It is Sunday morning 10:30am and we are sitting by the pool at Tom and Joe’s instead of making our way to St. Bart’s. What happened?
We awoke early this morning at 6:00am, put on coffee, then packed camera, lenses, mosquito repellant, sunscreen and passports into my backpack and headed out at about 7:30am for the marina. We arrived at Marigot at 8:15am for our 8:50 am scheduled departure for Gustavius. There was a short line at the departure check-in station and each party ahead of us seemed dejected as they walked away. We should have known there would be a problem when we finally had our turn. The attendant asked if we had a reservation – and we assured her we did and I provided the details from Kate’s email message to me. Then the attendant, in a whisper so as not to frighten the parties in line behind us, let us know that she was oh-so-sorry but the boat for this morning’s passage was experiencing technical difficulties and would not be making the trip to St. Bart’s today, would we like to rebook for another day this week? “No…we are leaving tomorrow for home,” we said, disappointed that our planned excursion for the last full day on the island was not going to happen. As it was the only scheduled departure from Marigot for the day, she advised us that “You will have to contact your booking agent for a refund.” And that was that. Our day in St. Bart’s cancelled by the ferry operator.
Why these people could not have phoned or emailed us with this information prior to us making the 40 minutes drive there and (requiring another 40 minutes back home) is beyond comprehension. Actually that is not true. It is entirely clear to me why they operate this way. Had they informed us earlier of the cancellation – last evening or even earlier today — we would have had plenty of advance notice to rebook on a competing ferry liner departing from Phillipsburg closer to home. Instead, by waiting until we arrived at the marina, they preempted us from making alternative arrangements for today. This is bullshit and the individual(s) who own the ferry line will hear from us upon our return to Boston.
So what to do today? It is a Sunday so many attractions and stores are closed for the day. We thought we might head to Cole Bay for lunch at Pineapple Pete’s, and then perhaps see if one of the local rum distilleries is holding tours. I’d also like to pick up a couple of tee-shirts before we leave. Now we have time – just need to find the opportunity!
