Tour or On Our Own??

[Robpuffdaddy]

I would love all the advice in the world please. I keep flip-flopping on my plans. MY Dw and I want to go to Marigot to do some shopping and enjoying the French pastries in the morning and go to the open air market. Then I really want to get to Maho Beach to see the planes. Should we book a tour thru Bernards to accomplish this or is it just as easy to do it on our own using taxis?

[Ashland]

I would love all the advice in the world please. I keep flip-flopping on my plans. MY Dw and I want to go to Marigot to do some shopping and enjoying the French pastries in the morning and go to the open air market. Then I really want to get to Maho Beach to see the planes. Should we book a tour thru Bernards to accomplish this or is it just as easy to do it on our own using taxis?

I think you can do this easily on your own..just allow enough time to get back to the ship from Maho..Enjoy !!

[Host Faith]

I agree with Ashland, you can do this on your own. We normally stop in Marigot, then go to Orient Beach. I'm sure you can switch out Orient for Maho with a taxi driver, they'll take you wherever you want to go. Plus you can customize for the timing you want. Enjoy! :)

[ibcnusoon]

I would love all the advice in the world please. I keep flip-flopping on my plans. MY Dw and I want to go to Marigot to do some shopping and enjoying the French pastries in the morning and go to the open air market. Then I really want to get to Maho Beach to see the planes. Should we book a tour thru Bernards to accomplish this or is it just as easy to do it on our own using taxis?

 

 

We are going to do this same exact "tour" on our own. We will take a taxi to Marigot where we will spend out morning eating pastries and shopping in the open craft market, when ready we're ready we will grab a taxi to Maho and spend a few hours there enjoying the beach and watching the planes land.

 

We'll get a taxi from Maho to take us back to the port.

 

I had inquired with Bernard about this tour and he wants to charge us $350 for 6 people. I looked at the taxi rates and for 6 people we can do this easily for $150 including tip.

 

Since the taxi rates are published and that St. Maarten is an easy island to do on your own (avialability of taxi's, etc.) and the fact that it looks like we will be the only ship in port, it's a no brainer that we will do this island on our own, that we will forego Bernard's private tour (and his scheduled tour because we DO NOT want to go to Orient).

 

Now, if Bernard scheduled 2 tours, one to Orient and one that bypassed Orient (no one in our party wants to see topless sunbathers) we would book with him, it's just that we feel spending 2 hours at Orient is a waste of time.

[My Lady Sydney]

I totally agree with you. We were on Bernard's tour a couple years ago and really have no desire to go back to Orient. I too contacted him about a private tour and since there are only 4 of us the $350 for the private tour is a little high.

That being said, how much time are u leaving to get back to the ship? Our ship sails at 6:00 but I am concerned with the traffic.

[nursemommy7578]

this is what we want to do as well.

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Bernard now has 2 different tours set up. One only goes to Orient Beach for about 15 minutes instead of 2 hours.

Check out his new website! http://www.bernardstours.com/itinerary.html

[BillOh]

Bernard now has 2 different tours set up. One only goes to Orient Beach for about 15 minutes instead of 2 hours.

Check out his new website! http://www.bernardstours.com/itinerary.html

 

That is the key factor is us not going back to Bernard's, at least for the public tour. If our roll call group decides on a itinerary we like, we might join them, but I'm suspecting we will cab to Orient, cab to Maho, then back to the ship.

[getfuzzy]

On your own is fine. We do it when we go there. The best shops are up behind the ones right on the beach. There is a great men's French clothing shop! Just try to start back 2 hours before the shop leaves. I don't trust the traffic there.

[gtaylor]

If you'd like a personal/customized tour there is also the option of booking through Joyce Prince. She has access to many vehicles to fit the size of your party.

 

The Taxi Association also lists some tours.

 

gary

[ILoveScotland]

Interesting comments about Bernard. A year and a half ago I arranged a tour with him for a group from our roll call. I think there were 10 of us, maybe more. Some of our group wanted to do one thing while others wanted to do something else in the morning through lunch time. Then we all wanted to go to Maho.

 

Bernard worked with me and tailored our day to meet our needs rather than our having to take a pre-set tour. He took some of us to Marigot and dropped us off and then took others to one of the beaches. Later he picked us all up, and we toured the island a bit winding up at Maho. He also provided his own homemade rum punch for us all to have.

[PeaceLoveCruise]

Interesting comments about Bernard. A year and a half ago I arranged a tour with him for a group from our roll call. I think there were 10 of us, maybe more. Some of our group wanted to do one thing while others wanted to do something else in the morning through lunch time. Then we all wanted to go to Maho.

 

Bernard worked with me and tailored our day to meet our needs rather than our having to take a pre-set tour. He took some of us to Marigot and dropped us off and then took others to one of the beaches. Later he picked us all up, and we toured the island a bit winding up at Maho. He also provided his own homemade rum punch for us all to have.

 

...and this is why Bernard WILL have our business! :D

[mrsfuzzmo]

SO easy to go on your own. There are a lot, and I mean a LOT of van/Taxi drivers in town waiting to take groups on a tour. You can bargain for the best rate, hire one for the day, or just for certain legs of the trip. We've been to St. Maarten before and just decided to shop a bit and head to Maho. When we were waiting for our group to finish shopping, I had no less than 6 drivers ask if they would take us on a tour wherever we wanted to go. We ended up having enough people for two vans and we went to Maho for about 4 hours and then our driver picked us all up and dropped us off at the dock. I honestly can't remember the price, but it was completely fair (even a deal I think).

 

Super easy and a lot of fun. Our driver was terrific and we got a tour with a guide for the price of a taxi!!

[#1TravelMom]

This is a very easy island to explore on your own. We booked a jeep(they have cars also) with Coastal. They were awesome - definatley recommend them - located just off the ship to the right. They offer GPS for just $5. We had no problems at all - easier than driving in most cities in the US for sure. We picked up the rental, drove to Marigot, walked around and shopped. Then, we drove to Fort Louis in Marigot - offering a spectacular view of the harbor and ocean view. We then drove to Le Gallion Beach (Gallon Beach on the GPS). We had a beautiful day at this beach and returned to the ship with 1 hour and 35 minutes to spare. An awesome convertible jeep was $85+/- including taxes and we spend $10 on gas - fabulous day for under $100.(Shopping not included, of course)

[Sunseeker11]

My husband I rented an ATV (thanks to info from this forum) and set off for the day exploring. No need to do a tour. We loved being able to go where we wanted when we wanted, we had no problems finding our way around with the map we were given. We went to Maho Beach, Marigot and Orient Beach