No Rush Tour questions

[dreamin2cruz]

We have No Rush booked for our cruise in May. For those of you that have already been on your tour with him:

 

What currency did you use to pay him the balance due for the tour? I am assuming cash - US dollars?

 

Also, about how much (percentage) did you tip him afterwards? 10% - 15% - 20%?

 

Was the US dollar accepted everywhere? Our tour will have several places where we will be paying admission and then having lunch at a local restaurant. I want to make sure I take enough cash with us off the ship.

 

Thanks in advance! :)

[crisp1]

Although I haven't spent our day with Beau yet ( next Sunday), I have been to St Maarten/ Martin twice and used Victor Bryan once. US currency can be used everywhere, and you'll see US pricing as well. Yes, you pay Beau cash in US currency. As far as tipping goes, when I'm using the services of a company owner, I feel that no tipping is necessary. Sometimes I will tip anyway, maybe $5, 10 and sometimes $20 ( that's total, not pp). If the person is a company employee then I always tip, and usually more

Seas the Day!

:D

[dreamin2cruz]

Thanks Crisp1 -- I had hoped that the US $ would be o.k. to use on the island, I didn't want to have to go through exchanging money back and forth. One less thing to worry about. :)

[gtaylor]

<snip> As far as tipping goes, when I'm using the services of a company owner, I feel that no tipping is necessary. Sometimes I will tip anyway, maybe $5, 10 and sometimes $20 ( that's total, not pp). If the person is a company employee then I always tip, and usually more<snip>

:D

 

So what do you tip (or not) with a taxi on St. Maarten, where almost all are IOO - Individually Owned & Operated?

 

gary

[crisp1]

So what do you tip (or not) with a taxi on St. Maarten, where almost all are IOO - Individually Owned & Operated?

 

gary

 

My last time in St Martin the dispatcher put us in a cab with another couple who were going to Maho. We paid full fare ( $25 ) to Bay Rouge and the cabbie said when he dropped us off " Good luck getting back to the ship, I'm not coming back for you". So.... no tip :D

[gtaylor]

Thanks, but I think you're sidestepping my question.

 

gary

[kml2000]

dreamin2cruz - You sound like you have planned your tour with Beau already. I am booked with him that same week and don't know what to tell him we want to do. I was wondering if you could share where you are going???

 

I am also interested in the tip question, just to know what others do. The last cruise we took, I did tip the guys because they did an AWESOME job with my daughter. WE booked the "swim with the sting rays" in Grand Cayman with a private operator. My daughter was PETRIFIED. She clung to me like an octopus (legs and arms and anything else was wrapped around me). She did get out of the boat and the tour operator was able to bring a ray to her to pet......Had we been on a ship tour.......would NOT have happened.

 

Anyway....back to the subject at hand. I had planned to tip, just curious what is "customary".

[dreamin2cruz]

Hi kml2000 -- :) Yep - we have him booked already and I am still trying to figure out what we want to see and do. He made some great suggestions: Mullet beach, butterfly farm, Fort Louis, Grand Case, Mont Vernon, and Paradise View Restaurant. There were some others but I can't remember at the moment. I am also considering a short visit to Maho beach because my DS and DH are big fans or airplanes and maybe the St. Martin Park (zoo) instead of the butterfly farm. I haven't made a final decision yet, still doing research.

 

Anybody else have any info. on tipping private tour operators?

[mhc2001]

With regards to tipping, we look at several factors. How much was the tour? Was the tour guide as good as expected? Were the stops as nice as promised? If we felt we got a good value and had a wonderful experience, our tipping was higher, if not it was lower.

 

On average, I'd say we generally tip between 15-20% of our tour cost (usually about $20 for 2). It's always been worth it for us, because the local tours we've taken have ALWAYS been better than the cruise ship tours.

[kml2000]

I have a question.....when we are on this tour, we will go somewhere to lunch. Is it customary to pay for his lunch???? Just trying to figure out what is customary.

 

THANKS

[MIcruiser99]

I have a question.....when we are on this tour, we will go somewhere to lunch. Is it customary to pay for his lunch???? Just trying to figure out what is customary.THANKS

 

We wondered that ourselves! With our tour, it worked out that we were dropped off in Marigot during the lunch break so we each went our own way for lunch.

 

As far as the tip, we did tip extra as he did such a great tour for us and we were the only ones in his van that day. Plus, after he told us the price of gas was $5.00/gallon, and he drove us all over the island, we felt like he earned it.

[crisp1]

I have a question.....when we are on this tour, we will go somewhere to lunch. Is it customary to pay for his lunch???? Just trying to figure out what is customary.

 

THANKS

 

If you are near Orient beach at lunchtime, he'll recommend a restaurant that has great views of Orient and Pinel ( Paradise Point? restaurant?) He brought along his own sandwich for our tour

[KroozFoolz]

If you are near Orient beach at lunchtime, he'll recommend a restaurant that has great views of Orient and Pinel ( Paradise Point? restaurant?) He brought along his own sandwich for our tour

 

 

http://www.sxm-orientbeach.com/paradiseview/index.html