Doing Bernard's tours...right thing to do or is there better?

[Kikkycat]

I would book as soon as you know for sure you're going to be there! I have him booked for November 17, 2010 already.

 

I've heard a few people say they've tried to book closer to the time of the cruise and he had to turn them down as his tour was full. If you book directly with him (NOT with Shore Adventures), he doesn't take a credit card deposit (for his 'regular" tour, not a private one).

[Willbcruisin]

I agree with Kikky. Book ASAP as November is peak time on the Island.

[2ndsailing]

Does Bernard have a new website address? I couldn't get the one that was posted to work. If someone could post his website I would appreciate it.

[2ndsailing]

I googled Bernard's tours and found him.

[Willbcruisin]

I just went on his site no problem

 

Of course put the www

 

then Bernardstours dot com

[cruiseAZ]

We toured with Bernard 2 weeks ago - we had 4 in our group and where joined by 8 others. We had a great day and the price was great. Enjoyed the planes. hiking to the fort at Margiot and Orient Beach. Had a great lunch including delicious scallops at a little place near the drop of point. They even rented us chairs for $5 each with rum punch since we had lunch and were there for only a couple of hours. Would definately do it again. I booked about 3 months in advance and added 2 more people 6 weeks in advance.

[going2cruz]

We ate at Sunset Beach Bar. Grouper stix and fries, yummy. They had salads, burgers, sandwiches, ect. Not a formal sit down place.

 

Sunset has a speaker on the railing so you could listen to the pilots and the tower.

 

How did you get over there??? How far from the port?

[yakcam]

How much did he charge for a private tour?

There would be 10 of us-5 children.

[kitkat9438]

How much did he charge for a private tour?

There would be 10 of us-5 children.

 

We got the private tour for $40pp as it we had a little over 10. it doesn't hurt to ask Bernard. He will work with you!

[_tinkerbell_]

Hi.

 

After reading this on here yesterday I emailed Bernard and got the 4 of us booked onto one of his tours. Thanks guys !!

 

:D

[STARFISH*4]

after all the RECOMMENDs for BERNARD on here...i just emailed him-hopefully for a regular tour in December:)

[SportsMom55]

We enjoyed Bernard's tour as well as few years ago. We are headed to St. Marteen again, but we didn't feel that we had enough time at Orient Beach. It was a very rushed two hours with trying to eat lunch and enjoy the beach, but if you want a variety of things to see and do, then his tour is well worth it. We are taking a taxi on our own this time to have plenty of beach time. :o

[Ladynet]

My husband & I are cruising on the Celebrity Silhouette 03/03/13, 7 days eastern . Reading all the reviews on Bernards Tour . Our first time in Maarten. Can we just book this tour when we get to the port in Maarten on 03/06/13 9:00a.m-6:00pm. No mention how long tour is? We would take the tour the one stopping at the beach? :) Thanks

[Willbcruisin]

My husband & I are cruising on the Celebrity Silhouette 03/03/13, 7 days eastern . Reading all the reviews on Bernards Tour . Our first time in Maarten. Can we just book this tour when we get to the port in Maarten on 03/06/13 9:00a.m-6:00pm. No mention how long tour is? We would take the tour the one stopping at the beach? :) Thanks

 

 

We have toured with Bernard 6 or 7 times, private. Love St Maarten, one of my favorite Islands and it being my daughter and I , I only book with Bernard.

 

There are "taxi" rules set taxi rules set now on the island which does not allow Bernard to accept walk ups any longer. He has to present his confirmed passenger list to the taxi association at the pier.

 

You can book through his website. I hope you enjoy the tour and the island as much as we do!!

[soaringfalcon]

As another poster said, you need to pre-book. The tour is 6 hours and flies by. We had sooo much fun.

[flowers44]

Bernards tour drivers also have liquid refreshments with them. The have coke products, water, sodas, and a really strong rum punch. He also makes frequent stops and will tell you where the public restrooms are. Have done Bernards Tours twice and both times were different. Maho Beach and Orient Beach were on both but the other stops were different. If there is something you want to see, ask about it in your email reservation.

[Shimsdan]

For those of you experienced cruisers who have taken tours with Bernard, would you recommend doing one of his tours with a 5 and 2 1/2 year old? I have read about the Ignuana farm, which my DN will love, and I definitely want to get some beach time in as well. I guess my real concern is the younger one. Will the 6 hours or so be too much for her?

 

Appreciate any insight you can provide!

[soaringfalcon]

For those of you experienced cruisers who have taken tours with Bernard, would you recommend doing one of his tours with a 5 and 2 1/2 year old? I have read about the Ignuana farm, which my DN will love, and I definitely want to get some beach time in as well. I guess my real concern is the younger one. Will the 6 hours or so be too much for her?

