Originally Posted by
tommy777
SXM is also a good alternative. Get a hotel with a view of the airport and go to the beach when the heavies come from Europe. I would recommend the French part.
I don't think there are any more 747s coming in - they all seems to be smaller than in the old days of the Air France flights.
We always stay on the Dutch side (because thar's where most of the timeshares are), but eat on the French side. The French side also generally has the nicer beaches. One thing to note is that you generally want to pay cash in US$ on the French side. Most restaurants (at least last summer) were giving a 1:1 exchange rate on the Euro, so you would effectively get a 30% discount for cash.
The advantage to the Caribbean over Hawaii is that you could fly F to the Caribbean, but only Y to Hawaii.
However, I also agree with checking out Hawaii, especially since the OP is on the East Coast, so you get a good "bang for your buck". My personal rankings would be Kauai, Hawaii, Maui, and maybe Oahu. Parts of Oahu are nice (like soaring at Dillingham on the North Shore), but Honolulu is just another big city and not worth the trip.