Isla Margarita

[bigmjh]

Anyone have any comments regarding what is right around the port area Is it necessary to take tours or cabs into town? I heard there are a lot of vendors, bars, restaurants and beach activities near where the ship docks.

[klouised]

klouised - How far is it from the cruise pier to the Laguanamar Resort? Do you know if they have day passes there? thanks

Hi Perky. It's about 1 hour drive. There are no tours that go there, so you'll have to take a taxi. I don't believe that they have day passes. I know that The Hilton and The Dunes does. The Dunes have day tours from the port. It's very much like Lagunamar, where it has it's own beach and entertainment and such. I've been to all 3 places, and they are all nice. Lagunamar and The Dunes are known more for their beach sports activities and rentals, and The Hilton is known more for just relaxing by the pool and it's beautiful fauna. They are all 3 very pretty, though.

 

Kristina

[Perky1]

Thank you so much. I will watch for your booth at the pier.

[wieslaw]

Do the venders hassle you like in some ports? Can you look at items without out the pushing items, I love to look and come back to buy after I compare items! Experiences in past have made me stay away from venders in other ports, but this one sounds awesome, and want to shop for the whole 4.5 hrs we are there.

 

Stephanie

 

Hello Stephanie,

 

Perhaps I can answer your concerns from another cruisers point of view.

We visited this port and this particular shopping area on Dec 14th, 2005.....and yes we did spent few hours 'shopping' - buying and looking at things.......and it was a pleasant experience. No vender was pushy - none of them. You could look all you want and buy or not to buy. There were actual times that it was difficult to get the attention of some venders when a number of 'us' shoppers were in front of their small tables/counters - there were two ships there at the same time and when many of us decided to be at the same place at the same time - it was crowded. After Princess's ship left and our was still there the crowds were gone and the prices seem to be just a little lower ( even that they were not bad to start with.......but supply and demand governs).

One thing to remember: if you like " to look and come back to buy " and " to compare items ".......be aware that some items that you like.....others might like as well.....and sometimes they will be gone when you come back to buy........it did happen to us.

 

Wes

[bigmjh]

Stephanie -

 

How about joining us on the Princess Roll Call board ? Here's a link -

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=175105

 

There's a nice group of us on the March 8th Sun Princess ... we're planning a "meet-n-mingle" CC party (parties?). Come join us and post on here. :)

[LoneStar72]

I've never recieved a sale from any cruise critics who did stop by, but I can see someone thinking that I would be abusing the forum's rules by doing so. I walk a fine line. :D

You certainly received a sale from my wife last week (we were on the Star Princess)! She even corralled several others from our ship and steered them to your booth. Unfortunately, you were out with a migraine, and only your assistant was there. But my wife is a fairly accomplished beader (one of her creations won top prize for the state of Texas last year), and she absolutely LOVED your work! I wrote down my CC name on a scrap of paper and asked that your assistant give it to you.

 

To the other posters here: we had a fabulous time on Isla Margarita, due completely to the info Kristina has shared here. We found everything just as she (and other posters who've visited lately) described it. I didn't hear from anyone on our ship who took tours, but we're certainly glad that we spent our time close to the pier (shopping, music, shopping, bar, shopping, beach, shopping.) It was an absolute delight to see the hand-made merchandise there -- it's such a refreshing change from the usual Caribbean cruise port line-up of foreign-made cheap "souvenier" shops with their pushy shills, and high-pressure big-business jewelry stores.

 

Thank you Kristina!

 

John

[klouised]

Wow! Let me say that again... WOW! Thanks, Jon. You do my heart good. I felt bad when my assistant, Janelle, told me that you and your wife had stopped by. I always want to meet fellow ccers. She gave me your note, which I greately appreciated you taking the time to write, and told me that your wife kept walking by our booth bragging to the tourists about our jewelry. That was VERY sweet of her. She did relay to me that your wife was a fellow beader, too. I told her that now I can't brag any more about not making sales off of ccers. lol. :D It was always my point of showing that I do this from my heart. I truly talk on this forum to give information, not to make money, so it's always nice to hear back from you all on how great of a time you had. I love this island and its people, and I feel that it has great potential. It's still in its beginning stages, but in time this will be an even better place to visit than what it is now. Thanks everyone!

