Markets and money on Islands

[smurfette]

Hi,

AS we are going on our first cruise and have never been to any of these places we are unsure as to what kind of cash amounts we should carry/need on the islands. We are doing Isle of Pines, Mystery Island, Vila, Lifou, and Noumea. What is at the markets and how much are touristy things? I have no idea what we are even going to be seeing to buy, so therefore we have no idea of what is a reasonable amount to carry. We have read to watch our money at Vila due to pickpocketers - but unsure of anything else.

 

 

Thanks:confused:

[Fortknox]

Great questions Smurfette

I too am a virgin cruiser later in the year & would like to know the answers :)

[Whoey]

I am sure there are others here who can answer more precisely, however as a golden rule, travel in groups of 4 adults at least and you shouldn't have too many safety / theft issues. In terms of pickpockets maybe one of those money belts would come in handy or one each for you and your partner.

 

You have asked a hard question to answer as the amount of money to take depends on what you are trying to find. Some people buy lots of little sounveniers from every port and others go swimming and ignore the shopping. We took about $100 local currency to Noumea (came back with $90 here) and Vila (wish we had taken more! so much cool stuff to buy) and only pocket change to the islands however we weren't looking for nicknacks and only purchased a few wooden souveniers.

 

I cruised 9 years ago so some of this info might be out of date. Anyway, this is what I found at the ports you mentioned:

 

Noumea - expensive shops, very rude people. We won't be shopping there again ! All we purchased was an ice cream and a soft drink and I have never ever had such rude service, was really surprising and very dissapointing.

 

Vila - great place to wander through the shops, buy sarongs, some t-shirts. They have lots of handmade wooden lovely nicknacks however be careful as wood items and shell items often cannot come back into Australia. You can spend a few hours wandering the shops in Vila and it really is the BEST place to shop - especially for Duty Free items. If you want anything Duty Free then definately give yourself some time in Vila to shop as everyone says Vila is the best for this! Perfumes and Alcohol prices cannot be beaten.

 

Mystery Island - locals put on a very small market of quite nice things, once again be careful on what items you can keep. You might find P&O let you bring some items onto the ship and Australian Customs will then stop you bringing them into australia - this can be very upsetting especially if you do find something you really like and wanted to keep.

 

Isle of Pines - I don't recall anything for sale here sorry - maybe someone else can say. AllI remember is an out of this world beach... !

 

Lifou - I haven't been there yet (sorry).

 

On the smaller islands it is common for the locals to dress up and offer themselves for photograph's for a small fee - like a gold coin donation.

 

I strongly recommend you focus your shopping time on Vila as it really is a lovely place to stroll through the medium size market and number of shops ending up at the Duty Free store(s). I am guessing it would be even bigger now so at least a few hours.

 

We have budgetted some money to get a few items to bring back as gifts for family members and friends - mostly we have picked T-Shirts due to the fact we don't want customs problems, so please keep that in mind.

 

Good luck and enjoy your shopping :)

[Whoey]

I am sure there are others here who can answer more precisely, however as a golden rule, travel in groups of 4 adults at least and you shouldn't have too many safety / theft issues. In terms of pickpockets maybe one of those money belts would come in handy or one each for you and your partner.

 

You have asked a hard question to answer as the amount of money to take depends on what you are trying to find. Some people buy lots of little sounveniers from every port and others go swimming and ignore the shopping. We took about $100 local currency to Noumea (came back with $90 here) and Vila (wish we had taken more! so much cool stuff to buy) and only pocket change to the islands however we weren't looking for nicknacks and only purchased a few wooden souveniers.

 

I cruised 9 years ago so some of this info might be out of date. Anyway, this is what I found at the ports you mentioned:

 

Noumea - expensive shops, very rude people. We won't be shopping there again ! All we purchased was an ice cream and a soft drink and I have never ever had such rude service, was really surprising and very dissapointing.

