Just back from Martinique January 2016

[piginmud]

Because there's not much information on these boards about Martinique I'll share our experience with you. We were just there last week off the Breakaway.

 

When we got off the ship there were a number of English speaking taxi drivers. We had 3 people and the first guy gave us a price of $200 for his taxi. We had heard there was cheaper so we found Alex (c.a.arneton@gmail.com) who charged us $50pp. He got 4 other people to do his tour and we were off. We waited about 10 mins for him to gather up other people but it wasn't that long of a wait.

 

HE spoke English very well along with French, Spanish and Italian. He took us on a 4 hour tour including volcanic ruins, Sacre Couer church, etc. It was really nice.

 

Fort de France itself was dirty, disgusting, with homeless people on the streets and expensive! This is not the port to do shopping in if you want trinkets. I went shopping to get my souvenir shot glass. All the little tents along the pier wanted $5 US and I paid $3.50 in a little shop in town. I didn't spend more than 40 mins there because the shopping was terrible and like I said the town was dirty and the people for the most part unfriendly.

 

If I have to go to Martinique again I would do a beach day or just stay on the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet of the ship!

 

debbie

[Lauraally]

You're right. Info is hard to find on this port. Thanks for taking the time.

[muskatnuss]

I agree with Debbie. We have been to Fort de France 3 times with Cruises. The first time we walked to town and looked around to discover how shaby it was to us. The second time we did the Sacre Coeur Church and the Volcano Thing. The last time we stayed on the Royal Clipper and enjoyed the empty ship. This trip we will do a tour with Christel from Karambole Tours. We don't Need the town anymore.

[andymattmom]

Totally agree with you. We did a tour like you did (I don't remember our drivers name). We met him on the dock and we paid $35 per person for a 4 hour tour and went same places you did (our tour was actually almost 5 hours). It was our family of 4 and another couple from Canada. It was a fun tour! Much cheaper than any of the cruise shore excursions we did on the other 3 islands.

[piginmud]

Totally agree with you. We did a tour like you did (I don't remember our drivers name). We met him on the dock and we paid $35 per person for a 4 hour tour and went same places you did (our tour was actually almost 5 hours). It was our family of 4 and another couple from Canada. It was a fun tour! Much cheaper than any of the cruise shore excursions we did on the other 3 islands.

 

 

Well you got a lot better deal than us, we paid $50! Good for you :)

 

debbie

[Islandattorney]

We just got back from a cruise that stopped in Martinique & had a very good time on a full day boat tour with a company called Katamambo. Someone on our roll call put together 20 folks which was their requirement to have a sail perfectly coordinated to our early departure (we had to be back by 4:30 & their regular sail comes back later than that). They picked us up near the dock & took us out to see schools of dolphin, to visit the old town of St Pierre where the volcano struck early last century, for a swimming stop & another for snorkeling. Lovely views of the island from the sea. They had drinks & lunch. Overall a lovely way to visit the island. It was 80Eu & could only be paid in euros but you could prepay on PayPal. Their website has photos & more info. Email for contact is katamambo.resa@gmail.com.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for posting your experience as you said, not a lot on this port.

[Bluewake]

We also were just in Martinique on the Breakaway and enjoyed our time there. We took an NCL excursion to St. Pierre, the former capital that was destroyed by the volcano and traveled to/through some very scenic parts of the island getting there. Also, our guide was quite good so that added a lot to the excursion. Yes, we did find Fort de France and St. Pierre to be a bit "run down" and clearly not dedicated to tourists. No one was standing outside every store trying to lure you in and coming up to bug you to buy some expensive jewelry or a trinket. However, we almost found that a bit refreshing after having had the former experience on other islands. We walked around the downtown area and finally found a market area a few blocks from the ship that was filled with vendors...it was pretty neat. It was difficult to find someone who spoke English in the market but that is to be expected...after all, it's a French island. We made an effort to use the few French words we knew and it seemed to be appreciated. All in all, while we only saw the northern part of the island, we thought it was lush and quite beautiful. We would like to return on a future cruise but I do agree with other posters that it is important to have some sort of excursion lined up since it isn't the sort of port where you can just hop off the ship and there is plenty to do just waiting for you.

