Beyond the T-Shirt: Shopping the Islands

After 27 cruises and a whole lot of shopping, my home office looks like a shrine to the Caribbean.

Some of the stuff is the usual, like key chains, magnets and snow globes. And I even have a t-shirt. But the souvenirs I really love were made by hand or unique to the island. They’re harder to find than ever, but they’re there.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Woven baskets from Dominica – The specialty of this Eastern Caribbean island makes a terrific souvenir or gift because it’s portable and practical. And handsome.

Wood art from Roatan – Honduras is known for its wood creations – especially those made from mahogany – and you can find cups, bowls and carvings at the cruise port at Roatan or Mahogany Bay.

Peasant tops from Costa Maya – There are a number of shops and stalls at the pier that sell locally made clothing. I bought a delicate, one-of-a-kind colorful hand-woven blouse there for a very reasonable price. 

Painted shells from St. Kitts – Walk through the cruise port towards town and you’ll pass an aisle of small vendors in covered stalls. One of the first vendors, is an artist selling her own work—magnets, small boxes and other objects hand-painted with tropical scenes, including the island’s wild vervet monkeys.

Paintings from Labadee – Royal Caribbean’s private part of Haiti has a thriving artisan market (see left), with dozens of stalls selling paintings of many sizes, and painted boxes and magnets. Some of the paintings can even be purchased without a frame to make it easier to get them home. Note that bargaining is expected!

Madras from Martinique – Ramble through the streets of Fort-de-France – or go no further than the cruise pier – to find examples of the local colorful fabrics. In town, you can buy fabric to make clothing. Or, you can get souvenirs made from madras, such as a little parrot I bought at a pier shop (see left). 

And then there’s rum. Everywhere!

In short, when you cruise the Caribbean, there’s plenty to buy beyond the T-shirt, but you’ll need a sharp eye to find it. Happy shopping!

 

 

 

Roatan and Costa Maya Revisited

It’s been years since we were at these ports. And we were in for quite a surprise. They’ve changed.

Which goes to show that you can keep coming back to the same ports again and again, and get a new experience.

Roatan began as a mystery. We knew who’d done it—the MSC Armonia whacked the Coxen Hole dock just weeks before. So, we weren’t sure our Allure of the Sea’s maiden voyage to the port was going to happen.

And we had nothing to go on. Royal Caribbean stayed silent. No emails came, no press release issued. Only rumors that the port stop was canceled “for the season.”

Once onboard, though, the crew confirmed we’d stop there. And stop there we did.

A big chunk of the pier lay eerily submerged, but there was enough still standing for the Allure to shimmy up and tie down.

A pier built up. It’s attractive, with native dancers to greet you, a cigar roller to show you how it’s done, local coffee and chocolate vendors to show off their wares, and water so spectacularly clear that you’re tempted to bend down and pet the fish.

Coconut drinks, local coffee, chocolate and cigars are at the pier for the buying

 

Photographed from the pier, straight down into the sea

There’s also the usual Diamonds International, boutiques, music--and even zip-lining.

All in all, it’s good for an hour or so.

 The town of Coxen Hole is a short walk, but a few things you should know, should you decide to venture out:

* The sidewalks are amazingly narrow—they barely fit two trim people walking side by side.

* The island may not be affluent, but its people are among the most friendly we’ve seen on the Caribbean isles. We were met with many, many smiles.

* There’s a supermarket in town that’s air-conditioned, with a good supply of first aid and health products, and they take U.S. dollars.

Note: Coxen Hole is one of two cruise ports in Roatan. The other is Mahogany Bay, a private beach resort developed by Carnival—and a lovely one at that. To get there, you’ll need to take a Carnival or Princess ship.

Costa Maya, the biggest improvement. This port was only recently expanded and we hardly recognized the place. You can swim the dolphins, swim with fellow cruisers or swim with the boozers (there’s a swim-up bar).

Swim with the dolphins...

...or swim with cruisers and boozers

You can get a massage by the sea. Buy a trinket for $1 or spend hundreds on silver.

 

Trinkets and clothing and silver abounds; bargaining is encouraged

And while perhaps not quite an authentic Mexican experience, with some cerveza and tequilla, tacos and fajitas, and swimming and shopping, you could happily spend hours here and still want to come back.  

 

A Mexican village built for cruisers

Why Leave the Pier?

After all, it can be so enticing to stay. Stores galore. Cheap and fun places to eat and drink. Maybe even a swimming pool.

