Thread: Island Marketing Expanding

We have been to St Maarten a few times and I haven't been impressed with the snorkeling. I don't even know the name of this site, we were the only boat there. They just achored in the middle of no where, they said it was a secret spot. We jumped it and it was stunning. Lots of fish, some coral and even a turtle. I think it was only about 8 ft or so deep.

Thanks for the information!

I do agree. In general, I have been more impressed with the snorkeling in the Western Caribbean than in the general area of St Thomas / St Maarten.

I really need to keep this excursion in mind for October of next year!

Just an FYI we used them inSt Maarten last week. Our ship, the Carnival Dream, had trouble docking due to the wind so we were about 45 mins late getting there. Even though we had a private tour booked and a deposit paid, they sent the van with another group leaving us stranded. The put us on another van with 4 other people. The tour was terrible! We could hear absolutely nothing at all. When we returned I sent them an email to let them know what happened. They responded with a partial refund to be picked up at Moneygram. However....when I went to Moneygram to retrieve my refund I was told it was not a valid transaction. So........we had a terrible tour and are out quite a bit of money. Just wanted people to be aware of this. This was our 14th cruise and by far the worst excursion we've done yet. We've used Island Marketing before through CruiseFools with Andrew and had no problems. But the St Maarten one apparently doesn't have it's act together.

I'm so sorry your tour wasn't all you had expected. Thanks for letting us know about your experience with this company.

Originally Posted by rycor8384

Just an FYI we used them inSt Maarten last week. Our ship, the Carnival Dream, had trouble docking due to the wind so we were about 45 mins late getting there. Even though we had a private tour booked and a deposit paid, they sent the van with another group leaving us stranded. The put us on another van with 4 other people. The tour was terrible! We could hear absolutely nothing at all. When we returned I sent them an email to let them know what happened. They responded with a partial refund to be picked up at Moneygram. However....when I went to Moneygram to retrieve my refund I was told it was not a valid transaction. So........we had a terrible tour and are out quite a bit of money. Just wanted people to be aware of this. This was our 14th cruise and by far the worst excursion we've done yet. We've used Island Marketing before through CruiseFools with Andrew and had no problems. But the St Maarten one apparently doesn't have it's act together.

UPDATE.....we have received a partial refund on this excursion.

Thanks for letting us know!

Originally Posted by rycor8384

UPDATE.....we have received a partial refund on this excursion.

Glad to hear Island Marketing paid attention to your concerns. I hope you were at least partially satisfied with the outcome.

Again, thanks for your review and update about shore excursions in St. Maarten.

The main tourist site for the island is the best, and there are some great sites for the bars as well

My only fear for St. Martin is that you are going to get too touristy like St. John has become. You have a beautiful island with some great charm. I would hate to see it spoiled!