June 5th Cruisers Out of St Maarten - Please Post Experiences

[rsail203]

I took the pcr test 120 hours before my scheduled flight. Got a positive result, months after 2 vaccine shots and constant mask wearing. Board of Health made me manditory isolate. I'm completely asymptomatic and I'll never know if it's a false positive. Obviously I had to cancel and I'm so jealous of those about to board today. Have a great cruise!

[FastandFurious]

MIA this morning American Airlines. Wow I will never complain about a regular Florida cruise again. Arrived at MIA at 7:15. Ask first AA rep you see where to go for St. Maarten. It is not clear from signage. Huge check in lines. First line is for health clearance. Saw people fumbling with phone/IPAD docs. Definitely print out paperwork. They give you a piece of paper with a green check mark. It’s the first thing the AA agent requests. You then re enter the line for AA check in. Cleared check in at 8:30. Then TSA. Cleared TSA at 8:50. Found gate at 9am.

[cruisequeen4ever]

Thank you for sharing your experiences; this is very exciting! 

[maggie.1008]

There is a video of the passengers boarding today. Anyone know where to find it ?

[rsail203]

 

Check post 74

[rsail203]

Sorry can't see video any more, but there are a number of picture on this page.

[FastandFurious]

We made it! 1st. Recommendation . Do NOT land at the same time as an Air France 777. Landed at a remote stand and therefore bused to terminal. But at airport there are many staffers to help guide you once you finish the infamous airport zig zag line. They have established a logical process to move people through the airport but the small airport is overwhelmed when a 777 and a smaller Airbus land at the same time. First a document check with about 5 agents then immigration for a second document check. There is only one baggage carousel so no problem there. Because of the 777 crowd it took about 45 minutes after entering the terminal. Outside agents in yellow shirts guide you to a taxi. Base fare $25 plus we tipped. Pulled up to ship. 4 more document checks in spite of repeatedly asking “Can we put our papers away”. Actually it became pretty funny. I told people there was more paperwork and identification checks than the first time I went to prison! Yes antigen ( free ) testing in the terminal if needed. No glass of champagne on boarding. 640 ish passengers; 350 ish cabins occupied. The most stressful aspect was the constant production of critical documents where the loss of even one could result in no cruise. I have to buy several pairs of glasses every year. If you have any questions I can help with let me know. Cruise staff are very excited to see us and vice versa.

[cachouonacruise]

It is so exciting to see an actual return to cruising after such a long hiatus! 

 

To the lucky one on this cruise, enjoy it to the max and post reviews! I look forward to read more about your trip! 

[FlyerTalker]

4 hours ago, FastandFurious said:

We made it! 1st. Recommendation . Do NOT land at the same time as an Air France 777.

 

Air France does not operate a 777 into SXM nor does KLM -- both use the A330.  Air France arrives once a day on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 13:35, while the KLM flight arrives on Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:50.

[2chiefs]

On 6/4/2021 at 2:46 PM, LouChamp said:

This aggravation is so not worth it. In my opinion i will wait it out. All the best to those who will not

I'm with you on this. Our next cruise is booked for December and I hope all this extra aggravation is gone by then.

[2chiefs]

22 hours ago, rsail203 said:

I took the pcr test 120 hours before my scheduled flight. Got a positive result, months after 2 vaccine shots and constant mask wearing. Board of Health made me manditory isolate. I'm completely asymptomatic and I'll never know if it's a false positive. Obviously I had to cancel and I'm so jealous of those about to board today. Have a great cruise!

Probably a false positive. All that aggravation and your bubble is busted. I'm sorry this happened to you. I will wait till these strict protocols are gone before I cruise. Right now our state is wide open with almost zero mask wearing and it seems like a vacation already after a year of being cooped up.

[EMc&DrS]

ABC has a crew on board. They just did a positive story about embarkation, and the reporter said he’d be on live during Good Morning America tomorrow as the ship arrives in Barbados. 

[Diver2014]

On 6/5/2021 at 9:15 AM, FastandFurious said:

MIA this morning American Airlines. Wow I will never complain about a regular Florida cruise again. Arrived at MIA at 7:15. Ask first AA rep you see where to go for St. Maarten. It is not clear from signage. Huge check in lines. First line is for health clearance. Saw people fumbling with phone/IPAD docs. Definitely print out paperwork. They give you a piece of paper with a green check mark. It’s the first thing the AA agent requests. You then re enter the line for AA check in. Cleared check in at 8:30. Then TSA. Cleared TSA at 8:50. Found gate at 9am.

 

Ah.....a typical day at MIA.  Best to arrive at least 4 hours prior to any flight, you'll need 3 just to get to the gate and another hour to find a place to sit.

[FastandFurious]

Thank you aircraft type correction tis hard to observe carefully when passing by in a packed bus. I amend my advice as follows “Do not arrive at the same time as ANY wide body aircraft”.