Update and Rooms Tips - Martinique & St. Vin

The Shailors opting for the additional adventure of sailing back up to Martinique at the end have all checked in and been confirmed.  It will be 2 of 8 boats.  The rest of us will languish around the southern islands.  Either way, it will be awesome.

Pre StS Shailor interaction is a great idea. Continue commenting here, below any post (see all comments on the right).  I've created a Grenadines StS event page on Facebook for those who prefer to interact through that medium:  http://www.facebook.com/events/400770539952242/

Yep, cabs are spendy on French Martinique.  The charter base offers in house transfer from airport to boats but they are not much cheaper.  You can book base transfers in advance by email here:
martinique@dreamyachtcharter.com   Tell them you are with Latitudes & Attitudes.  Give them your flight info and they will meet you as you exit the airport.

The base info is below.  Contact them only for transfer and quick questions.  They do not know which boat you are on.  Please do not ask them.  After Questionaires, you will get a skipper and they will know which boat you are on.  We will all be chillin' at the base when you get there (it sounds like a nice base).  We do not board the boats until 5:30pm on 5 May.  If you are the impatient type, don't arrive early.

There's no base in St. Vin so we will all be sharing cabs from our finish point at Blue Lagoon Marina to hotels or the airport.  It's a little cheaper there (English).

Rooms:
St Vincent Room deal is down at the bottom of this post.

Martinique - I mentioned before, the St. Luce area on Martinique is in a good spot between the airport and the marina Le Marin.  The webpage to book rooms in any of the three St. Luce area hotels:
http://www.hotel-caribbean-karibea.com/
I found this link which has those rooms but with breakfast:
http://www.otel.com/hotels/karibea_residence_le_corail_hotel_martinique.htm?processid=ZJ-77038535MQ6PKO0&b2bid=hotelscombined&subaffiliate=63980030&set_language=en

Captain Bitchin has booked rooms at the Hotel Panoramic in the Tres Toilettes area.  What's that?  Oh ya, I mean the TROIS-ILETS.  It's not on the road to the marina but it looks nice:
http://www.lepanoramic.fr/en/index.html



Good after noon Mr Bitchin.
Thank you for your interest in Hotel Panoramic.
We do have rooms available from the 4th to the 5th may and from the 15th to the 16th may 2012.
Our price rate for rooms for that period are:
·         90€ per room with 3 Adults , (a quadruple room will not be possible )
·         70€ per room for 2 Adults
·         We will be pleased in offering you your morning breakfast .

As regarding a taxi , we can order one for you that will come and fetch you at the airport and bring you back also at a price of 60€.
If you wish to make a firm booking we will need 30% of the total amount of your stay , either by communication a credit card number via telephone on the 0596.68.78.48 or you may send a check to :
HOTEL PANORAMIC
C/O MTP
65 IMPASSE DE CALIFORNIE
97232 LE LAMENTIN
http://www.lepanoramic.fr/en/index.html

We will be pleased to assist you any way we can to make this trip as comfortable and easy for you , don’t hesitate to contact us .
Yours sincerely
Valérie FAIVRE
Hotel Panoramic


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I am staying at this simple little place close to the marina - about $150 a night.
  http://www.residence-des-iles-martinique.fr/b/en/

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From Shailors Paul and Janet Newell:

St Luce and Les Trois Islets are nice areas, and there are several good hotels in those areas.
Janet and I booked into L'Imperatrice, which is actually in Fort De France.  We are all set.
And as they say in Martinique,  Au Revoir, Mon Ami !

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St. Vincent:

We closed the deal with the Cobblestone Inn in St. Vincent.  

They offered us "10% ... off the standard room rate ... equivalent to US$82.50 inclusive of taxes per night per room".  You can call or book online.  If you call, tell them "Lats & Atts discount".  Online type "Lats & Atts discount" in the comment section and your balance will be adjusted.  

You can check them out here:  www.thecobblestoneinn.com   

Tripadvisor reviews:  http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g147381-d151361-Reviews-The_Cobblestone_Inn-Kingstown_St_Vincent_St_Vincent_and_the_Grenadines.html

The Cobblestone Inn

P.O.Box 867

Bay Street

Kingstown St. Vincent,

West Indies

Tel: 784-456-1937

Fax: 784-456-1938

info@thecobblestoneinn.com

Arrival Base Info - Le Marin Martinique

Le Marin 

Base details:
Customer Service: Eva Treiber E-mail : martinique@dreamyachtcharter.com
Marina du Marin - Ponton N°4
Dream Yacht Caribbean
Port de Plaisance du Marin
Boulevard Allègre
97290 Le Marin - Martinique

How to get there: 
International flights
3 Companies offer direct flights from France (Air France - Air Caraïbes – Corsair)

Transfers:
It can be organized by the base.  Tell them you are with Latitudes & Attitudes.  Email:   martinique@dreamyachtcharter.com
or
Airport Taxis:                              Tel 05-96-42-16-66.
Martinique Taxis 24h / 24:           Tel 05-96-63-63-62.
Radios Taxis Services 24h / 24:   Tel 05-96-63-10-10.

Facilities:
16 showers, 18 toilets & 12 sinks are available every day from 6:30 AM to 7:30 PM.

Services:
Several restaurants nearby.
Commercial centres Supermarket: CHAMPION, 3km from base; LEADER PRICE, 3km from base; ED, 300 m from base; Opening hours: Monday – Saturday 8am to 8pm and Sunday 8 am - 12am

Master & Visa credit card are accepted.  On southern islands, local currency is "Biwi" (Caribbean dollar); euros & US$ are accepted.

