Bernard's Tour St. Maarten Question

[CarmenJames865]

Question for those that have used Bernard Tours in St. Maarten.

I need to be making my decision very soon. 32 days until we set sail.

We will have our 9 year old twins with us for the day.

Do you guys recommend a private tour or just the regular one and why?

Since rum punch is provided I do worry about people getting drunk and acting like fools in front of my kiddos.
My husband and I both are social drinkers but are careful when the kids are around.

But I am not thrilled with spending over $400.00 on a private tour ($360.00 plus tip for the guide).

Suggestions and experiences would be great appreaciated.

Is the tour bus small? Do you feel like you are crowded?

 

[erocrobro]

I went on this tour with my sons (11, 8, & 6) and it was fine. Our van was full of families and no one was out of control. Unless I had specific things I wanted to do that were not on the regular tour, I wouldn't pay for a private tour.

 

[sdjen]

if you are more comfortable doing the private tour, check with your meet group. Maybe there is another family that could join you that would help with the cost? If you are both kid oriented, it may help

 

[CarmenJames865]

There has to be more people that have used bernards that can offer more insight.

 

[dbenlee]

We used Bernards in June and really loved it. There were sodas, water and beer as well as the rum punch offered. Like has been previously mentioned, there seemed to be more families on the tours we were on and saw so while the rum punch was consumed, no one drank a lot and no one got drunk. This seems to be the norm from what I read other places. I have a very low tolerance for drunks and would have been extremely unhappy to have to deal with drunks on the tour. Also, the driver has the cooler right next to him so he can control what people get and how much. There was a limited amount of rum punch available, so unless only one person drank it, I don't imagine anyone getting sloppy drunk.

 

[Silverfox97]

There has to be more people that have used bernards that can offer more insight.

I sent you a PM

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[staley98]

We had a great time on our Bernard's tour in June. They started serving beverages a little after 10 and my husband was served more than anyone else. NO ONE got sloppy or rude. The buses were all very nice and clean, the guides were wonderful, and we were able to get a taste of the island. We had a very active DIS group and we took up 5 vans.
My kids were 9, 8, &6 at the time and I would HIGHLY recommend the tour.
The only negative was that we were tired by the time Pirate Night rolled around. We went to the kids' party, but fell asleep before the fireworks. Oh well, that just gave us an excuse to rebook!
Next time, we'll just take a cab to Orient Bay Beach. It was breathtaking!

 

[Chelley00]

We did a Bernards private tour. It was 6 of us (kids were 18, 15, 9 and 7 at the time)

We did the private tour because I wanted to be able to customize the tour myself and not do what strangers wanted to. For that, it was well worth the money. We spent a ton of time at Maho so the kids could watch the planes and a little time at Orient and very little time shopping but lots of exploring and sight seeing. We were basically in the tour guide's minivan and not in a tour bus type thing since it was just us. We were still provided rum punch, sodas and bottled waters.

Our tour guide was very informative, but kinda cranky. I've read this is odd and not other people's experiences at all. The tour was still good and we had a great time, but she was not enjoying her job that day.

 

[tinkmt]

We want to do this tour too but cant decide between the tour groups or just a private tour. This info is helpful!

 

[joestein]

We were on the Fantasy last week and used Bernard's Tour.

I was not happy with the experience.

First, I got to the place we were supposed to meet the Tour at 9am. Was met with a huge line. Waited almost 50 mins on line. Finally got on tour bus at 10am with "Ricky".


We stopped at the lizard farm to feed them. About 4 or 5 lizards that just ran away as soon as anyone approached them. Then we made a scenic stop. Finally got to La Playa Beach Club at 11am. We got only 1 hour 15 mins instead of the 2 hours advertised.
Then he took us to French Margiot (sp?) for a 1/2 hour for lunch and shopping. Not enough time for anything. Then they took us to Maho beach (or the casino behind it) for 45 mins. Luckily there was a Mexican restaurant right at the place the bus stopped.

Rest of tour was him pointing out ridiculous things like - "Here is where you can park for free", "That is McDonalds", "This is where we pay our water bills", "This is a supermarket, they are all owned by the Asians", etc.

All the stops except the beach were a waste of time. Margiot, which might have been a place to have an overpriced lunch (Like 15 euro for a burger - about $20) but we had insufficient time to eat. Maho is complete waste - no chance to get to the beach really - just an airport runaway and some bars/restaurants.

I really enjoyed our short time at La Playa Beach Club. It was very nice there. They obviously made up our late departure by cutting time from the beach and Margiot. Wished they skipped the other stops instead. Next time I would just go to beach.

STAY AWAY FROM BERNARD TOURS!

Joe

 

[simbasmom2]

We got a big group together from our DISmeets group. We had a blast. The bus was nice and we didn't feel crowded at all. I loved this tour. I felt it was well worth the money we paid.

 

[ACDSNY]

We used Bernard's last week for our group of nine (6 adults/3 kids) and had a great time. Our guide was DJ whom answered all of our questions about the island and was very patient with the kids. Our group was very happy with our tour.

We did a private tour since there were so many of us.

 

[DanceGirl914]

We went on a Bernard's tour in October and I wouldn't do it again. The tour itself was good, and the tour guide was great.
However we signed up for the shorter Tour # 1 but it seemed we were the only family doing that tour so we got stuck on a bus with those doing the longer tour and instead of our tour ending at 1:30 it ended at 3:30, not what I wanted.
I wanted to spend that extra time in Philispburg at then end of the tour.

 

[ImDMous]

We did the regular Bernard's tour last year and loved it.

You would really have to drink a lot of dixie cups of punch to get drunk. It's strong, but still, little tiny cups.

We had a great time, there were about 20 on our bus, not crowded at all. Fed the iguanas for a while, visited with the guys who gets sea creatures out of the surf to show you, stopped at Orient Bay for beach time, went to Maho for lunch at to watch the planes (had plenty of time for the water there too), stopped in Marigot for shopping/pastries.

 

[disney1990]

We did one of their group tours last October and loved it. Loved seeing the Iguanas and the airplanes that land right over the beach, the pastry shop in Marigot was to die for, and the sea creatures that we stopped and held were a real treat. All families and nobody was intoxicated. Our guide was fantastic.

 

[tinkmt]

So for those of you that have done the group beach tour, did you find there was enough time at each beach?

 

[mchelle77]

We booked Bernard's on our April (CCL) cruise and LOVED it. Our driver was Timo, he was so accomodating (taking our dumb picture requests on 6+ cameras LOL ) We had 11 in our group so we did the private tour. We will ABSOLUTELY book them again. It's part of the reason we fell in love with St. Maarten, he showed us all of the highlights and was really funny too. Although I WOULD alter our (customized based on reviews) itinerary next time.

We started at about 9am. We did the iguana farm, but got there so early that none were really out. At 930am he broke out the cooler (9 adults, 2 kids 8 years old) I don't remember the order of events, but we went to La Playa, which we LOVED (got great massages, had parasailing available, beachside bar, etc) Saw the French/Dutch border, a great view of St. Kitts, Marigot for lunch, and Maho, which was the second highlight of the tour.

Next time, we would request Timo and only do La Playa for half the day, and then Maho for the other half. They are on opposite sides of the island, and booking them ensures that you make it back to your ship.

A private tour is up to 6 hours, and if you have more than 10 people I believe they discount it slightly.