Shop in St. Thomas - On Your Own or Excursion?

[Bernbun29]

We are sailing on CB on July 1 -- first cruise -- Should we go it on your own, or go with shore excursion when looking to go jewelery shopping? We know we can book St. Thomas Scenic drive and shopping, or go with Godfrey tours (help me here, please), or what would you recommend? I want to buy a nice Itialian Gold necklace, but want to see the high points of St. Thomas.

 

I know there is another excursion for

 

Help me please!

 

We have already booked the Americas Cup in St. Marteen the day before (on July 4), we are syched up!)

[PoohUnderstands]

I strongly suggest that you do your shopping in St. Maarten. Even if you have to pay duty when you get home and it is really not all that much - 3% , you get better deals in St. Maarten. I was just there in February and decided for the fun of it to get a Philip Stein Teslar Watch. I saved about $200 by getting it in St. Maarten and not St. Thomas. I also got a nice Diamond Circle necklace for my daughter there also. Since I only had the $800 limit (you will have an additional $800 in St. Thomas), I had to pay duty when we hit Fort Lauderdale, but that took me about 3 minutes and cost me under $10. Well, worth the savings I got in St. Maarten. Also, the atmosphere is soooo much nicer on Front Street in Phillipsburg than in St. Thomas. Anyway, have a fantastic cruise!!

 

Pooh

[tvaud]

We are sailing on CB on July 1 -- first cruise -- Should we go it on your own, or go with shore excursion when looking to go jewelery shopping? We know we can book St. Thomas Scenic drive and shopping, or go with Godfrey tours (help me here, please), or what would you recommend? I want to buy a nice Itialian Gold necklace, but want to see the high points of St. Thomas.

 

I know there is another excursion for

 

Help me please!

 

We have already booked the Americas Cup in St. Marteen the day before (on July 4), we are syched up!)

 

You should have enough time to do shopping in the morning. If you are looking for good deals, don't listen to where the ship tells you to shop. They get paid to recommend those shops. Check out the smaller shop in the side alleys. They have been there forever and are more willing to deal with you. My DH was quoted prices on gold from the larger recommended stores and then checked out a smaller shop in the side alley. The smaller shop quoted a price $350. less than the recommended shops. It really pays to shop around.

After shopping, have lunch and then take your tour, or you could hire a taxi to take you all over. The St. Thomas taxi drivers are very good, know the island well and it's reasonable.

My vote is to do it on your own in St. Thomas.:)

[Lidolounger]

You can easily shop on your own. Taxis will be lined up right at the dock waiting for cruise passengers. Once you're in town shopping it's easy to find a taxi to get back to the ship.

 

Something else to consider - if you do a shopping tour - you are limited to the amount of time you can actually shop and will be worried about time and not able to really look around to be sure you are getting a good deal.

[karena1]

I agree with the other posters. Go on your own. Also agree shop at the smaller shops, get much better deals. I have bought jewelry from Beverly's in Havensight for years now and get great deals from Jac. Always come home and my appraisals are for double what I pay for it and the quality is good. he is really nice to deal with.

 

Cabs are all over the place so you can tour or go downtown to shop also. There is also a straw market in town that is fun to go to. Lots of local arts/clothes and stuff.

 

Have fun.

[ATL-Cpl]

I would agree on Phillipsburg instead of St Thomas. Also do not use the ships shopping service. Go to the smaller independents, you will get personalized service and a real person you can call if there is a problem. Everyone will have a favorite that is the “best”. Our favorite is Crown Jewels, Frontstreet 4, in Phillipsburg. I have even ordered from them via e-mail and they have always taken care of me with excellent quality and service. Tell Rocky and Nisha that Gilbert said “Hi.”

(us with Rocky) http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2659347920099922062NegYAw?vhost=good-times

Gilbert

Ps. Lots of pictures of the CB, St Thomas and St Maarten in the album. We've done it twice.

[rjack22]

I concur with Pooh....if you can, shop in St. Maarten. Much better prices.

 

If shopping is your goal, I would do it on my own. In St. Thomas we took a tour that was supposed to include two hours of shopping. Well until we got dropped off downtown it was only about and hour and fifteen minutes and we felt very rushed. Or if you do take a tour, get dropped off downtown afterwards and shop some more on your own.

 

But do consider doing your major shopping in St. Maarten!

[khfadpi]

We've been to St. Thomas twice. You will (in most cases) get better deals in St. Maarten. Both times in St. Thomas we've gotten taxi drivers at the dock. They will take you to town to shop and then take you to a beach. We usually shopped for a couple of hours and were at a beach by 11 or 11:30, which is good because the crowd comes later. First time there we went to Sapphire Beach. It is beautiful and good snorkling. Last summer we went to Coki. It was okay, but it got packed in the afternoon. And the bathroom facilities are not good for the amount of people that were there. If you leave the beach by 3 you still have enough time to hit a few of the shops at the pier.

