Tours in Barbados and Martinique

[G&Gcruiser]

We are on the Legend 3-11. Does anyone have suggestions on what to do in Barbados and Martinique? Should we purchase cruise packages or create our own?

[tispwisp]

I would highly recommend a ship tour in Martinique unless you speak French. French is the main language there. We took a ships tour to St. Pierre and was very glad that we did the ship tour instead of trying it out for ourselves. Do make sure you take a tour outside the port area. The port area is definitely not very nice. Once you get outside the city, you will discover the true beautify of Martinique!

 

In Barbados, I think you will be fine getting a taxi and touring on your own!

[hstrybuf]

In Barbados I've taken a 4x4 tour twice. They take you all over the island, provide drinks and snacks, and you get to see the area away from the port. Both times it was a ship's tour and both times it was worth the money.

 

I also recommend a ship's tour in Martinique if you don't speak French. We took the tour that Carnival says is its most popular but were not happy with it. Neither were the other 3 busloads of people on the same tour. It went to St. Pierre, a rum factory and through the rain forest and was too long with only stops for pictures at the town and factory. Some people have had luck taking a taxi tour, but you have to find a driver that speaks English and negotiate the price.

[jerseygirl3]

We're going to be in Barbados in March, and we read rave reviews about an excursion with Silver Moon, so we booked it. If you go to the Port of Calls section of these boards and click on "Barbados," you can read all about it.

[neverenufcruising]

We were in Barbados last week. Hired a taxi to take us around. The drivers name was Victor. He took us all over the island, stopped at important places, let us get out and look around, took pictures for us, etc. It was just the DW and I and we loved the personalized tour.

[Susan2u]

Hi,

 

While in Barbados we did the sunset catamaran with El Tigre, it was from 3:00-6:30pm, all drinks included, all snorkel equipment included and instruction if necessary. We swam with the sea turtles and viewed a sunken ship wreck. It was the best excursion (booked privately).

 

In Martinique we took a taxi into town $3.00 each (in a van with others), and then took the ferry $6.00 round trip from Fort de France to Pointe du bout. We went to the hotel beach and it was great. You could have rented chairs but we figured we were there such a short time we just used our towels. The ferry dropped us off in town and we shopped on the way back to grab a cab, again $3.00 each (in a van with others). We don't speak French and didn't have any problems.

[steveaaaa]

We are on the Legend 3-11. Does anyone have suggestions on what to do in Barbados and Martinique? Should we purchase cruise packages or create our own?

 

Want to try Windsurfing??

My wife and I did and it was a good time.They picked us up and brought us back to the ship. We are actually the ones pictured in their website.

 

http://www.zedssurftravel.com/WindSurfing.asp

 

Steve

[gsb]

Highly recommend renting a car--drive and see as much of the two islands as you can. See Harrison's Cave in Barbados, stop at the little bars along the road and enjoy a Banks Beer for a buck.

We think Martinique ti the prettiest island of them all--our drive over to the east coast reminded us of Maui and Kuaui. Very nice people all along the way.

Martinique gets an undeserved bad rap about how they treat Americans.

[katgar]

We are on the Legend 3-11.

Join the Legend-March 11, 2005 roll call on the carnival roll calls board!

[OCruisers]

G&G .... In BARBADOS there really are so many good things to do! If you just want to go to an active beach fairly close to the ship, this is a great way to spend the day:

 

Review: The BOATYARD Beach ~ OnOurOwn~ (Click Here )

 

Hope this helps a bit and that you enjoy Barbados as much as we always have!

 

Happy Sailing! OCruisers :)

[pholter]

I have only been to Barbados but HIGHLY recommend the following:

www.glorytours.org Best of Barbados- Harrison's Cave, Wildlife Preserve, lunch at a local joint, driving through Bathsheba, picture stops, snorkling in several different places, swimming with turtles, and a glass bottom boat ride.

 

In the evening, we opted to go and party at the Boatyard, which has a Carlos 'n Charlies kinda atmosphere, but more fun! Alot of the ship's crew go there and it can get wild...

 

Have a great time!

[lucyjohnz]

We've been twice and on the 1st trip, we did a ship's island tour which was a good way to get an overview of the island - it wasn't very expensive either. On the 2nd trip, we took a taxi to a rum factory (not Malibu, can't remember the name of it) that was close to the pier - the tour cost $8/pp and was not worth it. Then we took a taxi over to Malibu Rum Beach and spent $5 each for a chair and umbrella and my husband spent an extra $1 to tour their rum factory. He said the tour was fantastic. We enjoyed the beach for about 2 hours, rented a jetski for 30 minutes ($45 I think) and had an all-around good time.

 

I'm glad we saw some of the sights on that first tour - I wouldn't want to miss hearing the history of the island and seeing several landmarks. Perhaps you could do both.

[5668200]

If you like the beach, don't miss the Boatyard in Barbados, it's wonderful. You can take a $3 shuttle there, the admission is $12pp but you get $5 back in tokens to use on food and drinks. The admission includes kayaks, water trampolines, water climbing wall, rope swing into the water, beach games, a lounge chair and an umbrella. The beach is beautiful. It felt very safe with security people constantly walking around. We had a fabulous day just hanging out.

[Coolcruise02]

G&GCruiser Welcome... we will also be on the 3-11 Legend. If you go to the Ports Board you can get more info. I have gotten a lot of questions answered there. :) Also, please join our roll call.

[Floridamom]

I was excited to see someone post about renting a car in Martinique. I posted the question on the Martinique boards, but no one has answered. We are going next month, and I have rented a car at Pointe de Bout thinking it would be easier to take the ferry and then rent the car. We wanted to drive towards the east, but have no clue as to where to stop for views, beaches, etc. Does the road drive all around the island onto the western part as well. Can you tell me where you went and what you did, and anything else that would help me. We are in port until 11:00, but the rental agencies seem to close at around 6.

 

Wondering if we should just stay on the east part or drive around to the west as well. We can drop the car off in Fort de France as well.

 

Oh I sure hope you see this post!!