Published: Jul 22, 2026
A restful day at sea was exactly what we needed after a long travel and a big first day of exploring. Our time was spent eating, sleeping, properly unpacking and exploring the ship, playing cards, walking along the cruise promenade, hitting the gym, sorting out final errands for the days ahead, and attending some cruise entertainment. We came away feeling refreshed, and wanting more sea days!
The next day started with breakfast while docked at Martinique. We could see the Fort-de-France views from the window as we ate, which got us very excited to explore. However, what happened next was a bit of a scramble. Today is Lundi Gras carnival day in Martinique, and so nothing is functioning as it normally would, including buses, car rentals, and roads in general. What that meant for us was that our rental fell through. So, we decided to wait for a bus to get to our first destination, the historic town of Saint Pierre, which was completely destroyed after the 1902 eruption of Mount Pelée (known as the deadliest volcanic eruption of the 20th century). Said bus didn’t arrive, and after two hours of waiting, we decided to completely redo our schedule and focus on seeing the Balata Gardens (a well-known botanical garden) first and foremost.
We did make it there, and my word was it beautiful. We saw so many different tropical plants, and we were also delighted to watch some hummingbirds! It felt good to stroll around, knowing we had some more time now that our morning activity wasn’t happening. We could see the volcanic slopes of Mount Pelée in the distance, and then closer up on the scenic drive back to Fort-de-France. In fact, we got very lucky with that drive back, as we found a rare taxi willing to take us back amidst the carnival chaos, who also let us tag along another couples’ tour for a bit. We ended up seeing the Absalon waterfall (where someone casually warned us that we were in touching distance of a tarantula sitting by the rocks where we’d put our shoes!!) and the Alma river, alongside a few other stops where the driver pointed out almond trees, mango trees, orange trees and a shrub containing a fruit called Zikak.
Given that we were being dropped off by the port anyway, we decided go back to the ship for some lunch, and some much-needed recovery from the car sickness we were both feeling (the roads in Martinique are winding and choppy, as my nauseous stomach will confirm). Lunch on the cruise, like most other meals we’ve eaten here, was absolutely insane…and that’s coming from a real foodie! As vegetarians, my partner and I always have plenty to eat on board, and the sheer variety is amazing. We then headed out again after lunch for a couple of hours to watch the carnival, and we ended the day sitting by the beach near the port, spotting green iguanas, and playing cards with some heavy partying happening in the background. The carnival itself was interesting to witness and learn about: it’s a day of theatrical role reversal; men wear wedding dresses, tutus, and makeup, while women wear suits or other colourful costumes, dancing through the streets to the beat of drums. We also saw people of all ages covering themselves with a black sticky substance – we later learned that this is molasses, and it’s a homage to sugarcane workers. All in all, a special event to have been a part of – even though we were more witnesses than participants.
Somehow, today turned out really well. I had lost hope after our long wait for the bus, and I initially really wasn’t happy with skipping Saint Pierre. The part of me that wants to complete everything we’ve set out to do felt a bit downtrodden this morning, and I’ve had to tell it to step aside for a bit until we’re back in London and it can dedicate its regimented attitude to PhD work, where it will be welcomed with open arms. Despite all of this, though, the day has ended with me feeling really good with what we’ve seen of Martinique, even if some things got skipped and other things got added. I’m glad we did extensive preparation to plan out every day, but I’m honestly also glad that we were able to deviate from the plan and still enjoy a good time.
