Galaxy Med Shopping

[duckman715]

We will be on the 10/7 Galaxy cruise to the Mediterranean. We have not been to that area & may never have the opportunity to return . We would like to take advantage of whatever shopping experience any of our fellow cruisers might have regarding best items to purchase in the different ports (Naples, Mykonos, Messina, Santorini, Genoa, Monte Carlo/Nice) and any particualr shop recommendations.

Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Bill & Sandy

[DUCK33]

duckman? you will be hearing from my attorneys' LOL

[duckman715]

duckman? you will be hearing from my attorneys' LOL

My pen name originates from having attended the Univ. of Oregon - The Ducks. Difficult to really cheer hard when your football team is named after a water fowl. Of course we always did very well in wet weather games & the beer helped.

Bill

[Joanne G.]

We did that itinerary in June and enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone's shopping taste and budget are different, but here are my thoughts.

 

Naples - there is too much to do and see in this port to spend much time shopping. Take the drive along the coast, savor the scenery, have lunch somewhere overlooking the Mediterranean, visit Pompeii or Capri. However, if you take one of Celebrity's excursions along the Amalfi coast, you may stop in a shop in Sorrento that sells hand-made decorative items with inlaid wood. The pieces (music boxes, other types of boxes, wall hangings, even furniture) are lovely and reasonably priced.

 

Mykonos - here's your shopping town. Gold and silver jewelry, gauzy cotton shirts and dresses, hand-knit cotton sweaters, fancy soaps and lotions, art work, leather goods, and hand crafts.

 

Santorini - good shopping as in Mykonos. But don't spend time shopping until after you have toured the island and admired its beauty. Go to the town of Oia - it's unforgettable.

 

Messina - we went to Taormina, another great place to shop. A certain type of brightly colored pottery is common to the area - dishes, mugs, goblets, platters, vases and so forth. Also silver flatware, leather goods, trendy clothing.

 

Monte Carlo/Nice - for us, this was a sight-seeing port, not a shopping port. It's the French Riviera - we wanted to see the scenery along the coast and tour the principality of Monaco, including he palace. However, the outdoor market in Nice has some inexpensive handcrafts in among the flowers, fish, and fruit. In Monaco, most of what we saw in the shops was typical tourist trinkets, nothing to get excited about.

 

Genoa - you'll be there on a Sunday, so no matter what you do, you won't find a lot of stores open. We went to Portofino in the morning. We could buy some postcards at a newstand, but that was about it for the shopping.

 

In all the ports - poke around grocery stores for local items such as olive oil, wine, limoncello (a vodka-and-lemon mix), pasta, packaged nuts, cookies or crackers, ouzo if you have a strong stomach.

 

Have a memorable cruise.

[kitty9]

If you're thinking you're going to get great shopping deals, sorry, but the US dollar is very, very weak in Europe and great deals are not going to be found. You'll pay much more for many items than if you bought them in the US. Souvenier things are really nice to have, but things like jewelry will be very expensive given the exchange rate. I just returned from a European cruise and I was disappointed that things cost so much compared to a couple of years go when the dollar was much stronger. Since this is your first cruise in the area, I would focus more on seeing as much as you can, and then if there's time you can shop. The best buys will be local handicrafts such as carvings and textile items, pottery and local art will still be a rather good buy. But shopping in regular stores won't be much of a bargain. Look for local markets for the best buys.

[duckman715]

Thanks for the very helpful information. We usually go for the local items rather than "stores" so this will be of great use to us.

Any suggestions for restaurants in Mykonos, Santorini or Nice ?

Thanks again for your help

Bill

[superjerryw]

We just did the 11 day Med cruise on Galaxy and I have to agree with the Kitty9 that there are no real bargains. Jewelry was very expensive everywhere. Some good prices on locally produced items such as leather goods. The only real bargain was the package of 20 postcards that you could pick up in every port for 1 euro.

[rowdylibrarian]

Hello, Bill and Sandy! We are also on the same cruise as you two! Have you been over to our roll call board? Be warned, it's quite active. I think we are on page 93 now!

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=38526&page=92&pp=25

 

Elizabeth

[TWOFERTWO]

My pen name originates from having attended the Univ. of Oregon - The Ducks. Difficult to really cheer hard when your football team is named after a water fowl. Of course we always did very well in wet weather games & the beer helped.

As a ex-Oregonian, we say; GO DUCKS :D (and BEAVERS, too :eek: )

 

We now live in SUNNY Las Vegas. :)

 

As the 'founding father', do join us on the roll call thread, as suggested by Elizabeth. Time is VERY short!

 

See you on board! :cool:

[duckman715]

Actually I've been following the roll call thread for some time. i think I signed up last December but not sure. How does one check?

Hope to you all soon

Bill