 

Appreciate any insight you can provide!

 

My answer really depends on the 2.5 year old. I have a very active DD who would not have done well being confined like that. The iguana farm, sea urchin thing and beach breaks would be great but I think the others would be way too boring. With that said, I would take my friends 2.5 year old and know that she would do very well.

 

One thing to note, there really isn't a true lunch break unless you plan to eat at the beach so you'll want to take something along to keep little tummies happy :)

[lah66]

When we took Bernards tour and got to Maho, we were running a bit late because the traffic was so bad...we were told to be back at the bus by X time which unfortunately was about 15 minutes before a large jet was coming in for a landing. Us rule abiding folk got back to the bus at X time, but a bunch of others ignored this request. As we waited in the bus (the driver would not let us out) for the others to show, the big jet came in. We were furious that we were stuck in a bus waiting for the others who chose to ignore the drivers request, and they got to watch the big jet come in. I swore I would never do another Bernards tour unless it was a personal tour where we had some control over where to go and how long to stay. We stopped in Marigot and had time to only use the restroom which was a complete bust too..but for some reason, spending 30 minutes with the urchin man was ok...

We will be back in St Martin in October and I think a personal tour will be in the plans...Bernard was great...but dealing with strangers on a group tour is not something I evr care to do again...it really put a damper on our day...We will get a few others from our roll call to join us...Hope this advice helps you have a wonderful day in St Martin!

[Arizona Laura]

We have done tours on cruise ships ports and occasionally they work out but sometimes they can be a bummer. Just takes one person to have an attitude.

We did a private tour with Bernard before and will again in April. We just will have control over the tour which will be well worth it.

 

Laura

[jjl64]

We also had a less than favorable experience with Bernard's tour on our January 2013 Celebrity cruise. We were supposed to meet at the visitors center in St. Marten to check in. When we got there someone checked off our names and collected our money and told us to go with a group that had just left to go to the bus. When we got to the bus there seemed to be some confusion, so I asked the driver if this is tour #2 and he said yes. So we got on the bus and all was fine until we got to Orient Beach.

 

When we arrived at the beach the driver "Sexy" said to meet back at the bus in 2 hours. Wait a minute, we are supposed to be on the #2 tour that stops at the beach for only 20 minutes or so. I explained that to the driver and his reply was "well, just make the most of the day" What? We had no bathing suits, no beach towels and no sunscreen.

 

Now, I didn't expect him to pay for a cab to take us back to meet up with the other tour, but a bit of understanding and an "I'm sorry, let me see if there is something we can do for you" would have been nice.

 

So instead of 2 hours in Marigot, we got 2 hours at the beach.

 

Even when we got back to the pier, no one ever said sorry or anything.

 

The moral of the story: Make sure you ask repeatedly what bus to get on, even if they tell you that you are on the correct one.

 

I would not do this tour again. :mad:

[youngestof9]

We also had a less than favorable experience with Bernard's tour on our January 2013 Celebrity cruise. We were supposed to meet at the visitors center in St. Marten to check in. When we got there someone checked off our names and collected our money and told us to go with a group that had just left to go to the bus. When we got to the bus there seemed to be some confusion, so I asked the driver if this is tour #2 and he said yes. So we got on the bus and all was fine until we got to Orient Beach.

 

When we arrived at the beach the driver "Sexy" said to meet back at the bus in 2 hours. Wait a minute, we are supposed to be on the #2 tour that stops at the beach for only 20 minutes or so. I explained that to the driver and his reply was "well, just make the most of the day" What? We had no bathing suits, no beach towels and no sunscreen.

 

Now, I didn't expect him to pay for a cab to take us back to meet up with the other tour, but a bit of understanding and an "I'm sorry, let me see if there is something we can do for you" would have been nice.

 

So instead of 2 hours in Marigot, we got 2 hours at the beach.

 

Even when we got back to the pier, no one ever said sorry or anything.

 

The moral of the story: Make sure you ask repeatedly what bus to get on, even if they tell you that you are on the correct one.

 

I would not do this tour again. :mad:

 

 

That's unfortunate. But Tour #2 does include 90-120 minutes at Orient Beach. Maybe you misunderstood what tour you booked? Tour #1 is where you stop at Marigot for an hour.

[waitn2cruz]

That's unfortunate. But Tour #2 does include 90-120 minutes at Orient Beach. Maybe you misunderstood what tour you booked? Tour #1 is where you stop at Marigot for an hour.

 

Ditto