So, it begs the question: why bother to venture beyond those figurative—and sometimes literal—guarded walls?

Because this is what you’d miss:

That’s entertainment. A few blocks from the pier in a gazebo in Falmouth, Jamaica, women swirl and twirl their colorful skirts and kick up their feet to a drum’s beat.

Downtown Falmouth brings dancing and music to venturesome visitors

Hang a right outside the terminal in Cozumel to visit a new shopping plaza and watch costumed men swinging upside down from a high pole, to the melancholy sounds of a pipe. Keep an eye out for the man wandering around with a huge snake wrapped around him like a poncho. 

What awaits wanderers from the Cozumel pier

The street scene. At ports like Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas and Roseau, Dominica, the lunch hours fill the streets with giddy groups of kids in their school uniforms. In Coxen Hole, Roatan, local workers grab grub from steaming grills fashioned out of barrels. All manner of wares is sold along the sidewalk from pickup trucks in Castries, St. Lucia—including women’s lingerie. And in any of these ports, you might see mothers straddling their babes in one arm while shielding them with an umbrella against the blazing Caribbean sun with the other.

Bougainvillea and breadfruit. The Caribbean isles are awash in flowers and fruit, and it can be fun to get to know them. Bougainvillea in pink and fuchsia is everywhere. You might spy the bright Golden Trumpet, the showy hibiscus, a red bottlebrush or two and oh, so many kinds of palms! 

There's no mistaking the Golden Trumpet all over the Caribbean

Check out the mangos hanging like Christmas ornaments off the sidewalk on the trek from Crown Bay to St. Amalie. Or the breadfruit towering above the hair salon in downtown Falmouth. Bananas clumped and climbing from a tree in Amber Cove, Dominican Republic.

Breadfruit towers above the street in  Falmouth

Then there are the fruit and veggie markets—in downtown Roseau, and the floating market in Willemstad, Curaçao, across the pontoon bridge in the old part of town. And the markets where the fruits of the sea are cleaned in the open air—destined for a plate near you. There’s a big one on the walk from the pier to Bridgetown, Barbados, where hair-netted women and hatchet-wielding men silently set about their work.

There’s a much smaller market right on the beach in George Town, Grand Cayman, a few blocks from your ship, where the array of the day’s catch is spread out on a table like souvenirs.

 

Can't get any fresher than this in George Town, Grand Cayman

What matters cast in bronze. History and culture come together in the statues that commemorate key events for the islands, like the conch blower of Freedom in Frederiksted, St. Croix and The Three Queens outside Blackbeard’s Castle in Charlotte Amalie. Then there’s Anne Frank on her pedestal in Oranjestad’s Wilhelmina Park, reminding us of Aruba’s Dutch heritage and of values that resonate around the world.

Shop like a local. Hit a busy side street and browse the shops the locals do—the supermarkets, clothing and hardware stores, for a feel for the real island life.

Culture, cuisine and wi-fi at the library. In Roseau, the library is just a few blocks from the pier and a window to the world of Dominica—with the added treat of free wi-fi. On a recent visit, there were posters displaying local birds and recipes of traditional Christmas foods.

Then, when you’ve drunk all this in, top off your Caribbean cultural immersion with one, two—or a bucketful—of made-right-here brewski.  

End your day by drinking like a local

Some of the Best in Cruising Part 2: The Ports

When I’ve been asked for my favorite Caribbean island, I struggle to find an answer. Because I like so many, each for a different reason. But what they all have in common is plenty to see and do close to where the ship pulls in (no excursion required!). Here, then, is my “best of” list for the Caribbean cruiser:

Shopping: Cozumel. There’s great shopping right at the pier, or you can grab a cab into town for a mind-numbing selection of more of the same. Colorful ceramics; onyx chess sets and figurines; silver jewelry with gems and without; and inexpensive knickknacks from maracas to magnets makes shopping a blast. You’ll find consumables there, too. Read more at Chocolate, Rum and Spice: Food Souvenirs of the Caribbean.  

Cozumel in color.

Best beach: private islands. These are, simply put, paradise. Carnival’s Mahogany Bay in Roatan, Honduras; Princess Cays in the Bahamas; and Royal Caribbean’s Labadee on Haiti offer the quintessential Caribbean beach day. They’ve got powdery sands and calm blue waters perfect for swimming and water sports; palms and hibiscus and bougainvillea to feast the eyes; and lounge chairs everywhere, along with plenty of shops and ways to soothe a parched throat.

