Just off the Fantasy, Eastern. If I can help anyone, I'll do my best! Ask away!

[Neesy228]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday. We had excellent weather all week with only some clouds and rain on our Castaway Cay day. It wasn't enough to ruin the day. Calm seas the entire week. Stopped in St. Martin, St. Thomas/St. John and Castaway. Travelled with three kids ages 14, 12 and 9. Had AERAERA for our dining. Ate at Palo for brunch. Did pirate night, halloween on the high seas festivities, rode the aquaduck, snorkeled on castaway, did Bernards Tours on St Martin, the skyride to Paradise Point in St Thomas. Saw most of the shows. Saved the navigators for the week. If I can answer questions for anyone, please feel free to ask.

 

[NC State Tigger]

You are an answer to my prayers!!!
We are scheduled for Dec 5th sailing, same itinerary and have requested the same dining rotation.
I was just about to post and ask if anyone had used Bernard's recently. Was your tour part of a group? Which tour did you take? We are a party of 16 and are considering a private tour.
Do you have copies of any menus?

 

[Ariel484]

@Neesy228 I was on the same cruise - same dining rotation too!

I agree, couldn't believe how smooth and calm the seas were! It was great.

 

[MUN]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday. We had excellent weather all week with only some clouds and rain on our Castaway Cay day. It wasn't enough to ruin the day. Calm seas the entire week. Stopped in St. Martin, St. Thomas/St. John and Castaway. Travelled with three kids ages 14, 12 and 9. Had AERAERA for our dining. Did pirate night, halloween on the high seas festivities, rode the aquaduck, snorkeled on castaway, did Bernards Tours on St Martin, the skyride to Paradise Point in St Thomas. Saw most of the shows. Saved the navigators for the week. If I can answer questions for anyone, please feel free to ask.

I'm pleased to hear you have a pleasant voyage. Who was the captain and the cruise director?

MUN

 

[Neesy228]

@Neesy228 I was on the same cruise - same dining rotation too!

I agree, couldn't believe how smooth and calm the seas were! It was great.

What a small world!

 

[Neesy228]

I'm pleased to hear you have a pleasant voyage. Who was the captain and the cruise director?

MUN

Cruise Director was Darren. He's awesome and fun.

Commodore Tom was the Captain. We spoke with him on two occasions, very pleasant man.

 

[SyracuseWolvrine]

I was on the same cruise - same dining rotation too!
.

Me three!

I'm pleased to hear you have a pleasant voyage. Who was the captain and the cruise director?

Commodore Tom / Darren

 

[Lake_Mary]

Us too! We had a grand time, except for the brief rain at sail away that pushed the party to the lobby and had us scrambling to Deck 11 to wave goodbye to everyone at Jetty Beach. Halloween on the High Seas was a HUGE hit for us; we dressed up and had a grand time!

 

[Neesy228]

You are an answer to my prayers!!!
We are scheduled for Dec 5th sailing, same itinerary and have requested the same dining rotation.
I was just about to post and ask if anyone had used Bernard's recently. Was your tour part of a group? Which tour did you take? We are a party of 16 and are considering a private tour.
Do you have copies of any menus?

Hi! I missed your post the first time I looked, sorry! We did Tour 1 from their website and it was a complete waste of time and money. We were so disappointed in the entire experience. (I can go into more detail if you're interested.) Someone on here recommended Joyce Prince Tours to me too, and I would recommend going with *anyone else* besides Bernards.

I don't have a copy of any menus. My DH gets annoyed if I take pictures food/menus, so tend to steer clear.

Let me know if I can help with anything else! Have a great trip!

 

[MUN]

We just got off the Fantasy on Saturday. We had excellent weather all week with only some clouds and rain on our Castaway Cay day. It wasn't enough to ruin the day. Calm seas the entire week. Stopped in St. Martin, St. Thomas/St. John and Castaway. Travelled with three kids ages 14, 12 and 9. Had AERAERA for our dining. Did pirate night, halloween on the high seas festivities, rode the aquaduck, snorkeled on castaway, did Bernards Tours on St Martin, the skyride to Paradise Point in St Thomas. Saw most of the shows. Saved the navigators for the week. If I can answer questions for anyone, please feel free to ask.

Did Bernards tour take you to any of the beaches? If so, did you notice or did the tour guide talk about the beaches being hit with unusual amounts of sea weed?

MUN

 

[jtba]

would love to hear about your experience with bernard's and why you did not enjoy it. trying to decide between Joyce Prince and them; you might just tip us over to JP.

thanks in advance.

Hi! I missed your post the first time I looked, sorry! We did Tour 1 from their website and it was a complete waste of time and money. We were so disappointed in the entire experience. (I can go into more detail if you're interested.) Someone on here recommended Joyce Prince Tours to me too, and I would recommend going with *anyone else* besides Bernards.

I don't have a copy of any menus. My DH gets annoyed if I take pictures food/menus, so tend to steer clear.

Let me know if I can help with anything else! Have a great trip!

