Joyce Prince- personal tours review

[gtaylor]

When I was last in touch with Joyce, she said that she was being swamped by e-mails; sometimes 20 or 30 a day. She was trying to respond to everyone within 3 business days, but sometimes it will take a little longer.

 

She does have a priority process, where she will reply to the cruisers arriving soon, before she gets back to those arriving months from now.

 

My advice is be a little patient; remember she also has the rest of her Personal Services and Car Rental businesses to oversee.

 

Gary

[PurrSusan]

Gary, I heard right back from her after my second e-mail. Apparently if you don't change the subject matter when you use her e-mail address it goes into her junk mail. That's why she didn't respond. Anyway, she is going to check her schedule for us so, hopefully, we will get to go with her! I told her that I got her name from you! Have a great day! Susan

[markwojo]

Definately a great hostess of her beautiful island. She was wonderful with our 5 year old daughter and almost 2 year old son. If she's available, and you want a tour, get her lines up for a tour!!

[PurrSusan]

Definately a great hostess of her beautiful island. She was wonderful with our 5 year old daughter and almost 2 year old son. If she's available, and you want a tour, get her lines up for a tour!!

 

Where did you go on your tour---what did you see? We are talking to her about a 3 hour tour ending at Orient Beach because we want to spend the afternoon at the beach.

[markwojo]

We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted having previously been to St martin twice. She took us 2 a scenic overlook for a good photo op of the ship. We then went to the Butterfly farm which the kids loved. We then caught a few shops in Marigot and lunch there. She then dropped us for a couple of hours at a beach (I forget the name). She will do what ever you want, and our tour was primarily dictated by our own preferences. I'm sure she has her own ideas if you don't have specific requests.

[richterscale]

just back from the jewel of the seas. joyce met us right outside the port gate. we were a family of 4. 2 adults and 2 children. (12,10_.)

went to a high point to take pictures of ship and downtown phillisburg. then on the rimas for some shopping. that is the wholesaler for all the stuff you can buy in the markets and on the beach. toured some of the scenic overlooks and we wanted to see some of the hotels in case we want to stay for a week or so in the future. went to the end of the airport runway, no planes coming in as it was too early. on to french side to the fort for more pictures. as a bonus, i had asked her what would be better, parasailing or hairbraiding for the kids. she took us to orient for parasailing. she knows many locals and the kids had a great time. joyce will do just about anything you want to do and see. i would suggest that with 7 people that you get in touch with her so she can have the approiate car. she drove us aroung in a windstar mini van. and yes it had a/c/!!!

i highly reccommend joyce, she is very attentive to what you want to do and is a great history teacher too! knew so much about the island and its culture. if you do get intouch, tell her that sydney and mackenzie say hi!!

any more questions, let me know.

richterscale

[pooh1bear43113]

We were on NOS E. Carib. out of Miami on 12/4/04. While doing prep work for the Islands prior to this cruise, I heard about Joyce Prince and made contact with her via e-mail. We booked her for about 3 hours while NOS was docked in St. Maarten's and what a good move that turned out to be!

 

We are NOT into shopping or hanging at beaches.....as a result we got what I'd equate to a "cultural tour" of the entire island. This gal knows her stuff (and she seems to knows EVERYONE!) and is a wonderful ambassador for her island.

 

We learned so much about St. Maartens from Joyce - and saw so much that I'm sure others don't get to see.

 

If you are looking for an excellent private tour guide while on St. Maartens, IMHO Joyce is THE person to contact. She is a warm, intelligent and kind person and will go out of her way to make your tour special.

 

Joyce: If you found the time to read this: SHARON AND WILL say Hi - and thanks again for a great time on St. Maartens.

[PurrSusan]

Sharon & Will, Since you said that you saw a lot of things that most people don't see I was wondering where all you went with Joyce. We are scheduled for three hours with her next year so any info you have would be helpful. Thanks! Susan

[pooh1bear43113]

Susan:

 

It is semi-difficult to get to Joyce as the pier area is huge (with some shopping ops before actually leaving the pier area).....you must be sure to walk completely away from the pier - toward the main (I guess that's what you'd call it) road - just out side of the pier. We were concerned as it seemed a long way to go, especially with all the cabs, etc. which were actually within the gates of the pier. However, we asked several folks who worked in the pier area and they ALL knew Joyce and very nicely directed us right to where she was waiting outside the pier area.....must be quick as she has to literally "double park" along the road side to wait for you.....

 

Since we had no interest in shopping, Joyce started our tour direct from the ship up into the higher elevations of the island near the pier for a great photo op of the Dutch side of the island, including a great vantage point to see the ships.