The private islands are surely the best way to relax on a cruise.

Lined up and ready to go at Princess Cays.

Biggest variety: St. Maarten. A beach right in town, cheap chair-umbrella-beer packages, surfside seafood shacks, water sports, great shopping, gambling and even a blast from the past—an automat—selling local foods like the Dutch kroket. This lively place of merriment is constantly changing—for the better. There’s more at “How to Spend Your Cruise Day in St. Maarten.”

Prettiest harbor: Dominica, Bonaire. This one’s a tie. Dominica has perhaps the most compact port, with its location at the foot of surrounding velvety green hills. Be prepared to invest some leg muscle if you walk around town, where you can visit a farmers market or grab some free wi-fi at the local library. Or, shop the stalls at the pier, where you can get locally woven baskets and other souvenirs.

Then there’s the transparent waters of Bonaire, where a stroll along the waterside promenade is like a visit to an aquarium. Vibrant-colored fish swish by underfoot, and the sea around you is a painter’s pallet of shades of azure. Read more at Knowing Your ABCs.

A walk along the promenade in Bonaire is like a visit to an aquarium.

Most European-ish: St. Barts. Part Riviera, part Caribbean, totally French, St. Barts is remarkable for many reasons. You won’t find any bargains here, but you’ll marvel at the mega yachts parked in town, the hilly and winding streets that force cars and all manner of local vehicles to part halfway on the sidewalk. You can sip café au lait at a seaside café, nibble on quiche from the local patisserie, marvel at the wines lining the walls at the supermarche´ or browse the fashionable shops. St. Barts is off course and worth it.

Paris? Mais non, the patisserie of St. Barts.

Time travel: San Juan. With two well-preserved, exhibit-laden forts, a dramatic fountain honoring the island’s birth, blue cobblestone streets, mosaic stairwells, and even shops selling Spanish hand fans and the short jackets of the matadors, the old town of Puerto Rico’s capital takes the cruiser back in time. No DeLorean needed here—just a little bit of pedestrian power.

San Juan is one of those ports that are made for walking.

The ancient wall today protects San Juan from sailboats.

Memorable feature: Curaçao. This Southern Caribbean Leeward island off the Venezuelan coast has several oddities—a floating bridge that takes you to the colorful Punda District when it’s not stepping aside to let boats through, and a fruit and veggies market where vendors sell their stuff out of wooden boats tied up to the dock. And if that’s not enough, how about liquor that’s made from oranges but is blue in hue?

Float your way to Curacao's Punda district.

So, that’s my “best of list.” What’s yours?

Musing’s Top Tip: Did you miss Some of the Best in Cruising Part 1? Then check it out here, for ship life highlights—from what’s on your plate to what’s on the stage.

What to Do While You’re Waiting

You’re dreaming of lying on the beach or by the pool, drink in your hand, Kindle by your side, basking in the sun to the sounds of a steel drum. And waiting for your cruise is sheer torture.

Picturing yourself here, in Roatan's Mahogany Bay?

Is there anything you can do to pass the time? Sure! Here are some things you could do—and should do—to get pumped up and ready to go:

Do now

Passport valid? Check! You’ll need it even for the Caribbean—or the cruise lines will make you show a certified birth certificate. Important note: your passport cannot be expiring within six months of your trip. For more, see the posting, “The One Thing You Absolutely Must Know Before You Cruise.”
 
Make your list and check it twice. Now’s a great time to make your packing list if you don’t have one. You’ll want plenty of time to add to it.
 
Extra! Extra! Sign up for the extras—beverage packages, excursions, specialty restaurants and shows now so you don’t have to think about it later. (For Oasis and Allure of the Seas, you need to

Sign up for  the ice show on the Oasis or Allure before you go

book shows online before you go, unless you want to stand on a wait-list line before the performance.)
 
Lose it. You might consider dropping a few pounds to make room for some new ones. And once you do, you’ll need new clothing for the new, svelte you, so…
 
Shop for less. Time to get shopping! All you’ll need is a bathing suit, cover up, shorts, tops, flip flops and a few nice things for dinner.
 
Don’t forget the to-do. You don’t want to get halfway to the airport or port and get that punched-in-the-stomach feeling when you realize you left something behind. Make that to-do list now. Some tasks to put on it: pay bills, stop mail, turn off water, gas up car, give contact info to family.
 
