Bernards Tours in St Marteen

[niceguy6505]

Thinking of booking with Bernards Tours I see it has Good Reviews, Anyone out there Have opinions on this First time in St Marteen and dont want to venture out on our own and miss ship Thanks Everyone

[Life is Good Cruising]

We just used them a few weeks ago for Tour 1 and will be using them again when we go back in a few weeks for Tour 2. They will also provide a cooler full of water, soda, beer and a potent rum punch.

 

We have used Bernard's tours numerous times through the years and are very happy with the service they provide. I would recommend using them especially since this is your first time in St. Maarten, you'll get a good feel of the island with them. Maho Beach is a blast and there are many videos on youtube.

 

Enjoy your day in St. Maarten as we always do! :)

[niceguy6505]

We just used them a few weeks ago for Tour 1 and will be using them again when we go back in a few weeks for Tour 2. They will also provide a cooler full of water, soda, beer and a potent rum punch.

 

We have used Bernard's tours numerous times through the years and are very happy with the service they provide. I would recommend using them especially since this is your first time in St. Maarten, you'll get a good feel of the island with them. Maho Beach is a blast and there are many videos on youtube.

 

Enjoy your day in St. Maarten as we always do! :)

Thanks so much for your reply.

[cruzkitty]

We have used Bernard Tours twice and plan on booking with them for our cruise in September, 2015. We have such a good time-it is a really fun day! Enjoy!

[Mapleleaf5]

Great Tour! Have taken it twice! With beach and non beach time!

Plan to take it again with a group of ladies next yr, get way to see the island.

 

Enjoy!

Joanne

Edited October 15, 2014 by Mapleleaf5

[oceanblue33]

What kind of transportation does Bernard's tours have. Is it a small mini van or one one of those big school bus?

[Life is Good Cruising]

What kind of transportation does Bernard's tours have. Is it a small mini van or one one of those big school bus?

 

They use mini vans holding approx. 10-12 people and have also seen a few weeks ago when we were there, Bernard's tours using a fairly new small bus, not a school bus though.

[wallie5446]

We have used them a couple of times, both were wonderful!

 

FYI;

If there is a part of the tour you want to cut a bit short, and have a bit longer somewhere else, if all on the tour are OK, they will tweek it.

Edited October 17, 2014 by wallie5446

[alliem]

We are looking to book Bernards, and debating on whether to book a group tour or a private tour. we really want to check out Maho beach, and do a few stops for scenery and also some beach time. Any thoughts on how crowded the group tours are and how flexible the scheduling is?

[Life is Good Cruising]

We are looking to book Bernards, and debating on whether to book a group tour or a private tour. we really want to check out Maho beach, and do a few stops for scenery and also some beach time. Any thoughts on how crowded the group tours are and how flexible the scheduling is?

 

 

How crowded the group tours are would depend on how many ships in port with you.

 

The group tours we've been on many times with Bernard's tours have been minivans that hold approx. 10 people. For larger or private tours they have a minibus. As far as flexibility, they are very accommodating with their passengers. We took their tour a few weeks ago and on our way back to the pier, a few passengers asked about Le Galion beach. Before you knew it, our tour guide took us to Le Galion beach for about 10 mins. This beach is not part of tour, our tour guide also dropped us off Front St. if you wanted to and came back to pick us up on Front St. Again, the drop off is part of the tour, but not the pick up part and most of the passengers wanted to go shopping anyway.

They do make quite a few scenic stops along the way for picture taking. There's been occasions where we have spent a little more time (15-30 mins, more) than their schedule indicates at either Orient Beach, Marigot or Maho.

They are very dependable and will get you back to the ship in plenty of time to even go shopping. Their tours also provide a cooler full of water, soda, beer and a potent rum punch.

 

We've been very pleased and satisfied each time we take their tours and just booked them again for our cruise in November, can't wait to go back :D

[gumballz]

I know this thread is a few months old, but I wanted to post our experience with Bernard's Tours.

