ALCOHOL shopping here vs. St.THomas

[tamariadawn]

I've been to St.Maarten x1 4 years ago. I remember that their touristy souvenirs are about 1/2 to 1/3 the price you find at St.Thomas (tshirts, etc) . I bought alchohol at St.Thomas before going to St.Maarten last time so I did not pay much attention to alcohol prices when I got to Maaten.

 

Is alcohol (bottles) much cheaper in St.Maarten than St. THomas??? Any suggestions where to shop for it if it is? Tamariadawn@yahoo.com

[NJGRANNY]

We found alcohol and cigarettes to be cheaper. We bought our stuff at a store near the ship, but heard that prices are even cheaper downtown.

[tamariadawn]

Can you tell me what you mean by "downtown"? I remember that there was a shopping area walking distance from the ship. The shopping area was where you could buy tshirts, single canned beers, etc. It was near a casino.

[NJGRANNY]

There is quite a large shopping area right near the port. What I call the downtown shopping is on front street. As far as I know, it's accessible by water taxi from the port area. We've never been shopping there and have only seen it from a tour bus.

[GirlInADaydream]

I found that St Maarten was tons cheaper on not just booze, but jewelry as well.

[gtaylor]

In general, we find St. Maarten cheaper in almost everything we might shop for. Alcohol and jewelry especially. They've also got some GREAT tablecloths!

 

That said, this past Spring we noticed that the price in the shop on board the Carnival Victory had extremely competitive prices, so take some notes before you leave the ship.

 

Of course, buying on the ship eliminates the possibility of accidentally carrying a bottle or two back onto the ship in your backpack.

 

Gary

 

I would not state flatly that souveniers are 1/2 or 1/3 the price in St. Thomas.