Anyone taken the St. Pierre & Balata tour?

Hi- We are planning on the St. Pierre & Balata tour in a few months. Has anyone here been to one or the other? If so, how did you like them?

We did one like this a few years ago. I was very interested in seeing the remains of St Pierre and was disappointed that we spend so little time there. I would guess we were there for about an hour. I had hoped for more time but I also did not want to risk missing the transportation back.

I had read a lot about the volcanic eruption that destroyed the city and what remains definitely show how powerful the eruption was.

I am going to be visiting Martinque in March and I'm hoping to find a local guide who will take me to St Pierre and let me spend some extra time there not seeing the other sites.

Have a great next cruise.

We did one like this a few years ago. I was very interested in seeing the remains of St Pierre and was disappointed that we spend so little time there. I would guess we were there for about an hour. I had hoped for more time but I also did not want to risk missing the transportation back.

 

I had read a lot about the volcanic eruption that destroyed the city and what remains definitely show how powerful the eruption was.

 

I am going to be visiting Martinque in March and I'm hoping to find a local guide who will take me to St Pierre and let me spend some extra time there not seeing the other sites.

 

Have a great next cruise.

We will be there again next February, and I'm already thinking about Martinique:rolleyes:.

What did you do that day? Did you get to go up to St. Pierre?

We did this 3 years ago and there were pluses and minuses. Balata gardens were absolutely gorgeous and I got a lot of photos I'm trying to learn to reproduce in watercolours. St. Pierre is interesting and the museum is small but gets the point of the volcano disaster across rather well.

I didn't think we spent enough time in St. Pierre......not really any time to walk around on our own....and for some reason our guide's first language was GERMAN. I was prepared for French, and actually looking forward to trying some, but Grade 11 German was a long time ago..........

We're going back this year, and I'm thinking of investigating a private tour to St. Pierre so that I can really look around. I don't know if anyone can provide information on non ship tours in Martinique?

I was there in March and we rented a car with another couple who was brave enough to be our driver. Since we were on our own we had hoped to spend most of the day in St Pierre but we were there the day after Fat Tuesday, which was a holiday in Martinique and they were closing the roads into town at 1 PM so we had to curtail our time there so we could be sure to be able to drop the car off downtown before they closed the roads.

I had tried to find a private guide/ driver for Martinique and didn't have any luck. Attached is what I think was one of my better pictures of St Pierre with the volcano behind the town.

They celebrate on Ash Wednesday something called "black and white" day. They have parades similar to the ones that are usually held on Mardi Gras in other places. It was interesting to see after having been in St Barth the day before and watching their Mardi Gras parade.

Hope you had a good visit in Martinique and got to see St Pierre.

Have a great next cruise.

Wwinfl, that's what I wanted to do, but we couldn't get anyone brave enough to drive. My husband considers driving through Montreal at rush hour, translating constant construction signs as you go, to be as much "French driving" as he is willing to do.

The Canadian gentleman who did the driving was a lot braver than I would have been but in all honesty once we left Fort De France the traffic wasn't that bad. I just wish we had gotten the whole day like we originally planned instead of the 4 hours or so we did get.

Good luck convincing your husband to give it a try.

Hi- We did enjoy our bus tour to St. Pierre, Balata Gardens, and Balata Church in April. I wrote a review on another thread.

We thought Martinique was beautiful and the part we rode through was well-kept. We would like to return.

To those of you going to Martinique- have a fine time and good cruise.

We wish more cruise ships went to Martinique. We were on the HAL Noordam.

That was the ship we were on, too. I'm still trying to figure out why they gave us a German speaking tour guide, who frequently had to stop and ask us how to say things in English. I really liked Martinique too. We're returning on the Noordam this March.

Hi- We did enjoy our bus tour to St. Pierre, Balata Gardens, and Balata Church in April. I wrote a review on another thread.

 

We thought Martinique was beautiful and the part we rode through was well-kept. We would like to return.

 

To those of you going to Martinique- have a fine time and good cruise.

 

We wish more cruise ships went to Martinique. We were on the HAL Noordam.

Do you know if it would be easy to do these visits if we rent a car and drive out there? We will be there about the 1st week of January.