Bernards Tour ST Maarrten

[annabug]

Hy everyone,

Considering taking Bernards, the #2 option listed which is a group tour at 45$ per person.

The private tour seems to be $72 pp, and Im not sure what extra, aside from privacy, you obtain with the private tour.


Has anyone experienced either of these options.

How was your experience??

any feedback much appreciated!!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hy everyone,

Considering taking Bernards, the #2 option listed which is a group tour at 45$ per person.

The private tour seems to be $72 pp, and Im not sure what extra, aside from privacy, you obtain with the private tour.


Has anyone experienced either of these options.

How was your experience??

any feedback much appreciated!!

I did the private tour just my family of four it was great a very enjoyable time we had extra stops and it was great it was just us bar at the beach stop.

 

[hgon76]

Loved Bernard's Tours! Used them twice. Both times just paid for the regular tour but we lucked out the 1st time with 8 of us & ended up getting a private van with just us. 2nd time we were in a big bus with a bunch of others but still great. You can't go wrong with Bernard's. You get to see the beach, do some shopping & a stop at Maho Beach at the end of the airport runway.

 

[annabug]

Hmmm, maybe I should do the private tour. Is it a smaller bus?? I am traveling with a few other families, was going to see if they wanted to join us, or do excursions on there own.

Is there shade at Orient beach, like umbrellas to rent??

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Hmmm, maybe I should do the private tour. Is it a smaller bus?? I am traveling with a few other families, was going to see if they wanted to join us, or do excursions on there own.

Is there shade at Orient beach, like umbrellas to rent??

We had a small minivan for four of us and good shade at Orient beach the driver ensured that.

 

[isaboo]

Our family (mine and my cousin's families) did the private tour and there were 12 of us. I can't remember how much we paid but it was worth every dime! Our driver's name was David and he was fantastic He even took us to a huge, out-of-the way souvenir shop where the prices were much lower than near the cruise ship. He had a cooler full of drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic) and some very strong rum punch. We had just the right amount of time at the airplane beach (Maho?) and another beach, saw both sides of the island and had time for lunch and a stop at a Patisserie for pastries. Loved it!

 

[jetskigrl]

We did the private tour with another DIS family and I thought it was great. Our driver was able to change up where we went to accomodate our wishes (ex. instead of staying at Orient Beach we went to one with calmer water and less nudity, LOL).

I liked that we set the pace and could stay as long or as short a time as we wanted at each place. He was great at pointing things out for us and then once we were settled, left us on our own at each place (but still close by in case we needed him).

He checked the flight schedules to make sure we made it to Maho in time to see some of the bigger planes land (since he knew that was high on our list).

There were 9 of us in a regular sized van.

 

[annabug]

FANTASTIC!!! Thank you one and all for your replies. This sounds great.


I think it will be a good fit, as we are traveling with small children 9 and 5..

I am leaning toward doing the private tour.

Did you book online through the site, or another way?

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

FANTASTIC!!! Thank you one and all for your replies. This sounds great.


I think it will be a good fit, as we are traveling with small children 9 and 5..

I am leaning toward doing the private tour.

Did you book online through the site, or another way?

I booked online then had email correspondence to firm it up.

 

[Buckeye Princess]

We did Bernards with a group tour with two kids (they were 18 months and 3). The only downside we found with the group was at Maho beach. We were counting on the tour being close to on schedule. When we got to Maho which was the last stop the driver pretty much said to us and the other family to let him know when we were done and that is when we'd head back. The other family had teens and wanted to stay until much later than scheduled. It was a little akward saying no, we really need to stick to the schedule and go back at the normal time. They were definitely disappointed to leave early and lose that bonus time.

 

[Holly4]

We did the shared bus tour and booked online. It was just okay...wouldn't do it again. Orient beach was lovely and Maho beach was fun, but our driver was a bore, hard to understand, and talked on his cell phone quite a bit. I've read so many positive experiences with Bernards, so hopefully yours will be too.

 

[Jkpark]

We just did the private tour for 2 families (8 total and kids were 6,6,8,9). Loved it. Got to move at our pace. Jackson was a great guide.

 

[joestein]

We took the tour with Bernard this past November. We had heard so many great things.

Sadly, the tour was anything but great. First, their was a huge line of people waiting to pay, the line barely moved and we were there for an hour.

The only nice stop of the whole day was orient beach and they cut that short due to late start.

They took us to an area for shopping and eating and said that we had a half hour. After everyone used the bathroom, it was 20 mins, nowhere near enough time to sit down and get something to eat (everything was in French which made it a bit harder as well).

Maho beach is just a strip of beach near an airport runway. I guess if you have never seen an airplane take off or land before it might be exciting, but otherwise it is a waste. Thankfully there was a little Mexican restaurant near the place we were dropped off and we got something to eat.

