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Bernards Tours, or not?????

Bob NC

By Bob NC,
in St. Martin/St. Maarten

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Medic856

Medic856

Posted
Posted

We just got back from the Emerald. St. Martin on the 11th, most everything closed. We did Bernard's tour. There were 14 of us. The small bus holds about 18. It had plenty of room. They stand right next to the statue with signs, you will know who they are easily. Our driver/ guide was Joe (just average Joe,he will tell you.) He was a hoot! One of the passengers played bartender as soon as we boarded, handing out drinks from the well stocked cooler. There was soft drinks, bottled water, Heineken beer, and a fruit punch that was VERY potent. Be careful with that stuff! Some onboard had to dilute it to make it a little less strong. We left the port and drove through the French side of the island. Joe was very informative. We picked up a local along the way, then stopped at a beach area. The local proceeded to walk into the water and returned with all kinds of sea creatures for people to hold. He has an Iguana as well. Everyone enjoyed that part. Tipped him and went on our way. We stopped a few more times along the way for photo ops. We then went to Orient beach. Joe will tell you about the son of Mr. Ed that hangs out at the beach....:o... I will let you figure that one out for yourself. The beach itself is beautiful. If nudity bothers you, you should probably avoid this area. We went to both sides, checked out Club Orient , found their gift shop/store. Bought T-shirts. Stayed about 1 1/2 hours. From there, went to Sunset Beach and watched the planes land. Saw about 4 land and watched 1 take off. Even with warning signs about not standing behind the planes when they take off, people do it anyway. Watched some get sandblasted, and towels, hats, etc. get blown into the water. From there we drove through the Dutch side, stopped for pictures a few times, and made the loop back to the dock area. There was some traffic downtown due to the parade that day. We got back 1 hour before departure. We enjoyed the tour, it was well woth the cost. The guides are very accommodating to requests. Have fun!!!:)

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mrspaper

mrspaper

Posted
Posted

We got back from the 11/15 Emerald sailing. We hired Bernard and got his guide, Gizmo, who is trying to start his own tour co. He was good, but I was disappointed Bernard didn't take our group

 

The vendors at Orient Beach was a pain and relentless, but it is the nicest beach. You can't avoid the views of the nude beach or as one person said, "Mr Ed" He just stands there all day. Kids on the tour didn't seem bothered, but I'm sure their parents were.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Mary Ellen1

Mary Ellen1

Posted
Posted

It kills me to say this, but we were underwhelmed by our tour on Nov. 25. We didn't go to Rima's, which I'd really been looking forward to (we drove right by it, but didn't stop). And our stop at Orient Beach was shortened (by group concensus -- no one really felt like staying on the beach for an hour or more on such a hot day). We were fine with that, but the tour felt like it was cut short. We spent 15 minutes or so at Maho beach and saw a plane land -- that was very cool. No drinks were provided -- not a huge problem, but something that others here have said they've enjoyed. Our ship was about 30 minutes late getting into port that day (due to port congestion), so perhaps that threw their schedule off.

 

The island is pretty and rustic in places -- it was fun to see cows wandering around, fairly close to town. The Marigot open market is nice -- I wish I'd bought more spices. They had lots of great spices in little bags, and some interesting blends that would have been good for the grill, or some seafood or something like that. We sat at an open-air bar and had a drink -- I tried ginger beer for the first time and loved it.

 

I almost didn't post this info -- and in the interest of fairness, let me say that I before posting here I contacted Bernard who has graciously offered us 1/2 off a future tour with him.

 

Here's hoping your tour is wonderful.

 

Mary Ellen

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Stacey779

Stacey779

Posted
Posted
It kills me to say this, but we were underwhelmed by our tour on Nov. 25. We didn't go to Rima's, which I'd really been looking forward to (we drove right by it, but didn't stop). And our stop at Orient Beach was shortened (by group concensus -- no one really felt like staying on the beach for an hour or more on such a hot day). We were fine with that, but the tour felt like it was cut short. We spent 15 minutes or so at Maho beach and saw a plane land -- that was very cool. No drinks were provided -- not a huge problem, but something that others here have said they've enjoyed. Our ship was about 30 minutes late getting into port that day (due to port congestion), so perhaps that threw their schedule off.

