After Irma, how bad is Bermuda, St. Marten, Puerto Rico and Hatti?

[LongHill44]

Family is heading to these islands in August and are worried that some are still not fully recovered from the hurricane.

 

 

Thoughts?

[alfaeric]

They are all recovered enough. It will be years before "fully recovered" is met. But all the islands are fully functional for ship tourists.

[spookwife]

define 'fully recovered'

 

if you mean are they open for business: yes.. most infrastructure in the touristy areas is up and running

 

but it will be a decade before the interior of PR is fit for human habitat. ( not entirely the fault of the hurricanes though)

[Homosassa]

A search on any forum on this board will give you reviews on the conditions on these ports.

 

You can also try the Ports of Call section on this board where you will find a wealth of information.

 

Why do I feel that we have just been given one of those school assignments that start out "compare and contrast?"

[davy jones]

Bermuda is fine. I haven't seen anything about problems in Labadee. Ships are calling on St. Martin and San Juan, but recovery work continues on those islands.

[Clarea]

City of San Juan is doing fairly well. Outlying areas are still a work in progress.

[Biker19]

Thoughts?

How do you know there won't be another hurricane before you go or even while on the cruise?

[JaniceB]

Just back from a week in St. Maarten. The dutch side is up and running but still recovering, the french side not so much. We visited Orient beach, there are a few places open but no restroom facilities that I saw. They people there said the French government is not helping and they need tourists to visit. One place was serving food and others had chairs, jet ski rentals and drinks. There are many places open in Philipsburg on the boardwalk and the shops on front street when ships are in port. They also have added vendor kiosks along the boardwalk which I had never seen before.

[George C]

Hati was fine

[PortSideCruzan]

Just back from a week in St. Maarten. The dutch side is up and running but still recovering, the french side not so much. We visited Orient beach, there are a few places open but no restroom facilities that I saw. They people there said the French government is not helping and they need tourists to visit. One place was serving food and others had chairs, jet ski rentals and drinks. There are many places open in Philipsburg on the boardwalk and the shops on front street when ships are in port. They also have added vendor kiosks along the boardwalk which I had never seen before.

 

Hi JaniceB :)

 

How are the road(s) in regards to recent construction & longer than typical drive times to & from the cruise terminal?

 

Thanks for any information.

 

 

 

:)

[Ocean Boy]

Hi JaniceB :)

 

How are the road(s) in regards to recent construction & longer than typical drive times to & from the cruise terminal?

 

Thanks for any information.

 

 

 

:)

The road construction between the terminal and downtown Philipsburg that was going on when I was there in February was pretty much completed when I was there two weeks ago and there was no traffic backup.

[PortSideCruzan]

The road construction between the terminal and downtown Philipsburg that was going on when I was there in February was pretty much completed when I was there two weeks ago and there was no traffic backup.

 

Hi Ocean Boy :)

 

Thank you so much! Terrific, wonderful news!

 

 

 

:)

[RCC1982]

Bermuda is in the Atlantic, not the Caribbean and wasn’t effected by Irma. Haiti is also fine. St. Maarten is still recovering but is open to serving tourists (which is desperately needs). I’ve heard that San Juan is fairly recovered but the rest of the island is still hurting.

[Big_G]

We stopped in St. Marten on our Adventure repositioning last week and Philipsburg was like a ghost town. There were a lot of beat up buildings and closed businesses but it could have been because it was a Sunday. The ferry attendant on the pier said our ship was unexpected. Many of the buildings are still pretty beat up but the beach along the boardwalk looked fine. Chairs and umbrellas were available. There were a few small buildings missing at the pier shopping area that had been replaced with kiosks. All in all, it wasn't in bad shape considering what they've been through.

[Ocean Boy]

We stopped in St. Marten on our Adventure repositioning last week and Philipsburg was like a ghost town. There were a lot of beat up buildings and closed businesses but it could have been because it was a Sunday. The ferry attendant on the pier said our ship was unexpected. Many of the buildings are still pretty beat up but the beach along the boardwalk looked fine. Chairs and umbrellas were available. There were a few small buildings missing at the pier shopping area that had been replaced with kiosks. All in all, it wasn't in bad shape considering what they've been through.

Interesting as when we were there a couple of weeks ago down town was thriving pretty well with mostly all open shops. Though being the end of their high season we (Freedom) were the only ship in port that day. One of the jewelers who I know pretty well told me it will be like that for the next few months now. One ship at a time and not every day. He was quite sad to have the high season come to an end.

 

Maybe being there on Sunday was part of why you experienced what you did?

[hoopslover]

The road construction between the terminal and downtown Philipsburg that was going on when I was there in February was pretty much completed when I was there two weeks ago and there was no traffic backup.

We were there in late April and the traffic and construction near the port was horrible. We made it back to the ship at 4:15 which was too close for comfort for me. The driver said that he would get us back in time and he did but we were stuck for at least 30 minutes.

[Ocean Boy]

We were there in late April and the traffic and construction near the port was horrible. We made it back to the ship at 4:15 which was too close for comfort for me. The driver said that he would get us back in time and he did but we were stuck for at least 30 minutes.

Interesting. I was there on May 2. My experience was what I wrote above. So I guess the answer to the question is that it depends on the day.

[CPT Trips]

St Martin has a lot of totally destroyed hotels, wreaked boats on beaches, and uninhibitable houses. The taxi driver asked why we wanted to go to Maho . . . "hardly any planes are coming in."

 

And that was on the Dutch side.

[lenquixote66]

Family is heading to these islands in August and are worried that some are still not fully recovered from the hurricane.

 

 

Thoughts?

 

Bermuda is fine.When I was in St.Maarten last December the Dutch side was about 40% back and the French side less .

[Scrapnana]

I was in San Juan three weeks ago. The old town was doing fairly well although you could see many buildings on the outskirts that still had tarps on the roof, were abandoned, or were rebuilding.

 

 

 

 

[JaniceB]

Interesting as when we were there a couple of weeks ago down town was thriving pretty well with mostly all open shops. Though being the end of their high season we (Freedom) were the only ship in port that day. One of the jewelers who I know pretty well told me it will be like that for the next few months now. One ship at a time and not every day. He was quite sad to have the high season come to an end.

 

Maybe being there on Sunday was part of why you experienced what you did?

 

Yes Sunday a lot of shops closed unless there is a ship in port. We were all surprised when we saw a ship on May 6th. No one was expecting it. Many were also closed when no ship was in port. One evening almost everything was closed except the Green house near the pier.

 

 

St Martin has a lot of totally destroyed hotels, wreaked boats on beaches, and uninhibitable houses. The taxi driver asked why we wanted to go to Maho . . . "hardly any planes are coming in."

 

And that was on the Dutch side.

 

Many hotels are not operational but planes are landing and taking off just not the really large ones that used to come to St. Maarten. They also seem to arrive early between 1130 and 330.

 

The airport departure is a large tent and can only hold so many people. There are a few vendors inside and it is connected to a bathroom facility. The arrival area is a tent and not baggage carousel and our friend said bathroom was a port of potty. I didn't need to use it but I guess she did.