 

Kristina

[Northender]

Kristina, you will have a few more visitors to your booth the end of March. I am not quite sure what day we are in Isle M, but I for one am planning to visit. Others on my roll call also will be there. Nothing like starting Christmas Shopping early. Would you just explain where you are located and are you always in the same spot. Thanks

Looking forward to seeing you and the other vendors.:)

[klouised]

Kristina, you will have a few more visitors to your booth the end of March. I am not quite sure what day we are in Isle M, but I for one am planning to visit. Others on my roll call also will be there. Nothing like starting Christmas Shopping early. Would you just explain where you are located and are you always in the same spot. Thanks

Looking forward to seeing you and the other vendors.:)

The moderators have been nice enough to help me out with this. Different ones want to meet me, but I would be breaking rules (giving my booth number is promoting myself, no matter the reason) here on this forum, so we came up with this... If you want, you can contact me by email. Just click on my username, click download vcard, and that will have what you need. :D

 

Kristina

[City_Woman]

Is your booth at the pier?

 

That is pretty much all hubby and I want to do in Margarita is to visit the vendors at the pier, see if the beach is worth spending time on, and then getting right back on the ship.

 

Your help is appreciated.

 

Thanks,

[Perky1]

Kristina... are we the only ship docked in M. I. on April 1st - Sun Princess?? I have been looking everywhere but cannot find a schedule for that port.

[klouised]

Yes, my booth is one of 130 something booths at the port. I'm sure you'll find something that you'll like. It's a great place to buy pearls, hammocks, sarongs and, of course, t-shirts. I think that there are more booths selling jewelry than anything else. It's a woman's paradise and the husband's place of torture. lol.

 

The both times that Sun Princess comes in April is by itself, so you'll have the whole port to yourselves. Lucky you. :)

 

Kristina

[wieslaw]

Yes, my booth is one of 130 something booths at the port. I'm sure you'll find something that you'll like. It's a great place to buy pearls, hammocks, sarongs and, of course, t-shirts. I think that there are more booths selling jewelry than anything else. It's a woman's paradise and the husband's place of torture. lol.

 

The both times that Sun Princess comes in April is by itself, so you'll have the whole port to yourselves. Lucky you. :)

 

Kristina

 

Hello Kristina,

 

I have read just about all of your posts and responses and I believe that you are a wonderful person (yes I did read some of your early posts that you have revealed a little about yourself) and a 'true ambassador' of the island - your posts mean more to me than some of the expensive advertising......my only regret is that I started reading this thread after I came back from the visit to Margarita Island and did not have the pleasure to meet you in person.

Everything that I have experienced there and what you have written about is .....exactly correct.......even this particular statment:

 

"It's woman's paradise and the husband's place of torture."

 

Very, very true.......wife bought more pearls and corals that I could imagine.......she got different colors and different sizes.......and she draged me back and forth through the whole 130 booths so many times that it was a 'torture'.......but it was all worth it.....just to see how much happiness she has gotten from her new acquired arsenal of jewels. And yes the prices were so much lower than anyplace else that we have visited.

I believe that I have read someplace that "Margarita" is "Pearl" in Spanish......and I also believe that "Kristina" is also a 'True Pearl' of that island.

Thank you.

 

Wes

[klouised]

Thanks Wes, for your nice compliments. I'm glad you and your wife had a great time. It's true. I see the husbands being run ragged, and the women be all hyper. lol. Poor guys. I'm glad it was fun for you, and I hope that you are able to return for some more of those precious jewels. :D

 

Kristina

[calliecat]

I met Kristina and her sister Friday in Isla de Margarita. Both were very nice. I made the mistake of referring to her sister as her mom (Sorry!) Kristina.....keep that sign on your booth. It was nice meeting you.

