St Barts 11-06-09

[ScarletB]

flights to SBH $$$
18 days at a gorgous villa $$$$
being on SBH with friends for Select 60th anniversary PRICELESS

yup

[GEED181]

Hi Carol...Please do...there are 55+ of us so far..1:00 is the suppsoed meeting time..I would be happy to introduce you, but that won't be necessary..I haven't met half of the people, so I will have to introduce myself as most there will have to do..I have a detailed map of Gustavia and have marked the points of interest for the weekend if anyone needs it I will be happy to mail it to them....You guys are lucky that your spending a few weeks there, I can only make the 4 days work this time...

[MacPhin]

i'll take a copy of the map of interest......i hate missing out on fun!

do you need my addy?

[GEED181]

Carol..I have your work address....send it there? Or PM me with home...

[GEED181]

OUCH...the exchange rate this AM was 1.48....Glad I have a buch of Euros left over from June at 1.28.....Another bit of information: Match supermarket across from the airport gladly takes us dollars and gives euros back in change at a fair rate..usually 1.35....we buy some small items and pay with a 100 dollar bill and get euros to play with..Match is in the strip across from the airport in the back...

[Summerlover]

Geed I would love a copy. PM coming your way!!!

[parothdlar]

Geed I too would love a copy !!!!

[Ambition At Bay]

Unless we can come up with something similar for BN shirts. (without having Jimmy sue us!)

Yikes!!!!...wearing common tee-shirts with something printed on them in downtown Gastavia!!!...gasp, what WILL the StBartsOnline Snowbird and Timeshare snobs think now, oh my, or I should say, Mon Dieu!! at least the real full time island residents don't mind too much

can we print Reeferette in French??? Now that I think about I don't think so.

HI RUSS!!!!

HI CAROL!!!!...woohoo, good to see you

hey!! hope everything is going well and you're taking some time for some fun.

Oh he's having fun alright!!
We'll miss you in SBH Russ!

Will be looking forward to the stories you can tell, I had a BLAST at the 50th in 1999, although I can say I always enjoy my trips to SB, but that one was the deal, chatting with Jimmy at the bar in Select was too cool for school

[Ambition At Bay]

Scarlet..it is about 5 minutes by car from the quay....from the airport..about 2 minutes..along the beach...remember it really is a small Island.....the crowd from the "other side" are all Buffett fans too, and some of them know Jimmy quite well from all the time spent on SBH....there are no "snooty" attitudes in person..Really is one big family on this Island, first time or repeat....trust me on this one....see you at Tom Beach Bar or at the concert......strictly casual and everything is accepted...RELAX....I bring all my grubby beach clothes and no one cares...

I'll be seeing Carol this weekend, they're headed here for Oktoberfest so I'm sure we'll start talking about our game plan for Saturday. Thank God we're staying longer than the weekend, I think we'll need a few days to recover

Pam, give me a call on some of this stuff if you want, also I can show you around with Google Earth no problem, do some screen shots, call things out, show you parking, etc, so you can get a better idea early on, Carol will know most of these locations anyway, but its fun to have a map

[Summerlover]

OUCH...the exchange rate this AM was 1.48....Glad I have a buch of Euros left over from June at 1.28.....Another bit of information: Match supermarket across from the airport gladly takes us dollars and gives euros back in change at a fair rate..usually 1.35....we buy some small items and pay with a 100 dollar bill and get euros to play with..Match is in the strip across from the airport in the back...

Thanks for this info. Would the bank have a better exchange rate?? Do we need to be concerned that the shops or restaurants do not take credit cards? Undecided on the cash aspect of this trip.

We aren't real sure about the boat charter. I just got a quote of 80e per person (website listed 70e). This was for a shared charter. As much as we would love to do this, given the shock of the euro-dollar exchange we probably would be best to spend our $$ elsewhere. We also will have only Wed and Thurs to seriously explore the island before the weekend. Hopefully we will have a next time to SB.

