Mary Ellen1 Posted October 29, 2009 #76 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Hi there, For those who've taken the tour, did you get to see the planes landing at Maho Beach? From Bernard's description of the tour, this is one of the first things listed, so does that mean you're at Maho Beach in the morning? My understanding is that most of the landings take place betwen 1-3pm. Please advise what your experience was with this tour stop -- did you see the airplanes? Thanks cruisers! Mary Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Stranger Posted October 29, 2009 #77 Share Posted October 29, 2009 We took Bernard's tour twice and really enjoyed it. You will get to Maho Beach after 1:00 and spend about 45 minutes there. We saw quite a number of planes land - really neat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Ellen1 Posted October 29, 2009 #78 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Thanks, Perfect Stranger! ;) I'll go ahead & book it. Mary Ellen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateGal Posted October 29, 2009 #79 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Here are my comments about Bernard's Tour from my review (Emerald Princess - Oct. 11-18): We booked the island tour with Bernard (http://www.bernardstours.com/) and couldn't be more pleased. Bernard met us by the visitor's centre half an hour after the shipped docked. We had to wait about 30 minutes for some late comers which cut into our tour time. Our first stop was a rocky beach to look at some sea urchins and shells. Then onto Orient Beach which I think is one of the better beaches I have ever been to...nudity aside, the beach was quiet, mature, no radios or music, and very few children. I don't have a problem with the nudity at all...next time we are in St. Maarten, I wouldn't hesitate to just take a cab straight there. A friend of ours rented a Seadoo for $50 for 30 minutes...the price also included a few chair rentals but we just sat on our towels. Bernard gave us 1.5 hrs at the beach and then we met back at the van. Next on the tour was a visit to the French open market for souvenirs (30 minutes there), and then on to Maho Beach. Unfortunately, we had missed the landings of the bigger planes but we did see two smaller planes land. By the time we arrived at Maho, the sun was starting to hide behind clouds and we were tired from the day's tour. Bernard charges $35/person for the island tour, which also includes drinks from his stocked cooler (Carib beer, Coke, Diet Coke, water and rum punch). I highly recommend this tour, especially for first time visitors to St. Maarten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gtaylor Posted October 29, 2009 #80 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Do you have to make reservations or could you just look for him when you get off the ship? From Bernard's Website: Q. Can you accommodate 'Walk-Up' customers, or must all reservations be made in advance? A. Unfortunately, we can no longer accept 'Walk-Up' clients, as the Island Government requires that we show a reservation before picking up our guests at the cruise terminal. gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateGal Posted October 30, 2009 #81 Share Posted October 30, 2009 From Bernard's Website: Q. Can you accommodate 'Walk-Up' customers, or must all reservations be made in advance? A. Unfortunately, we can no longer accept 'Walk-Up' clients, as the Island Government requires that we show a reservation before picking up our guests at the cruise terminal. gary Yes, I also saw Bernard turning away walk-up customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willbcruisin Posted October 31, 2009 #82 Share Posted October 31, 2009 Yes, I also saw Bernard turning away walk-up customers. None of the tour operators are allowed to take walk-up's anymore. Always best to make a ressie:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhall85917 Posted October 31, 2009 #83 Share Posted October 31, 2009 We aren't beach people and I see that Bernard's tours stop for 2 hours at Orient Beach. Are there things to do there or does Bernard offer other options? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricketaz Posted November 1, 2009 #84 Share Posted November 1, 2009 Wow. We just got home yesterday from the Carnival Glory. We did Bernard Tours in St. Maarten. I had arranged a private tour because all 16 of us decided on the tour. The private tour was only $40 each. It was one of the highlights of our cruise. We had so much fun that day. The beach was great, the planes at Maho were great. Bernard was very nice and our tour guide, Gizmo, was wonderful. It far exceeded my expectations and I would highly recommend Bernard. He will try his best to make sure you have a great time, just tell him what you want to do. And the homemade rum punch is pretty tasty too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gypsy2 Posted November 2, 2009 #85 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Has anyone who has had to take the later tour at 10:30 felt rushed to be back at the ship or felt rushed to make the 10:30 meeting when get in around 10am? The package sounds wonderful I am just concerned on the time frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunniedays Posted November 2, 2009 #86 Share Posted November 2, 2009 Are there changing rooms available for getting into dry clothes at Orient Beach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Stranger Posted November 2, 2009 #87 Share Posted November 2, 2009 I didn't see any changing rooms and the restrooms are small and rather rustic, unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Willbcruisin Posted November 5, 2009 #88 Share Posted November 5, 2009 Ditto, I don't recall any changing rooms either and the bathrooms are a bit rustic.......... Check with Bernard and see what he recommends......