reopened when we were in town a week or two ago.

The bad news is St. Peters Gardens remain closed, but Phantasea Tropical Botanical Gardens (near Mountain Top) is open on ship days.

I know ship excursions run to Coral World -- not sure if time is included at Coki Beach next door, which was lively with locals when we visited. Private transportation shouldn't be hard to arrange, but you always assume the risk of missing the ship. Budget time accordingly!

Happy Cruising!

~Brittany Chrusciel, Cruise Critic Editor