 

Vila - great place to wander through the shops, buy sarongs, some t-shirts. They have lots of handmade wooden lovely nicknacks however be careful as wood items and shell items often cannot come back into Australia. You can spend a few hours wandering the shops in Vila and it really is the BEST place to shop - especially for Duty Free items. If you want anything Duty Free then definately give yourself some time in Vila to shop as everyone says Vila is the best for this! Perfumes and Alcohol prices cannot be beaten.

 

Mystery Island - locals put on a very small market of quite nice things, once again be careful on what items you can keep. You might find P&O let you bring some items onto the ship and Australian Customs will then stop you bringing them into australia - this can be very upsetting especially if you do find something you really like and wanted to keep.

 

Isle of Pines - I don't recall anything for sale here sorry - maybe someone else can say. AllI remember is an out of this world beach... !

 

Lifou - I haven't been there yet (sorry).

 

On the smaller islands it is common for the locals to dress up and offer themselves for photograph's for a small fee - like a gold coin donation.

 

I strongly recommend you focus your shopping time on Vila as it really is a lovely place to stroll through the medium size market and number of shops ending up at the Duty Free store(s). I am guessing it would be even bigger now so at least a few hours.

 

We have budgetted some money to get a few items to bring back as gifts for family members and friends - mostly we have picked T-Shirts due to the fact we don't want customs problems, so please keep that in mind.

 

Good luck and enjoy your shopping :)

[Skyrules]

Noumea - Not much is different there. You'll need some Central Pacific Francs if you want to get a drink or souvenier.

Mystery Island has the best markets, and everything's pretty cheap. They'll take either the Vatu (Vanuatu currency) or the Australian Dollar. Be carefull about wooden products or plant material based products as they'll probably get confiscated by Quarantine on your returen to Australia.

There's normally a couple of Markets at Isle of pines - mostly T-shirts and dresses, and more "commercial" things (books, postcards, etc). You'll need Central Pacific Francs here, although they may take small amounts of Australian Dollars.

[mummsie]

Hi, We changed about $60 Aust into Pacific Franks on the ship but we only spent about half in the few days we were there. There isn't much to buy and in Noumea as stated we didn't buy anything. The locals aren't interested in tourists and are very rude. We just wandered around for about 2 hours and then went back to the ship. There is a small market in the cruise terminal that have a few things and the people in there are quite nice though. I bought my daughter a sarong there only because I liked the design but when I got on board found it was made in Taiwan anyway. I bought one for myself in Heingeng which was made locally and fairly cheap. Also none of the locals we came across in most of the smaller Islands or communities that we went to spoke any English at all so unless you can speak French which I don't unfortunately you will have problems. Gayle

[Whoey]

Double Post - sorry everyone... stupid computers !

[kaseyoz]

Not much for me to add. Noumea very expensive and people not interested in tourists.

EG we had to go looking for a taxi in the city, none around and a huge cruise ship there with people wanting to spend money!!crazy.

Mystery, they take aussie dollars and very nice. Great for stuff for island night but dont buy wood or shells as been mentioned. Huge fines.

 

Divine had a few little stalls but very dated sarongs cheap tshirts etc.

Oh mystery also had cooked crab for sale not sure how safe but i saw a few people eating it.

Drinks can be bought from p ando staff ashore where cost goes onto your cruise card.

wala need a few dollar coins for photos.(worth it)

why is no food available on the small islands and you cant take food ashore. Is it because of a rubbish problem do you think. hard to last all day with no food even with those huge cooked breakfast.

Has anyone smuggled food ashore?

[NARELLE]

I agree with all the above postings HATE NOUMEA last time we visited got off the ship walked round the block for a breather from sea legs and got back on ship. People are extremely rude and very expensive. I suggest as I do to eveyone that asks a tour in Noumea which was very good was the Le Petit train took you right round the island and you got to see all the sights.

I love Isle of Pines, Mystery Island and Lifou. No shops just a few people selling their wares and will accept $A money.

