Celebrity Summit - Our Day In Martinique

Woke up to the sound of vacuuming outside our room around 5:45 am. After trying very hard to ignore it, I finally decided to get up and investigate what on earth could possibly require cleaning that early and got my answer when my feet touched the floor and the carpet was wet! Not damp....wet!

Threw some clothes on and opened the door to the hall. Our neighbors were already out there talking to someone official looking as other crew members were trying to suction up the water. From what we were told at that time the air conditioning unit between the two rooms had leaked and they were going to try a larger suctioning device in an attempt to dry the carpet. I woke my husband, we got ready and left rather groggily for breakfast so they could assess the damages.

Had breakfast at Blu, came back briefly to gather our things for our planned day at Pointe du Bout (happy that we just had a low-key day at the beach planned) and left Celebrity to do their clean-up hoping it would be done by the time we returned as we had dinner reservations at Normandie that night!

But enough about that and on to information on our day in port....

Martinique was probably the port that we fretted and stewed over the most before leaving. There just wasn't much information available on this port. We knew that the ferry accepted dollars and that a hotel across the bay most likely did so we set off with that as our destination.

We walked down the very long pier and turned right. There were several vendors set up under canopies selling mostly shirts, scarves, hats, jewelry, etc. A brief continued walk brought us to the ferry dock. There was someone there who asked where we were headed and directed us to the correct ferry which was already there. We hopped on and were on our way at 9:15 and began the 20-25 minute ride across the bay.

The fare was $7.00 or 7 Euro for round trip and was collected after we were underway. We were given a ticket to be used on the return trip. The ferry ride itself was a little choppy but nothing to worry about. We sat toward the back so had open air seating and could see where we were going but I could see if you were prone to motion sickness sitting inside could be more challenging but overall the trip across was an easy one.

After we exited the ferry in Pointe du Bout we headed toward the town and took a right, following a small road/path toward the beaches. At the end of the road you can either go to the right where there are a couple of small coves with beach areas that are located behind an old abandoned hotel that is up the hill and partially hidden behind trees. Or you can head to the left which takes you to a small hotel called Hotel Bakoua where you can rent chairs for $10 per chair or just spread out your towel for free.

We walked along a path to the right to check out those beaches. The path is lined by the rocky shoreline on one side and a wooded area that I assume was at one time the grounds for the abandoned hotel on the other. We saw lots of small crabs climbing in and out of the rocks. In the end we decided to head back to the hotel for the day.

We were early and there were not a lot of people on the beach at the hotel so we had no problem finding 2 loungers under a palm/hut like structure for shade. Eventually a person came along to collect for the chairs and issue a receipt. He would come around periodically to collect from those that had arrived since he had last been through. As the beach filled up I was amazed that he could keep it all straight as to who had paid or not but somehow he did! If you did not want to use their chairs there was no charge to use the beach and we saw several people move when they realized the chairs were not free.

The beach area is quite small and was pretty rocky as you entered the water so water shoes might be a good idea here. The rocks were not sharp or anything but could make getting in and out a little tricky. I went in without and was fine. The hotel has a cute bar that juts out over the water as well as a restaurant inside. We did not try out either so can't share anything on prices or quality.

This beach had more of an urban beach feel to it rather than a tropical paradise feel. The view from the beach was of a few boats that were anchored off-shore past the rock jetties and you could see Summit docked across the bay! It was picturesque but not what immediately comes to mind when you think of a Caribbean beach.

As the morning went on, more and more people began to arrive. While I wouldn't say it was super crowded there, we definitely had company and Summit was the only ship in port. I could see it being extremely crowded with multiple ships in port and it would for sure be wise to arrive early.

We had planned to catch the ferry back around 12:30 (may have been 12:15, can't remember the exact time) but got there just as it was pulling away. Since we now had about an hour to kill, we walked around the touristy area in town.

There were lots of little shops and restaurants there and we took refuge under an overhang for one of them as the the rain that had been threatening on and off all morning finally hit! It blew over fairly quickly and we walked back to the ferry dock where we caught the 1:20 ferry back across to Fort-de-France.

