Bernard's Tour St Maarten

Thanks for the help..I will make sure my watch is on ship time... Thank again!!

First time Cruiser....I booked Bernard's 9am tour for Jan.29th . We are on the Oasis and will be in port 8am to 5pm. I received the email where to go and to be there for 8:45..great!! Then I noticed some posting about ship time and port time. How can I find out if my time in port is on the same time as St Maarten's ?

Since you've booked with Bernard, I would say that there will be no problem, so, as advised, relax and enjoy,

That said, I have never heard of the idea that ships adjust their time when they cross two time zones.

During the winter, Florida and St. Maarten are one time zone apart.

Both the RCCL website and the Port of St. Maarten website say that you are there from 8-5.

But this post from January '12 says specifically that the Oasis doesn't change time.

Something doesn't compute.

Again, having booked with Bernard, you will be fine. He'll be on top of it, and tell him that Gary says hello. :)

gary

I bring my cruise compass ashore with me so I don't have to remember.

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Just got off the Epic and the tour #2 was good. Can't beat the price for everything you see. A little disorganized at the start but after that it was fun. Orient Beach was great.

I went on this great tour with mailman last year. My parents are traveling on allure in February before it's going in for emergency repairs. Has anyone from allure done this tour with the shortened allure eastern port times? Any issues with cutting the time too close? I am sure Bernard is aware and is adjusting for the shorter port day.

Does he accept US Dollars? Or do we need to exchange some Euros before we leave home? I know he takes credit cards. But I'm not sure I want to give him one.

Does he accept US Dollars? Or do we need to exchange some Euros before we leave home? I know he takes credit cards. But I'm not sure I want to give him one.

yes, he does accept US dollars :)

Does he accept US Dollars? Or do we need to exchange some Euros before we leave home? I know he takes credit cards. But I'm not sure I want to give him one.

Might I ask why? This is a well known company with an excellent reputation that does a huge business with the cruise industry, including a significant amount of repeat business with satisfied customers. He's not about to jeopardize his livelihood through abuse of customers' credit cards.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't pay cash, if that's your choice, but I'm curious about your reluctance to use your credit card.

Either way, enjoy your tour! We certainly did... and paid with a credit card! :)

Does he accept US Dollars? Or do we need to exchange some Euros before we leave home? I know he takes credit cards. But I'm not sure I want to give him one.

I used a gift debit card with $50 on it. Maybe try that if you're hesitant to use your regular credit card. Yes, he takes US dollars. So did serafinas and the street vendors on the French side.

Last time I used him.........3 years ago, he didn't require a deposit. I'm I reading right that he does now and if so, how much?

I've been on Bernard's tour many years ago. What is the going rate now?

We did tour #2 a couple of weeks back - it was truly brilliant. A day packed with fun, information, amazing sights, brilliant tour guide (David), not to mention the rum & beer they have in the coolbox! We went on St Maartens Day & all the shops were closed apart from the ones in the port, but it did not detract from our enjoyment.

I really would not hesitate to recommend. :)

We took the tour with David last week and had a really good time. David knows his island very well. There were six of us in an air conditioned mini bus. One of the best tours we have taken in the Caribbean.

Can anyone tell me how much of a deposit you have to put down for his tour. I took it 3 years ago and didn't have to put down a deposit.

Hi we will be in St Martin Jan 2nd and we have booked a private tour.

The deposit was $50 and the balance is due on the day.

We received a confirmation email and the reviews seem great so I'm very excited about our tour and seeing St Martin and the whole island.

I think I paid $5 each person via paypal. Worth every penny. Really enjoyed the tour.

I took one of his tours 2 years ago and it was great. I am now booking a tour with Bernard for my Jan. 11th cruise. We will have 15 people so we decided to do the private tour. I have to say that Bernard is great to deal with, and his tours are fantastic. Looking for this next adventure in 47 days!

Did Tour #2 a week ago. Had Mailman as driver.

Enjoyed the tour (I stayed away from the rum punch - just can't do that all day long, especially on a hot, sunny day).

Honestly, though, St. Martin was not my favorite. I was really looking forward to it as I'd never been. With "only" three ships in port, I thought it was crowded everywhere. Cannot imagine what it's like on a busy day!

Plus, I had issues with my reservation and ended up not making a deposit online. Email said that was OK and to just pay total at the pier.

I used a credit card and realized after I was back on the ship that I was charged $50 rather than the $40 that was in my confirmation.

If that was due to using plastic, he should've said something before running my card. I plan on emailing him about it.

Just got back this past weekend from our cruise on the Oasis. We stopped in St. Maarten on the 20th and did Benards Tour.

I put down a $5 deposit per person (two of us, so only $10 total) when booking and paid the rest via credit card when we got there.

Our ship time in port was 8am-5pm. However when we arrived it was 9am port time and that was the meeting. Luckily, we were able to get off the ship a little early because we got in early and it seemed as though they knew that the time was an hour off so they stuck around for about 10-15 minutes until they knew everyone was there.

The tour itself was good. We had Sexy as our driver. We had enough time to hit up everything we wanted including seeing a plane arriving and departing at Maho.

I was a little bummed with the group of people on the tour. Only because no one really talked to each other. We had 2 different groups who didn't speak english very well which is fine, but I had hoped for more fun and meeting people while on the bus. That isn't Bernards fault though!

I would definitely recommend the Tour 2 and Bernard's.