 

[Neesy228]

Did Bernards tour take you to any of the beaches? If so, did you notice or did the tour guide talk about the beaches being hit with unusual amounts of sea weed?

MUN

We were supposed to go to Maho, but it was a bust. The tour guide was pretty much useless, so if there was seaweed, we didn't hear about any of it.

would love to hear about your experience with bernard's and why you did not enjoy it. trying to decide between Joyce Prince and them; you might just tip us over to JP.

thanks in advance.

Our entire tour with Bernards was just miserable. We got onto a small shuttle bus with too many people. When we pointed out to our tour guide that we didn't have enough seats, he showed us that there were four "jump seats" that folded down into the aisle that we could sit in. So, we rode four people across effectively blocking the aisle and any exit of everyone behind us. The tour guide was lifeless and imparted little to no relevant information about the island -- and even though there were many children on board the bus, he continuously told off-color jokes and pointed out which sides of the island allowed for legal marijuana use and legal prostitution - even showing us a brothel. We made a few short stops (as in 10 minutes or less) at "scenic overlooks" which conveniently included locals selling random goods. Due to traffic on the island, and poor planning on the guides part, we missed all flights landing at Maho - which was why the majority of people on the tour were even on the tour! It was the WORST experience. When I went back to the tent where we checked in after the tour, no one was available to listen to my complaints or able to offer me a refund. Please, especially if you have children, do pick another tour company. We read the reviews on trip advisor and overlooked the few negatives we read, but really wish we hadn't. It was a big waste of money ($200 for our family of 5!) and a horrible way to spend the day.

 

[jtba]

Our entire tour with Bernards was just miserable. We got onto a small shuttle bus with too many people. When we pointed out to our tour guide that we didn't have enough seats, he showed us that there were four "jump seats" that folded down into the aisle that we could sit in. So, we rode four people across effectively blocking the aisle and any exit of everyone behind us. The tour guide was lifeless and imparted little to no relevant information about the island -- and even though there were many children on board the bus, he continuously told off-color jokes and pointed out which sides of the island allowed for legal marijuana use and legal prostitution - even showing us a brothel. We made a few short stops (as in 10 minutes or less) at "scenic overlooks" which conveniently included locals selling random goods. Due to traffic on the island, and poor planning on the guides part, we missed all flights landing at Maho - which was why the majority of people on the tour were even on the tour! It was the WORST experience. When I went back to the tent where we checked in after the tour, no one was available to listen to my complaints or able to offer me a refund. Please, especially if you have children, do pick another tour company. We read the reviews on trip advisor and overlooked the few negatives we read, but really wish we hadn't. It was a big waste of money ($200 for our family of 5!) and a horrible way to spend the day.

wow, that's horrid. thanks for the warning!

 

[disneymommy1979]

Glad you had a great time! Did they have the princess meet and greets, Anna/Elsa meet and greet, and also the Disney Jr character breakfast? Thanks so much!

 

[Neesy228]

Glad you had a great time! Did they have the princess meet and greets, Anna/Elsa meet and greet, and also the Disney Jr character breakfast? Thanks so much!

Yes, yes and yes! We got tickets to the Princess meet and great and Anna and Elsa at the Port Adventures desk on the first day on board. The princess meet and greet was in the main lobby/atrium and we met Ariel, Tiana, Cinderella and Belle. Anna and Elsa were in Animators Palate and they put Frozen on all of the screens in the restaurant. The lighting was pretty poor for taking your own pictures if you only used an iphone. The CM at the meet and greet told me that Olaf would be on Castaway Cay, but we didn't see him...maybe it was because it was raining? We didn't do the character breakfast, but it was an option.

 

[kerry1379]

Wow-Neesy228, I am sorry you had such a bad experience with Bernards! I think it depends on the tour guide. We took took Tour 1 through Bernard's and had children with us, and it was an amazing experience! We loved it! Our tour was absolutely family friendly! (Well, except for a lady at Sunset restaurant that was topless but that wasn't the tour's doing. It is also my understanding that that can happen on that island-cultural attitudes are a bit different from where I am from.) We have a child with special needs and the tour guide, Simon, went out of his way to include him. So I just wanted to put that out there that we absolutely loved our tour with Bernard's.

 

[Twinprincesses]

I was on there too!

 

[Twinprincesses]

If anyone is looking for a tour in St Marteen I recommend googling Captain Bob. It is amazing small private excursion, boat holds about 12 ppl. All day, lunch included, snorkeling w sea turtles takes you to Maho beach in tho ocean only. It was hands down the best day ever out of 5 Disney cruises.

 

[luvavacation43]

I am going in two weeks. Several cruises but first on Disney. We booked a private tour with Bernard's bc they got great reviews. I am guessing the private ones are much better, fewer people and can pick our own time in each place. Question: any important things you packed? or wish you had packed that would have made your trip better?

 

[luvavacation43]

Any suggestions about castaway cay? best place to eat there? sting ray excursion?