Karambole Tours

[DrivesLikeMario]

Thanks so much to those of you that have come back after your tour to write a review and give us tips (like the aqua shoes, the squished & hot van). Those tips really do help us a lot. :)

[muskatnuss]

Thanks so much to those of you that have come back after your tour to write a review and give us tips (like the aqua shoes, the squished & hot van). Those tips really do help us a lot. :)

 

We did the Pile et Face tour with Christelle on the 12th of Feb. Sorry, it took so Long, but I was on a 3 Week cruise.....

I don't remember a "squished & hot van". Yes, when there are 8 People on the tour, it could be tight, if some have enjoyed their cruise and haven't had time to lose a bit. But we didn't feel squeezed in at all. It was a hot day, but we left the Windows open and enjoyed the breeze. We were two from our cruise and 5 from a Hotel. We really got along with each other. Every one had stories to tell and give the others tips for future trips.

Christelle gave us delicious treats to eat. Freshly baked! And wonderful Liquors to try.

We loved the tour. We recommend to all!

[cruiseapril]

Appreciate the reviews. We enjoyed Martinique and like reading of other experiences. It seems that more ships are stopping there now.

[jeffw47]

We had booked with Karambole tours 6 months ago and when we got to the port today, she pulled us aside and said she had screwed up and had booked a private tour ahead of us. She told us she would get another guide, but all he was was a taxi driver tour for more money than K tours. I told her and him to stick it, that was not the way to do business and I would save my money and spend it on another island.

I definitely would not recommend and if you decide to book with this bunch, I would follow up with an email as time gets closer.

[james'mommy]

We are just back from the Celebrity Summit with a stop in Martinique. I booked this tour back in November. We had a wonderful time. The tour took about 6 hours so it was longer than I thought it would be. It included a stop at a beach that I wasn't aware would happen but we were prepared with swimsuits and towels. The food and drink was great. The guava liquor was awesome. I would have bought a bottle but I think it was homemade. We stopped at a local shop and had a smoothie made with local apricots which are huge. The value we got for this tour was awesome. The tour guide asked us for any feedback and my husband told her she could charge more so if she does next season you know who to blame.

[gmachar]

Just want to add - found out about this tour through cruise critic & we were very glad we did. It was a great, informative day with lots of good food tasting!

Since she is the only "tour operator" (vs taxi drivers) we felt lucky to have someone who spoke English & shared her knowledge of the island with us.

Char

[Ferndale Girl]

I just wanted to let people know that we booked a tour with Christelle and had a wonderful day with her on December 29th. She recently purchased a brand new air conditioned van. She speaks perfect English and is very informative about her island. She gave us homemade treats at the stops and also purchased some freshly made fruit juice at one place. She picked us up promptly at the port. She couldn't have been nicer. I would highly recommend her. At one of the stops I saw another couple from the ship. He said when he tried to book Christelle she was booked up for the day but she put him in touch with a friend of hers. She told me that she wanted to make sure that they could have a tour with someone who also spoke English. There were four of us and we all were very happy with our tour.

[allentownahoy]

Thanks so much for reporting back. I am touring with her next month.

[clochette]

We also toured with her in January and loved it, she was very knowledgeable, and pleasant. All of her treats were terrific, and she was right on time. Great way to get to know more about the island.

[allentownahoy]

I am back from my tour and it was fantastic. Beautiful island, wonderful treats and very friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. We were a group of 18 in a small air conditioned bus . Christelle did the tour and there was someone else doing the drive.

[eyern1]

I just wanted to let people know that we booked a tour with Christelle and had a wonderful day with her on December 29th. She recently purchased a brand new air conditioned van. She speaks perfect English and is very informative about her island. She gave us homemade treats at the stops and also purchased some freshly made fruit juice at one place. She picked us up promptly at the port. She couldn't have been nicer. I would highly recommend her.

 

I couldn't agree more. Good description. Thank you for a lovely day on our March 7th visit, Christelle.

