Lunch suggestions

I am not familiar what survived and not survived the hurricane last year, so would like to know if you have any suggestions of places to eat lunch while we are in. St. Maarten this October?

I am not familiar what survived and not survived the hurricane last year, so would like to know if you have any suggestions of places to eat lunch while we are in. St. Maarten this October?

Rather than driving 40/50 minutes to the French side, if a special occasion then consider the signature dish (serves two) with a bottle of Montrachet at Holland House.

Or stay with Holland House, take good lunch with a good wine from their good cellar.

You can walk there and back from the port.

Simple and unpretentious.

Good idea thank you.

Hate to admit it ... but, at this point, we sometimes just stay on the ship. :o

Hate to admit it ... but, at this point, we sometimes just stay on the ship. :o

Please don't stay in ship, everyone must go ashore and spend some dollars, to assist with the regeneration of the island. They need your custom even more so now.

Honestly, the past four cruises we didn't get off the ship at all, we cruise for the ship and not the ports....when we want to go to a certain port such as our yearly two week Aruba trip we take in July we prefer taking land based trips so you can really experience the island.

Our upcoming trip on August 29 is to Cuba you be sure I will get off there and we hired a private tour guide to show us everything.

I would get off at ports but been on 78 cruises so far seen it all and done it all, gets boring after, wished cruise ships go to different ports more other than the standard eastern/western Caribbean islands that they been going to for years.

We have eaten at the greenhouse restaurant in bobby 's marina. It was good. We walked for several hours shopping/etc and I never s aw a place i really wanted to stop and told

DH i remembered good review of greenhouse, I was very pleased.

Have to smile at the "stay on the ship" posts :). When we started cruising to the Caribbean over forty years ago we used to shake our heads in disbelief when we noticed some cruisers stayed on the ship. Now, having been to these islands more times then we can count (including spending several weeks on St Maarten and Aruba) we sometimes stay on the ship. On one 14 day Celebrity cruise we only got off the ship in one port out of 9! The truth is we never have specific plans and just do what seems right at the time. And by the way, staying on a ship while in port is often quite fantastic. It is quiet (great for reading), the drinks are free (if you have a drink package), there are no crowds, lines, and you can get a deck chair in any location :).

Hank

Have to smile at the "stay on the ship" posts :). When we started cruising to the Caribbean over forty years ago we used to shake our heads in disbelief when we noticed some cruisers stayed on the ship. Now, having been to these islands more times then we can count (including spending several weeks on St Maarten and Aruba) we sometimes stay on the ship. On one 14 day Celebrity cruise we only got off the ship in one port out of 9! The truth is we never have specific plans and just do what seems right at the time. And by the way, staying on a ship while in port is often quite fantastic. It is quiet (great for reading), the drinks are free (if you have a drink package), there are no crowds, lines, and you can get a deck chair in any location :).

 

Hank

Fully accept the ideas and reasonings of "stayers", but one is of the opinion to try and assist, albeit in a small way, the Islands after the hurricane's devastation. A believer in the old Caribbean saying "What goes around............."

Port Royale- I understand your reasoning....and if we get off at port it is to have a nice lunch somewhere other than cruise ship food. It all depends on the island, for instance, we never get off at Jamaica, we hate Labadee (living in Florida we find the beaches in Labadee to be lacking in everything) its just not places we want to be at, but the ship is perfect for us. We cruise alot so we pretty much know some staff/workers on the ship to sit and chat with while they work. For us, cruising is all about seeing our worker friends again.

The saying "what comes around" I do believe in, but after 78 cruises I have contributed very much on the islands, and on my next cruise to Cuba in two weeks, I will contribute as I never been there. Everybody has a different meaning to vacation, mine is when I am on a cruise its mostly to enjoy the ship that is why I am on a cruise, if I want a land based vacation as we to go Aruba for two weeks every July then I do that. A cruise is a cruise and a land based vacation is to experience that, for us, its two separate vacations.

Greenhouse, heard of it over and over and never been there so I think that may be the place to have lunch. :D

Port Royale- I understand your reasoning....and if we get off at port it is to have a nice lunch somewhere other than cruise ship food. It all depends on the island, for instance, we never get off at Jamaica, we hate Labadee (living in Florida we find the beaches in Labadee to be lacking in everything) its just not places we want to be at, but the ship is perfect for us. We cruise alot so we pretty much know some staff/workers on the ship to sit and chat with while they work. For us, cruising is all about seeing our worker friends again.

 

The saying "what comes around" I do believe in, but after 78 cruises I have contributed very much on the islands, and on my next cruise to Cuba in two weeks, I will contribute as I never been there. Everybody has a different meaning to vacation, mine is when I am on a cruise its mostly to enjoy the ship that is why I am on a cruise, if I want a land based vacation as we to go Aruba for two weeks every July then I do that. A cruise is a cruise and a land based vacation is to experience that, for us, its two separate vacations.

 

Greenhouse, heard of it over and over and never been there so I think that may be the place to have lunch. :D

Dined there once with friends (their pick) prior to hurricanes, but thought it was an upmarket fast food outlet. No wine list.

It may have changed, so please post after your visit.

Fully accept the ideas and reasonings of "stayers", but one is of the opinion to try and assist, albeit in a small way, the Islands after the hurricane's devastation. A believer in the old Caribbean saying "What goes around............."

We do hear you and actually love St Maarten where we have spent a few vacations (in Grand Case) not to mention more then 50 cruise visits over the decades. We will be back in a few weeks..and this is one port where we do get off the ship. However our main goal will be to visit our favorite Liquor Store in the Caribbean (Gilmohars) which has one of the best Scotch selections in on our side of the Atlantic. What we found most disturbing about the hurricane devastation was the secondary devastation caused by islanders going out and looting! We have always found the islanders to be friendly and I guess we were a bit naive to think that they would all work to get the island back on their feet and not contribute to the problem.

Hank

We do hear you and actually love St Maarten where we have spent a few vacations (in Grand Case) not to mention more then 50 cruise visits over the decades. We will be back in a few weeks..and this is one port where we do get off the ship. However our main goal will be to visit our favorite Liquor Store in the Caribbean (Gilmohars) which has one of the best Scotch selections in on our side of the Atlantic. What we found most disturbing about the hurricane devastation was the secondary devastation caused by islanders going out and looting! We have always found the islanders to be friendly and I guess we were a bit naive to think that they would all work to get the island back on their feet and not contribute to the problem.

 

Hank

Do agree with you about the looting. A good friend of ours had their family jewellery business totally finished by looters. Gave up with SXM and now in the U.K.

We do hear you and actually love St Maarten where we have spent a few vacations (in Grand Case) not to mention more then 50 cruise visits over the decades. We will be back in a few weeks..and this is one port where we do get off the ship. However our main goal will be to visit our favorite Liquor Store in the Caribbean (Gilmohars) which has one of the best Scotch selections in on our side of the Atlantic. What we found most disturbing about the hurricane devastation was the secondary devastation caused by islanders going out and looting! We have always found the islanders to be friendly and I guess we were a bit naive to think that they would all work to get the island back on their feet and not contribute to the problem.

 

Hank

It is very sad that residents add to their own devastation, but I wouldn't view it as the ways of a country/island as a whole. The reality is that often residents inflict additional pain on their cities, particularly looting etc. when hit with devastation. It has happened in many large cities world wide. I prefer not to let a few bad apples ruin the image of a place I would otherwise find pleasant and peaceful. I know this is off topic, just something to think about. The island and people you loved I am sure is still there, you just have to look beyond the situation they have been put in, and beyond the decisions of some that have taken it to another level. Safe travels everyone!