 

The island is pretty and rustic in places -- it was fun to see cows wandering around, fairly close to town. The Marigot open market is nice -- I wish I'd bought more spices. They had lots of great spices in little bags, and some interesting blends that would have been good for the grill, or some seafood or something like that. We sat at an open-air bar and had a drink -- I tried ginger beer for the first time and loved it.

 

I almost didn't post this info -- and in the interest of fairness, let me say that I before posting here I contacted Bernard who has graciously offered us 1/2 off a future tour with him.

 

Here's hoping your tour is wonderful.

 

Mary Ellen

 

Hi Mary Ellen,

 

Thanks for posting this info. You don't need to apologize - your review seems balanced and fair, and you have a right to your opinion.

 

Can you tell me a little bit more about the spices in Marigot? What kinds, prices, etc.? We're thinking of heading over there if we can get some cool stuff. Thanks!

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Mary Ellen1

Mary Ellen1

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Posted

Hi Stacey,

 

There were more spices than I could ever name! Everything you'd see in the spice section of your local gocery store, and then some. Most of it was being sold in little baggies -- curry, cinnamon, ginger, basil, oregano. The only other place where I've seen that kind of variety was on Grenada. Sorry, don't remember the prices -- maybe $5-7 or so, depending on the size of the baggie.

 

Mary Ellen

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sarar

sarar

Posted
Posted
It kills me to say this, but we were underwhelmed by our tour on Nov. 25. We didn't go to Rima's, which I'd really been looking forward to (we drove right by it, but didn't stop). And our stop at Orient Beach was shortened (by group concensus -- no one really felt like staying on the beach for an hour or more on such a hot day). We were fine with that, but the tour felt like it was cut short. We spent 15 minutes or so at Maho beach and saw a plane land -- that was very cool. No drinks were provided -- not a huge problem, but something that others here have said they've enjoyed. Our ship was about 30 minutes late getting into port that day (due to port congestion), so perhaps that threw their schedule off.

 

The island is pretty and rustic in places -- it was fun to see cows wandering around, fairly close to town. The Marigot open market is nice -- I wish I'd bought more spices. They had lots of great spices in little bags, and some interesting blends that would have been good for the grill, or some seafood or something like that. We sat at an open-air bar and had a drink -- I tried ginger beer for the first time and loved it.

 

I almost didn't post this info -- and in the interest of fairness, let me say that I before posting here I contacted Bernard who has graciously offered us 1/2 off a future tour with him.

 

Here's hoping your tour is wonderful.

 

Mary Ellen

 

Hi Mary Ellen,

 

Sorry to hear you didnt enjoy Bernard's tour as much as we did, I can't understand it.

 

We stopped at Rima, Orient Beach for 2 hours along with Maho Beach for an hour until we saw a plane, also stopped to see a man everyone calls sea urchin man, (he got various creatures out of the sea for us to hold). We also stopped at Marigot market and had lots of free drinks including Rum Punch!!

 

how many others were in your group?

 

Regards Sara

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Stacey779

Stacey779

Posted
Posted
Hi Stacey,

 

There were more spices than I could ever name! Everything you'd see in the spice section of your local gocery store, and then some. Most of it was being sold in little baggies -- curry, cinnamon, ginger, basil, oregano. The only other place where I've seen that kind of variety was on Grenada. Sorry, don't remember the prices -- maybe $5-7 or so, depending on the size of the baggie.

 

Mary Ellen

 

Sounds interesting - we might head over there if we have time. Thanks!

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Arizona Laura

Arizona Laura

Posted
Posted
It kills me to say this, but we were underwhelmed by our tour on Nov. 25. We didn't go to Rima's, which I'd really been looking forward to (we drove right by it, but didn't stop). And our stop at Orient Beach was shortened (by group concensus -- no one really felt like staying on the beach for an hour or more on such a hot day). We were fine with that, but the tour felt like it was cut short. We spent 15 minutes or so at Maho beach and saw a plane land -- that was very cool. No drinks were provided -- not a huge problem, but something that others here have said they've enjoyed. Our ship was about 30 minutes late getting into port that day (due to port congestion), so perhaps that threw their schedule off.

