Bernards tours questions - St. Maarten

We were considering booking with Bernards Tours on St. Maarten for their Tour 1. They seem to be well reviewed on most message boards and Trip Advisor. Just a couple quick questions:

1. When you submit your online reservation, do you receive a confirmation that your requested tour is available, and then pay your deposit? Or do they expect you to pay a deposit at the time you make a reservation?

2. Do the tours fill up? My DH is STILL debating whether he wants to join us, but we are 5 weeks from our cruise and I'm worried. There will be 4 other ships in port with the Fantasy that day.

3. If if you've done the tour with teens/tweens, did they have a good time?

Thanks!

I don't have answers, but wanted to make sure you know that Joyce Prince is also a well-reviewed tourguide there. I don't think her company is as big as Bernard's so she might not have availability, but she deserves a mention.

I would just contact Bernard's with questions like adding a person, etc.

I can tell you we did Tour 1 with 3 ships in port (the Fantasy, Norwegian Getaway, and Carnival Sunshine) and our tour was only 9 people. Tour 2 is far more popular, so while I agree you should consult with Bernard's to get a clear yes/no, I wouldn't be too worried, I can't remember about the deposit, I'm sorry!

Our tour included a family of 3 with a son I would guess around 10 years old, and he definitely seemed to enjoyed himself. I can tell you for my family we picked Tour 1 because it was the highlights of everything I enjoyed when I went to St Maarten at 17 (which younger siblings being 15 and 12). Maho Beach is a must-see, and you can even swim if you want (at the very least, wear sandals!). In Marigot, Fort St Louis is about a 10 minute walk from where our tour dropped us off, which is certainly cool to see.

Neesy228 said:

We were considering booking with Bernards Tours on St. Maarten for their Tour 1. They seem to be well reviewed on most message boards and Trip Advisor. Just a couple quick questions:

1. When you submit your online reservation, do you receive a confirmation that your requested tour is available, and then pay your deposit? Or do they expect you to pay a deposit at the time you make a reservation?

2. Do the tours fill up? My DH is STILL debating whether he wants to join us, but we are 5 weeks from our cruise and I'm worried. There will be 4 other ships in port with the Fantasy that day.

3. If if you've done the tour with teens/tweens, did they have a good time?

Thanks!

Click to expand...

When I made our reservations for Tour 1 this coming October, I received an email asking me to call to confirm the tour and put down a deposit. I called and the gentleman took my credit card info and told me the amount to pay on the day of the tour. I never saw charge on my cc so I think they just take the info to 'hold' the reservation.

We're 5 weeks out from our cruise too so maybe we'll be on the tour together!
Hope this helps.

Laurie

We booked the private tour and were charged a $50 deposit with balance due at the time of the tour. Joyce Prince was full when I contacted them in April (Fantasy 9/26).