The right dose. Check your medicine supplies to make sure you’ll have enough. You don’t want to run out while you’re in the Caribbean.
 
Travel ahead. Book your flight and/or hotel sooner rather than later to get a good deal and make sure you can get the place and time of your choice.
 
Watch for a drop. Keep your eye on the price of your trip. If it goes down, you could qualify for a discount.
 
Plan to socialize. Sign up for a Cruise Critic “Meet and Greet” if there’s one on your trip. Check out cruisecritic.com to find out and/or join the roll call and virtually meet some of your upcoming travel peers. See posting “Free and Worth Every Penny.”
 

Get in the groove. Add a count-down graphic to your Cruise Critic signature and blog, and change the wallpaper on your PC to a beach scene.
 
Cruise the web. There’s so much info out there to give you tips on your ports and ship. For some great sites, see the posting “Cruising the Web.”

A week before
Follow that ship. Use the (free) Ship Mate app, which you can get from cruiseline.com, to track where your ship is at any given moment.
 
Weather watch. Check out the upcoming weather at your ports of call with cruiseoutlook.com.
 
Get Harry to sing. Few sounds evoke the Caribbean more than Harry Belafonte’s Calypso. Spring for one of his CDs or hop on YouTube for some “Day O.”
 
If Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville” or Arrow’s “Hot, Hot, Hot” is more your style, they’re on YouTube, too. Guaranteed you’ll hear both at least once on your cruise.

Start the party now. Now that you’ve got your Harry Belafonte CD, throw yourself a Bon Voyage party. Brew up a batch of rum punch, carve a watermelon boat, make some jerk chicken and limbo the night away!

A few days before

Get ‘em clean and full. Juice up your tablet and phone, make sure your camera batteries are full and your SD card is clean and ready.
 
Pack it in. The earlier you start, the more time you’ve got to swap things out. And add in what you almost forgot.
 
Now you’re ready to cast away!

Of Chocolate, Rum and Spice: Food Souvenirs of the Caribbean

It’s truly hard these days to find any real handicrafts. From Basseterre to Bridgetown, most of what we see is all the same—made in China, but stamped with a different port name.
 
What you can still get that’s unique and local is of the edible (and drinkable) kind. Food stuffs make great gifts for those you left behind—if you can bear to part with them once you get home. And if you pick up a few for yourself, it’s one way to keep the cruise going after it’s gone (for other ideas, see the posting Keeping the Cruise Going After its Gone).
 
Here’s a sampling of what you can pick up and take back from your next cruise:
 
Curaçao: You won’t have to look far to find the island’s namesake liquor; there’s a vendor right at the pier. It’s actually made from oranges and you certainly wouldn’t guess that from its iconic blue color.

Cozumel: Vanilla, Kahlua and tequila is all locally made and excellently priced. You can get all three at the shopping plaza at the pier or in town.  

Granada: Known ‘cause it’s grown there—nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and cocoa. In the outdoor market (a short walk from the pier), you can buy inexpensive baskets of spices, packaged to go. There’s also fun spice necklaces you can pick up from the vendors, but be forewarned—the necklace deteriorates within 24 hours.
 
St. Maarten: Guavaberry liqueur is this island’s special concoction and national drink made from wild guavaberries (not guava). You can buy the brand name, Sint Maarten Guavaberry, or get a version of the liqueur in an attractive hand-painted bottle from many Philipsburg liquor stores.
 

Grand Cayman: The ubiquitous Tortuga rum cake made on this island makes a good gift; it’s well packaged and compact so it won’t take up much room in your luggage. It comes also in flavors like coconut and key lime. You can even sample it before you buy in a number of George Town shops.

Roatan: Honduras produces a high-end cacao bean and a husband-and-wife team have become the first on the island to make chocolate bars from the local stuff. You can buy this special chocolate with a variety of different flavors in the craft market at Mahogany Bay, Roatan’s pier used by Carnival, Princess, NCL and a few other cruise lines.
 
San Juan—and everywhere else in the Caribbean: Rum. Need I say more? So many choices, so little time! Just about every island has its own—from Jamaica (Appleton) to Barbados (Mount Gay) to Grand Cayman (Tortuga). But for me, San Juan is where it’s at—the home of Bacardi. You’ll find versions of its rum you won’t find anywhere else. A visit to the distillery is an excursion on many trips; it’s fun, but it is a bus trip away and when we went, a lengthy wait for the tour was in store.
 