[limace]

We had a great time here-took a bus to the botanical gardens and they were wonderful. Found a small primitive quilt and bought it from the woman who had made it and was able to talk to her in my very poor French. We found the people to be friendly and enjoyed this port a lot!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Keith1010]

Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Keith

[newtotheseas]

We will be in Martinique next week and I was going to see La Savane (the park) and go into town on our own..until I read this thread. One of the excursions offered is the Martinique Botanical Gardens and Zoo and I am thinking of signing up for that instead of walking around Fort-de-France. Is that what you would advise, fellow Cruisers? Thanks, Rebecca

[mrobstad]

just back from the BA.

sea day for me and many others. Pricey due to exchange rate, i guess.

[cruiseapril]

We took a ship's tour (Holland America) in Martinique and went to St. Pierre, through the rain forest, to Balata Gardens, and then to Balata Church. We were in a nice bus , had a great guide, and enjoyed this excursion- especially the beautiful Balata Gardens. We had no interest in walking around the port.

 

Good to read that others have had good experiences on this island.

[piginmud]

We will be in Martinique next week and I was going to see La Savane (the park) and go into town on our own..until I read this thread. One of the excursions offered is the Martinique Botanical Gardens and Zoo and I am thinking of signing up for that instead of walking around Fort-de-France. Is that what you would advise, fellow Cruisers? Thanks, Rebecca

 

 

I might be a little too late to respond but I definitely would do the Botanical Gardens over walking around Fort de France. FdF is a dump... we drove through the botanical gardens and they looked pretty cool.

 

debbie

[newtotheseas]

Thanks, Debbie. We did end up doing the Jardin de Balata and we very much enjoyed it. The bus stopped on the way for a short visit to the mini Sacre Couer and then our bus went through town on the way back and I was delighted that we chose the Botanical Garden! It was lush and peaceful and had a footbridge to add an element of thrill to those who chose to see the gardens from an elevated walkway.

[Mooder]

We just got back from a cruise that stopped in Martinique & had a very good time on a full day boat tour with a company called Katamambo. Someone on our roll call put together 20 folks which was their requirement to have a sail perfectly coordinated to our early departure (we had to be back by 4:30 & their regular sail comes back later than that). They picked us up near the dock & took us out to see schools of dolphin, to visit the old town of St Pierre where the volcano struck early last century, for a swimming stop & another for snorkeling. Lovely views of the island from the sea. They had drinks & lunch. Overall a lovely way to visit the island. It was 80Eu & could only be paid in euros but you could prepay on PayPal. Their website has photos & more info. Email for contact is katamambo.resa@gmail.com.

 

Thanks, this is just what we have been looking for!

[Brangwen]

Because there's not much information on these boards about Martinique I'll share our experience with you. We were just there last week off the Breakaway.

 

When we got off the ship there were a number of English speaking taxi drivers. We had 3 people and the first guy gave us a price of $200 for his taxi. We had heard there was cheaper so we found Alex (c.a.arneton@gmail.com) who charged us $50pp. He got 4 other people to do his tour and we were off. We waited about 10 mins for him to gather up other people but it wasn't that long of a wait.

 

HE spoke English very well along with French, Spanish and Italian. He took us on a 4 hour tour including volcanic ruins, Sacre Couer church, etc. It was really nice.

 

Fort de France itself was dirty, disgusting, with homeless people on the streets and expensive! This is not the port to do shopping in if you want trinkets. I went shopping to get my souvenir shot glass. All the little tents along the pier wanted $5 US and I paid $3.50 in a little shop in town. I didn't spend more than 40 mins there because the shopping was terrible and like I said the town was dirty and the people for the most part unfriendly.

 

If I have to go to Martinique again I would do a beach day or just stay on the ship and enjoy the peace and quiet of the ship!

 

debbie

 

Thanks Debbie! I just sent Alex an email! :D