Lance
Reged: 11/21/02
Posts: 27
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Gayle, Nice report. I have a feeling that what is posted on this board finds its way around the island very quickly. What is needed is for the frequent January and February visitors to the island to contribute their impressions on how things have changed in reference to restaurants, and shops in 2004 vs 2003. This way each couple can make up their own mind on what is the best value for the weak American Dollar on their visit to St. Bart's. If this means more in-house meals, or more meals at Eddy's and less visits to Mayas so be it. You will be sending everyone a message that will be read by incoming visitors and merchants on the island. The end result, you will still be able to enjoy your vacation in paradise.
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15727
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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Kevin....we dont take Amex in our shops because they are a living example of gouging...they charge the merchants around 3% per transaction.....where with MC/Visa, if you you know how and where to look, you can get a deal of around 1.25%....big difference if you do high volume business......if a customer disputes a charge on an Amex account....the amount being disputed automatically gets taken out of the merchants account until it is resolved....with MC/Visa the money isnt debited or credited until the conflict is actually resolved ( and 90% of our charge disputes end up in our favor )... once again....big difference....I love AMEX as a consumer...detest it as a merchant.....
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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Lauren
Reged: 10/10/02
Posts: 1332
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Chip, I agree with your analysis. In St Barths, supplies come from many places....U.S., South America, France, Caribbean...maybe St Barths should start using the dollar as a currency when they changeover to a Collectivité Outre-Mer...
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geopap
Reged: 12/30/03
Posts: 11
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Price gouging does suck..But except during X-mas and New Year's most restaurants are almost empty so they try to milk us when we visit. It is a shame that it happens but as a small business owner I feel their pain. I, however, would never do it to a degree that I lost customers! Hey guys, just stop taking AMEX or print a statement that explains your problem and encourage your customers to pay by Visa/MC.
GCP
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drr
Reged: 10/09/02
Posts: 72
Loc: Seattle
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Thanks for the report. Sorry to hear about the luggage. The people at SBH airport have always been very
nice to us. I hope you reported this agent.
Besides food, what else was going on on the island? What were the demographics in town and on the various
beaches? (Some friends of ours reported during Thanksgiving that Saline was visited by several cruise groups
who wanted to take pictures of all the c/o sunbathers.) Was the Island full? Did you get the impression
that the weak dollar has had any effect on the crowds?
You really can get by with two carry-ons. I take a rollerboard and a medium sized back pack. We take a little
box of detergent to wash socks, undies etc. out in the sink for our trip home. The rest of the time it is
shorts and golf shirts when out in the evening.(If a restaurant requires more formal attire than that,
we don't go.) Of course, not a lot of clothes needed for the beaches.
Hope the dollar recovers some prior to our next trip.
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15727
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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Quote:
(Some friends of ours reported during Thanksgiving that Saline was visited by several cruise groups
who wanted to take pictures of all the c/o sunbathers.
Please.....please.. ....please!!.....tell me that is not true......*rolling my eyes big time*
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karma is a beautiful thing at times
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noel
Reged: 07/22/03
Posts: 615
Loc: St. Louis, MO, USA
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Gayle,
Great trip report, and thanks for the info.
On the issue of luggage, however, I have to say that we were surprised at your reaction. Actually, I had to ask my wife the science teacher if a kg was actually 2.2 pounds. She assured me it was and asked why. I told her about your trip report and your luggage, and it makes us both totally sympathetic with that little SBH airport hysteric you encountered!!! In fact, we now want to run around with him and scream too!!! What in the world are you carrying??? Are you moving there?
Please let us know if you are ever on one of our little rinky dink flights and we'll take the boat!
Yeeoowww!!!
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julia
Reged: 11/20/03
Posts: 576
Loc: CT
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Gayle,
Thank you for taking the time to share such an interesting report. I have a suggestion re your luggage weight. We devour books while on St. B & thus would have a weight problem if we packed them. However, we send a box ahead of time to SiBarth indicating our villa name & date of arrival. It is always at the villa when we check in. We ship primarily paperbacks & we leave them for others at the villa or donate them to the Lorient sale. Alternatively, you could order your books from "Funny Face" & avoid packing them.
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GayleR
Reged: 11/18/02
Posts: 1206
Loc: Toronto, Canada
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No I didn't report the agent because after all...he was right. Granted his hysterical reaction may not have been warranted but I can't say we blamed him for not wanting to lift our bags. As for what I took...don't get me started. The post would be way too long and I have already been more than chastised and received my comeuppance.
The idea of shipping books ahead of time is a good one except that the cost to do so is prohibitively expensive from Canada. In fact I actually looked into shipping our luggage (big groan), but for the cost I could have bought another round trip ticket. I think if we cut down the quantity of hardcovers, replaced some with literary paper and enhanced the selection with a few purchases from Funny Face it would make a big difference. As for leaving books in SBH...Michael would rather leave me in SBH than a hardcover book!
Though I know carry-on will NEVER be an option for me, I now have my trusty list of what I actually wore/used and will rely on it faithfully in May.
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KevinS
Reged: 07/23/03
Posts: 3415
Loc: Boston
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Gayle -
I sympathize with your and Michael's book/weight dilemma. I have found that the only thing that works for me is to either not bring hardcovers, or to limit us to one per carryon. Kate and I stop reading paperbacks about two months before the trip in order to stockpile sufficient books for our 1-a-day SBH habit. We have also been known to decline to buy the hardcover of a favorite author and defer reading the book until it comes out in paperback a year later - just in time for our next SBH stockpile.
I, like Michael, would have great difficulty leaving a hardcover behind on SBH unless it really stunk. I do make a habit of leaving paperbacks behind with a friend, who recycles them into the Emeraud Plage library after she finishes reading them.
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DebTor
Reged: 03/26/03
Posts: 1375
Loc: Toronto, Ontario Canada
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Gayle ! I'm so sorry for the delays you experienced. Sounds depressingly familiar, i.e. the air we had to fly from Miami through San Juan. We left Toronto on a Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. and finally arrive in St. Barts the next day at 2:00 p.m.
And I must thank you for your luggage story. I had Roger read it. He'll never complain that I'm packing too much again !
DebTor
PS - Just finished Time Traveller's Wife. Couldn't put it down....
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