[ScarletB]

OUCH...the exchange rate this AM was 1.48....Glad I have a buch of Euros left over from June at 1.28.....Another bit of information: Match supermarket across from the airport gladly takes us dollars and gives euros back in change at a fair rate..usually 1.35....we buy some small items and pay with a 100 dollar bill and get euros to play with..Match is in the strip across from the airport in the back...

Thanks for this info. Would the bank have a better exchange rate?? Do we need to be concerned that the shops or restaurants do not take credit cards? Undecided on the cash aspect of this trip.

We aren't real sure about the boat charter. I just got a quote of 80e per person (website listed 70e). This was for a shared charter. As much as we would love to do this, given the shock of the euro-dollar exchange we probably would be best to spend our $$ elsewhere. We also will have only Wed and Thurs to seriously explore the island before the weekend. Hopefully we will have a next time to SB.

The banks here won't usually do you any favors with exchange rate - at least not the one I work for. I don't know about the banks on the island. In the old days your credit card company was the best bet, however you should probably check with them as Carol tells me some of them are starting to charge extra to do the exchange. I used credit cards for everything I've set up so far and had no problems so I believe they are widely accepted. I do seem to have read somewhere that VISA/MC is more acceptable than AMEX (so I guess there will be no racking up of more airmiles while I'm there!)

[GEED181]

..I never had a problem..MOST stores will accept Amex, some only take visa/Mc.....I use Bank Of America and they are partnered with Pariabes which has ATM'S in Gustavia and they waive the fees for me..sometimes I get charged the fees, but I have always got them reversed when I get home.....the fees the banks charge are assinine to get Euros..I get a better deal by using Travellex online if I need to have Euros before I go, or I make a lot of small purchases at Match right away...If you don't arrive with euros, no worries, all the shops accept dollars and all have the current exchange but will give you dollars back....

[ScarletB]

..I never had a problem..MOST stores will accept Amex, some only take visa/Mc.....I use Bank Of America and they are partnered with Pariabes which has ATM'S in Gustavia and they waive the fees for me..sometimes I get charged the fees, but I have always got them reversed when I get home.....the fees the banks charge are assinine to get Euros..I get a better deal by using Travellex online if I need to have Euros before I go, or I make a lot of small purchases at Match right away...If you don't arrive with euros, no worries, all the shops accept dollars and all have the current exchange but will give you dollars back....

I do have a B of A credit card but that particular giant hasn't swallowed northern NE yet so we have no BofA banks here - which is actually OK by me except when you need something like this!

[rkoener]

Just found out that Verizon will be discontinuing their Global Rental Program as of Oct 1, 2009. This means this will not work for our trip. They have a new program that is shown here http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Travel/

[Summerlover]

Ryan, I have gotten so many versions of what will work. I know I will get the phone card when we get to SB. Still doesn't address not having a phone while we are out and about. I think I am going to stop by our "new little Verizon" place in town and see if I can get yet another answer.

The time is drawing nearer pholks. I have my little carry-on sitting out. It sure is small.

[GEED181]

...And the bright people at Verizon will BS their through your questions...it took me three trips to straighten out all the mis-information Sprint told me...you are much better off asking a Verizon user what works and what doesn't...ask someone on SBHonline forum and they will give you a straight answer....

[MacPhin]

Ron, i have a BOA atm card and charge card. Have you been charged an exchange fee when using it at a shop or some place other than an atm??? just wondering.

[GEED181]

Carol..yes I get charged an exchange fee at the shops, that's why I usally pay in cash....I order euos online (travelex) and avoid this...

[MacPhin]

Carol..yes I get charged an exchange fee at the shops, that's why I usally pay in cash....I order euos online (travelex) and avoid this...

FEES FEES FEES. i HATE banks.

[ScarletB]

Carol..yes I get charged an exchange fee at the shops, that's why I usally pay in cash....I order euos online (travelex) and avoid this...

FEES FEES FEES. i HATE banks.