.....the Oasis of the Seas is here!

[barcann.livejournal.com]



[barcann.livejournal.com]

What a sight!
Nice of you to post this.

Hey Barbara!

Should we care or not?

I'm sure all the merchants, taxi drivers, water taxi owners and politicians care....

If you want a personal view....I could care less. As a "weeker", cruise ships create a lot of traffic...drive up some prices and clog beaches that are usually quiet. A few weeks ago MAHO was so full of ppl. on St. Maarten day that it was sketchy taking pictures...taxis filled the road and congestion ruled. The quads (totally obnoxious that they are) were many and noisier.

From my perspective, it's great to see them sail off into the horizon...traffic returns to normal and stage 2 fun begins...after dark.

With the advent of increased cruise ship traffic scheduling things is more of an issue and downtown is out of the question for many locals and "weekers" during the ship's stay....( IMHO)

Prosperity is good...it comes with a price, and as long as everybody's making a few bucks I don't imagine you'll hear complaints. In our case, if we want a week or so of pristine soltitude on a beach we'll book Vieques or Culebra, but certainly won't eliminate or decrease SXM from our plans for MANY different reasons.

Michele tried a cruise last year and was totally bored...she's not a big eater and felt restricted in her activities...anything interesting cost a bit whereas on SXM many of the things she enjoys are free or $1.00 ice cold at the Chinese grocery.

Only thing I can add is that they provide STUNNING pics...my compliments to Le Jardinier !

Denis

I totally agree with you Denis
and I am not sure that the merchants will be entirely happy either. We'll see.
the ship promotes st thomas over st maarten, the ship is so full of activities they say people won't even get off at the ports, and if 6000 people do descend on town, it hurts the merchants because the stores are too crowded.
so we will see.
In the meantime, 3 other ships are in too and the traffic is horrendous in town already. and the Oasis of the Seas is not even full.
and of course GEBE is doing its thing too.
jut another normal day in paradise!

[barcann.livejournal.com]

and check this out. I just heard this:

Huge traffic jam at the port... ON THE PIER!!!... apparently port decides today of all days to impliment strict security and have tourists both going back to the ship and coming OFF (what???!?!? unheard of!!) to pass thru security scan like at the airport, with shoes off and all... Town is a virtual desert for 4 ships being in port... Everyone stuck in lines searching their belongings and shoes..

[barcann.livejournal.com]

Hey Barbara.....

It's weird...they always manage to shoot themselves in the foot...like promoting shopping upstairs at PJIA for locals....yeah..let's buy a ticket to Bart's so we can shop upstairs! Some grandiose plan to get more work for SHERIFF ?

The story will be all over the cruise forums before OASIS sails!

Denis

can't wait to read that LOL

[barcann.livejournal.com]

All very valid points. But let's be honest, the over development with no regard towards the very points you make, let alone the serious ecological ramifications, is way beyond the "point of return". The island is overbuilt and yet the building continues, unabated. That's called progress??!!!

I call it very sad

What a great picture. Thanks for posting it.

I don't know if it will be any different from last high season. On Wed's there were 9 cruise ships in. Course that was the day I definitely avoided P'burg. And we'll have to see if they can fill the Oasis. And SXM needs the port fees for paying for the pier. Time will tell how this plays out.

SXM??? Wendell

A question for Barbara:

I know that merchants in each port have to pay the cruise liner companies something to have them promote their shops to their pax. Just how much are we talking about?

There was a Xmas tree shop off front tree that closed, because she wouldn't pay them and thus couldn't compete. A professor of mine had a biz on St. John and it was the same thing.

Advertising costs money, how much do the liner companies expect to be paid for pushing their shops, lest be forgotten about.

Great Picture! thank you for seen us

Barbara, So how has it been with that big mammouth in town? Any feedback from vendors, stores etc.? What has it done for traffic? If that ship is full, one cannot imagine! (plus the other 5 that are usually there on Wed.) Good grief!