Hotels FAQ

Question:

Hi, I want to take a cruise in January, and I have the choice between a stop in Philipsburg, St-Maarten or Catalina Island in Dominican Republic. How do they compare? Thanks Pierre

Response:

Catalina Island is a private island and St. Maarten is a real port, famous for shopping and some good shore excursions. Carole

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > I want to take a cruise in January, and I have the choice between a > stop in Philipsburg, St-Maarten or Catalina Island in Dominican > Republic. > How do they compare? > Thanks > Pierre

Response:

We were in the Dominican and did a day trip to Catalina Island. I was told that years ago there was nothing much there at all. It is a very small island, all we saw was a strip of shack type souvenir stores and a couple of buildings. Lunch was an informal barbecue. You can snorkel and the sand is caribbean nice. I believe we boated around to the other side of the island in maybe 15 minutes. Someone will correct me but I think I was told that half of Catalina was bought by a hotel chain. I don’t recall seeing any residential housing or buildings of substance and would be surprised if more than a handful of people live/stay there overnight. So, unless there is another Catalina Island, I would guess it doesn’t compare at all to Phillipsburg.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> Hi, > I want to take a cruise in January, and I have the choice between a > stop in Philipsburg, St-Maarten or Catalina Island in Dominican > Republic. > How do they compare? > Thanks > Pierre

Response: