# Shopping in the Islands



## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

So for my honeymoon I'm heading to the islands on a cruise. I'm going to be in St. Thomas and in St. Marten, where are some good places to do some shopping? Maybe some nice menswear like shoes, or watches and things of that sort for a good deal. Also, some nice womens items like jewelry and purses. Ofcourse I'll report back with any good findings I may come across. Thanks for everyones help.


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## Mark from Plano (Jan 29, 2007)

I've spent lots of time in the Caribbean, especially St. Thomas and for menswear, forget it. Buy a couple of t-shirts and call it good.

St. Thomas is known for its watch and jewelry "bargains". Perhaps there are some, but I'd be fairly well oriented to US prices before I spent much money down there. I don't think that you'll find anything like 50% off, maybe 10-20% or so if you know what you're looking for. As likely as not you'll wind up spending about the same, or buying junk.

That said, there is lots of jewelry shopping in St. Thomas and for US citizens the duty free limits are higher in St. Thomas than in St. Martin because of St. Thomas being a US Territory.

Figure out what you're looking for before you leave and what you'd pay for it here, then you'll know how to haggle when you get down there. Hopefully you'll be able to do better than I think.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

Well shopping was good if it were jewlery, alcohol, and souveniers. There were some good deals on watches and the like and I picked up a timepiece I have had my eye on and my wife picked up some saphire earrings. We dont drink but I know that the prices were very good especially in St. Thomas where the liquor allowance is 5 liters. I live in Tennessee and liquor prices are astronomical here so it would be a nice savings for those in the same situation. I also picked up some Cuban cigars in Marigot in St. Martin and noticed that was there big item. The clothing items I noticed were Boss and Armani suits and a fair amount of Lacoste items which makes sense as the island is half French. However, the suits were still over priced, and the Lacoste polos were $65 euros so with the exchange I wouldn't be saving anything even without the sales tax so I didn't bother. It was a great trip and anyone who hasn't been should go and Royal Caribbean was a great way to get down there.


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## Penang Lawyer (May 27, 2008)

I agree with Mark, never found truly good bargins. Cameras at NYC cheaper; my local jeweler has better and less expensive. Enjoy the fun and food.


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## Mark from Plano (Jan 29, 2007)

dwebber18 said:


> It was a great trip and anyone who hasn't been should go and Royal Caribbean was a great way to get down there.


Which ship?

We've been on 4 RCI cruises; twice on Rhapsody, and once each on Splendor and Explorer. We've also been on Celebrity Constellation thumbs-up and Disney Magic.

Mi esposa and I are doing a short cruise on Carnival Ecstacy in November and are taking our boys on Voyager of the Seas over NYE this year.

We like cruising.


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## dwebber18 (Jun 5, 2008)

We sailed on the Mariner of the Seas out of Port Canaveral, FL. I am looking forward to sailing on the Oasis of the Seas when its released, that ship just looks fantastic.


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