Bernard's Tour St Maarten

[soaringfalcon]

How far out did you book Bernard's Tour? We are on the Oasis on June and want to book soon but we want to wait to see who is going to go with us on our group. BUT I want to make sure I get a spot while we are there. What are your thoughts?

 

We booked in September for our January cruise. Check how many ships are in port that day and if there more than 3, you might want to reserve now.

[Leezer]

Soaring falcon...thank you for your input.

[bigeck]

I organised a group booking through our Cc roll call. It was $40 a head. Arrived at the pink building where he said. 13 of us. Some paid cash and some paid with card. We were on the bus at 9.15. The driver asked what we wanted to do and gave us some options. We took Orient beach for a couple of hours then on to Marigot for a walk round the market and lunch. Finally on to Maho and arrived for the big planes. Got back to the ship in plenty time at 4.15. Agreat day and will do it next time.

 

Forgot to add the rum punch and beers started at 9.20 and was finished as we left the bus at the ship.

 

Alex

[bigeck]

Has anyone done a private tour for two with Bernard's tours?

 

If so is it a set tour or will they customize it?

 

They do what you want. More fun jumping in with a group though

 

Alex

[Stratus22]

How far out in advance can you book with Bernard? Also did anyone do the butteryfly farm? I will be traveling with a 3 and 6 year old and would love to know what spots the kids would love to see.

[ginkybiloba]

We booked with Bernard's very last minute (less than a week before our cruise) and he was very accommodating. We had Sexy as our guide as well - excellent!

 

Re carseats, the van we were on sat about 18-20 people and was very modern. No seat belts, but highbacked seats. You wouldn't have anything to attach your carseat to. I am a carseat fanatic (my 8 and 10 year olds still use them as they are small for their age) but I was totally comfortable with the transportation.

 

Happy to answer any other questions - we were there last week so it's still pretty fresh in my mind :)

[vikqueen]

What time did you make it back to the ship? Were you able to see any planes take off or land? How much time did you spend at Orient beach? Finally, what did you wear, did you just keep your swimsuit on under your clothes, or did they make you change before getting back on the bus?

[TheMLaw]

I booked with Bernard for our upcoming cruise. Our ship's arrival time is 9:00, and we got assigned to a 9:00 am tour. I thought ship's arriving at 9:00 were assigned a 9:30 tour? I am now worried that we will miss our reserved tour! Has anyone experienced the same situation? Thanks in advance!

[flowers44]

Don't worry about the times. Bernard's tour drivers know when the ship are getting into port. It is easy to get to the pick up point and then the drivers take you to the parking area and divide up the people to fit into the vans. The whole process takes about 30 minutes before you are actually on the road with your tour. They have their confirmed reservation list and check it constantly to make sure they have eveyone onboard before they leave.

[ginkybiloba]

I think we were back around 3:15-3:30 p.m. for a 4:30 all aboard time. We would have been back about 15-20 minutes earlier if we didn't stop at Rima's to shop.

 

We did bring dry clothes to change into after Orient Beach so that we wouldn't be sitting around in a wet bathing suit on the bus, but I don't think that was mandatory. They are fabric seats though, and I didn't want anyone sitting in a wet seat the next day.

[ginkybiloba]

Sorry, forgot to answer some of your questions. We had 2 full hours at Orient, which was perfect. We only had about 35 minutes at Maho. We missed an American Airlines flight by about 5 minutes (it passed by as we were getting into the van to leave) and there was an Air France flight scheduled to land about 15 minutes after we left. We did see a Sun Wing charter (large plane) and a lot of smaller planes while we were there.

[vikqueen]

Thank you for the great information on the small details!

[2Xayear]

Just booked the Maho Beach tour for April 4th. They kindly adjusted the tour because it was originally scheduled for a 2:30 return and the ship departs at 3:00. I was concerned that it cutting it too close so it's now 10-2.

[EMED2010]

We are interested in spending as much time as possible on Orient Beach. I had wanted to do Malo also but our ship time is 12-9:00PM. Has anyone done Bernards Orient Beach only tour? How long do you get on the beach? Upon return, is anything even open? I wish we were docking in the morning - is there even anything open later in the evening such as restaurants or shopping?