 

The CB was our 1st cruise, too. You will love it. Our kids had a ball. Have fun!!:)

[Maraprince]

BERNBUN29,

 

Do the shopping on your own! You don't need the ship to tell you where to shop -- the on-board shopping consultant gets a commission from every sale from these places. You will find a very hard sell from her/him pushing these shops.

 

If you are from a large city, comparison shop before you go. If you are looking for cameras or electronics, the pricing is pretty much the same as stateside except for the taxes. If you know what camera or equipment you want, buy it in St. Thomas just to save on the tax. You will get your warranty from the manufacturer.

 

If you are shopping for jewelry, know your pricing before you sail. Then you are in a better position to know how the pricing compares. Bargain! Don't settle for the first price quoted. It may go lower.

 

Sometimes, HSN, QVC or Shop NBC will have better prices than any of the islands because of flex (installment) payments and unconditional 30-day return policies. You can't just hop on the next cruise to return your jewelry purchase if you have a problem!

 

Read some of the problems passengers have had with ship recommended stores when things go wrong.

 

Use the same amount of caution you would if you were shopping at home.

 

Don't know what your taste is, but you can never go wrong with plain sterling silver or gold. Nothing to fall out!

 

 

MARAPRINCE

[JOANN226]

I suggest that you go with Godfrey Tours, used him in 2005 and have him booked again for my July 14, 2007 cruise. They are the best, we always get a private tour, there are 9 of us, and we go shopping and we did the tour up the mountain, and then to the beach for a couple of hours.

[Belle2002]

In St. Thomas there is a mall just about dockside, most of the big name stores have shops there. I do agree that St. Maarten is a much better place to do your shopping. But I would hate to see something in St. Thomas and hope that you can get the comparative item for less in St. Maarten and then it not be available.

[RedmondCruiser]

I could care less about jewelry but my wife is the total opposite so I've learned to find better deals when shopping in the Carribean. St Martin is a better place to shop for gold jewelry. In St Thomas we frequent Magnum Jewelers and have found that the stones that they sell are top quality whereas we have talked to many who have not been happy with some of the big dealers. --- As always negotiate the price. -- counter their price with a very low price --- they can only say no --- Jewelry has something like a 100% mark up. and check out the prices at home first. Remember Costco is one of the biggest diamond dealers in the world and they get good prices. don't get caught with shoppers fever.

[Bernbun29]

Link doesn't work -- still there?

[turbo46032]

We have been to St Thomas twice, both times at Omni Jewelers. Extremely good prices, and good selection and nice people. Hard to find (on an alley somewhere :eek:). They are also in St Marteen and various other places.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

I could care less about jewelry but my wife is the total opposite so I've learned to find better deals when shopping in the Carribean. St Martin is a better place to shop for gold jewelry. In St Thomas we frequent Magnum Jewelers and have found that the stones that they sell are top quality whereas we have talked to many who have not been happy with some of the big dealers. --- As always negotiate the price. -- counter their price with a very low price --- they can only say no --- Jewelry has something like a 100% mark up. and check out the prices at home first. Remember Costco is one of the biggest diamond dealers in the world and they get good prices. don't get caught with shoppers fever.

 

I agree, I prefer shopping at Costco where if there is a problem I can walk in and have it dealt with:D

[Walterswife]

If you take Godfrey's tour, you can have as much as three hours (if you do the earliest pickup) to shop in the morning. He will pick you up from the ship, drop you off in town and pick up up from town at noon to take you on the afternoon tour. We did his tour last April and loved it. It's the best of both worlds. His tour is a great value and three hours should be sufficient. I always find wonderful jewelry deals at The Gold Mine (on Raadets Cade). We have shopped there for the past ten years. If the ship docks in Havensight (sp?) Mall, there are also some good shops there. I agree--the ship's recommended stores are too high priced for me!

 

Happy cruising and happy shopping!

[Seagarr]

Why anyone would want to take a Tour for shopping in St. Thomas is beyond me.... very easy to go it alone. "Cabs will be Waiting"

As for shopping I don't think you get the great deals any longer in the islands.. we focus on locally made products that are unique to the Island. Lets face it you get the screws put to you in just as bad at home as you do in St.Thomas when it comes to Jewelery.

[Walterswife]

Usually it doesn't make sense to take a tour to go shopping. But the total cost of Godfrey's tour is $25.00 for the entire day--Cab fare alone is $4.00 per person each way. The tour is a great deal if you want to do both. Ship's tours would charge $50.00 plus just for the afternoon portion of the tour.

[geoherb]

If your ship is docked at Crown Bay, there are a few stores--but nothing like the number at Havensight. We've docked at Crown Bay the past two Decembers. In 2005, nothing was open. In 2006, there were five or six stores--mainly souvenir type--not jewelry, watches, and electronics.