Shopping St. Thomas or St. Maarten???

[Bankergrl]

We have never been to either one of these ports as this is our first Eastern Cruise. Can anyone tell me if the shopping is better in St. Thomas or St. Maarten or if they are about the same?

 

Thanks!!

[cruzinlady1947]

We have never been to either one of these ports as this is our first Eastern Cruise. Can anyone tell me if the shopping is better in St. Thomas or St. Maarten or if they are about the same?

 

Thanks!!

I was told that jewelry was better in St. Thomas and electronics better in St. Maarten. But, I am sure there are exceptions to that. I buy my jewelry in St. Thomas. I was just there this past week.

 

Gwen :)

[KeywestK]

Years ago, shopping in the islands, for jewelry, electronics, etc. was a good deal. My advice would be to know your prices before you leave for your cruise so you will have a better idea if you are actually getting any kind of a deal.

[G85 SS]

I think it's all in the eye of the beholder. I preferred St. Marteen more. partly due to the clearing of the skies after 5 days.

 

St. Thomas:

 

 

St. Marteen:

 

 

 

I also went to Marigot (French Capitol of St. Martin) but the shopping there was pretty much an outdoor flea market.

[G85 SS]

I was told that jewelry was better in St. Thomas and electronics better in St. Maarten. But, I am sure there are exceptions to that. I buy my jewelry in St. Thomas. I was just there this past week.

 

Gwen :)

 

Places like Little Switzerland seemed to be pretty competitive to one another between the islands. At least from what little I have spent looking around in them.

 

Tiffany and Co. also seems to be about the same. With anything high end I would imagine manufacturers have their ways of adjusting for the "Tax Free/Duty Free" deals we think we are getting.

 

And as a person just said, it is best to know the price locally before you go to see if you are getting a deal. If not, at least it get's you a price to haggle to. If not, come home and order it. lol

[Bankergrl]

Thanks everyone for you input. I am just trying to plan excursions and if we have to choose one place or the other to do some shopping I wanted to do it where it was a better option.

[karena1]

Always buy my jewelry in STT. Found a great jewelry store (not a ship recommended one) and have bought from him for years. Everything I buy from him pretty much appraises for at least double what I pay for it. he is honest and a really great guy. would not go anywhere else.

[G85 SS]

Always buy my jewelry in STT. Found a great jewelry store (not a ship recommended one) and have bought from him for years. Everything I buy from him pretty much appraises for at least double what I pay for it. he is honest and a really great guy. would not go anywhere else.

 

Might be a good idea to help his business out by informing people of who he is or the name of his shop.

[truffles2]

If you will be doing serious jewelry shopping, just remember that the duty free allowance is greater for items purchased in the USVI.

[karena1]

Might be a good idea to help his business out by informing people of who he is or the name of his shop.

 

Beverly's. His name is Jack. He is downtown. Awesome guy, will never cheat you, quality jewely. Haven't bought anything in the last couple of years since I have everything I want right now, but the last time we were there he made me custom "forever" earrings to go with my necklass we have bought from him 3 or 4 years prior to that. Told him we would be at the beach all day and could not get into town before he closed. He dropped the earrings at a friends store in Havensight for us to pick up. They were perfect. Wear them all the time. Guy is great. cannot recommend him enough. Here is his contact info (not sure I am allowed to post this but will try

 

 

Beverly's is a family owned jewelry store established in 1982 located in St. Thomas, United States Virgin Islands. Beverly's core philosophy is to provide our customers with carefully selected products that offer quality, design, and value. "We don't just say it, we mean it".

 

With over 30 years of experience and knowledge of the jewelry industry, we are able to offer our customers with premium selections of diamonds from the finest diamantaires and direct from factory prices on jewelry

 

Beverly's

5129 Dronningens Gade

Suite 12

St. Thomas, USVI, 00802

 

Beverly's is located at the enterance of Royal Dane Mall on Main Street in downtown Charlotte Amalia, St Thomas, US Virgin Islands

 

 

 

Telephone: 340-774-3075

Ext: 301 = Jewelry Sales

Ext: 308 = Watch Sales

 

 

Hours of Operation

Mon-Sat = 8:30am - 5:00pm

Sun = 8:30am - 1:00pm

Edited December 8, 2013 by karena1

[leinhto]

Shop in St. Maarten. There is more to offer there. Be sure to checkout Front and Back Street.

