Suggestions for Fort de France?

I'm looking at some options for excursions atm, but not many appeal to me.

It'll be a sunday when we dock in FdF and last time when I strolled around town, it was lacking life, big time. Few people got off the ship and the area around the cruise terminal seemed a bit boring as almost all the shops where closed on sunday.

So if anyone's got some good excursion options (through the ship's fine; I'll be on HAL's Noordam), please let me know because I don't know what to choose right now.

I'm looking at some options for excursions atm, but not many appeal to me.

It'll be a sunday when we dock in FdF and last time when I strolled around town, it was lacking life, big time. Few people got off the ship and the area around the cruise terminal seemed a bit boring as almost all the shops where closed on sunday.

So if anyone's got some good excursion options (through the ship's fine; I'll be on HAL's Noordam), please let me know because I don't know what to choose right now.

As you will be well aware, being Belgian, whilst there are exceptions for small outlets in tourist areas, French law only allows the larger stores to open on up to five Sundays per year, though they are trying to change this to a maximum of twelve with a minimum of five

http://www.france24.com/en/20141207-france-wants-increase-sunday-shopping/

Personally, if we are there on a Sunday, as we will be later this month, we take the Trois Ilets ferry over to Pointe du Bout and go to the Hotel Bakoua (formerly the Sofitel).

I am indeed well aware as we have the same law in our country.

But in Belgium, this restriction does not apply for tourist places. And that's why I was a little amazed last time in FdF almost all stores were closed.

I've got the ferry suggestion before, so I think I'll might go with that as it's a shame to waste time you can go ashore in a place you don't know that well.

Thanks.

Or you can do as we plan to do;

jump on a public bus and drive to St.Pierre.

Fort-de-France is not a tourist place it's a regular french city.

I've not seen any shop there which caters for tourist but only for local needs.

Or you can do as we plan to do;

jump on a public bus and drive to St.Pierre.

 

Fort-de-France is not a tourist place it's a regular french city.

I've not seen any shop there which caters for tourist but only for local needs.

Interesting. Tell us more about St.Pierre.

Also, as we will be there on a Sunday, if we go to St. Pierre, is there a issue with the bus timetables running a 'D' service?

I tried Google and found the Moziak site, http://www.fortdefrance.fr/medias/documents/pdf/--fdf---31050727-VOTRE-GUIDE-DES-TRANSPORTS.pdf but it doesn't seem to have timetables and though it does tell me which 'ligne' to take to get to Assedic so that I can collect my unemployment benefit :D (only joking), it does seem to tell me which routes go to St. Pierre.

Ah, found the official Mozaik site, http://www.mozaik.mq/pages/7

However, they don't seem to showing inter-urban services, though, for sure there is an inter-urban service from the bus station at La Pointe Simon.

It's just that I can't find the timetable even in the French language section in the tourist office site.

http://www.tourismefdf.com/fort-de-france/23_transports

Also I've got the distance from FdF to St. Pierre as 31km, which I reckon is OK for car rental but probably not a good idea by local bus on a single day, particularly if that day is a Sunday.

Sadly, the only car rental centres open on a Sunday are at the airport, so that isn't really an option for us either, so I guess it is back to the original ferry to Trois Ilets plan.

Interesting. Tell us more about St.Pierre.

 

Also, as we will be there on a Sunday, if we go to St. Pierre, is there a issue with the bus timetables running a 'D' service?

 

I tried Google and found the Moziak site, http://www.fortdefrance.fr/medias/documents/pdf/--fdf---31050727-VOTRE-GUIDE-DES-TRANSPORTS.pdf but it doesn't seem to have timetables and though it does tell me which 'ligne' to take to get to Assedic so that I can collect my unemployment benefit :D (only joking), it does seem to tell me which routes go to St. Pierre.

I don't know about timetable, but a young couple from my cruise did it. I don't even know if there is even a timetable as the busses are Minivans (they seam like the usual shared taxis like you see it on every caribbean island)

St.Pierre is the former capital of Martinique which was distroyed by a Volcano in 1902, over 30000 peopld were killed. There are some ruins to be visited which gives you a good impression Bout the former " Paris of the west indies" also about one kikometre from the center is the Depaz Rum Distellerie which you can tour for free.

Is there anyone who knows how far from the Port is the Club Med

Just back from Martinique, we stopped their while on the Noordam. I did the Snorkeling Martinique Excursion. So many people complained we ended get a 50% refund. I would not recommend it. Due to rough water we did not go to the two planned snorkeling sites. They ended up bringing us to a spot near an abandoned hotel on a beach with no reef and no fish. A women wondered off and we ended up spending an hour waiting/looking for her.