[plockwood]

We took the Pile et Face tour with Christelle, owner of Karambole Tours, in her new 8 passenger van on 23 November 2017. She is a delightful native and a former teacher who speaks perfect English and is a wealth of knowledge about her home. A fantastic day tour of a lushly beautiful island. We saw the tropical rain forest, the city of Saint-Pierre and the nearby Mount Pelee volcano which destroyed it in 1902, the Rhum Depaz distillery and its gorgeous grounds and a number of beautiful beaches. At each stop, Christelle provided her homemade local sweets or savories and accompanying drinks such as punch, banana wine, a local liqueur and the local beer.

[Tatka]

We enjoyed our tour with Christelle on December 27th. I agree with all great points about her. She is very knowledgeable with perfect English, she presents information wonderfully and even shows some photos/pictures. You can tell she used to be a teacher. It is also very interesting just to talk to her! I highly recommend her and Karambole tours .

We did North Tour

 

 

 

Just adding some photos

 

Christelle

 

 

We had a group of 6 from different ships.

 

Beautiful Church of Sacred Hearts

 

 

[Tatka]

Absolutely gorgeous nature ....

 

 

 

 

 

[Tatka]

Beautiful old city if St Pierre all inhabitants of which were killed by volcano

 

 

 

 

 

And much more! I wish I took my lens camera....

 

On many if not all stops we were got nice treats and some drinks.

[MisterBill99]

At each stop, Christelle provided her homemade local sweets or savories and accompanying drinks such as punch, banana wine, a local liqueur and the local beer.

The banana wine was excellent, as I recall. The only thing disappointing about the tour was that she didn't take us somewhere to buy some to take home.

 

Sent from my SM-G935V using Forums mobile app

[cruisegus]

Used Karambole Tours in January 2018. To say it was great is an understatement. The guide, Christelle speaks excellent English. The food tastings are various island pastries, fruit and drinks, nice, but the tour doesn't focus on food. Christelle is very knowledgeable about the history and culture of the island. The tour lasts 4+ hours and included the following stops.

Sacre-Coeur de Balata, Replica of a famous monument in Paris

Alma River

Saut Gendarme waterfall

Ruins of the theater in Saint Pierre

Depaz Rhum distillery

Short stop at the grey sand beach (20 minutes)

Christelle was very easy to locate when departing the ship and her van was modern and in good condition. It is a small group tour and she is able to take US Dollars, Euros and credit cards.

 

Highly Recommend this tour. our rate was now at 65euros pp

[TTEllis]

Sold me!!! I just booked the Pile et Face tour with Karambole Tours because off all this great info and SWEET pic's. Thank you folks very much for the great info, boy that was easy!!! Just got my e-mail back from Christelle, good to go. When you paid for your tour did you take euro's or use your credit card?? Thanks Todd

 

Tatka those photo's are AWESOME!!! Thank you so much!!

[TTEllis]

Used Karambole Tours in January 2018. To say it was great is an understatement. The guide, Christelle speaks excellent English. The food tastings are various island pastries, fruit and drinks, nice, but the tour doesn't focus on food. Christelle is very knowledgeable about the history and culture of the island. The tour lasts 4+ hours and included the following stops.

Sacre-Coeur de Balata, Replica of a famous monument in Paris

Alma River

Saut Gendarme waterfall

Ruins of the theater in Saint Pierre

Depaz Rhum distillery

Short stop at the grey sand beach (20 minutes)

Christelle was very easy to locate when departing the ship and her van was modern and in good condition. It is a small group tour and she is able to take US Dollars, Euros and credit cards.

 

Highly Recommend this tour. our rate was now at 65euros pp

 

Got it!! She takes US dollars. Thank you very much for this great info.,incredible.

[zaks pack4]

We loved our day with Karambole late March 2018. Agree with all previously stated on this thread. We got Euros from our local bank before our cruise to pay for the tour (just seemed to make it easier). This was our first time in Martinique and Cristelle, Bruno and Cynthia made this now one of our most favorite islands. Thank you!