 

Vila is the best for shopping as quoted. It consists of one long street with manya tourist shops markets etc. There is a marketplace but be careful my kids bought shell necklaces and my daughter had bought a what we thought was wooded necklace and Aust customs confiscated it and said it was actually made from some sort of seeds. Daughter bought a fan on Lifou had no trouble bringing it in and yet friends had bought many bags made out of same stuff and the amount of bags that customs confiscated coming back in was amazing. DO NOT bring back any shells or coral.

They will also go over closely any wooden artifacts brought back in.

For duty free alcolhol and cigs the very last shop on left hand side of the street is absolutely the cheapest. We still found it the cheapest 2 weeks ago and have always gone there every time. Son bought very cheap t-shirts in market (not markets at beginning of street) it was in the middle I think called the Marketplace - I know it has no air conditioning and very hot inside I think opp ANZ bank.

Dont buy souvenirs from stalls located jsut off ship. Compare your prices before you go into town. you will find cheaper in town. outside gates taxi to town costs $10 and if you get a van it is $2 per person.

We never exchanged from $A at all for our entire trip. Most of the places except for Noumea will accept $A.

any more questions feel free to ask

[jessica3152]

Best shopping is undoubtedly Vila for grog and cigarettes. Stores have an arrangement with the cruise line to transport all your purchases back to the ship for you and it will be delivered to your room the night before arrival back in Australia. We actually found perfumes and after shaves to be cheaper on board the ship compared with shops in Vila. Keep an eye out for the daily specials in the onboard store.

 

Plenty of markets in Vila and Mystery Island. We bought a whole lobster freshly caught and cooked on Myustery Island for $10. P&O will warn you against it for legal reasons I assume because I saw the same cruise staff who warned against the purchase tucking into lobster on the island.

[smurfette]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I ave just received our shore tour book today and I think in Vil we will do the tour that takes all day and looks at the village life etc. A real learning curb for the kids and us.

[maxx]

I've been told that they have a sale on board towards the end of the cruise and this is the best time to buy. Is this true?

[jessica3152]

The end of cruise sale is OK but if you see something for a good price before then on the ship or in Vila grab it.

[Skyrules]

I've been told that they have a sale on board towards the end of the cruise and this is the best time to buy. Is this true?

 

I think it depends on the cruise. On Pacific Sky they we picked up really good deals like two polo shirts for the price of one and other cheap souveniers, but on Pacific Sun, there wasn't anything like that.

 

 

Kym

[karmac]

Is Vila also the best place to buy perfume? and if so, any particular shop that you know of?

 

Karen

[Gyyp]

People on our Dinner table did the all day tour of Vila, they said it's a very long day and about 2/3 of the way through they had had enough, but I haven't done the tour so I personally don't know, but Vila is definetly the best place for Shopping, agree with the last shop on the left being the best for Alcohol and gigarettes, also the best place we foung for T shirts etc is opposite the Post Office ( Can't remember the name)

 

Mystery Island, Isle of Pines and Vila are my favourites, not fussed on Lifou or Noumea.

 

I have been to Vila 6 times and never had any problems with pick pockets, but I don't keep all my money in one pocket, also use a money belt.:)

[rockie]

We went to Mystery Island and Port Vila again on this trip and then to Ouvea, Noumea and Isle Of Pines. I loved all those places and there is a shop in Vila that I went to again and it was still cheap, can't remember the name of it but it is way past the markets. Some of the other shops have raised their prices. I loved all those places even Noumea and would like to go back there. It IS very expensive though. I didn't find the locals rude, just indifferent which is a shame. I went several times during the day to the supermarket across the road from the dock, it is called the Casino, their word for supermarket. I got some kiddies books in French for the grandkids, they are those work type sticker books and am interested in how they will be received by them, being in a foreign language. Who knows they may take an interest in learning another language of some type. We went on the Petit Train and it is well worth it, then took a taxi to Palm Beach (1000 francs) but the next beach round towards town is nicer. We didn't swim there as there was a sort of algae coming in. The locals were swimming though. We should have taken the bus though, it has a green number 1 sticker somewhere on one of the windows. That was only 200 francs each. A beer and an orange juice cost us around $15 AU.