Fort de France cruise port, Martinique
In May 1902 Mount Pelee destroyed Saint-Pierre, then the island's main city, killing about thirty thousand people in minutes; a prisoner in a thick-walled cell was among the very few to live. Fort-de-France became the capital by outliving it. Empress Josephine was born nearby.
Worth knowing. The town library was built for the Paris exhibition of 1889, then taken to pieces and shipped across the Atlantic to be put up again here. It is still a working library.
What to do in Fort de France for free
Pointe Simon is five hundred metres from the middle of town, and Tourelles, the other berth, is a couple of kilometres out through a working port. La Savane is the park along the front with Fort Saint-Louis at the end of it. The covered market a few streets back is spice and rum rather than souvenirs, and from Pointe Simon all of that sits inside a fifteen-minute walk.
What costs money
The ship's own excursions usually cost more than booking the same trip yourself. Two things come with the price. The ship waits for its own excursions and does not wait for you. And if the port is missed, P&O refunds its own without you asking. A trip you booked yourself is a claim on your travel insurance, so check what your policy covers. The ship sells its own trips to all of these, and the desk is open on board if you would rather do it that way.
Saint-Pierre. An hour up the coast to the town the mountain destroyed. The ruins were left standing where they fell rather than cleared away, and the road above the town runs up the volcano itself.
The Balata gardens. A rainforest garden a quarter of an hour up into the hills, with rope bridges strung through the tops of the mahogany trees. There are said to be three thousand kinds of plant in it.
Which ship calls at Fort de France, and when
Every call here between 15 August and 28 November 2026, with the hours ashore P&O published. These times are a guide, not a promise: the captain gives the real ones the day before.
| Ship | Sails | Day | Ashore |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arvia | 23 October 2026, 22 nights | Day 18 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 6 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 7 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 14 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 20 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 21 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 28 November 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 5 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 12 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 18 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 19 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 26 December 2026, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 1 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 2 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 9 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 15 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 16 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 23 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 29 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 30 January 2027, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 6 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 12 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 13 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 20 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 26 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 27 February 2027, 14 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 6 March 2027, 22 nights | Day 9 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 12 March 2027, 16 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 13 March 2027, 15 nights | Day 2 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 30 October 2027, 21 nights | Day 21 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 12 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 13 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 15 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 20 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 26 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 27 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 29 November 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 3 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 4 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 11 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 6 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 9 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 10 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 11 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 11 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 13 December 2027, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 1 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 7 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 8 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 10 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 15 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 21 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 22 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 24 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 29 January 2028, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 4 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 5 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 7 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 11 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 12 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 12 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 12 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 14 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 10 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 18 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 8 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 19 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 19 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 19 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 21 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 5 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 25 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 26 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 13 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 26 February 2028, 14 nights | Day 6 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 28 February 2028, 27 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 28 February 2028, 27 nights | Day 14 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 3 March 2028, 14 nights | Day 7 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 4 March 2028, 14 nights | Day 6 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 4 March 2028, 22 nights | Day 9 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Iona | 6 March 2028, 26 nights | Day 4 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 10 March 2028, 16 nights | Day 3 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
| Arvia | 11 March 2028, 15 nights | Day 2 | 07:00 to 18:00 |
How long you get ashore in Fort de France
The published times give you about 11 hours alongside, depending on the sailing. Take off the time it takes a few thousand people to get off, and the time you need to be back on board before the ship leaves, and that is your day. P&O give the real hours the day before, and the all-aboard time is earlier than the departure time.
The other stops on these cruises
Every one of these is on at least one of the sailings that calls at Fort de France.
- AntiguaNelson's Dockyard at English Harbour is a working Georgian naval yard that never fell down: Horatio Nelson was based here from 1784, hated it, and called it a vile hole.
- BasseterreSt Kitts was England's first colony in the Caribbean, in 1624, and the French took the other end of the island the same decade.
- BridgetownEnglish from 1627 and never changed hands, which is why the island kept its parliament, its cricket and its place names.
- CastriesBritain and France exchanged this island fourteen times, which is why the towns are French and the law is English.
- DominicaThe Nature Island, and the mountains are the reason: rainforest over most of it, and Morne Trois Pitons inland, a World Heritage site with the second largest hot lake in the world steaming in the middle of it.
- GrenadaSt George's sits inside a drowned volcanic crater, which is what makes the harbour that shape.
- La CorunaThe Spanish Armada sailed from this harbour in 1588, and it is still guarded by the Tower of Hercules, a Roman lighthouse from about the year 100 which has never stopped working: the oldest one on earth still doing its job.
- OranjestadDutch since 1636 and dry as a bone.
- St MaartenThe island has been split between the Dutch and the French since the Treaty of Concordia in 1648, which makes it the smallest piece of land in the world shared by two nations, and there is no border to speak of.
- TenerifeMount Teide stands 3,715 metres over the island, the highest point in Spain and, measured from its base on the sea floor, the third largest volcano on earth.
- TortolaRoad Town has been the seat of these islands since the British took them from the Dutch in 1672.
Money and language in Martinique
Euro (EUR, €). Martinique is France, so this is the European Union in the Caribbean: euros, French road signs, and cards taken as they are at home. US dollars are not the currency here. Onboard is always charged in sterling, so this only matters ashore.
French, with Martinican Creole alongside it. Less English than the islands either side, so a few words go further.
| English | French | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| Hello | Bonjour | bon-ZHOOR |
| Goodbye | Au revoir | oh ruh-VWAR |
| How much? | Combien ça coûte? | kom-BYAN sa KOOT |
| Thank you | Merci | mair-SEE |
| Please | S'il vous plaît | seel voo PLEH |
Free, and it works with no internet. Give it the dates you sail and it works out your own stops and saves the street map for each one. It shows you round the ship too.
All the ports written up so far, the things to do before you sail, or the ship pages for Iona and Arvia.