FAVORITE THINGS TO PURCHASE in Caribbean

[deborahjo]

I buy Spoon Rests. That way when I cook I dream of cruising.

[dcrthatsme]

I want to know how to tell the difference between the good vanilla and the bad kind that is made with petroleum products in Mexico? We did bring some back from Cozumel and it was fabulous, but then I read somewhere once to be careful when purchasing vanilla in Mexico and always wondered.

[Mama Lapin]

I buy something at every port that I can hang on my Christmas tree. It doesn't need to be "Christmasy," just something small and handcrafted that can be hung with a thin cord or hook. Every year, when I decorate for the holidays, I am reminded of our wonderful cruise vacations and the exotic locales we have visited.

[newcatintown]

Real Vanilla (not the bad stuff!)

 

buy some vanilla beans (on line) and make your own. No question of quality there. I am a firm believer of making your own when you can, and this is a prime example.

[newcatintown]

I want to know how to tell the difference between the good vanilla and the bad kind that is made with petroleum products in Mexico? We did bring some back from Cozumel and it was fabulous, but then I read somewhere once to be careful when purchasing vanilla in Mexico and always wondered.

 

 

Good vanilla is what you make yourself with fresh vanilla beans & vodka/rum. You can make the good stuff for the price you pay for the bad stuff.

[Grits53]

Thanks to Firefly, I also discovered the coffee from Honduras last year. It is so good! I bought two different brands in stores right at the pier. Actually, the cheaper priced bag tasted the best. I love the Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee, but Honduran coffee is also very good and maybe a little smoother tasting than Jamaican.

Always get vanilla in Cozumel. I have been getting the one that they sell at Los Cinco Sols. It is good stuff! I also collect the little bobble head turtles. I get a magnet from each port and try to get one from each excursion. I put the magnets on my refrigerator, and when I look at them, I am reminded of good times while cruising. :)

[vanityfur]

Good vanilla is what you make yourself with fresh vanilla beans & vodka/rum. You can make the good stuff for the price you pay for the bad stuff.

 

Yep! That's what we do. We buy them from Ah Cacao in Cozumel. But, I get enough in one bottle (locally grown in QRoo) to last me years. A good vodka is the key to bringing out the flavor of the beans. Stripping the insides of the beans helps the flavor to come out, as well. LOVE IT!

 

Glad to hear others do this! The premade stuff is nasty in comparison.

[tinkerbell_82]

I love beer so I typically pick up a 6 pack in each port to bring home and share with friends.

 

I also like buying unique, inexpensive jewelry. When I wear it I'm reminded of the exact place that I bought it, and that makes me happy. :)

[vtjean]

When buying vanilla in Mexico, look for "no coumadin". The Mexican vanilla is the best in the world. I buy it whenever I'm in Mexico.

[Cigar Dude]

In the following ports, what are your favorite things to purchase. Grand Caymans, Roatan, Cozumel, Belize??? :)Please give purchase place also if possible....

 

Grand Caymen: Cigars at La Casa del Habano, followed by trip to the beach

Roatan: Cigars at La Casa del Habano, followed by trip to the beach

Cozumel: Cigars at La Casa del Habano, followed by trip to Paradise Beach

Belize: Nothing; go to the beach and live it up! :D

[CLQ]

We also buy Christmas ornaments at every port, if we've never been there before. My wife does a charm bracelet, so she's always looking for charms. If you hunt, there are always inexpensive ones to be found.

 

At some ports, I've also found cufflinks very inexpensively.

[semichigan]

In Belize we always have to get a few bottles of Marie Sharp's hot sauce! It's awesome!

[Julienatul]

shot glasses, coozies and christmas ornaments. We get one from each port. But my absolute favorite is a nice cold local beer by the water :)

[elcuchio24]

Beer, Beer.......Beer.

[Shrub]

Blue Diamond ring for my DW IN Belize..... Beautiful

[lilnan]

Absolutely the vanilla and coffe!

In Roatan, in the shops to the back at the peir, as another poster was saying: They had some great rings and bracelets made of some wood or bone or something. Mine was white and you could see some "impurities" in it which added to the beauty. You can also get them dyed in different colors. My cousin got a pink bracelet. Sadly, my luggage got stollen, so I don't have the ring or the paperwork to tell you excatly what it was made of. :(

Also the wooden bowls and things. I got a cheese board made of strips of mahogany and other native woods. It was beautiful.

I always try to look for native or hand made things, not the "Made in China" mass produced junk.

[Tralynn]

I haven't cruised there yet, but my mom was born and grew up in Roatan. We still have tons of family there. The coffee they have sent my grandmother is some of the best I've ever tasted. I would definitely buy coffee there.

[seashell36]

Cozumel - Vanilla at Los Cinco Soles (either at the pier or downtown)

Grand Cayman - Rum Cakes, t shirts from Hell

Belize - in the shopping area at the pier there is a shop that sells purses for a really good price. There's a pharmacy in the same area that you can get prescription meds w/o a prescription - no flaming plz (all I get is phenergan).

Roatan - we picked up some beautiful carved wooden boxes and a fruit bowl.

 

DD does the charm bracelet collecting too - so we're always looking for charms to go on her bracelet.

[i2ukus]

Sadly, my luggage got stollen, so I don't have the ring or the paperwork to tell you excatly what it was made of. :(

 

WHAT???? How did this happen???

[tetleytea]

Belize - in the shopping area at the pier there is a shop that sells purses for a really good price. There's a pharmacy in the same area that you can get prescription meds w/o a prescription - no flaming plz (all I get is phenergan).

 

No flaming here. I like to get a bottle of antibiotics. I've been through the routine enough times at home: I get sick, I get bronchitis, I know full and well it's bronchitis (if not pneumonia), I schedule an appointment for the doctor, I wait for the appt, I get dressed and go to the doctor--sick--he puts a stethoscope on me, prescribes antibiotics, I go to the pharmacy and wait for the prescription to be filled....

 

If I'm sick, the last thing I need is to be out & about. If my cough gets productive, just go to the drug cabinet and take an antibiotic and be done.

[lilnan]

Sadly, my luggage got stollen, so I don't have the ring or the paperwork to tell you excatly what it was made of. :(

 

WHAT???? How did this happen???

It was after I got back. DH picked me up from Dayton, OH airport. We went to eat at Dewey's Pizza. Luggage got stollen out of car during dinner. BAD DAY!!!

[cruisinbanddirectors]

Cozumel---tequila, vanilla, silver

Grand Cayman---Blackbeard rum cakes (in our opinion they are much superior to Tortuga---which you can buy just about anywhere)

Belize---do like the Marie Sharp's hot sauce

Roatan---we haven't bought any, but there are nice handcrafted mahogany items EVERYWHERE

[Crazy Gramps]

I'm with the beer people.

After that there's nothing I want or need.

 

Gramps

[TheRejector]

Cozumel----Crown XR n Cuban Cigars

 

Roatan-----Cuban Cigars

 

Cayman-----Cuban Cigars

 

Where, where and where?

[luckycruzer]

When buying vanilla in Mexico, look for "no coumadin". The Mexican vanilla is the best in the world. I buy it whenever I'm in Mexico.

 

 

from the dreaded Tonka bean..check ingredients