[keysey222]

We booked with Karambole and were told Christelle would be meeting us at the pier in a blue shirt. We looked everywhere and couldn't find her. My husband began asking other vendors if they knew where to find her and it turns out she had sent a different guide (male), but failed to tell us. Had we not asked around, we'd have never found him. Apparently, there were supposed to be three others in our group, but they never found the tour. We ended up having a private tour that day!

I'm glad we figured it out because we had a great time. Our guide (English-speaking) was amazing and very friendly. I'd recommend it. Just know to ask around the pier if you have trouble locating her or another guide - the other vendors know who she is and will point you in the right direction.

[movingimages]

On 1/29/2018 at 10:37 PM, cruisegus said:

Used Karambole Tours in January 2018. To say it was great is an understatement. The guide, Christelle speaks excellent English. The food tastings are various island pastries, fruit and drinks, nice, but the tour doesn't focus on food. Christelle is very knowledgeable about the history and culture of the island. The tour lasts 4+ hours and included the following stops.

Sacre-Coeur de Balata, Replica of a famous monument in Paris

Alma River

Saut Gendarme waterfall

Ruins of the theater in Saint Pierre

Depaz Rhum distillery

Short stop at the grey sand beach (20 minutes)

Christelle was very easy to locate when departing the ship and her van was modern and in good condition. It is a small group tour and she is able to take US Dollars, Euros and credit cards.

 

Highly Recommend this tour. our rate was now at 65euros pp

 

We pretty much ditto what cruisegus said. We toured with Christelle last month. She was charming, was fluent in English, very knowledgeable about all of the places we went. I like how she played various guessing games while we were driving. For the waterfall, my husband and I didn't want to climb those rickety steps (we were SO tired from two previous days snorkeling). Christelle had virtual reality goggles for those who didn't want to go down to the waterfall. I thought that was cool and a perfect option for those who may be physically unable to experience this stop. The tastings were all delicious. Cost was 65 Euro pp, paid by credit card (she has a portable machine) at the end of the tour. Her communication up front was very effective and it was easy to find her at the port. Well worth the cost. Top notch! 

 

[TTEllis]

We just got back about 2 weeks ago. This tour was one of the highlights of my vacation, thought it might be nice and it didn't disappoint. Christelle is just a nice lady, Martinique is SCARY awesome, Mt Pelee(dormant volcano) is something different.

Our weather was unbelievable took pictures at the distillery of the volcano in the background you could see it raining up on the caldera it was awesome. Our weather on the bottom of the mountain was gorgeous.

The scenery on Martinique is picturesque, I just sat back and really enjoyed this tour, we went into town and walked around, you could look up at Mt. Pelee and see where the lava flow came down in 1902 and took out the whole city, it's really an enlightening experience. With that being said this island is GREEN lush with vibrant flowers and blooms everywhere, Christelle took us to a church(reminded me of a monastery in Spain) up in the mountains that was surrounded by flowers, views up there were incredible. Great tour great people.

I highly recommend this tour Martinique is something special. When I go back I will do this again.

Hope that helps Todd

 

 

This is a heads up, Christelle no longer accepts US cash, the conversion rate costs her to much money, so if you go take a credit card.

[Grimster]

We went on the tour with Christelle last week and all 7 of us had a great time. It was so nice to have a guide that spoke English and Christelle really enjoys educating her customers on the history of Martinique. The treats and drinks were great and the drive around the island was very relaxing. When paying with a credit card we didn't have an opportunity to tip so make sure that you have some cash on hand. I like taking island tours to learn about the history of the island and see as much of it as possible and this is one of the best that I was ever on. 

 

John 

[NorthernLite]

For those who took her tours does her bus look like it could accommodate a wheelchair if the person transferred into a regular seat? We are more into history and food and volcanos (DH) than beaches and my wheelchair tears down some for stowing but does not fold. Thanks for any information. We will be there Saturday, January 12, 2019.