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topfitmom Posted November 7, 2009 #89 Share Posted November 7, 2009 Here are my comments about Bernard's Tour from my review (Emerald Princess - Oct. 11-18): We booked the island tour with Bernard (http://www.bernardstours.com/) and couldn't be more pleased. Bernard met us by the visitor's centre half an hour after the shipped docked. We had to wait about 30 minutes for some late comers which cut into our tour time. Our first stop was a rocky beach to look at some sea urchins and shells. Then onto Orient Beach which I think is one of the better beaches I have ever been to...nudity aside, the beach was quiet, mature, no radios or music, and very few children. I don't have a problem with the nudity at all...next time we are in St. Maarten, I wouldn't hesitate to just take a cab straight there. A friend of ours rented a Seadoo for $50 for 30 minutes...the price also included a few chair rentals but we just sat on our towels. Bernard gave us 1.5 hrs at the beach and then we met back at the van. Next on the tour was a visit to the French open market for souvenirs (30 minutes there), and then on to Maho Beach. Unfortunately, we had missed the landings of the bigger planes but we did see two smaller planes land. By the time we arrived at Maho, the sun was starting to hide behind clouds and we were tired from the day's tour. Bernard charges $35/person for the island tour, which also includes drinks from his stocked cooler (Carib beer, Coke, Diet Coke, water and rum punch). I highly recommend this tour, especially for first time visitors to St. Maarten. Hi, Can you tell me what a seadoo is? Is this at Orient Beach? Do you know what else we can rent at Orient Beach? Did you take a private tour with Bernards? I thought the drinKs only came with private tours. Thanks for the advice.;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiserssandr Posted November 7, 2009 #90 Share Posted November 7, 2009 We were at Orient Beach last year as part of our tour with Bernard. I wouldn't really call the rest rooms rustic just pretty basic. They were very clean. There was a fee of 50 cents to use them. Oh Bernards tour was great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PirateGal Posted November 8, 2009 #91 Share Posted November 8, 2009 Hi, Can you tell me what a seadoo is? Is this at Orient Beach? Do you know what else we can rent at Orient Beach? Did you take a private tour with Bernards? I thought the drinKs only came with private tours. Thanks for the advice.;) A seadoo is a jet ski...I don't know why but I always called them seadoos as opposed to a skidoo (that runs on snow). Orient Beach also had parasail rides. Our tour with Bernard was not private...we were a group of six together and then there was another couple and a threesome. I think Bernard has drinks for all his tours. Have fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
topfitmom Posted November 8, 2009 #92 Share Posted November 8, 2009 A seadoo is a jet ski...I don't know why but I always called them seadoos as opposed to a skidoo (that runs on snow). Orient Beach also had parasail rides. Our tour with Bernard was not private...we were a group of six together and then there was another couple and a threesome. I think Bernard has drinks for all his tours. Have fun! Thanks for the information!!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brlrph Posted November 10, 2009 #93 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Has anyone who has had to take the later tour at 10:30 felt rushed to be back at the ship or felt rushed to make the 10:30 meeting when get in around 10am? The package sounds wonderful I am just concerned on the time frame. We docked at 10am and were greeted by Bernard & John. In John' s van of 8 people who had a blast.Very informative and a good mix of sites.Back to the dock with 2 hours to spare for shopping. Maybe it was all the provided refreshments but we did not feel rushed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lilfish7 Posted November 10, 2009 #94 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Just booked Bernards for our upcoming cruise! I'm excited and can't thank y'all enough for the information! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey779 Posted November 10, 2009 #95 Share Posted November 10, 2009 We docked at 10am and were greeted by Bernard & John. In John' s van of 8 people who had a blast.Very informative and a good mix of sites.Back to the dock with 2 hours to spare for shopping. Maybe it was all the provided refreshments but we did not feel rushed. Thanks for this info. I was a little worried about the time frame as well. Were you on the Emerald Princess? We're sailing on the Emerald and I think we'd have to be back on the ship @ 5:30 pm for the 6:00 pm sailaway. I'm just wondering if you had the same schedule. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brlrph Posted November 10, 2009 #96 Share Posted November 10, 2009 Was on the Emerald last week,I booked Bernard online and replyed to his email.Make sure you printout email as I was not on his list at the dock,no problem after I showed email Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacey779 Posted November 11, 2009 #97 Share Posted November 11, 2009 Was on the Emerald last week,I booked Bernard online and replyed to his email.Make sure you printout email as I was not on his list at the dock,no problem after I showed email That sounds like a good idea, especially since we booked a few months ago. I'll make sure to bring a printout. Thanks! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortchange1969 Posted November 11, 2009 #98 Share Posted November 11, 2009 We did Bernard's tour last week. We were on the Explorer. We had a good time and for the money, his tour is good. We got a lot of interesting info about the island. However, we did feel rushed and in my opinion, unfortantely, most of the time was spent driving in the van. I have to say, probably not Bernard's fault, Explorer docked from 12pm to 9pm. There was only us and one other couple so it was nice, and it was easier to come to a consensus as to what we wanted to do and what was more important to us. Another driver picked us up at the dock and took us to Rima's. Not worth the stop to me, unless you are looking for cheap souveniers, bathing suits, cover ups, etc. They gave us 30 minutes there and Bernard himself picked us up and took us from there. We went to Maho Beach to watch the planes land, saw one small and one large plane land, DH was able to go in the water for a bit and when we were leaving, Bernard stopped to let us watch a huge Air France plane land. Only had 30 minutes there. Drove all the way over to French side/Marigot and didn't really see anything pleasing, most of the stores were closed due to "siesta time" so we skipped that and drove all they way to Orient Beach. We had about an hour and a half there. We got 2 chairs, an umbrella and 2 free drinks at a place called Strings for $16. They had private bathrooms and showers. Bathroom was kind of eh but served it's purpose. Another thing was the water at Orient that day was horrible. Lots of seaweed and leaves and junk. Bernard said it wasn't like that the day before. Saw the nude beach. :eek: No comment..from there drove us back to Philipsburg and dropped us off, but unfortunately, by that time, most of the stores were closing. Some stayed open to about 6:30 and he dropped us off at the end of Front Street, not in the heart of town where the water taxi drops you off so we missed most of the places the ship recommended. We were only able to go into about 3 stores before it got dark and all the stores were closed so we got a taxi back to the ship. Since we didn't have to be back on the ship until 8:30pm, we shopped at some of the stores at the dock that stayed open and had great success there. Like I said, maybe if we had docked earlier in the morning, we may have enjoyed Bernard's tour a lot more. His price can't be beat and a word of advice..be VERY CAREFUL of the rum punch! LOL :rolleyes: Next time if we go on a cruise that stops here, we will probably just take the water taxi to the boardwalk/beach area and then go into town on the water taxi and do some shopping. However, I would recommend Bernard's tour if your ship docks early in the morning and you've never been to St. Maarten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perfect Stranger Posted November 11, 2009 #99 Share Posted November 11, 2009 You're better off staying out of the "ship recommended" stores anyway. ;) I've been to Orient beach twice (with Bernard) and each time the water has been very clear. It's true you're in the van a lot but Bernard gives a lot of facts so it's not just a long silent ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kikkycat Posted November 12, 2009 #100 Share Posted November 12, 2009 We aren't beach people and I see that Bernard's tours stop for 2 hours at Orient Beach. Are there things to do there or does Bernard offer other options? We are incapable of hanging on a beach for 2 solid hours too. We did relax and have a drink in some chairs. There are restaurants and bars lining the beach to choose from to while away some time. There are also water toys for rent if that's of interest to you. 2 hours was a good amount of time for us there. As far as the place to change into dry clothes - I didn't see any either. I went swimming first then gave myself about 30-40 minutes to start to dry off for the rest of the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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