Boo-hoo our trip to Buccaneer's Creek is over!
GETTING THERE: Instead of the usual Saturday to Saturday trek, we left on a Friday due to the necessity of spending the night in Miami (didn't want to waste a Club Med day!). We flew from Louisville KY to Memphis TN and then to Miami FL on Northwestern. Not bad flights at all. We spent the night at the Airport Regency in Miami ($65.00 per night including free shuttles to and from the airport). The next morning, we flew Air France to Haiti then Guadeloupe and then finally Martinique. I have to say Air France's service puts any US airline on which we've flown to shame: we received full meals between Miami and Haiti and Haiti and Guadeloupe with the lunch meal (and entire flight) including complimentary beer, wine, champagne etc. And, the food on Air France was quite good. The only negative about the flights was the necessity of the night in Miami and the numerous connections. After arriving in Martinique, we took the complimentary Club Med shuttle to the village and were there in about 30 - 40 minutes.
THE GROUNDS: The grounds were exquisite: lush with towering palm trees and incredible flowering plants. Those tropical plants you see in Kroger's that live for a week at your house are taller than you in Martinique! Huge hibiscus and bougainvillea (sp?) were everywhere.The buildings had obviously been painted recently and many of the rooms were undergoing renovation (painting, new tile, etc.) There were no televisions or telephones in the rooms (we prefer this anyway) and our room in the Tour De Port had a balcony with a gorgeous view and was clean though spartan. Initially it seemed we would have no hot water in the shower, but we found that if you run the hot water in the sink for 5 minutes or so (until it heats up) you will have hot water in the shower. The queen-sized bed in the room was comfortable and firm.
ACTIVITIES: The beaches were golden and the water was calm clear green/blue/aquamarine. In between bouts of lounging on the beach, we enjoyed snorkeling, windsurfing, and kayaking and when I had the energy and motivation I enjoyed the techno water aerobics. The water-skiing appeared to be a popular activity, though we regretfully didn't partake. There was no pool on the grounds but we didn't miss a pool. What was spectacular to us was lounging on the beach surrounded by gorgeous views of lush green volcanic mountains/hills as this was "new" beach scenery for us. And, the historic Diamond Rock could be viewed from the grounds. We also enjoyed walking up the beach and into the town of St. Anne where one could buy wonderful pastries and enjoy the local scenery. For those who are interested, there was always lively activity (dancing etc) in the bar area each night (we never made it to the disco!).
EXCURSIONS: As we needed this vacation for R & R and did not want to be running from activity to activity, we limited our excursions to renting a car at the village (an economical $40.00 per day with unlimited mileage) and driving up the coasts through the many villages/towns. The drive was beautiful (twisting through rain forests surrounded by fields of sugar cane and banana trees and down to coastal towns) and the highlight was our visit to St. Pierre and our hiking Mt. Pelee. St. Pierre was once a thriving coastal town and the cultural center of Martinique until Mt. Pelee erupted in 1902 killing approximately 30,000 inhabitants of St. Pierre with the only survivor supposedly being the town drunk who was locked in the prison dungeon and survived with severe burns and went on to spend his remaining years as a Ringling Brothers circus exhibit as the sole survivor of the eruption. The devastation of the volcano is still palpable in St. Pierre, and many of its ruins remain as a sad testament. On the brighter side, we do a fair bit of hiking, and I have to say Mt. Pelee was one of the most majestic and ominous mountains I've ever hiked. It cloaks itself in mist and clouds which part ever so often to afford spectacular views which disappear as quickly as they appeared as the clouds/mist return. It was also a new experience to hike amongst lush tropical vegetation.
FOOD: While my husband found the Club's food to be lacking in comparison to Club Med Paradise Island (which I believe is a 4 trident village), I found no fault with it. He doesn't care much for fish, and fish was heavily featured almost every night. Aside from his complaints (for those who don't care for fish), the food was quite good and various meats were available at each meal. The mussels, squid dishes, octopus, and Creole dishes were very good and I love Club Med's garlicky eggplant which was especially tender. The blood sausage was popular and was like a sausage mousse. I enjoy food experiments, and the only food I was reluctant to try was the tripe. The cheeses and breads (of course!) were excellent. I particularly enjoyed the walnut bread and the cumin bread and for breakfast the chocolate bread. On the negative side, bar tickets were cheaper to buy with francs than with US dollars but this could be easily remedied.
GMs: The week we were there, I would estimate 97% of the GM's were French or French-speaking with many appearing to be honeymooning couples. The age-range was varied. Our French is very weak, but we found that if we "tried" to speak French this was much appreciated and the French were quite friendly and tolerant of our "language impairment". On the snorkeling etc activities the GO's generally only gave French explanations of the activities but if you asked them afterwards they'd give you an abbreviated explanation in English. One English speaking couple we sat with at dinner complained that Club Med didn't tell them that everything would be French and that the majority of the GM's would speak French but personally I found this ridiculous because Martinique is a French country! But, I have to say that if you're anticipating a lot of English conversation you're going to be disappointed. We knew this in advance after doing our research and it wasn't a problem for us, but we do plan to improve our French fluency before our next visit.
SUMMARY: Martinique is one of the most beautiful places we've been and the next time we go to Club Med Buccaneer's Creek we plan to spend two weeks because there is such history on the island and so much to do and see between bouts of lounging on the beach. We also found that tourists are not "gouged" in Martinique. We will try to find a more direct connection if possible before our next visit because two days of flying and numerous connections is tiresome. All in all, the trip far exceeded my expectations and I cannot wait to return to Martinique.
I welcome anyone who has questions about Club Med Martinique to e-mail me.