joyce prince

has anyone used joyce recently? if so how was your tour?

thanks

Joyce is still available for tours. I have known her for years! She is a wonderful person - will provide you with a great tour and is so flexible. I would highly recommend her.

We have booked her for our June 2013 trip already...she has been very nice in our emails/conversations and looking forward to her this time..We used Bernard before, but looking for a change....I am a big Alton Brown (Food Network) fan and she was used by him when they did a segment there...kinda cool...

D

update: we just returned from the allure. joyce was wonderful.very friendly and easy going.I would highly recommend her. Ask her about bruce and the bathroom incident at burger king

BEWARE of Mrs. Prince we had a reservation with her and she canceled it and took another party. Stuck us with her daughters BF.

We've toured with Joyce three times. She is friendly, reliable and knows St. Maarten. She's often booked but is the first person I contact when I book a cruise that calls in St. Maarten.

Our tour of St. Maarten/St. Martin with Joyce Prince in December, 2011 was wonderful. We saw parts of the island that we would've not otherwise seen (including Orient Beach! -- beware, the folks that need to be wearing clothes....aren't!).

Highly recommend!

We are considering a tour with her, if she is available. Does anyone have any other recommendations besides Bernard's for a private tour?

Thanks!

We used her and it was very good.

We have booked her for our June 2013 trip already...she has been very nice in our emails/conversations and looking forward to her this time..We used Bernard before, but looking for a change....I am a big Alton Brown (Food Network) fan and she was used by him when they did a segment there...kinda cool...

 

D

Do you remember how much she quoted you by chance? I am looking at booking her for a full day trip, not sure how long it will be, and if a full day is worth it?

Thank you!

Do you remember how much she quoted you by chance? I am looking at booking her for a full day trip, not sure how long it will be, and if a full day is worth it?

 

Thank you!

It was $400 for the whole day, for 10 people (we have since changed to 8 only, and I have asked her about the change in cost of any)..

Our plans are ORANGE FEVER (Orient Beach area), shopping, and MAHO BEACH, plus some local touring of sights...

David:D

Do you remember how much she quoted you by chance? I am looking at booking her for a full day trip, not sure how long it will be, and if a full day is worth it?

 

Thank you!

We were on a full day tour with Joyce just 2 weeks ago. She was great! I highly recommend her. There were 6 of us and we paid $375. The planes at Maho Beach were fantastic!

We were on a full day tour with Joyce just 2 weeks ago. She was great! I highly recommend her. There were 6 of us and we paid $375. The planes at Maho Beach were fantastic!

Would you mind giving me a run down of exactly what you did and time frame for each stop? Did you do beach time, and if so, which one? What time did you do Maho? Did you do shopping also?

Just want to get an idea of what to tell Joyce what we would like to do..

Thanks !

David:D

It was $400 for the whole day, for 10 people (we have since changed to 8 only, and I have asked her about the change in cost of any)..

 

Our plans are ORANGE FEVER (Orient Beach area), shopping, and MAHO BEACH, plus some local touring of sights...

 

David:D

CORRECTION: not sure what I was thinking when I emailed her and said it had changed to 8, it is 10, not 8...so the amount is correct for my group...$400 for 10 people for the day....she is great about responding to emails...

David

Would you mind giving me a run down of exactly what you did and time frame for each stop? Did you do beach time, and if so, which one? What time did you do Maho? Did you do shopping also?

 

Just want to get an idea of what to tell Joyce what we would like to do..

 

Thanks !

 

David:D

David,

As Joyce says on her website, she customizes her tour to her guest's preferences. The typical tour on her site is a good general idea.

We were picked up at 9:00 am, circled the island, and returned at 4:00 pm. None of us had ever been to St Maarten and were more interested in seeing the island as a whole and experiencing its culture than in shopping or extended beach time.

Joyce had check the plane arrival schedule and a big one was due in at 12:15. We toured the area around Philipburg, stopped at a French bakery and were at Maho in time to see several planes land. An experience not to be missed!

We had lunch at a small outdoor locals-type restaurant in Marigot. Being a Tuesday and a holiday at that, most of the stores were closed. A parade was due to start at 3:00 pm so we left early. I would have liked to have spent more time there. Our last stop was Orient Bay beach which was very nice.

It does take more time to circle the island than you would think - roads are bad and lots of traffic - and, of course, we made other stops I did not list.

If it's beach time you want, Maho is a good small, happening beach with lots of people, a couple of restaurant/bars hang-outs and entertainment (planes). Honestly, I could have stayed there all day. Orient is longer (1 1/2 miles), quieter, and more low key. As Americans, we would not consider it family friendly since it is clothing optional.

For shopping, if it were a market day in Marigot (Wed or Sat), I would go there and Back St. in Philipsburg. Non market day, I'd probably go to Maho and Back St.

Hope this helps.

My wife and I have been there before, and toured with Bernard's Tour, but it seemed we got to Maho too early to see the big planes...We are wanting to go to Orient (specifically ORANGE FEVER), so may head there first, and hit Maho later...Thanks for the reply... We hopefully (Can't speak for all 10 of us) won't want to do much shopping (I don't like to spend vacation time shopping), but wanted to get an idea of how much time Joyce like to devote to touring the country itself, which we would like to do...

David:D

.....but wanted to get an idea of how much time Joyce like to devote to touring the country itself, which we would like to do...

 

David:D

It is not up to Joyce to decide. It is up to you.

Develop your agenda and tell your driver what you wish to do, and you shall be accomodated.

We used her tour company and though she was not available personally her selected guide, Berniece was excellent. I would used her services again. :)

I agree with another poster. It is up to you to decide what to do. That is the great thing about a private tour. We didn't want to go shopping. Our main interests were Maho, Orient and picture oportunities. We got exactly what we wanted, and would definately recommend her. I could have stayed at Maho all day. We could have stayed at Orient all day as well. It was our first time on the island, so we also wanted to drive around as well. She must know what kids like, because she found a place where there were well over 100 iguana's. They were in the trees, in the water, chasing each other around. My 9 yr old son loved them. I am not sure of the name, but she found a place fairly close to Orient where we were able to walk across to another small island since it was low tide. It was our choice to do it or not. If not, it was a quick stop since it was on the way to Orient anyway. Great views from there. Water shoes are highly recommended.

No more group island tours for us where you spend way to much time doing the things that you don't want to do, and not near enough doing the things that you do want to do.

We toured with Joyce this past week and she was FANTASTIC. We had a family of 19 including 9 kids. She did a wonderful job keeping the kids interested, answering all of their questions as well as giving all kinds of information that the adults enjoyed. She made sure we did the things we were interested in. I would HIGHLY recommend Joyce. Watch out for that killer Rum Punch though! :)

Toured with Joyce a couple of times now. For my 50th bday she rented a minibus and we did a beach bar hop. Fun, fun, fun.

I agree, watch out for the rum punch. Really rum punch shots. Whew!!!:p:D

Does Joyce Prince require a deposit to book a tour?

She took a credit card number, and don't believe she has run it through...she requests cash at the tour...( I am pretty sure)... We use her in less than 2 weeks!!!

David:D

She took a credit card number, and don't believe she has run it through...she requests cash at the tour...( I am pretty sure)... We use her in less than 2 weeks!!!

 

David:D

Would you mind telling me how many people in your group and what she charged?

When my husband and I toured with her, she asked for a credit card # over the phone, but she never charged it. We paid her cash at the end of the tour! She is fabulous!!!