 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Forums mobile app

[ronandcarla]

I'll give you some word of advice by reason of multiple cruise trips to St Thomas/St Maarten and also land vacationer in St Maarten/Martin that if you are paying cash for item(s) and lets say for instance that the stops in order are Nassau, St Thomas and St Maarten, Nassau is not worth it, St Thomas would be your best bargaining chip because I'll bet the sales person will ask, "are you on a cruise and what ship", because they no where the next stop will be and they don't want to lose the sale if the item(s) can be had in St Maarten, and if you don't go for it and think you can do better in St Maarten that sales person will also ask the same question and know this is your last stop before home and if your in love with the item(s) your hooked. This happened to us back in Feb 2011 (Oasis): As I said we also vacation in St Maarten/Martin and most of my wife's jewelry comes from that wonderful island. Good Luck and have a wonderful jewelry/cruise vacation.

 

Ron M

[BND]

Jewelry in both. Electronics in St Thomas. You also get double the duty free amount on what is purchased in St. Thomas plus extra liquor allowance. We've bought jewelry in both ( a lot of the same jewelers are in both locations) and electronics and linens in St Thomas. I have probably 10 pieces of jewelry and two cameras bought in the caribbean, plus several tablecloths.

[bouhunter]

Both have lots of shopping options. My wife is the professional shopper and she would probably say she prefers St. Martin. She especially likes Grand Jewelers, they have stores at both St Thomas and St Martin. If I was to choose one to hang out, shop, dine, drink etc it would be St. Martin - just a real nice pretty area to spend some time.

[estoyer]

We liked St Martin.. The stores seemed cleaner but prices were about the same....

[Mabbiez]

On my recent cruise I found that the sales people in the jewelry stores in St. Thomas were rather pushy. I walked in a few to browse and they practically shoved (yes that's an exaggeration) hideous rings on my fingers, things I'd never consider. The way they did it made it as if I were being rude if I didn't try it on. I don't like feeling pressured like that so I ended up leaving rather than looking for anything I liked. It could have just been a few bad experiences though.

 

My mom and I have bought some jewelry in St. Maarten a few times from one place where they were not nearly as pushy. They also had records of our jewelry purchase from many years ago. This was helpful because my mom had a ring that one of the small diamonds had falls out. They were able to give her credit towards a new ring (actually giving her more than she had paid for it since gold prices had gone up).

 

I have never bought electronics while on a cruise so I can't give my opinion on that.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[barryg9999]

Electronics in St Thomas.

 

IMO, you are better off buying off of Amazon.com.

 

I was in St Thomas a few months ago and ended up needing to buy a new water camera as our old camera got destroyed on the trip. Went to the top camera store in St. Thomas and bought a nice camera. When I got home, I found that I could have bought the same camera for $50 less on Amazon.

[BND]

IMO, you are better off buying off of Amazon.com.

 

I was in St Thomas a few months ago and ended up needing to buy a new water camera as our old camera got destroyed on the trip. Went to the top camera store in St. Thomas and bought a nice camera. When I got home, I found that I could have bought the same camera for $50 less on Amazon.

 

I wasn't saying the only place to buy electronics is St Thomas, but responding to the OP's question about which port for shopping. The two cameras we bought were competitive with anything we could get here or through Amazon. You have to know what you are doing, which we do. We've also done very well on the jewelry we buy. You also have to be willing to negotiate. I know some people aren't comfortable doing so. In Jamaica last month, we were negotiating with a jeweler for a ring. After some back and forth, DH told the guy what we'd be willing to pay (DH threw out a low number). Of course, he acted like we were killing him lol. So, I said, fine, goodbye and walked out the door. He quickly called us back in and split the difference after he "checked" with his partner. Ha, I watched him and he never talked to anyone, he just walked around the counter to the back of the store and waited a few seconds and came back. You have to know their game and how to play it.

Edited December 9, 2013 by BND

[WisconsinFan]

I am thinking about getting a "hook" bracelet like Kenny Chesney wears while we are on our cruise. We will be in St. Thomas as well. Any recommendations?

[voyager89]

St Thomas for watches, St Maarten for everything else, IMO.

 

I did buy a LV bag at St Thomas at a very good price though, at the store near to the yachts pier

[Motorman23]

Both have lots of shopping options. My wife is the professional shopper and she would probably say she prefers St. Martin. She especially likes Grand Jewelers, they have stores at both St Thomas and St Martin. If I was to choose one to hang out, shop, dine, drink etc it would be St. Martin - just a real nice pretty area to spend some time.

 

I agree with all your points!

 

Mike

[truffles2]

 

I did buy a LV bag at St Thomas at a very good price though, at the store near to the yachts pier

 

 

I also bought a bag there at their store in Yacht Haven Grande...but the price was the same as in their other stores. You will save 8-10% on tax.