goofy4wdw59
Long Time Disney Fan
- Joined
- Sep 29, 2000
- Messages
- 545
We are back from our Eastern Magic Cruise...it's all over too soon!
I just wanted to post about our experience with Joyce Prince, a personal tour guide in St. Maarten.
Our family consists of: Me, DH, 8-yo DD, 6-yo DS, and 3-yo DD. The available Disney excursions didn't fit for us/our age-group & I wanted a booster seat for our 3-yo. We thought about renting a car but DH didn't want to navigate on unfamiliar roads. So, I looked for more info on St. Maarten and I found out about Joyce Prince on the "Cruise Critic".
She was popular and had a good reputation. I contacted her and, fortunately, she had our date open (she books up in advance). Her rates vary depending on the number of adults and what your tour includes, etc. She has a 1/2 day rate (3 hours) and a full-day (6 hours). We went with a full-day tour and our price was comparable to what we would have paid for a Disney excursion. I wondered if 6 hours would be too much time, but, we had no problem filling it!
Our tour included a booster seat, 2 chairs & umbrella, a general island tour, etc. Joyce was, in a word, Terrific! She's one hard-working lady. She was so nice and very knowledgeable about her island.
Joyce met us with her van and our first stop was for a picture of the "Magic" in port from a high point on the island.
Next, we had a quick shop-stop at "Rima's" on Pond Fil Rd where many locals shop. The prices were good--3 beach loungers for $20 and key chains 10 for $5. DD wanted to buy something for her class so we got 40 key chains for $20 and some other stuff too.
Then, we drove around with Joyce answering questions & giving info and stopping at beaches along the way as we were going to chose one to stay at for a while.
We stopped at the Butterfly farm and paid a $30 admission ($10 per adult, $5 per kid). We were surprised to find out that DS didn't like the enclosure with the butterflies--he freaked! We stayed all of 15-20 minutes as the kids were too disruptive to go on the guided tour. All I can say is, thank goodness we could leave with Joyce when we needed to.
Next, we stopped at "Le Gallion" beach and decided to stay here for our beach visit. This beach was nice & mild, inland with no waves. Some of the other beaches we stopped at had bigger waves (a storm had blown through)--too much for our younger kids.
With our tour about over, I wanted to make one last stop (the unplanned, last-minute "I thought of something I want to buy" stop) before going back to the Magic. Joyce parked and quickly took me to a shop called "Mr. Tablecloth" where I got my tablecloth and runners and then back to Joyce's van and the end of our great, personal tour in St. Maarten.
If anyone is interested, here is Joyce's link: http://joyceprince.com/
I just wanted to post about our experience with Joyce Prince, a personal tour guide in St. Maarten.
Our family consists of: Me, DH, 8-yo DD, 6-yo DS, and 3-yo DD. The available Disney excursions didn't fit for us/our age-group & I wanted a booster seat for our 3-yo. We thought about renting a car but DH didn't want to navigate on unfamiliar roads. So, I looked for more info on St. Maarten and I found out about Joyce Prince on the "Cruise Critic".
She was popular and had a good reputation. I contacted her and, fortunately, she had our date open (she books up in advance). Her rates vary depending on the number of adults and what your tour includes, etc. She has a 1/2 day rate (3 hours) and a full-day (6 hours). We went with a full-day tour and our price was comparable to what we would have paid for a Disney excursion. I wondered if 6 hours would be too much time, but, we had no problem filling it!
Our tour included a booster seat, 2 chairs & umbrella, a general island tour, etc. Joyce was, in a word, Terrific! She's one hard-working lady. She was so nice and very knowledgeable about her island.
Joyce met us with her van and our first stop was for a picture of the "Magic" in port from a high point on the island.
Next, we had a quick shop-stop at "Rima's" on Pond Fil Rd where many locals shop. The prices were good--3 beach loungers for $20 and key chains 10 for $5. DD wanted to buy something for her class so we got 40 key chains for $20 and some other stuff too.
Then, we drove around with Joyce answering questions & giving info and stopping at beaches along the way as we were going to chose one to stay at for a while.
We stopped at the Butterfly farm and paid a $30 admission ($10 per adult, $5 per kid). We were surprised to find out that DS didn't like the enclosure with the butterflies--he freaked! We stayed all of 15-20 minutes as the kids were too disruptive to go on the guided tour. All I can say is, thank goodness we could leave with Joyce when we needed to.
Next, we stopped at "Le Gallion" beach and decided to stay here for our beach visit. This beach was nice & mild, inland with no waves. Some of the other beaches we stopped at had bigger waves (a storm had blown through)--too much for our younger kids.
With our tour about over, I wanted to make one last stop (the unplanned, last-minute "I thought of something I want to buy" stop) before going back to the Magic. Joyce parked and quickly took me to a shop called "Mr. Tablecloth" where I got my tablecloth and runners and then back to Joyce's van and the end of our great, personal tour in St. Maarten.
If anyone is interested, here is Joyce's link: http://joyceprince.com/