The tour guide was completely useless. He pointed out things like, this is where we pay our taxes, this is where we pay our utilities, this is McDonalds, this is where the Asians shop (his words), etc.

What a waste of a day. If I ever go back to St. Martin, We will just spend the day at Orient Beach.

Joe

 

[annabug]

We took the tour with Bernard this past November. We had heard so many great things.

Sadly, the tour was anything but great. First, their was a huge line of people waiting to pay, the line barely moved and we were there for an hour.

The only nice stop of the whole day was orient beach and they cut that short due to late start.

They took us to an area for shopping and eating and said that we had a half hour. After everyone used the bathroom, it was 20 mins, nowhere near enough time to sit down and get something to eat (everything was in French which made it a bit harder as well).

Maho beach is just a strip of beach near an airport runway. I guess if you have never seen an airplane take off or land before it might be exciting, but otherwise it is a waste. Thankfully there was a little Mexican restaurant near the place we were dropped off and we got something to eat.

The tour guide was completely useless. He pointed out things like, this is where we pay our taxes, this is where we pay our utilities, this is McDonalds, this is where the Asians shop (his words), etc.

What a waste of a day. If I ever go back to St. Martin, We will just spend the day at Orient Beach.

Joe

Ty for your reply. I appreciate your honesty on your experience.

Just spending the day at Orient beach, or doing the DCL French Rendesvous excursion is also an option for us.

 

[shandrananette]

We took the tour with Bernard this past November. We had heard so many great things.

Sadly, the tour was anything but great. First, their was a huge line of people waiting to pay, the line barely moved and we were there for an hour.

The only nice stop of the whole day was orient beach and they cut that short due to late start.

They took us to an area for shopping and eating and said that we had a half hour. After everyone used the bathroom, it was 20 mins, nowhere near enough time to sit down and get something to eat (everything was in French which made it a bit harder as well).

Maho beach is just a strip of beach near an airport runway. I guess if you have never seen an airplane take off or land before it might be exciting, but otherwise it is a waste. Thankfully there was a little Mexican restaurant near the place we were dropped off and we got something to eat.

The tour guide was completely useless. He pointed out things like, this is where we pay our taxes, this is where we pay our utilities, this is McDonalds, this is where the Asians shop (his words), etc.

What a waste of a day. If I ever go back to St. Martin, We will just spend the day at Orient Beach.

Joe

I hate to say it, but we agreed. We did the private tour, and maybe it just wasn't our thing. We also saw the tax lawyer's office and other random stuff. We felt like the tour guide still wanted to keep us on some set schedule, even though is was just us - we really liked the first beach but he had a specific time he wanted to depart. We kept asking for more time (because our daughter was asleep for the first 30 mins)and he kept saying okay, 30 minutes? He was nice, but it just wasn't the day I hoped for. In retrospect, we really just wished we gone to a beach and stayed there, as our first stop was great. But it could totally be us - we had two small kids, and bathrooms were hard to come by for the 4-year-old, so that made it tough and we probably just aren't "tour" people. So don't let our experience deter you, but think about what you really want from your day.

 

[annabug]

I hate to say it, but we agreed. We did the private tour, and maybe it just wasn't our thing. We also saw the tax lawyer's office and other random stuff. We felt like the tour guide still wanted to keep us on some set schedule, even though is was just us - we really liked the first beach but he had a specific time he wanted to depart. We kept asking for more time (because our daughter was asleep for the first 30 mins)and he kept saying okay, 30 minutes? He was nice, but it just wasn't the day I hoped for. In retrospect, we really just wished we gone to a beach and stayed there, as our first stop was great. But it could totally be us - we had two small kids, and bathrooms were hard to come by for the 4-year-old, so that made it tough and we probably just aren't "tour" people. So don't let our experience deter you, but think about what you really want from your day.

Thank You for your honesty. I am starting to think we may just do the beach on our own.
Can you give me some details about what beach you went to? Food options, shade, water/sand what was it like?
TIA for any advice!

 

[Beth D]

We did a private tour with Bernards and loved it. We had 5 in our group, us, DS and my parents, and combined with another 5 I met on the dis boards. Our driver was Dietrich, and he was fantastic.

He talked all about the island, took us to tide pools, stopped at an iguana tree, and also a french pastry shop for yummies!

We chose NOT to go to Orient, as we wanted a quieter beach. He took us to one out by the butterfly farm that was more secluded. It had chairs and umbrellas, but a lot less folks trying to sell you stuff.

We also stopped at Maho in time for a late lunch and some plane watching. Our driver set the time for returning, as he said traffic gets bad in the afternoon. He dropped one couple off in town for shopping, and brought the rest of us back closer to port, in time for the ship.