 

We then by-passed the town of Philipsburg (thinking that we'd take a ferry over after our tour - or perhaps have her drop us off there for an hour or so). As she drove, she pointed out the different points of interest and explained their significance.....and the history (ex. salt marshes/ponds and their impact years ago on the economy). She discussed the govern bodies on the island and the way the French and Dutch sides interact. We made numerous stops for photos - including Simpson Bay and a deserted/bankrupt community on a golf course that was so sad with the once beautiful homes and condos now in ruins....we stopped at the beach/bar that is at the end of the airport runway. Stopped at Copecoy Beach. Made our way to Marigot. Stopped at Grand Case (pronounced Grand Cause, FYI!). Visited the fort high on a hill for a great photo op. Visited the street famous for all the restaurants - French, of course! She took us to Orient Beach and explained the different areas to us and let us take our time exploring the, um, beach area - all 3 or 4 sections....and cautioned about being careful taking photos as some of the folks in the "totally nude" section might take offense! (We thought it was a beautiful beach and would like to go back - to spend some time on the beach in the non-nude area.) She took us to many beautiful site along the drive on both French and Dutch side. Explaining all the time how the two nations/cultures co-exist (and , IMHO, I believe the French are getting a pretty darned free ride on that island!)

 

All in all it was a very good tour showing us the good as well as the bad and explaining how things worked on the island, government, etc. Joyce knows everyone it appears on the island on both sides (she has a car rental business and provides personal services for folks who have part time residences on the island). As a result, we were able to visit several "private" communities that were usually closed to the public, thus seeing some beautiful views of the water not normally available to the general public/tourists. Again, I think we fortunate because Joyce knows just about everyone and thus has access to areas that others might not enjoy.

 

When the tour ended, she returned us to the pier area and we just didn't feel that we wanted to take the ferry back to Philipsburg after all....we felt we had gotten to see St. Maartens from a resident's view - and loved it and we loved Joyce.

 

When we initially made contact with Joyce to make the reservation, she told me up front what her suggestions would be to include in the tour and that if we wanted to do ANYTHING different - she would most certainly be agreeable. It all worked out well. If I saw something I wanted to explore, she'd find a place to pull off and off I'd go. She was GREAT. Oh! Yes, I almost forgot: she introduced us to Sea Grapes!

[PurrSusan]

Thanks for the info! Now I have to know---what are sea grapes?

[gtaylor]

Sea Grapes

 

Ask Joyce about the "Male - Female" thing.

[pooh1bear43113]

Susan: I didn't try them - they grow on trees. Joyce had been keeping her eye on a couple of trees for the last several days and thought their "fruit" was almost ripe so we stopped and she picked a bunch. I'm not a fruit eater so they were lost on me - but DH did try one - and it was not to his liking....however, it could have been because they were not completely ripe yet. Joyce indicated that they were much loved (and eaten!) by the islanders. I.e.: a treat.

 

gtaylor: Joyce mentioned you and how you became acquainted. Guess she made some "special" arrangements for you at one time or another.

 

We liked Joyce so much that if we were "over the cruise bug" and could arrange it, we'd seriously start looking for a condo somewhere on the island (yes, we really, really liked it there - especially loved some of the condos she showed us on the tour) - one of the draw backs we've experienced to owning something so far from home is not having a dependable person (like Joyce) to keep tabs on things when we couldn't be there. Seems to me like she would be a God-send to anyone in that situation. Next trip we may start looking toward the future.....

[Chas N Keith]

I just returned from an 8 day cruise on the Jewel of the Seas. As a result of this board we had contacted Joyce and set up a horseback ride and a small tour of the island.

 

First off she was late, we ( a party of four) waited in the heat for at least 15 mins after her scheduled arrival time. She does not want to pay to come into the docks to pick us up as it expensive, so I can't blame her there. When you wait outside however, you are really hounded by all the other vendors there offering taxis, jeeps or scooters. So it is a long 15 mins.

 

She finally showed up and she was pointed out to us by a nice security person.

 

In my continued e-mails with her she told me she would take us to the horseback stables and then to Orient beach. The cost for an hour horseback ride was $40 per person and roundtrip transportation was $30.

 

As we sent off, she immediately told us that she probably would not be able to pick us up at the beach after the horseback ride as she had scheduled another tour, but her husband may be able to.

 

After the horseback ride she said her husband would NOT be able to pick us up either and we would have to taxi back on our own. At the drop off point she we owed her $30. I thought it was odd, but paid her anyway. I thought I remember her saying it waas $30 roundtrip from her earlier e-mails.

 

After spending two hours at the beach, we had to barter with the taxi drivers and finally got a cab back to the pier for $24.

 

When I returned home, I re-read my email and sure enough she said it would be $30 round trip for transportation and not $30 one way. I turned out to be an expensive day

 

Joyce was nice and all, but be sure you tie her into prices and take a copy of your e-mail with you to show her if any issues arise

[NURSE24001]

I would like to hear more regarding Joyce's tours. Any info would be appreciated. We will be sailing next week.

Thanks!

[gtaylor]

I would like to hear more regarding Joyce's tours. Any info would be appreciated. We will be sailing next week.

Thanks!

I'd suggest that you try doing a search in this forum.

[mlleach]

Does she have a web site?

ML

[teflonjeff]

Does anyone know what type of vehicle she tours in? A mini van, or open air van? How about how many can go on a tour at once?

 

Thanks

[gtaylor]

Check this page on her website.