All in all it was a very nice day and not nearly as difficult as we thought it might be!

I have since found out that if you stay on the ferry to the second stop rather than getting off at Pointe du Bout, there is a bigger beach there (possibly Anse Mitan?) that we may check out should we ever find ourselves back in Martinique.

Ps - For those wondering how the flood thing turned out....

When we returned to our cabin the furniture was piled up and some pretty massive fans were going with the slider door open. They had replaced the carpet padding, cleaned the carpet and were now trying to get it dry. It was roughly a million degrees with the humidity in there...lol!

They did offer an inside cabin to use for the rest of the day if we wanted but we opted to hang out by the pool and sunset bar to put our drink package to good use instead!

When we returned later the cabin was at least put back together and the fans had been shut down for the day. While the carpet was still damp, it was at least useable. We postponed our reservation for Normandie to Friday and did enjoy our evening despite the unusual events of the day!

We were able to spend the night in our room and in the morning received a call from one of the Guest Service officers saying that the flooding was due to a water pipe rupture and not the air conditioning as previously thought. He was very apologetic and offered some compensation for our inconvenience.

They ran the fans for the next couple of days working around our schedule until the carpet was dry.

So in the end, it all worked out. Celebrity handled an unfortunate situation well and we have an interesting story to tell..lol!

Thank you very much for sharing this. I also have fretted over the ferry use. You have made it sound very easy, and I am looking forward to Martinique in January.

Thanks for info. We will be going in March and decided to go to the beach. How often does the ferry run? Thanks again for the info........Sharon;)

Great review. We did something very similar. Took the same ferry to Pointe du Bout. Most people on the ferry just follow the short path to the rocky beaches by the old hotel. It's pretty crowded and there wasn't a breeze on the day we visited.

We went back to the main road and walked 10-15 minutes to Anse Mitan. So glad we did. It wasn't crowded at all. Great sand, calm water and nice breeze. Our group typically rents chairs and umbrellas and we found chairs but no umbrellas. Instead we went to one of the first restaurants on the strip that has a very large canopy with quite a few tables under it. We ordered drinks and appetizers every so often all day long and hung out in the shade. The restaurant had a bathroom for us to use and change into our bathing suites. We were on the beach and could take a dip every so often. It was really a fantastic day. I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Tip 1 - We took the first boat from Fort de France which happened to go to Point du Bout and then returned from the pier on Anse Mitan (saves you a walk). Our ticket was good on both.

Tip 2 - Don't worry about having Euros before you get to Martinique. There's an ATM 2-3 blocks from the ship dock. Put in your ATM and out come Euro's. Just make sure your bank knows you're going to be out of the country and that your ATM PIN is 4 digits.

Sharonlacey,

The ferry runs roughly every 45 min to an hour depending on time of day and does differ from Mon-Fri vs Saturday or Sunday.

When you get to the ferry pier (Exit the ship, walk to the end of the very long pier and turn right. Walk along the waterfront for a short distance to the ferry pier) there will be someone who speaks English that will tell you which ferry to get on based on your destination. There will also be a large sign with the departure times. When you get to Pointe du Bout there will be a similar sign with the schedule as well so don't fret about memorizing it on the way out.

Tip: Snap a picture of the return schedule sign when you're dropped off in Pointe du Bout so you can refer to it when you are getting ready to leave to detemine when to be back to the dock.

Also be aware that these ferries are used by people going to and from work in addition to the cruisers and can get quite crowded and fill up in the late afternoon so be sure to leave enough time to get back to the ship!

Last tip was someone had mentioned to us was that the ferry schedules do not tend to be hard and fast and there can be delays. We did not find that to be the case on our trip but something to also bear in mind.

SanAnselmo,

We were looking to play things safe having never been to this port and speaking very little French but I think if we were to return we would do exactly what you did!

