Shopping in Western Caribbean??

[taliacamp]

Hello, cruising to Western Cairibbean in November on Carnival Glory....Cozumel, Grand Caymen, Belize, and Roatan. My husband loves to shop when traveling..a piece of jewelry or watch...I like more of the fun touristy stuff...any suggestions on some good shopping areas we should visit?....This is only our second cruise so still a newbie and everyone on this site has been SO helpful! Thanks in advance!!:)

[cardinalfan]

I love Grand Caymen for shopping.

[momjen]

We got some good deals in Cozumel in the port area.

[terigo]

I've been to all these islands a jillion times, so I'll be happy to share what I know....

 

Grand Cayman is a great port for "upscale" shopping. Jewelry, art pieces, watches, etc.

The prices are not as good as the Eastern Caribbean market, like Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten, but the items are high quality, and you can trust the merchants.

 

Mexico is good for Kahlua, vanilla, and hand-crafted items. Not so much for things like perfume, jewelry, and high-end goods..

 

In Mexico, be very careful of places that claim to sell Cuban cigars, if your hubby is predisposed to such things.... most of them are just cigars with fake labels on em....

Quality of jewelry is suspect, as well.... there are quite a few places that will sell alloys that are dipped.

If you buy silver, always look for the 925, or even 950 stamp. That denotes the quality of the silver.

 

All of these places have a "strip"... not hard to find the shopping areas...

[howard6933]

Hello, cruising to Western Cairibbean in November on Carnival Glory....Cozumel, Grand Caymen, Belize, and Roatan. My husband loves to shop when traveling..a piece of jewelry or watch...I like more of the fun touristy stuff...any suggestions on some good shopping areas we should visit?....This is only our second cruise so still a newbie and everyone on this site has been SO helpful! Thanks in advance!!:)

 

Shopping in Belize and Roatan is not so good, but Cozumel and Grand Cayman are very good. I like to say that Cozumel is almost as good as St. Thomas with many good jewelry stores and also a lot of Mexico made products. Remember one thing......if you are buying some jewelry, no matter what store you go into, NEVER accept the first price that they quote you. Always ask if they can do better on the price, and most times they will come down. Grand Cayman has some really high class stores such as Kirk-Freeport, but keep in mind that their money is worth more than ours. I believe the last time I was there one Cayman dollar was worth $1.25 in US currency. ;)

[yogimax]

Your ship will have onboard a port shopping "expert." You can attend their presentations

[JRock59]

Hello, cruising to Western Cairibbean in November on Carnival Glory....Cozumel, Grand Caymen, Belize, and Roatan. My husband loves to shop when traveling..a piece of jewelry or watch...I like more of the fun touristy stuff...any suggestions on some good shopping areas we should visit?....This is only our second cruise so still a newbie and everyone on this site has been SO helpful! Thanks in advance!!:)

 

 

Grand Caymen and Cozumel are your two big shopping stops. Cozumel being the one we do most of our shopping in. Go to the shopping talk on the ship, since your still pretty new to Cruising you'll gain a lot of info from it. Sit up front as they usually have a fee freebies to give away. Take DH with you! Don't forget the shopping specialist will also be available during posted hours and will be happy to talk to you and give you suggestions on places to go. In Coz take a taxi in to the main shopping strip it's worth it! Also you see a big plaza behind the resturant called Las Palmeras. Over the past few years this area has been cleaned up, we now enjoy strolling down through the area. Just be a bit "street smart" as you would in any area your not familiar with. If your not sure just don't go to that area. Yes you will find some shop keepers to be a bit aggressive but we've always found a "no Thank You or maybe later" said with a smile and a wave works pretty well. We also enjoy having lunch at Pancho's Backyard down by the Forum shops. The food and drinks are both great and the prices are pretty good too. Last time we Cruised at the shopping talk you could pick up a coupon for free appitizers. It wasn't much just a plate with 5-6 bite size items but they were very tasty. We usually get the special they have at lunch time that has a varity of items on it. You have to ask for it and it's enough for both of us to share. Here's a link for Los Cinco Soles http://www.loscincosoles.com/mainwelcome.htm I always but the Vanilla they sell here it's amazing! and they have a lot of the local touristy items. You'll see a link for Pancho's on this site also as it's on the back of this store. But if your looking for a "big ticket" item or something special see the ship shopping specialist, they will also be in select stores at scheduled times and you can meet them there and they'll help you get the best price. Viva Mexico is another good place for the fun stuff! But there's really lots of places to shop for things like that just take a good look at what your buying before purchasing. Grand Caymen is fun for shopping also but the American $ against the Caymen $ can be a bit shocking so always ask if the price is in American $. In GC I'd say go swiming with the Stingrays it's an amazing thing to do. It's safe and fun and you'll have great photos to take home and show everyone!

 

Anyway.......have a GREAT Cruise and by researching ahead of time you'll not only save you a little time but you'll save $$ and have more fun! :)

[chickie_mite]

Also, do a little research before you leave. If I recall correctly, there are a LOT of complaints with the BBB and fraudulent jewelry sales in Cozumel. Grand Cayman might be a better option for jewelry.

