Read that Euros are needed in Guadaloupe

[tbmrt]

Best place to exchange USD for Euros?

 

 

 

 

[CruisingWalter]

Yes, that is correct, we were just there for Christmas/New Years and it's a part of France. Euros everywhere, no USD taken that we could see. There should be a bank in your local area that does the exchange. 

 

We were planning to do a "Death In Paradise" tour but the official tour did not run on Saturdays, the day we visited. So we did a tour of the Botanical Gardens in Deshaies, which is where the show is filmed. One location from the series is at the Gardens and we did see Catherine's Bar but did not have time to stop. But we did get a quick stop in front of the Police Station and the iconic church.  

 

Guadeloupe was one of four new Caribbean ports for us over our Christmas/New Year's cruise with Dominica, Grenada and St. Barts being the other three.  Of the four, I have no need to go back to St. Barts, but the others I will gladly visit again. 

 

[WanderingBrit]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

Guadeloupe was one of four new Caribbean ports for us over our Christmas/New Year's cruise with Dominica, Grenada and St. Barts being the other three.  Of the four, I have no need to go back to St. Barts, but the others I will gladly visit again. 

 

The few videos I've seen of Guadeloupe, based on walking from the cruise pier, left me feeling it would be a port to stay onboard - graffiti everywhere, dead and overgrown flower beds, very rundown buildings. Did you find you needed to take transportation away from the dock area to find more charming surroundings, or were the videos I saw misleading?

[tbmrt]

Also interested.  Thanks Walter!

 

Did you find any shopping there?  Wondering if it's worth the trouble of getting Euros.

Edited January 4 by tbmrt
added

[melissab723]

3 hours ago, tbmrt said:

Also interested.  Thanks Walter!

 

Did you find any shopping there?  Wondering if it's worth the trouble of getting Euros.

Same! We leave on Sunday and I'm wondering if I should bother getting them for things such as taxi fares or if we should just stay on the ship. The excursion we were interested in doing on our own is sold out so I'm not really sure if it's worth it.

[tbmrt]

2 hours ago, melissab723 said:

Same! We leave on Sunday and I'm wondering if I should bother getting them for things such as taxi fares or if we should just stay on the ship. The excursion we were interested in doing on our own is sold out so I'm not really sure if it's worth it.

What excursion did you find?  I am cruising 2/24 and some of the excursion details were sketchy. 

[melissab723]

45 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

What excursion did you find?  I am cruising 2/24 and some of the excursion details were sketchy. 

I wasn’t booking mine through our cruise. I was trying to book it through Patou Excursions based on a few reviews on here, but I found out about them a little too late. 

[Maverick!]

We just came back from a New Year's cruise and it was our 2nd time in Guadeloupe. It's hard not to fall in love with the island - there is much to do, most needing a staycation for the time it takes to see it all. 

You may have read that our day-sail organized with Patou to the Natural Marine Reserve in the Sainte Rose northwest part of the island from the ship in Point a Pitre, with a terrific group from our rollcall, was a hit.  The natural sandbar islands in that area and snorkel stops, along with the sail up the Salt River Mangroves were one of the highlights of our trip.  

This time around, our fam of four cabbed it over to the west side of the island to Bouillante / Malendure Beach over the renowned Mamelles peaks in the Guadeloupe National Park to swim in the Jacques Cousteau Reserve and we scuba'd at the Pigeon Islands (where underneath are walls of coral and lots of marine life to observe - saw moray eels and array of lobster-like crustaceans, and fish of course).

AT the port, we appreciated the beautiful graffiti artwork and didnt find it rundown or suspect at all. 

 

I would also recommend a short cab ride to Le Gosier for beach experience for those who dont want to stray to far from Pointe a Pitre.

 

We brought EUROs to spend (as we would visiting Europe) and worked out great.

 

The people above all were welcoming, friendly and easy to approach.  We cant wait to go back!