Do you know if the ferry you took to Pointe du Bout would have continued on to Anse Mitan had you stayed on saving the 15 minute walk there? When you walked there how did you know the way? Were there signs? Was it obvious where to catch the ferry back and was a return schedule posted?

Thank you so much for posting what you did in Martinique. So little info out there on this port that every little bit helps!

Thanks for the great info. We will be there in April and this looks like a simple and pleasant day. After 3 tours on our first 3 islands this will be exactly what we need.

Seaside Memories

I don't know whether the boat would continue on from Pointe du Bout to Anse Mitan. I just wanted to get out of the harbor so we jumped on the first boat knowing we could walk from Pointe du Bout to Anse Mitan. I'm glad we did because it gave us a chance to check out the beach by the old hotel before continuing on to Anse Mitan. You get to pass some souvenir and clothing shops on the way. It's very easy to follow. You head out on the main road. There's a budget rent a car on that street and a bunch of shops. At the roundabout keep heading south on Rue des Bougainvillees you'll pass a big casino on the left side of the street and then a couple restaurants. I attached a map of the walking route (dotted red lines) from Pointe du Bout to Anse Mitan. We took the first cut through path to Anse Mitan so it's not marked on the road.

The ferry back from Anse Mitan goes from the only pier that juts out from the beach so you can't miss it.

It's too bad Martinique gets such a bad reputation. I think a lot of people just get nervous about using euros and not speaking French so they go back to the ship. This is the perfect low-stress way to spend a day at the beach. Btw - great tip to take a photo of the schedule. I did the same ;-)

SanAnselmo,

Thank you for the walking map as well as your description of the way to get to Anse Mitan. I have saved both away for when we may be back in Martinique!

Hope many more will take just a few moments to share what they did. Info on this port is so limited that every little bit helps!

Woke up to the sound of vacuuming outside our room around 5:45 am. After trying very hard to ignore it, I finally decided to get up and investigate what on earth could possibly require cleaning that early and got my answer when my feet touched the floor and the carpet was wet! Not damp....wet!

 

Threw some clothes on and opened the door to the hall. Our neighbors were already out there talking to someone official looking as other crew members were trying to suction up the water. From what we were told at that time the air conditioning unit between the two rooms had leaked and they were going to try a larger suctioning device in an attempt to dry the carpet. I woke my husband, we got ready and left rather groggily for breakfast so they could assess the damages.

 

Had breakfast at Blu, came back briefly to gather our things for our planned day at Pointe du Bout (happy that we just had a low-key day at the beach planned) and left Celebrity to do their clean-up hoping it would be done by the time we returned as we had dinner reservations at Normandie that night!

 

But enough about that and on to information on our day in port....

 

Martinique was probably the port that we fretted and stewed over the most before leaving. There just wasn't much information available on this port. We knew that the ferry accepted dollars and that a hotel across the bay most likely did so we set off with that as our destination.

 

We walked down the very long pier and turned right. There were several vendors set up under canopies selling mostly shirts, scarves, hats, jewelry, etc. A brief continued walk brought us to the ferry dock. There was someone there who asked where we were headed and directed us to the correct ferry which was already there. We hopped on and were on our way at 9:15 and began the 20-25 minute ride across the bay.

 

The fare was $7.00 or 7 Euro for round trip and was collected after we were underway. We were given a ticket to be used on the return trip. The ferry ride itself was a little choppy but nothing to worry about. We sat toward the back so had open air seating and could see where we were going but I could see if you were prone to motion sickness sitting inside could be more challenging but overall the trip across was an easy one.

 

After we exited the ferry in Pointe du Bout we headed toward the town and took a right, following a small road/path toward the beaches. At the end of the road you can either go to the right where there are a couple of small coves with beach areas that are located behind an old abandoned hotel that is up the hill and partially hidden behind trees. Or you can head to the left which takes you to a small hotel called Hotel Bakoua where you can rent chairs for $10 per chair or just spread out your towel for free.