Telephone: 
Call from Martinique to France: You just need to dial the number of your contact (home or cellular). There are no special numbers to add.
Call from France to Martinique: You dial the 10 figures of your contact 0596 xx xx xx ou 0696 xx xx xx. Call from abroad: you have to add international code 596 for home phones +596 596 xx xx xx or for cell phones +596 696 xx xx xx.

Internet: 
Cyber cafés: They are widely spread in Martinique.
Wifi: Marina of Le Marin is equipped with Wifi network. Contact Harbour master’s office to know how use it.

Things to know: 
With « Biwimen » you have to bargain and pay either in dollar or in Euros. (“It’s part of the game”). - Only soft bags - No suite case (rigid suite cases are too cumbersome)

Some boat info:
Boats are totally equipped for charter and inventory includes the following among others : Engines, dinghy and engine, bed linens - towels (beach-bath-hand), GPS, automatic Pilot, am/fm Radio, CD player with outside loudspeakers, snorkelling equipment, navigation equipment: (log, sounder, speedometer, wind indicator anemometer)

Shailor Comments and Interaction

Shailors, we encourage group interaction.  Over the years we have learned that sending out everyone's email address is not real popular.  Please comment away under any post.  Your comments are now shown at the bottom of the right column.

Adventure End Plans

Blue Lagoon Marina

Hello again,

I'll keep it short (pause for applause).

-If you are sticking to the original plan then you will depart your boat, as planned, on May 15 at 11:00am at Blue Lagoon Marina on the bottom tip of St. Vincent.  The marina is about 2 miles from the airport as the crow flies.  I wouldn't try to fly out before say 3pm.  Or stay another day and do an awesome land tour.    

-If you are choosing to sail the extra legs with the boats heading north, we leave those boats at the base in Le Marin, Martinique on May 15 at 11:00am - same finish time.  We'll split from the main group by May 13.  If you don't think you'll enjoy a couple long days of rough sailing, please choose the original St.Vincent option.
-I'll ask for your final decision when we do Crew Questionnaires March/April.

If you don't know what I'm talking about you can view all previous emails here:

http://grenadinessts.blogspot.com/

-Both groups will have some kind of get together at the end of the trip.  

-We did not get enough people for the charter flight so ixnay on that.  

-There are tons of accommodations on both islands.  We are looking at accommodations in the St. Luce area in Martinique and downtown Kingston in St. Vincent.

There are flight tips on the web page link above.  If you would like someone to book your air or accommodations for you, the girls at Beach Travel have been brought up to speed on our plans:

Beach Travel 215 Pier Avenue #A  Hermosa Beach, CA 90254 (310) 376-8956

http://www.beachtvl.com/

Enjoy your bowl game. 

Woody

Round Trip Martinique Option

I've condensed the last two emails:

Shailors,

Option B:  Some of the boats will be heading north to Martinique toward the end of the cruise and others will continue to cruise the islands near St. Vincent on the original schedule.  The best part?  You decide which you'd like to do.  I will ask you to confirm in April when I do the Crew Questionnaire and More Info emails.  

Of course you will want to book air sooner.  If you are flying out of St.Vin SVD, you can book on the original schedule.  If you are doing the Martinique option I need a couple more days.  Our Dream rep is headed to the Chicago boatshow and will get back to me soon on the extra day.

If you are considering the return to Martinique option:  My day job is delivering boats.  I've moved cats upwind from Cannes to the Canaries and from Panama to Canada.  Upwind in a cat is not comfortable for everyone.  They are stiff and creaky.  Even in a little chop they bang when a splash hits under the cabin (sounds like you've got a midget with a sledgehammer down there).  And we've got two 45 mile motorsails to do.  In the most likely conditions, these are up early, arrive in the evening, rockin' and rollin' adventures.

On the upside, the boats are designed for these conditions.  And we will be in a lee much of the time (an island to windward knocking down some of the swell).  It is possible if unlikely ... one or both of these sails could be glorious, fast beam reaches.  Please plan for bumpy though.  

We have a hilarious group.  I got emails from all over the place.  For once you were entertaining me.  I could see the gears turning on how to make this work.  Lats readers being who they are, looked at this as a challenge more than an obstacle.

Thanks,

Woody

Other details:

-Shailors would have a simpler Martinique FDF round trip airfare to book.

-There is ferry service from St. Lucia to Martinique but not from St. Vin to St. Lucia.  

Flights III

More flight options through cheapoair.com.  I found  LAX-FDF and SVD-LAX for $986, multiple flights of course.

Flights ... part II

Flight Tips

This update is just for flights.  If you have booked air and are looking for accommodations, tripadvisor.com shows tons of rooms in all ranges on all islands.  Still, I'll meddle and give my input some time this month.  March/April will be What to Bring and Crew Questionaire for boat placement and other fun cruise related info.

Because of it's exotic nature, this StS has some travel challenges.  My tips focus on using San Juan, Puerto Rico as a starting and ending point for the Caribbean portion of our flying.  San Juan has an international airport serving the rest of the US and Canada.

Update:
Flying in pre StS should not be a problem.  American Airlines has a direct flight to Martinique (SJU-FDF).  It arrives late at night but gives you all day to get to San Juan.  Fly in on May 4 and get a room or arrive on the 5th and sleep on the boat.  We'll leave the light on.

Another option from Don Z is to fly into St. Lucia, enjoy some land cruising there, and then take the ferry across to Martinique.  You will want to confirm they offer a one way option and advanced booking.  Channel Shuttles 758/451-8161channelshuttles@candw.lc  or  L'Express des Isles 758/456-5022   express-des-iles.com/

-Charter flight option was cancelled-

All of this information is going to my travel agent.  The girls will be able to help you book and keep track of the details of your trip.  I'll get their contact info to you when they're up to speed.

Captain Woody