 

I bought a vase at the Murano store in the brick building. Just to let everyone know, this Murano is not the glass from Italy. It is made in Venezuela so if you're looking for the "real McCoy" this isn't it. After I bought it, I looked up on the sign and it said "made in Venezuela" so just be aware of this. The vase is very pretty and I now have something made from there.

 

The Golden Princess did have a few Italian Murano items (fish (large and small), small clowns and a few birds.

[SqueakyDust]

I thought there was a great range of gifts available to buy on Margarita - much more and better than any other port we hit and we hit 11!!

One thing I think it did lack, as did all others, was something for the kids to buy. I don't understand why none of the islands capitalise on selling stuffed toys/teddies/cuddlies (whatever you want to call them) of local animals/birds/fish;

Star Fish, Seahorses, Frigate birds (I think that was what those huge black ones were). Perhaps a cuddly Oyster that has a little fluffy pearl inside,

even Dogs (but not skinny ones ;)), plus other tropical birds, snakes, spiders etc - whatever is LOCAL on the island.

 

I guess it's all down to cost and availability.

[lv2cruz80]

Is there a really nice beach that anyone can recommend for just relaxing? We don't like all the watersports and are just interested in a beach with bathrooms, chairs and nice swimming water.

[klouised]

I met Kristina and her sister Friday in Isla de Margarita. Both were very nice. I made the mistake of referring to her sister as her mom (Sorry!) Kristina.....keep that sign on your booth. It was nice meeting you.

Sorry callicat, but she's not my sister. She's my assistant. :D It's all good, though. You didn't offend her in any way.

 

The Murano Glass is made on the mainland. It is real Murano Glass, but just not from Italy. I'm glad you like it, though.

 

I agree with you squeekydust about the items for children. There are some stuffed dolls and parrots, but not much else. I think that people just don't sell much of it, so they don't keep much in stock. There are children sizes in t-shirts, but not much else.

 

Kristina

[wieslaw]

I bought a vase at the Murano store in the brick building. Just to let everyone know, this Murano is not the glass from Italy. It is made in Venezuela so if you're looking for the "real McCoy" this isn't it. After I bought it, I looked up on the sign and it said "made in Venezuela" so just be aware of this. The vase is very pretty and I now have something made from there.

 

The Golden Princess did have a few Italian Murano items (fish (large and small), small clowns and a few birds.

 

Hello calliecat,

 

Perhaps you are correct by stating that the glass is not "real McCoy" if you are referring to the where it was made but it is the 'real McCoy' as far as being made by the 'Arte Murano Glass Factory'.

In mid ninties one of our cruises took us to La Guira, Venezuela. From there we took a day tour of Caracas which also included a visit to the Murano Glass Factory (located in a nice village in the mountains -about 1 hour bus ride from the city).

I do not remember all what they told us about the factory.......but among other things they told us that the artisans who worked there and created some beautiful glass pieces came from the Murano Islands and they were using the same methods and materials to create the Venetian glass as their relatives back in Venice. The tour guides in the factory told us that this location started operation about 50 years ago. I do not recall why they moved there.......family or political disputes ?

So in a way what they make there is a "Murano Glass" and perhaps some of the pieces are just as beautiful and less expensive then their Italian counterparts.

About two years later we visited Venice and went to one large store that had a lot of Murano glass and also had a demo furnace and some artisians creating some pieces.

Both places: Venice and Caracas had some fantastic creations and their prices were just as fantastic. But for the average people like us the Arte Murano Factory in Venezuela had pieces that were giving us more 'value' for the money.

There are some famous artisians creating glass pieces in Venice Murano Islands and probably there are some in Caracas as well......but their products are not for me to buy .....just to see and admire.

