Comments on St. Thomas/St. John?

[llmoyer123]

St. Thomas / St. John

what are the best buys and what buys are "specific" to St. Thomas?

 

what are the best buys and what buys are "specific" to St. John?

[rickcop44]

It depends on what you're looking for. My wife buys almost all her jewelry in St. Thomas and after six trips and countless pieces of jewelry, she has yet to be disappointed. Everything she's ever purchased has appraised far above what we paid in St. Thomas. When I got to the point where I was ready to buy a digital camera, I did a lot of research on what kind of camera I wanted. I then checked all our local camera stores as well as big box outlets like Target and Wal-Mart. When we got to St. Thomas, I went into Boolchand's which sells digital cameras, among other things. I found the camera I had been researching back home for $150 less than the lowest price I had found at home. And no sales tax and no duty either. Boolchand's also "threw in" a year's supply of batteries, a camera case, a second memory card, and a coupon to get a third memory card from the manufacturer. So it was a great buy. My daughter always buys her perfumes at A.H. Riise because their prices are far lower than what she can find back home. So it really depends on what you are looking for.

 

One other note - the cruise line will go to great lengths to tell you to shop only in "cruise approved" stores. They'll even give talks on the ship and give you a list of approved stores. Ignore it. First, almost every approved store is along the main drag in Charlotte Amalie. Go one block off the main drag and you'll find scores of stores selling the same items for much lower prices. Also, if you're lazy (like I'm getting in my old age), you can find everything you could possibly want at Havensight Mall which is right on the dock where your ship will berth. Havensight also has a lot of those stores that "aren't approved" by the cruise line. Just as an example, my wife bought an 18 inch diamond cut Italian gold rope at Columbian Emeralds for $360. While I was wandering around killing time, I found the same exact necklace at another, unapproved, store for $250. I had her take the expensive necklace back and get her money back. We then bought the second necklace. Incidentally, the necklace appraised for just over $600. Good luck with your shopping!