Questions for past MSC Seaside cruisers, especially Martinique start/end loop cruisers

[Onelove24]

Hello. I recently booked a last minute 7 night MSC Seaside cruise for my husband and myself that starts in Fort-de-France, Martinique and ends there. We have several questions for past cruisers. This will be my first cruise.

 

1. Are there any public computers around the ship that we can use for 5 minutes to check in on our flight or check email? We are hoping to get by without having to shell out $200-$400 for WiFi. I have an iPhone and my husband has an Android. I have the MSC for me app. 
 

2. On embarkation day, in Fort-de-France, Martinique, is it safe to just grab a taxi from airport to the cruise terminal or do we need to book a private transfer ahead of time? 

 

3. On disembarkation day, in Fort-de-France, Martinique, is there a way we can leave our luggage on board the ship until about 1 pm either in our cabin or a luggage hold area on the ship or at the cruise terminal/port while we go on a tour in the morning? Alternatively, are there tour operators that have a van or bus with trunk space for our bags? We want to visit the beach and maybe visit a rum factory.

We fly into Fort-de-France, Martinique around 3 pm local time and we fly back out at 3 pm on return also. There seems to be only flights on Saturdays to this destination so we are not able to fly out there the day before the cruise. The shore excursion for Martinique is sold out. Since it may be evening soon after we finish checking in on embarkation day, we were thinking of exploring Martinique on our disembarkation day. 

 

4. Our ports consist of 1)Martinique, 2)Guadeloupe, 3) Dominica 4) St Maarten 5) Antigua 5) St Kitts. Is it easy to do third party tours or do we have to stick to the ones the ship sells? Also, are all of these destinations safe and easy to explore on our own by grabbing a taxi or Uber from the port/cruise terminal? My main interests are visiting the beach in a leisurely way and also taking in some of the city/island highlights. Most tours have very little time at beach so I would rather do a small city tour and visit the beach before or after. Any tours or tour operators you recommend? I found a cool tour on Viator that will take us to both Dutch and French part of St.Maarten/St.Martin that I would prefer over the ship affiliated excursion.

 

5. Any hints about theme nights for this itinerary? We want to plan our outfits.

 

6. I drink very rarely so we are not planning to buy the drink package. My husband likes to drink. He likes bourbon, whiskey, and beer. What is the approximate price of a cocktail and beer? I assume it is around $10 for a beer and $15-20 for a cocktail. I also assume that he can charge the drinks to our stateroom and it will all get booked to my credit card and there’s no need for him to carry cash for drinks on board. Am I right?
 

7. Also, for US residents, were you hit with any foreign transaction fees on your credit card ?

 

8. Finally, any tips or suggestions on what to do or not do on board or at the ports?

 

Thank you.

 

 

 

[capriccio]

Welcome to cruise critic!

 

We haven't done this itinerary but I have general answers to some of your questions:

 

3. "We fly into Fort-de-France, Martinique around 3 pm local time and we fly back out at 3 pm on return also. There seems to be only flights on Saturdays to this destination so we are not able to fly out there the day before the cruise."   What time is sail away?  You may be giving yourself very little wiggle room even if the flight is on time to collect your luggage and get to the port for embarkation which usually closes an hour (or more) before sail away.

 

4. "Our ports consist of 1)Martinique, 2)Guadeloupe, 3) Dominica 4) St Maarten 5) Antigua 5) St Kitts. Is it easy to do third party tours or do we have to stick to the ones the ship sells?"  Check out the Caribbean Ports of Call board at https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/ for discussions of each island and lots of tour recommendations.  We've been to all except Martinique and have only done third party tours.

 

7. "Also, for US residents, were you hit with any foreign transaction fees on your credit card ?"  You will need to check each of the credit cards you intend to use since the imposition of foreign transaction fees is bank specific.

 

Hope you have a wonderful cruise!

 

 

 

[Onelove24]

Thank you so much, capriccio for the welcome and helpful replies. The ship departs at 11 pm/23:00 which is nice as it gives us some wiggle room.

[Mom2B&Z]

We haven’t sailed out of Martinique but have visited many times. You should know that in general, they do not go out of their way to cater to cruisers. If you can find a transfer and a place to store your luggage, I would book them ahead of time.
It’s an extremely safe island, and a little knowledge of French will go a long way. I’ve personally seen people be ignored at tourist venues while speaking English, and I’ve moved to the front of a line by addressing people in French (I happen to speak enough to get by in Martinique). 

[Onelove24]

Thank you, Mom2B&Z, for that insight. Will try to book our transfer ahead of time and try to brush up on basic French from junior high. Read on some other posts that we could linger on the ship with our luggage but not entirely sure if that’s true if we leave for an excursion.