 

If you like paintings---go to the El Cid hotel in Cozumel. There is a young artist there that does amazing work!

[golfadj]

ok to ask the advise of the ship shopping specialist but remember carnival and any other cruise lines gets a commission on your sale.

 

In others words buyer beware.

[terryde]

Actually, Roatan shopping was great for us. Wooden bowl set - cheap and great quality. (If you watch "House Hunters International" on HGTV, you will see that the wood in Roatan and Belize is beautiful. But we found the best they would do for bowl sets about $70 in Belize, and we got the same set in Roatan for $26). We also bought tee shirts, other wooden items, etc at very good prices. We were there a couple years ago (will go back in Sept this year) and there were individual stands lining the streets with great prices. We didn't even talk them down most times as the original prices were great! Don't know if that has changed.

[chickie_mite]

Actually, Roatan shopping was great for us. Wooden bowl set - cheap and great quality. (If you watch "House Hunters International" on HGTV, you will see that the wood in Roatan and Belize is beautiful. But we found the best they would do for bowl sets about $70 in Belize, and we got the same set in Roatan for $26). We also bought tee shirts, other wooden items, etc at very good prices. We were there a couple years ago (will go back in Sept this year) and there were individual stands lining the streets with great prices. We didn't even talk them down most times as the original prices were great! Don't know if that has changed.

 

LOL, that reminds me of what happened to my MIL.

 

She was sooooo excited about the ceramic decorative, hand painted planter she picked up in Portugal for a "steal." This has been her pride and joy for years.

 

She gave it to us this summer for our patio....and on the bottom it's stamped "Made in Taiwan." We don't have the heart to tell her.

 

hahah!

[Kat1613]

Most of above posters are right about Cozumel --be very careful when buying jewelry in town.

My friends were there with us in June and bought about $2000 in gold chains and a tanzenite and come back to the states to find that it is also fake - junk jewlery. Pay with your credit card for anything substantial and just be aware.

[goofytoo]

We bought a gold ring in Cozumel for my husband. It was so cheap that I had to ask the clerk if it would turn my husband's finger green. He acted all offended. Any way three weeks later his finger turned green. Too funny. It was a fairly inexpensive piece of jewelry. You get what you pay for.

 

Anyway we go to Cozumel quite a bit so I tease my husband and say we should go back to the store and show all the customers his ring and finger and see if they will refund the money.

 

Of course we never would, we are there to relax, not cause trouble :D

[taliacamp]

Wow thanks for all the great tips! We'll have to definately be careful with the jewelry!:eek:

[MiamiSpartan]

Cozumel has always been a favorite shopping destination of ours...

Great jewelry, Mexican style home accessories, cigars, etc....Just shop before you drink: I ended up buying a bathroom sink after one to many ritas, which ended up costing me $5000 to remodel our bathroom!!!:D:D:D

 

My issue with shopping in other ports is that often times it is just the same high end brand names you can find in the States....I want to find things that I can't find back here...

[chickie_mite]

Cozumel has always been a favorite shopping destination of ours...

Great jewelry, Mexican style home accessories, cigars, etc....Just shop before you drink: I ended up buying a bathroom sink after one to many ritas, which ended up costing me $5000 to remodel our bathroom!!!:D:D:D

 

My issue with shopping in other ports is that often times it is just the same high end brand names you can find in the States....I want to find things that I can't find back here...

 

hahahah! That's funny! :)

[NutsAboutGolf]

For the Cuban Cigars, go to Grand Cayman's La Casa del Habano. It's on the backside of the plazae of the main cruise port. Any other cigar you find probably isn't made in Cuba. Or is made in Cuba, even possible by a Cuban, but wouldn't meet the Cuban govts standards as a "Habano"...Many agrue that the Dominican Republic currently makes better cigars than the Cubans.

[terigo]

Many agrue that the Dominican Republic currently makes better cigars than the Cubans.

 

My husband is one of those people.

 

personally, i think they all smell like wet garbage and I can't stand being within a hundred yards of him when he is smoking one! :D

[MiamiSpartan]

For the Cuban Cigars, go to Grand Cayman's La Casa del Habano. It's on the backside of the plazae of the main cruise port. Any other cigar you find probably isn't made in Cuba. Or is made in Cuba, even possible by a Cuban, but wouldn't meet the Cuban govts standards as a "Habano"...Many agrue that the Dominican Republic currently makes better cigars than the Cubans.

 

Altho I'm' new to the whole cigar thing, I happen to like the Cubans better....but that's just me...

[NutsAboutGolf]

Altho I'm' new to the whole cigar thing, I happen to like the Cubans better....but that's just me...

 

I have to agree, but some of it may be in my head. I've probably only had a dozen D.R. cigars anyways, all varying brands... :)

[MiamiSpartan]

Frankly, every cigar tastes great on the ship!!!:p