Port-of-Call: Basse-Terre, Guadeloupe (FWI) - coming soon!

Thwarted by a cold! I meant to post a guide for Windsurf passengers stopping in Basse-Terre by this evening, but I've been stuck at home all week nursing a cold. However, I am going to Basse-Terre tomorrow for the market and will be able to do some of the research I meant to do during the week. Hopefully, I can get some at least a draft version up by tomorrow evening.

Windstar Cruises: The Windsurf in Basse Terre

Above: Windstar Cruises’ Windsurf (1).

Two weeks ago, when M. and I were in Basse-Terre doing our weekly shopping, Windstar Cruises’ Windsurf happened to be docked at the port. We’d seen the Windsurf during the previous cruise season, and had always wanted to get a closer look, but never had a chance. Approaching the pier, a man with that tell-tale American twang was giving directions to some cruise ship passengers. I couldn’t help but introduce myself. He introduced himself as Shawn, an American living in Guadeloupe for the past 8 years and who has been working with the tourism office of Basse Terre to welcome Windsurf’s predominantly English-speaking passengers. He told me they needed help, as English-speakers are hard to come by, and so I decided I’d start going to the pier the days when Windsurf was in port.

Yesterday was my first day. Between 7AM to after 12 noon I greeted Windsurf passengers, giving directions, answering questions, and wowing them with my impeccable accent. It was physically exhausting to stand for 5 hours straight, but I enjoyed talking to the passengers. I was particularly happy to meet a couple who spoke Cantonese, and a couple from New York!

Windsurf is in port at Basse-Terre for only 5 hours - an appallingly short amount of time given all that Guadeloupe has to offer. It is, however, a good indication of Guadeloupe’s general inability to capture and retain market share in cruise ship tourism. I have been told that Windsurf weighs anchor here principally for unloading waste. Sad, isn’t it? And the fact that Basse-Terre does not figure as a port of call for Windsurf’s 2010 season seems to give weight to the rumor that even in this, Guadeloupe has failed: Apparently, Windstar has found some other port that charges less for the privilege.

But no one ever got ahead by dwelling on the negatives.

According to its excursion brochure, Windsurf offers only three options for Basse-Terre port of call. One excursion leaves Basse-Terre by the west, driving up the leeward coast of Basse Terre to Malendure beach for a ride on the Nautilus, a glass-bottom boat, with a chance of snorkeling, at the Jacques Cousteau reserve. The second excursion leaves Basse-Terre by the east, driving north towards Capesterre-Belle-Eau for the Carbet Falls. The third excursion is a walking tour in Basse-Terre.

Only a handful of passengers seemed to have signed up for even these three excursions (the walking tour was even canceled since too few signed up). The vast majority came down from the boat just for a quick tour of the city. And most came down well past 10AM, having been told, it seems, that there wasn’t much to see or do. Basse-Terre is certainly not well known for its sites, but to say that there isn’t anything to see or do seems to me an appalling lack of curiosity and a willful condescension.

We had nothing to offer the passengers except a few maps, but we soon ran out. And to be perfectly honest, I personally did not find them incredibly user-friendly.

I happen to have gone on a great number of cruises for my young age - eight, in fact, and I am not even thirty. I have also traveled quite a bit off of cruise ships. So, I feel like I know what kind of information a tourist is looking for.

I might have tried to propose writing an English-language map and guide for the Basse Terre Tourism Office and getting paid for it, but seeing that that our little stand on the port had absolutely no signage, no pamphlets, and just a few maps, that they do not even have an actual office, I think it would be a waste of my time. Still, I am sorry to see Basse-Terre (and Guadeloupe in general) so thoroughly maligned - nothing to see, indeed!. So, I am determined, in my own small way, to remedy this. I am going to put together my own little guide for Basse-Terre with an accompanying map and will post it here. Hopefully, I'll have written it up properly so that Google will pick it up and show it as a result.

There are five remaining cruises where Windsurf makes a call at Basse-Terre (2). I'm going to try to have the guide up by next Saturday, December 19, before Windsurf passengers leave home for their cruise.




(1) Photo taken from windstarcruises.com
(2) These are the dates that Windsurf calls at Basse-Terre: Nov 27 2009, Dec 11 2009, Dec 22 2009, Jan 15 2010, Feb 12 2010, Feb 26 2010, Mar 12 2010.

Cruising to Guadeloupe

My mother wants to visit and has been looking into cruises that have Guadeloupe on their itinerary. But she's stumbled upon a problem: nobody goes to Guadeloupe. She did her search on Expedia.com, and out of 64 cruises offered in the Eastern Caribbean, only one makes a stop in Guadeloupe.

As I have mentioned before, Guadeloupe is not the destination of choice for Americans vacationing in the Caribbean. Several related factors make Guadeloupe an unpopular cruise destination also. For example, according to a report published in 2003 by the Inter-American Committee on Ports, market share is directly proportional to the distance from US mainland. Therefore, "the islands closest to the US such as Nassau, St Thomas, San Juan and St Martin, experience the highest market shares" (1). In terms of distance from the US, Guadeloupe is not well positioned. The report also notes that "historically, the English speaking destinations have dominated the industry," which is yet another constraint to Guadeloupe.

Beyond the geographical and cultural issues, I suspect that there may be some logistical problems. I've seen the Holland America ships (Maasdam and Staatendam) that dock regularly in Basse Terre, and they are very small (2). The ships sit right against the shoreline so the water must not be very deep. I've never seen the dock or terminal in Point-à-Pitre, but Costa Atlantica (3) dock regularly, so the dock must be a good deal larger than the one in Basse Terre. The dock is only a few years old though.

But, is it possible that the industry itself is turning American passengers away from Guadeloupe?

Costa cruise ships make stops in Guadeloupe. What is peculiar is that only ships originating from Europe make a stop in Guadeloupe. At least, according to the American page for Costa. Checking the French page, there are itineraries for the Eastern Caribbean, originating in the Dominican Republic, and making a stop in Guadeloupe.

It is clear that ships originating in Europe are cost-prohibitive to Americans and so becomes an effective barrier to Americans to visit Guadeloupe. But, apparently, it goes beyond that. When my mother contacted Costa agents by phone and requested the ship with an Caribbean-only itinerary, making a stop in Guadeloupe, the agent told her she could not book her for that trip. My mother would have to call agents in Canada.

It would appear, then, that the cruise industry has decided for American passengers that Guadeloupe holds no interest for them.

(1) Atherley, Kenneth A. "Cruise Industry-Related Challenges Facing Caribbean Destinations." Organization of American States Inter-American Committee on Ports. Sep 2003

(2) For comparison, see statistics below:
Maasdam
Gross Tonnage: 55,451 grt.(One registered ton equals 100 cubic feet)
Length: 720 feet
Passenger capacity: 1,258

Staatendam
Gross Tonnage: 55,819 grt.
Length: 720 feet
Passenger capacity: 1,258

Freedom of the Seas:
Gross Tonnage: 154,407 grt.
Length: 1,112 feet
Passenger capacity: 4,370

(3) Costa Atlantica
Gross Tonnage: 85,619 grt.
Length: 960 feet
Passenger capacity: 2,114