 

Without going into too much detail, I'll say that we enjoyed the tour...overall. The booking part was easy, meeting up was easy, paying was easy, etc. The tour itself was beautiful. Our problem was with our driver/guide. He spent 4 hours telling us how much he hates his government and pointing out things that 'he' had to pay for as a taxpayer. At first we didn't thing much of it, but as the day went on and he continued to complain, it got old. If we didn't reply to his complaints, he would turn around as he drove to see if we were listening (I guess?). So, the 6 of us in the van would nod, say 'uh huh' or 'that sucks' just to please him.

 

Also, there was a (non) incident when we were at Maho beach. A man parked next to Simon's van and Simon felt that man was parked too close. Simon and the man got into a very loud argument, with the man storming off leaving his car there. Simon was furious and made sure the 6 of us knew what he felt about the man. When we left, he drove very fast and erratically, throwing his hands up, mumbling, honking and swerving. He told us we would not be going to Simpson Bay (which was included in the tour) and that he was taking us back to our ship. He also told us if we wanted to take any photos we could just take them as he drove. Ha! No thanks....we were all buckled in and white knuckling it.

 

I don't want you to not book Bernard's tour because of this. The tour itself (what we got of it) was nice. Informative, beautiful, etc. It was just our driver/guide that was not good. I have written to Bernard to let him know, because it's something I'm sure he would want to know. I also want you guys to know, so if you book....you can request to not have Simon as your driver, should you choose to.

 

Maybe others have had wonderful experiences with Simon, but that's not the case for the 6 of us. Maybe it was a once in a lifetime thing for him (doubt it, based on the level of his anger). Whatever it was, I wanted to share it. St Maarten is a beautiful place and Bernard's Tour was great to work with. I just wish we had been assigned to a different driver. :)

[HappiestWhenCruising]

Hi, I appreciate your review of Bernard's tours as I will be using them at the beginning of March. I was curious to know whether you heard anything back from them as to what they were doing about your experience. I should think that letting you know they either like fired him, gave him a warning, or anything, would be great for future business for their company. Now that you've posted this, of course I will be leary if we get Simon as our driver. I guess it would be easy to just change the guys name in case the word is out on him. But if something like that happens when we go out with whatever driver, I will be sure to let them know that I am a member of Cruise Critic and will be sure to let other cruisers know of my experience.

 

Again, thanks for the heads up on your driver. I am sorry that you had to have a harrowing trip back to the ship because of him. And I'm sorry, having to take pictures as you "drive by"or missing stops because he is in a bad mood is totally unacceptable. I hope you had a great time on your cruise. Its so cold here I can't wait to get outta here....even for just a week!

[gumballz]

I haven't heard back from Bernard (or anyone from his company) yet. I don't really expect him to tell me what, if anything, he will do about this...I was just hoping to help him to prevent it from happening again.

 

If you're worried at all about getting Simon, I'd just write Bernard and ask that he not assign you to him. I think he'd be ok with that, and give you someone else. As for us enjoying ourselves....we absolutely did. After we made it back safely, we laughed about it. Not because it was funny, but just that we thought it was ridiculous that he got so angry over something so trivial. I won't lie, though....there were a few tense moments in the van. We were happy to be back at the port. ha!

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful time in St Maarten! Even though I was just there, I'm jealous that you're going! ;)

[Ottawamomof2]

We LOVED our tour and our tourguide. His name was the Mailman lol. He explained everything about the island, the two sides, the history, the tourism, everything that was interesting to know. he gave us lots of time at each stop and he actually made a special stop just for us because we wanted a souvenir from the Harley store. The cooler was full of beer, his special rum punch and water. I would definitely recommend this tour and would do it again. :)

[gumballz]

Just a quick follow up to my previous post about our experience with a driver from Bernard's (posted above). Bernard did, indeed, contact us both by phone and email. I won't go into the details of our conversation, but I will say that Bernard is very professional and has assured me that he has taken care of the situation and it won't happen again.