[cyluxx]

We booked online with Bernard. Couldn't have been happier. Too bad Princess doesn't offer anything like this, but of course the price would have been twice as much and I really understand Bernard doesn't need them (bless their soul) as our driver "Timo" was great and made it the best tour of the cruise. Yes, we did it all on St Maarten and with plenty of time for all the stops including Orient beach and Maho to see the airplanes.

 

DO IT!

[uscgwife]

I am planning on booking Tour 2 for our cruise in Dec. I am wondering about snorkeling at Orient Beach. Can you rent snorkel gear? How much? How is the snorkeling?

 

Thank you!

[Mom of 1 + 2]

We are doing Bernard's Tour #2 in 5 weeks. Cannot wait. Have not heard one bad thing about the tours!

[soaringfalcon]

I am planning on booking Tour 2 for our cruise in Dec. I am wondering about snorkeling at Orient Beach. Can you rent snorkel gear? How much? How is the snorkeling?

 

Thank you!

 

There were several rentals but I don't recall snorkel gear. If you're going to St Thomas, I would save the snorkeling for there and just enjoy the beach at Orient. It's not really known for the snorkeling and the waves can be high in the winter months.

[BellaAurora]

Our ship, RCCL Explorer of the Seas does not arrive until 12:15 p.m., on June 17th. Does Bernard's offer a group tour #2 for, late arriving ships? I think we might be the only ship, in St. Maarten, that day.

 

The private tour, for just 2 people, is too expensive.

[aberthelot]

I am planning on booking Tour 2 for our cruise in Dec. I am wondering about snorkeling at Orient Beach. Can you rent snorkel gear? How much? How is the snorkeling?

 

Thank you!

Hi, I agree with the others. We just enjoyed the water and the huge waves at Orient. We didn't snorkel at all in St. Maarten. St. Thomas and St. John (Trunk Bay) are great for snorkeling. Next time we go, we will stay in St. Thomas and snorkel in Megan's Bay, instead of taking the ferry to St. John. The ride over was very rough!

 

Have a great time!

A

[wrcjr98]

Our ship, RCCL Explorer of the Seas does not arrive until 12:15 p.m., on June 17th. Does Bernard's offer a group tour #2 for, late arriving ships? I think we might be the only ship, in St. Maarten, that day.

 

The private tour, for just 2 people, is too expensive.

 

I would email Bernard, and just let him know that you are interested in the group tour, and give him your ship time - it is the best tour! I hope it works out for you - here is the email that I have for Bernard bernard1332002@yahoo.com

[cyluxx]

Forget the ship tours....Bernard has them beat by a country mile, and they are less money and give you soooo much more. I'd bet Bernard has been approached by Princess and told them to take a perverbial hike. THANKS TIMO for a great day's tour!

Edited March 11, 2013 by cyluxx

[BellaAurora]

Thank You! I did email, Bernard's, and they said they have a group tour departing, at 12:30 p.m.

 

Yes, the price is much better then the shore excursions offered by our cruise line (RCCL) and they offer everything in this tour we wanted to do. Makes it so easy to have it all in one!

 

This works for us!! I am excited!:D

[wrcjr98]

Thank You! I did email, Bernard's, and they said they have a group tour departing, at 12:30 p.m.

 

Yes, the price is much better then the shore excursions offered by our cruise line (RCCL) and they offer everything in this tour we wanted to do. Makes it so easy to have it all in one!

 

This works for us!! I am excited!:D

 

Yay! You won't regret it! So happy it worked out!

[murfturf]

We are also booked on this tour at the end of the month. For those of you who have done it before, is there any time for shopping after the tour is over?

 

We didn't - we got dropped off at the pier with only 1 hour til all aboard. I wanted to be able to shop Phillipsburg, but didn't have time. I think the prices at the pier were very high too! We did go to Rima's but I was really disappointed in what they had - except for Sarongs and bags. No good shirts really at all.

 

The tour was great though! I'd ask at the beginning to make sure you had time for Phillipsburg. We spent an hour at Maho, well 50 minutes because we found our driver and said we were ready to go. 1 hour there was way too long! We also had 4:30 all aboard, but the NCL ship was 6:00.