Others we talked with did the ferry/beach on their own. They were not happy with the beach and felt unsafe and returned to the ship early. I did walk around the town of Fort de Franc on my own. I went to the grocery Store Price Leader, Spice Market, and walked many of the other streets. I was looking for higher end stores selling crystal and porcelain. I was not able to find any. I did feel safe walking on my own. I lived in NYC for a few years so I am street savy and this may have made the difference between how I felt and those that I talked with that felt uncomfortable. The stores that I saw were selling products locals would be looking to purchase. I had gotten Euro's beforehand but in retrospect would not do that again. There was no need. The reason I went to the grocery store was to spend the Euro's that I had brought. I ended up purchasing a couple of bottles of wine, chocolates, and cookies. The chocolates and cookies were in special boxes decorated for Christmas and the local's were purchasing

Them so I hope they are tasty. I did attempt to speak French when being waited on and the clerk waiting on me surprised me by speaking English. One person I talked with wanted to go to Club Med which was close to one hour taxi ride and mentioned they didn't because the taxi alone would have cost around $150 US each way plus the fee to enter the resort.

I'm looking at some options for excursions atm, but not many appeal to me.

It'll be a sunday when we dock in FdF and last time when I strolled around town, it was lacking life, big time. Few people got off the ship and the area around the cruise terminal seemed a bit boring as almost all the shops where closed on sunday.

So if anyone's got some good excursion options (through the ship's fine; I'll be on HAL's Noordam), please let me know because I don't know what to choose right now.

Last time we were there (it was on the previous Noordam, I believe), we took a tour of the island by taxi. There were 4 of us and as I recall, it was not terribly expensive. But those who don't understand French may not be all that pleased, as our driver and many others spoke French only. Fortunately, I do speak French so I was able to translate for the other couple that shared the cab. All of this was a long time ago, so I won't attempt to quote prices... and maybe the cab drivers' English has improved.

At any rate, we enjoyed the tour, saw a lot of the island including a stop in St-Pierre.

BTW, we will be on the same cruise as you!

Thank you for the answer. I speak French as well, so I don't have any problems. I love going to the French & Dutch islands as I'm able to speak my native language and a lot of people are impressed by it :D

I'll be sailing out of Fort Lauderdale on Jan. 3rd. I hope you guys will be having a great cruise.

Can't seem to edit my previous post. Jan. 3rd should be Jan. 5th of course.

I will also be there on the Noordam January 11, looks like there is more activity here than on our roll call:)

I just started researching ports and so far FdF doesn't sound too appealing. Have you come across anything yet? Also, for my fellow Noordam cruise mates, have you made any plans for the other ports? See you soon!

So far, I don't have any plans for this port. As it will be a Sunday when we arrive, most of the local shops will be closed as well, except for the market in front of the dock (and of course the stalls on the way from the ship). So I think it'll be on the spot I'll decide what to do. Might wander off and take some pictures or I might as well stay on the ship, I don't know yet.

I've made arrangements for quite some ports, except for Grand Turk (that will be a stop to shop for some kitchen stuff; mostly jerk rubs), HMC, Philipsburg (without a doubt a shopping-port for me), Bonaire and Samana.

I really don't know what to do in Samana and Bonraire either. I've done a pretty extensive tour of the Islands last time and saw pretty much all there was to see. I came across a very interesting excursion on Samana, through the ship, as well but it has a beach stop, and I really don't like beach stops in an excursion. Many times they rush from one place to another just to have far too much time at a mediocre beach.

Will this be your first time in these ports? Or have you been to some of them before, HALrunner?

So far, I don't have any plans for this port. As it will be a Sunday when we arrive, most of the local shops will be closed as well, except for the market in front of the dock (and of course the stalls on the way from the ship). So I think it'll be on the spot I'll decide what to do. Might wander off and take some pictures or I might as well stay on the ship, I don't know yet.

 

I've made arrangements for quite some ports, except for Grand Turk (that will be a stop to shop for some kitchen stuff; mostly jerk rubs), HMC, Philipsburg (without a doubt a shopping-port for me), Bonaire and Samana.

 

I really don't know what to do in Samana and Bonraire either. I've done a pretty extensive tour of the Islands last time and saw pretty much all there was to see. I came across a very interesting excursion on Samana, through the ship, as well but it has a beach stop, and I really don't like beach stops in an excursion. Many times they rush from one place to another just to have far too much time at a mediocre beach.

 

Will this be your first time in these ports? Or have you been to some of them before, HALrunner?

Must be you are on the 21 day sailing? We did the sister sailing 10 day to the ABC islands on the Noordam last year. We have been to GT a couple times. The only real kitchen shopping I can think of would be at the cruise terminal which, as you can imagine, is quite touristy. In Bonaire we took a water taxi to Klein Bonaire and enjoyed a nice day on the primitive island. Just keep in mind there are no services, so bring anything (sun, shade, etc) you might need. The snorkeling was super easy and excellent. Samana is gorgeous, but you really do need some kind of an excursion set up (I think we did a catamaran?).

As for this sailing, we just booked a few days ago so most of these ports are new to me. Of these ports for the 11 day, we have only been to HMC, St. Maarten and Barbados. I am working on an excursion in St. Lucia and maybe one in St. Kitts. We may just end up poolside if I run out of time over the next ten days!