I'm just back too....

[jkjmt]

We came in on the Carnival Legend. We took a ship's tour to St. Pierre. The tour was interesting but a little long driving through the ecological part of the tour. The rum plantation and Mt. Palee were great!!!

 

When we got back from the tour we took a taxi down town. BIG MISTAKE. All we wanted to do was get our daughter's hair braided. The taxi driver couldn't speak much English.....so he took us to where he thought we should be and left after charging us $10 for three people to drive one mile. He had dropped us off down town and NO ONE spoke English........It was crowded and some people ignored me when I asked if they spoke English. We finally gave up and tried to get a taxi back to the ship because it was getting near 1:00 and we needed to be back on board by 1:30 so we didn't have time to walk. We had to ask four different cabs to take us back to the ship. NO ONE spoke English......and NO ONE wanted such a short fair. The country side is beautiful.....but the people don't understand or care about the money Americans want to spend there.

 

:cool:

[mared1]

We came in on the Carnival Legend. We took a ship's tour to St. Pierre. The tour was interesting but a little long driving through the ecological part of the tour. The rum plantation and Mt. Palee were great!!!

 

When we got back from the tour we took a taxi down town. BIG MISTAKE. All we wanted to do was get our daughter's hair braided. The taxi driver couldn't speak much English.....so he took us to where he thought we should be and left after charging us $10 for three people to drive one mile. He had dropped us off down town and NO ONE spoke English........It was crowded and some people ignored me when I asked if they spoke English. We finally gave up and tried to get a taxi back to the ship because it was getting near 1:00 and we needed to be back on board by 1:30 so we didn't have time to walk. We had to ask four different cabs to take us back to the ship. NO ONE spoke English......and NO ONE wanted such a short fair. The country side is beautiful.....but the people don't understand or care about the money Americans want to spend there.

 

 

 

:cool:

 

Wow, things must have changed since we were there on the Legend in Jan of 2004. We found nothing but friendly people - we took 2 taxis and both drivers spoke and understood English. Of course, I don't know why as Americans we expect people in other countries to know English - when someone from another country visits us, do we know their language. Anyway, we had a great time and only found nice people. Sorry you had such a bad experience.

[jkjmt]

I just wanted to warn people about what happened to us. I'd hate for anyone to miss their ship because the taxi drivers won't bring them back to the ship. We were friendly and polite.....but alot of them were not.

 

 

Don't get me wrong........the St. Pierre tour had wonderful moments. The countryside was beautiful, the volcano interesting, and the rum tour very informative.

 

If the islanders don't want to deal with Americans......don't bring their taxis to the American ships.

[drdaddy]

Hi, you two. I can't believe you both have been on the Legend and recently. We are considering it for the 8 night cruise in late Oct. We really like the idea of an extra day. I have 3 million questions that I am dying to find the answers to before I send in a deposit. We can do it here but if you would email me, that would be so much easier. Otherwise, on the board would be ok, too.

 

drdaddy at earthlink dot net

 

Thanks so much!

[iancal]

We were in Martinique in Feb. We liked it so much that we are now planning a trip back for a week or so. We found the people extremely friendly. I must say though...we travel quite a bit but we never EXPECT people in other countries to speak our language. If they do it is a bonus, if not it can be fun. Is there something about us that we expect everyone to speak our language, accept our currency, and believe that our currency should always be the strongest in the world from a trading perspective?

[rgreenpc]

The issue is that while English is spoken to some extent throughout the world, many people who cruise have never traveled outside of North America.

 

As far as the money goes... I only dream of the long past days when the US was the financial leader.... man I miss those days ( so does my portfolio ).

 

As far as accepting my currency I have never had an issue with US money being taken overseas, usually they are very happy to get it. That being said when I am on holiday I usually take EUROs when I go to the carribean.

[Coolcruise02]

We went there on our Legend cruise in March. We had so much trouble getting a taxi back from downtown that we just walked back. It was a very pleasant walk, thru a park and a small market area. When we were on the pier with another couple trying to catch the ferry to Pointe du Bout no one would talk to us when we tried to find out where to purchase tickets. :)

[portsleft]

Of all the ports we have visited in the Caribbean Martinque was our least favorite. We found unfriendly people, disintersted shop keepers and very rude cab drivers. This was just our experiences and our opinions. Many people find it a great place to visit. As for us, no more Martinque. Whats our favorite port? Curacao. Clean, friendly but man its hot and humid !

[Maryandi]

We have been 2x to the island and the last time all were friendly but reserved, which is great. Don't need any phoney hale & hearty attitude , just behave as we would treat a visitor to our area.

 

I did notice that the ship's tour to Mt. Pelee seemed a little long (4 hrs -eek):cool: ,

 

Could anyone tell me how long by cab and are there any local tours going to that area for a shorter time ? Thanks, MaryAnn

[pomliane]

yes, the tour seems long because because it's very complete : visit of the botanical garden, of the road in the rainforest, visit of a distillery, visit of St pierre.

I know there is a ship tour to St Pierre but I don't know on which cruise boat it is saled.

By cab, the tour can be shorter if you ask the cab driver to do shorter.

[suntan]

I'm going to Martinque next February and am very interested in reading all the negative comments from you all regarding the people's reluctance to speak English. We have this problem in Canada with some, not all people, in the Province of Quebec, Canada. I'm wondering if a letter to the Government of Martinque, or to the cruise line, outlining specifically the stores that you visited that refused to speak English to you or to assist you might change some people's attitudes on the island? If the cruise lines get enough complaints about a specific store and if the store is on the cruise line's list of stores to visit, maybe the cruise line will drop that store from their list and not recommend it to their passengers, which will have a financial effect on the store. A letter to the Government of Martinque will show them the negative effect of these people have on their tourism trade. I don't put up with this rude behaviour at home, I certainly will not put up with it in Martinque.