 

The island is pretty and rustic in places -- it was fun to see cows wandering around, fairly close to town. The Marigot open market is nice -- I wish I'd bought more spices. They had lots of great spices in little bags, and some interesting blends that would have been good for the grill, or some seafood or something like that. We sat at an open-air bar and had a drink -- I tried ginger beer for the first time and loved it.

 

I almost didn't post this info -- and in the interest of fairness, let me say that I before posting here I contacted Bernard who has graciously offered us 1/2 off a future tour with him.

 

Here's hoping your tour is wonderful.

 

Mary Ellen

 

From what I understand from Bernard he had to leave without you because you were 30 minutes late and there were others on the tour so he could not wait for you any longer. So Bernard did not even take you on the tour. Another tour guide that was not scheduled to work for Bernard that day took you on the tour. I am not surprised knowing Bernard that he felt bad for you and offered you 50% off on a future tour with himself. I knew something was up here because tours Bernard is responsible for always has drinks galore and goes to Rimas.

I am sorry your day with another tour guide did not go well.

I hope you get back to tour again in St Martin.

Laura

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Mary Ellen1

Mary Ellen1

Posted
Posted
From what I understand from Bernard he had to leave without you because you were 30 minutes late and there were others on the tour so he could not wait for you any longer. So Bernard did not even take you on the tour. Another tour guide that was not scheduled to work for Bernard that day took you on the tour. I am not surprised knowing Bernard that he felt bad for you and offered you 50% off on a future tour with himself. I knew something was up here because tours Bernard is responsible for always has drinks galore and goes to Rimas.

I am sorry your day with another tour guide did not go well.

I hope you get back to tour again in St Martin.

Laura

 

Hi Laura -- thanks for the explanation. Sounds like you were on an earlier tour that same day? (The day before Thanksgiving.) You're right -- Bernard didn't drive us; Joe did. I didn't know anything about calling in an off-duty driver, etc., but that all makes sense. Still, I don't think being 30 minutes late to port is THAT big of a deal, right? And we had a completely full van -- there were 7 or 8 on our tour. It's not like they were just doing a special one-off tour for 2 people whose ship came in late. After we found Joe, DH & I waited for a good 30 minutes or so, with another couple from our ship, while Joe waited for the other guests from other ships.

 

Anyway, posting a negative review like this on CruiseCritic is a big deal to me, since you're messing with someone's livelihood. But I have to say that the tour we received was not as expected, or as advertised on their website. And it's not likely that we'd ever want to do the same tour in the future, IF we find ourselves in St. Martin again.

 

Mr. Ed was not at Orient Beach that day, so I'm still wondering what that's all about... (But I've got a pretty good idea. ;) ) And why is it that all the people partaking of the nude beach are people who really shouldn't???

 

Mary Ellen

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scorp111

scorp111

Posted
Posted

We were on Bernards Tours on the 25th of November as well, and had a great time. We had Junior as our driver, although Bernard did check with each of us a couple of times to make sure we were having a good time.

 

It was a good tour, and we had a good group of folks both from the Glory and one of the RCCL ships. :D

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  • 4 weeks later...
Arizona Laura

Arizona Laura

Posted
Posted
I sent an email to Bernards email address on Jan. 6th and again yesterday. Have not receive an answer. Am I not giving him enough time. Ship will be there on the 26th. Bill

 

Just wanted to make sure you had the right e-mail...

bernard1332002@yahoo.com

Just make sure not in spam.

He usually answers right away.

Laura

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okbowler

okbowler

Posted
Posted

Thanks Laura: Got an answer this morning from Joyce Prince,(full) and Bernard. No tours available do to time ship arrives unless we pay $300 for a personal tour or come up with another 5 people to add to our three. The price for a standard tour is $35 per person. Will go to the roll call site and MSC site and see if I can find another 5 people who might want to tour. If not we will do what we generally do, book from one of the many operators at the dock. Thanks Bill

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ahornb

ahornb

Posted
Posted
No your kids will not be bored. I'm sure they will really get a kick out of watching the planes land at Maho Beach and of course most kids love the beach and orient is simply beautiful.

 

I was thinking about skipping Orient Beach. Not sure about a 13 year old boy at a nude beach. Maybe I need to bee more open minded. :confused:

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