Problem on St. Martin

[jsf]

Seems to be problem on the French side of St. Martin, protesters are causing problems with transportation and pax are being warned not to go over to French side.

Anyone have further info.

J.

Edited March 11, 2016 by jsf

[Babsfishes]

It's some sort of labor strike. We had to cancel a private boat ride that was leaving from the French side.

[bhughey]

It's actually not a labor strike. There is an issue between the tenants of the new beach bar/restaurant structures and the French "collective" that manages/built and presumably collects the rent for the buildings. The "old" little beach bars (eight in total) were demolished in June and rebuilt, forcing the business owners out of work for months. Tenants claim rent is too high and the structures are not up to code.

[Karysa]

It's actually not a labor strike. There is an issue between the tenants of the new beach bar/restaurant structures and the French "collective" that manages/built and presumably collects the rent for the buildings. The "old" little beach bars (eight in total) were demolished in June and rebuilt, forcing the business owners out of work for months. Tenants claim rent is too high and the structures are not up to code.

 

Thank you for the information. Those beach bars were supposed to be up and running in mid October 2015. We are approaching 5 months past that date and we are nearing the end of high season on the island. What a shame.

[LuCruise]

Is this an ongoing issue? One of our options for St Maarten is Bernard's Tour (Oritent beach option) ...so not sure how that would affect where he takes us. We'll be there in 4 weeks.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

This is a duplicate thread to one started already the other day on this topic - plenty of detailed information there:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2327230

[jaxflygirl88]

I'll be there on Freedom of the seas R/C next Thurs 3/24...I was really looking forward to going to orient beach again, but I just saw someone's post that as of this past Saturday the road was closed again. Not worth it, going to stay on dutch side. What a shame! Can anyone recommend a good beach on dutch side? How about Dawn Beach?

Thanks

Lisa from Jacksonville, FL

[Cruzin RN]

Thank you for the information. Those beach bars were supposed to be up and running in mid October 2015. We are approaching 5 months past that date and we are nearing the end of high season on the island. What a shame.

 

 

Yes, I feel for the tenants. They have lost alot of $$ over the season and now they are protesting the amount of rent they are going to be charged...This protest is bringing attention to their problem..hopefully it will be settled soon.