 

We walked along a path to the right to check out those beaches. The path is lined by the rocky shoreline on one side and a wooded area that I assume was at one time the grounds for the abandoned hotel on the other. We saw lots of small crabs climbing in and out of the rocks. In the end we decided to head back to the hotel for the day.

 

We were early and there were not a lot of people on the beach at the hotel so we had no problem finding 2 loungers under a palm/hut like structure for shade. Eventually a person came along to collect for the chairs and issue a receipt. He would come around periodically to collect from those that had arrived since he had last been through. As the beach filled up I was amazed that he could keep it all straight as to who had paid or not but somehow he did! If you did not want to use their chairs there was no charge to use the beach and we saw several people move when they realized the chairs were not free.

 

The beach area is quite small and was pretty rocky as you entered the water so water shoes might be a good idea here. The rocks were not sharp or anything but could make getting in and out a little tricky. I went in without and was fine. The hotel has a cute bar that juts out over the water as well as a restaurant inside. We did not try out either so can't share anything on prices or quality.

 

This beach had more of an urban beach feel to it rather than a tropical paradise feel. The view from the beach was of a few boats that were anchored off-shore past the rock jetties and you could see Summit docked across the bay! It was picturesque but not what immediately comes to mind when you think of a Caribbean beach.

 

As the morning went on, more and more people began to arrive. While I wouldn't say it was super crowded there, we definitely had company and Summit was the only ship in port. I could see it being extremely crowded with multiple ships in port and it would for sure be wise to arrive early.

 

We had planned to catch the ferry back around 12:30 (may have been 12:15, can't remember the exact time) but got there just as it was pulling away. Since we now had about an hour to kill, we walked around the touristy area in town.

 

There were lots of little shops and restaurants there and we took refuge under an overhang for one of them as the the rain that had been threatening on and off all morning finally hit! It blew over fairly quickly and we walked back to the ferry dock where we caught the 1:20 ferry back across to Fort-de-France.

 

All in all it was a very nice day and not nearly as difficult as we thought it might be!

 

I have since found out that if you stay on the ferry to the second stop rather than getting off at Pointe du Bout, there is a bigger beach there (possibly Anse Mitan?) that we may check out should we ever find ourselves back in Martinique.

 

Ps - For those wondering how the flood thing turned out....

 

When we returned to our cabin the furniture was piled up and some pretty massive fans were going with the slider door open. They had replaced the carpet padding, cleaned the carpet and were now trying to get it dry. It was roughly a million degrees with the humidity in there...lol!

 

They did offer an inside cabin to use for the rest of the day if we wanted but we opted to hang out by the pool and sunset bar to put our drink package to good use instead!

 

When we returned later the cabin was at least put back together and the fans had been shut down for the day. While the carpet was still damp, it was at least useable. We postponed our reservation for Normandie to Friday and did enjoy our evening despite the unusual events of the day!

 

We were able to spend the night in our room and in the morning received a call from one of the Guest Service officers saying that the flooding was due to a water pipe rupture and not the air conditioning as previously thought. He was very apologetic and offered some compensation for our inconvenience.

 

They ran the fans for the next couple of days working around our schedule until the carpet was dry.

 

So in the end, it all worked out. Celebrity handled an unfortunate situation well and we have an interesting story to tell..lol!

I read your story and giggled. We were on the Summit in August and had the same experience! I felt bad for the room stewards. They stood watch for us so they could take the fans away, and then put them back as soon as we left. It was a hassle because our itinerary was Cape Liberty/Bermuda so we had three sea days.

jrzgrl,

Once we got past the shock of "Really?! This is happening?!!" It wasn't really all that bad. They worked around us pretty well but we had a port intensive cruise so were gone for some good chunks of time during the day. I think it would have been more annoying if it was during a bunch of sea days like in your case!

True story... While we were having breakfast in Blu they played the the theme song to Titanic! Kind of odd on a cruise ship but, in light of how we started the morning, it really cracked us up!

Hopefully they will get things fixed up when Summit goes into dry dock this Spring!