MSC World Europa - Windward Islands from Martinique

Where this cruise calls, day by day

7 ports and 1 sea day over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Fort-de-France

   MartiniqueDepart

   Martinique is France — euros, French road signs, real bakeries, and prices to match. Fort-de-France is a proper city with Fort Saint-Louis on the point and the Bibliothèque Schoelcher, a Byzantine-looking iron building shipped over from the 1889 Paris exposition. The swimming beaches are across the bay, and the small ferry over is the cheapest good decision of the day.

   • Bibliothèque Schoelcher and the Saint-Louis Cathedral
   • Ferry across the bay to Pointe du Bout and Anse Mitan
   • Jardin de Balata
   • Habitation Clément rum estate

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock either at Pointe Simon in the city center or at the Tourelles terminal about 2km out, which needs a shuttle.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr (carême, the dry season); Jul-Nov is the wetter hivernage with hurricane risk

2. Day 2

   Castries

   St. LuciaPort

   Castries burned down repeatedly and was rebuilt in concrete; almost nobody comes for the town. The island's draw is 90 minutes south at Soufrière — the two Pitons rising straight out of the water, a drive-in sulphur crater that genuinely stinks, and Diamond Falls. That drive is the day, and the road is winding enough to matter if you get carsick.

   • The Pitons and the town of Soufrière
   • Sulphur Springs drive-in volcano and mud baths
   • Diamond Falls Botanical Gardens
   • Marigot Bay

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Pointe Seraphine across the harbor from town (small ferry or a 15-20 minute walk around) or at La Place Carenage on the town side.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter with Aug-Oct hurricane risk

3. Day 3

   Bridgetown

   BarbadosPort

   Barbados is bigger and more developed than most Eastern Caribbean calls and works less like a beach stop than a country with its own economy — a capital with a UNESCO-listed Georgian core, a calm west coast for swimming and a wild Atlantic east coast that surfs. It is also a major homeport, so calls frequently coincide with turnaround crowds.

   • Snorkeling with sea turtles and the wrecks in Carlisle Bay
   • Harrison's Cave tram tour
   • Bathsheba and the east coast
   • Mount Gay rum tour or St. Nicholas Abbey

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the deep-water port about a mile from Broad Street — walkable, but the route runs through a working port, so most people take the short taxi.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter, though Barbados sits far enough east to be hit less often

4. Day 4

   St. George's

   GrenadaPort

   One of the better-looking harbors in the region — the Carenage curves around a drowned volcanic crater with pastel warehouses stacked up the hillside and Fort George looking down on it. Grenada still runs on nutmeg and cocoa rather than duty-free, so the excursions are working spice estates and chocolate makers. Grand Anse, two miles of sand, is ten minutes from the pier.

   • Grand Anse Beach
   • Fort George and the Carenage waterfront
   • A nutmeg processing station at Gouyave
   • Molinere Underwater Sculpture Park

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the Melville Street terminal in town, or tendered when the berths are full; Grand Anse is 10 minutes by taxi or a short water taxi from the Carenage.

   Best months

   Jan-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter, though Grenada is far enough south to be hit less often

5. Day 5

   Kingstown

   St. Vincent and the GrenadinesPort

   St Vincent gets very little cruise traffic and is among the least developed islands on the eastern chain, which is both the appeal and the limitation. Kingstown is a compact stone town of covered arcades under Fort Charlotte. Its own beaches are black volcanic sand — the white sand everyone pictures is out in the Grenadines, further than a port day comfortably reaches.

   • St Vincent Botanic Gardens, founded 1765, with a breadfruit tree descended from Bligh's
   • Fort Charlotte above the harbor
   • Wallilabou Bay, where the Pirates of the Caribbean sets were built
   • Dark View Falls on the leeward coast

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the Kingstown cruise berth, a few minutes' walk from the market and the arcaded streets.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr dry season; Jun-Nov is wetter, and La Soufrière last erupted in 2021

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   Roseau

   DominicaPort

   Dominica is the anomaly of the Eastern Caribbean: it has very few good beaches, and that is rather the point. The island is volcanic, steep and covered in rainforest, with hot springs, gorges and a boiling lake in the interior. Roseau is small, tin-roofed and a bit ragged, and the pier is right in it. Wrong island for a beach day; the best one in the chain if you want to be in a river by ten.

   • Trafalgar Falls and the hot springs above Roseau
   • Titou Gorge
   • Emerald Pool
   • Champagne Reef, snorkeling over volcanic vents

   Getting ashore

   Docked on the Roseau bayfront in town, with most sites 20-40 minutes inland by taxi; some ships instead use the Cabrits berth at Portsmouth, an hour north.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr is drier, but Dominica is wet in any month; Aug-Oct is hurricane season and the island took a direct hit in 2017

8. Day 8

   Fort-de-France

   MartiniqueArrive

   Martinique is France — euros, French road signs, real bakeries, and prices to match. Fort-de-France is a proper city with Fort Saint-Louis on the point and the Bibliothèque Schoelcher, a Byzantine-looking iron building shipped over from the 1889 Paris exposition. The swimming beaches are across the bay, and the small ferry over is the cheapest good decision of the day.

   • Bibliothèque Schoelcher and the Saint-Louis Cathedral
   • Ferry across the bay to Pointe du Bout and Anse Mitan
   • Jardin de Balata
   • Habitation Clément rum estate

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock either at Pointe Simon in the city center or at the Tourelles terminal about 2km out, which needs a shuttle.

   Best months

   Dec-Apr (carême, the dry season); Jul-Nov is the wetter hivernage with hurricane risk