 

Wes

[calliecat]

Wes,

I'm not at all disappointed in the piece I purchased. I just wanted those that thought they were going to get a great deal on Italian glass to know that there was another Murano glass. I don't believe that I had read anywhere when people were posting about "Murano Glass" that this was not imported from Italy. That said, I wish that I could have purchased the glass duck that they had. We were afraid we couldn't bring back anything else on the plane that was breakable (we already had alcohol to take back).

calliecat (Diane)

[Bowgard2]

Just got back from the 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise onboard the Empress. Had a great time and saw a lot of ports, one of which was Isla de Margarita. Must admit I was a little leary about this one, what with the government, etc., but had a great time there. I will admit that you might occasionally see a machine gun carrying army member walking around and that the average person is poor. The island has so much wasted potential. It could easily be a tourism pearl if the government wanted to make the effort.The port is pretty much on the end of nowhere, but don't judge the island by only that area. They have brought in many local merchants around the pier with some lovely stuff at a fair price. This was one of the few islands where we didn't feel that we were being harassed by merchants, but they would bargain some. There is also a nice, clear beach right at the dock if you just want to get wet and not snorkle. It is about a 30 to 40 minute ride to get to town, but if you're looking for stuff like pearls, it's the place to get them. There are also some beautiful areas around the island if you want to spend the time to see them. With our guides help, my wife stocked up for something like 8 dollars a strand for nice pearls. May have been less for some. I lost count after the her hand got full. Also found some at a local overlook that looked pretty good. We booked guides on our own in 4 of the nine ports, but by far we enjoyed the guide here best. We felt very comfortable with him since he actually retired here from the UK and was fluent in English and Spanish. Well traveled and knowledgable, and actually wasn't in it for the quick buck. We honestly thought he was doing it for the fun of it. We let him do some bargaining for us, which I think he really enjoyed. Did a good job, too. To say he was reasonable would be an understatement and he showed us anything we wanted for as long as we had time to spend (none of the 3 hour and dump you on the beach so you could pay someone else to take you back to the ship stuff we ran into in St Kitts). seemargarita@yahoo.com was his site and Len was his name. If you're interested in using him, tell him Bill from Virginia says hi and we'll see him next time we're in town. We would like to see more of the island if Venezuela and the US can keep it together.

[CODNERZ]

seemargarita@yahoo.com was his site and Len was his name. If you're interested in using him, tell him Bill from Virginia says hi and we'll see him next time we're in town. We would like to see more of the island if Venezuela and the US can keep it together.

 

Does he have a website or just a e-mail address? I will be there in March and havent heard much for tour guides that are trustworthy.

 

Stephanie

[CODNERZ]

If you are comming on March 14th, then the Sun Princess is the only ship docked that day. The port and beach won't be too crowded for you. The beach is controlled by the port, so no there are no vendors out there trying to sell you things. If you go to another beach on the island then you would get that. The water is shallow very far out, and the water is calm, so it's pretty relaxing. My mother will probably be there, if not, then our assistant will be. She's a short blond, so she stands out. We have 3 seasons on this island: windy/hot, rainy/hot, and just plain HOT. Take your pick. LOL. I can pretty much guarantee that it will be hot.

THANKS

I know it is always nice to make sales, ofcourse who wouldnt be happy when you make sells! But your info has been the best! I was going to pay $$$ for cheap excursion, and staying by the port sounds more appealing, escpecially if beach is nice.Our other ports we wont have much shopping time, so this will be the day for buying gifts for family!I will email you for your booth number-I realize the rules(which are good rules-as I have come across some advertisers,pretending to be tourists)I am glad to hear we are only ship in dock!!! Wonderful!! Is there a lunch place to grab a bite by the beach or in shopping area?? Does any one sell beaded necklaces,neutral colors, twine? made for men or boys in any of the booths?Thanks again

 

p.s I LOVE THE HEAT!!!! CANT WAIT

 

Stephanie and Wendy

[Aloha_Jackie]

trust me, we were just there, its great.

 

dont wast time going to do a shore excursion, lots of diversions are right at the pier/dock

 

we tendered in, shopped, I got my Murano Pineapple, we picked up a few cigars, some pearls, hats, tshirts, sat at the bar and cocktails, the beach looked great, we just needed a break (in the middle of a busy 14 day cruise) and just to sit there and relax was great! who am I kidding? I wasnt relaxing....I was shopping like a chicken with my head cut off!:D

[bambam]

As it is said in AOL land....You've got mail!!!;)

 

Thank you so much for the Margarita info...you are a blessing to us cruisers...:D :D