 

I will, again, stress that I fully recommend Bernard's tour and will most definitely book him again in the future. He's a classy man and offers a top notch tour in St Maarten. If you're thinking about booking with him.....stop thinking and go for it. You won't be disappointed in the least! :)

[Encpirate]

What time does Bernard's 2 begin and lreturn to the port

[CruisinCrow]

Just a quick follow up to my previous post about our experience with a driver from Bernard's (posted above). Bernard did, indeed, contact us both by phone and email. I won't go into the details of our conversation, but I will say that Bernard is very professional and has assured me that he has taken care of the situation and it won't happen again.

 

I will, again, stress that I fully recommend Bernard's tour and will most definitely book him again in the future. He's a classy man and offers a top notch tour in St Maarten. If you're thinking about booking with him.....stop thinking and go for it. You won't be disappointed in the least! :)

 

Thank you for reporting this to Bernard and to us! We're booked for Tour 1 in April and I'm relieved that we won't have to worry about Simon. Someone like that should not be a tour guide.

[Life is Good Cruising]

What time does Bernard's 2 begin and lreturn to the port

 

The tours usually starts about 30 mins. after your ship arrives. You'll be back to the port approx. 2-3 hours before sailing.

[KeiEdy]

I just posted my review on Trip Advisor for Bernard's Tours. We used them while on Quantum of the Seas during the last week of January 2015.

 

We have been to St Maarten a few times before. I always said if I returned to St. Maarten I wanted to do a tour with Bernard’s. We booked a private tour for 11 prior to the cruise. We had the option to create our own tour. We met Bernard at the end of the pier and paid him $50 prior to the tour. Since we wanted to go to the beach later in the day, we opted to skip Orient Beach and try another beach later in the day. Our driver was DJ Dave. Dave introduced us to some homemade Rum Punch which was available during the day along with water, beer and soda. Our first stop was with Calvin and his living sea creatures. We enjoyed about 10 to 15 minutes here. Calvin introduced us to some sea creatures and let us hold them (optional tip box). Our second stop was on the side of the road to see some iguanas. Bernard’s no longer stops at the Iguana Farm since it moved and now charges admission. The next stop was at Butterfly Farm. A few in my group wanted to see the farm. There is a nice seating area outside the farm where some of us waited while the others went inside. There was a $13 charge to go inside which the people said it was worth the price of admission. They have guided tours that take about 15 to 20 minutes. The butterfly farm is outside in a screened area so it was very hot and humid. We then drove to Marigot, St Martin. We stopped at Sarafina’s for some French pastries (delicious éclairs including one filled with coffee cream and macarons). We then walked around the open air flea market for a bit. We only spent 45 minutes in Marigot since we wanted to get to the Maho Beach and then a beach for swimming. DJ Dave reminded us it was our tour and we could spend as much time as we wanted at each stop. We continued driving around the island enjoying DJ Dave’s history of the island along with the beautiful views along the way. We arrived at Maho Beach at 1:00pm. It was extremely crowded. We were able to see a couple of small planes and one large plane arrive at 1:15PM. The majority of us walked back to the van while two decided to stay on the beach to see the next plane come in. The next plane was a large plane that came in around 1:25pm. So glad I got to experience Maho Beach. I now can cross it off my bucket list. I wanted to go to Mullet Bay to swim but I found out that they did not offer changing facilities (only a port-a-pot). DJ Dave suggested Little Divi Bay beach when I asked for a beach stop later in the day. The downside of this location was only 1 bathroom to use to get changed. There may have been more restrooms but we did not see them. We spent 1.5 hours at the beach. DJ Dave dropped a few of us off on Front Street for some shopping and he dropped the rest off at the ship. We walked around Front St stopping at Guavaberry Emporium for a Guavaberry Colada and of course we needed to stop at the Hard Rock Café on the Boardwalk. After we shopped, we walked back to the ship. It was about a 15 minute walk back to the pier.