The docking of “Celebrity-Equinox” in Fort-de-France, on September 4, ended two and a half years of scarcity for cruise professionals in French Antilles. More than 400 stops are planned in Martinique and Guadeloupe until May 2023.
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The leaded sky and storms will have hardly disturbed the celebrations: on the seaside of Fort-de-France, the atmosphere was resolutely festive, Sunday September 4, to welcome the passengers of the Celebrity-Equinox. It must be said that the Martinican tourism committee did not do things by halves. The cruise lines disembark to the rhythm of the Biguines and the Zouk classics interpreted by a famous local orchestra, while dancers in chamarked madras give the holidaymakers, conquered, a taste of Creole culture.
A few meters away, an “Instagrammable spot”, inaugurated with great fanfare four days earlier, facing the terminal of the Simon Pointe Cruises, plunges tourists into a tropical atmosphere, with its high wall fresco with exuberant colors and Its garden of authentic local plants, already colonized by the iguanas.
Party of Fort Lauderdale, in Florida, the liner 317 meters long -28 less than the Queen -Mary -2 -, with a capacity of 2,850 passengers, ends an eleven day circuit and eleven nights in the Caribbean Sea. The arrival of this ship in Martinique is of particular importance on this island of the French Antilles. This Super-Paquebot de la Royal Caribbean International is the first cruise ship to stop there since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, two and a half years ago.
With the containment of March 2020 and the closure of the borders, the cruises had stopped net, in the midst of a tourist season. In Martinique, as well as in Guadeloupe, the serious health crisis which started in July 2021 prevented the two sisters islands from taking advantage of the restart of cruise circuits in the region, a year ago. The ships have reported to the neighboring English-speaking islands: Sainte-Lucie, Dominique or Barbados. An economic disaster for these two departments of less than 400,000 inhabitants, which had each welcomed 1 million tourists in 2019, including 30 % of cruise lines.
After two consecutive white seasons for Martinican professionals in the sector, so it was important to mark the occasion. The reception in music in Fort-de-France hits the bull’s eye. “We are on a honeymoon. This cruise is fabulous and the islands are magnificent,” says Patricia Fox. “We got married in 2020 and we had to wait until now to make this trip,” said her husband Daniel Carlin. The two Irish tourists press the step because the excursionist signals them. They reserved a circuit in the north of the island, in the direction of the Pélée mountain, the ruins of Saint-Pierre and a distillery. “I love rum!” Says Patricia, before getting into the minibus ready to start.
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