shopping in St Martin/St Thomas

[jcemom]

I keep reading about shopping...practically every excursion seems to include shopping...

why? Are prices really low? Do they have things we can't buy here? Will I really be missing out if I don't go shopping?

I ask because I am not a "shopper" and will have three kids in tow. I don't even care to shop at Wal Mart with my three kids along, lol. (Those trips are always MUCH more expensive than when I can sneak away to shop alone...and I usually don't come out with whatever it was I went in for in the first place, lol.) I really can't picture wending my way through the streets of strange towns in and out of little shops with three kids..."don't touch that, put that down, stay away from that," etc. Uh, no.

I also do not haggle to bring down prices, ever. I'm either willing to pay what the tag says, or not. So...

Can I skip the shopping without feeling as if I'd made some kind of mistake and missed out on something? Or is a "must-do" part of the "cruise experience?" TIA

 

[Denine]

If you are shopping because you feel you have to, don't, unless it is just for souveniers.

I love to shop in St. Maartin for jewelry because I can great stuff a lot cheaper than at home. I bought a 2 carat diamond bracelet for not quite $400. I lost a diamond a few months later. I had it fixed locally. The diamond cost me $44 and it looks awful. It has no shine or sparkle. I plan on replacing the diamond in October when we cruise.

You have to know what you are shopping for and how much it costs at home to make sure you are getting a good price.

 

[TraSee]

The only items we bought were jewelry and alcohol. Now, we don't even drink, but we wanted to have it in the house for guests and you can't beat their prices.
If you don't need either of those, don't give another thought to the shopping.
Have a great cruise!

 

[goofyforus]

Jcemom, don't worry about shopping if you don't want to. You can always do a quick tour of the port with the kids, or take an excursion to the beach. In St. Maarten, we took the water taxi to the beach. The street is lined with merchants, but you can pass them up. We only bought the usual collectables, fridge magnet, shot glass, key ring, etc. for friends and family. In both St. Maarten and St. Thomas There are lots of jewelry stores if you are into that sort of thing. With kids in tow, it's not worth it, they get bored. I am a shopper, I did time with the kids, got them back to the ship with hubby and headed back for the jewelry. My husband knows i love to do this alone, because i do haggle prices. He was more than happy to take the kids cause he does not enjoy shopping. I am the one who comes back with bags of stuff for everyone.
I got some great deals, especially in St. Thomas.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

I do not really enjoy shopping when DH and DD (9) are w/me. They easily get bored. (DH is okay if it's just the two of us, he actually enjoys St. Thomas shopping.)

However, I LOVE TO SHOP. I always go alone while DH and DD do shore excursions. I'm already planning for 2005, as there are some tanzanite bracelets in which I'm interested, and plus, there's no sales tax!

 

[jcemom]

Thanks for the replies! I think I'll skip the shopping with no guilt, lol. I usually do the required souvenir shopping on vacation while DH occupies the kids elsewhere whenever possible, but he isn't going this time. There are occasions when I enjoy shopping, Christmas at the mall for example. I do not enjoy shopping anywhere where haggling is expected (flea markets, etc) or where I may be approached by people trying to sell me something. I CAN politely say no, but it makes me uncomfortable and I'd rather avoid it. I don't buy or wear much jewelry, I like it, but I lose everything, and I don't really drink much...I'll have some drinks on the ship, but I wouldn't buy any bottles of alcohol or anything like that. I'm sure there will be more cruises in our future, so I'll check out the shopping areas some other time.

I'm not entirely sure what we want to do/see. I read about Coral World and I think we'd like that. I also read about some sort of incline/tram-type thing that goes up a mountain and think we might want to do that. I'm sure we'll want to go to the beach, but don't know where/which one yet. I have plenty of time to check everything out!

 

[NYDisneyMom]

My DH and I brought the kids back to the ship, signed them into the lab and then went back out to St. Martin to do some shopping. We took the water taxi over..and while we didn't do major shopping, it was nice to have two hours alone just browsing. I did buy myself and my niece each a very pretty gold necklace at Columbian Emeralds, they had fabulous prices. After that we got tons of t-shirts, beach bags, beach towels...practically given to us. We were the only ship in port that day and the shop owners were all beating each other's prices. (Three big beautiful embroidered beach bags for $10!! T-shirts, 3 for $5, etc.)

On St. Thomas we didn't do any shopping. We did get some souveniers right in the gift shop of Coral World though..so if you go there, you can spend a few minutes in their shop!!

Have fun!!!!

 

[jcemom]

Wow, NYDisneyMom, those are terrific bargains! (I do like bargains, lol. ) But I don't know if I would feel comfortable leaving DD on the ship. She will have just turned 3 and won't have been in preschool or daycare or anything prior to the cruise. I'm not sure she'll even stay in kids club alone...I'm hoping she will. If I decide to go that route maybe I'll take her (she's usually the "good one" anyway, lol) and leave the boys--I'm sure given a choice they would rather stay behind anyway, lol. Thanks!