A few more morsels...If you’re lucky enough to make it to St. Barts, you can pick up French products in the supermarket right on the main street—from chocolate to confiture. And Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee in, of course, Jamaica. But it won’t come cheap.

 

The Best Way to Relax on a Cruise?

Find one with a private island on the itinerary.
 
You’ll find yourself transported to a tropical oasis that you have all to yourself (well, along with a few thousand of your fellow passengers). A whole hassle-free day to savor the sunshine, dig your feet in the sand or float face up, while your cares drift away to sea.
 
Or jet ski, water slide, zip line or craft shop. Photograph the flowers. Walk the paths. Chow down or booze up.

However you choose to spend it, a day at the cruise line’s private beach offers the ultimate in relaxation and a chance to spend the day your way.
 
Here are quick takes on some of the cruise lines’ private spots:
 
Mahogany Bay—When we’ve stopped in Roatan in the past, we’ve docked in Coxen Hole, a poor, but interesting port city. On our recent Caribbean Princess cruise, however, we were surprised to find ourselves instead sidling up to the pier at Mahogany Bay, created by Carnival, Princess’ parent company. Carnival and NCL also make stops here.
 
Hibiscus, palms, and other tropical flora and foliage frame the path from the pier. Hang a right for a short walk to paradise. The pool-like blue waters are calm and clear. You can laze in padded loungers on the beach or try one out that sits on the water. Rent a paddleboat, kayak or snorkel.
 

There are restaurants and bars selling seafood and jerk chicken, and from a stand on the sand, a fellow sells coconut water, shell and all.
 
Or if you’re not in the mood to do the walk, there’s always the chairlift. Yes, you read that right. A seat in the sky but with no snow below. Instead, there are sweeping views of the bay, beach and ship. For $14, adults can do it all day long (for kids, it’s $8).
 
If you hang a left off the ship, you’ll find shopping, more restaurants and bars. The centerpiece is the craft market, where you can buy reasonably priced wooden bowls and the like in mahogany, watch cigars being rolled and purchase for the road, taste locally made rum and chocolate, or browse fine jewelry or the usual assortment of kitschy knickknacks.

Mahogany Bay and Labadee dock, which is a plus for both. It makes it a snap to bop on and off the ship as many times as you want.
 
Labadee—When you’re in Labadee, you have no clue you’re on Haiti. Surrounded by lush green mountains, Royal Caribbean’s private hideaway is a sprawling slice of heaven, with nook and crannies so that you never quite feel the crowds.

In fact, it’s so large that signs point out the way to its several beaches, myriad water sports and walkways.
You can get your hair braided, have a massage, play volleyball or do the aqua park. Swing in a hammock, hike the trails.

There are restaurants and bars, and the many souvenir vendors make sure you know they’re there too. Bargaining is both welcome and expected, and there are inexpensive souvenirs made in Haiti as well as China. Bring money, though, because like Mahogany Bay, your sea card won’t get you anywhere with these merchants.
 
Labadee is used by Royal Caribbean and Celebrity ships.
 
Princess Cays—Princess’ special island in the Bahamas has a long, lovely beach, with sections to the right and left of the pier, both with waters that are good for swimming and snorkeling, plenty of sandy stretches and padded lounge chairs in the sun and under the palms.

For your own personal space, you can rent one of the colorful air-conditioned beach bungalows. Six hours for four people will set you back $249.95.
 

There’s kayaking and sailing, restaurants and bars, a sprinkling of craft vendors along the left beach, as well as a craft market tucked away not from the pier entrance. To get into the market, though, be sure to bring your driver’s license, because just a sea card and smile won’t be enough to get you past the guard.
 
Also, note that Princess Cays is a tendered port. While only about a 10-minute ride from ship to shore, given the number of people always waiting to board, going back and forth multiple times isn’t really feasible.
 
No matter which of these three islands you end up at, if you’re lucky with the weather, you’ll no doubt be tearing yourself away at the end of the day to make it in time for sail-away.
 
Musing’s Top Tip: For a ton of info on what to do, what to see and videos on both, what weather to expect, where there’s wi-fi and much more in Roatan and other port stops, check out cruiseportinsider.com.

Photos by RJ Greenburg

These Ports are Made for Walking Part 2: Western Caribbean

Here’s good news for budget-minded cruisers who don’t want to shell out extra money for excursions at the Caribbean ports: there’s plenty to do just on foot. In an earlier posting, I covered some walkable highlights of the Eastern Caribbean, featuring San Juan and St. Maarten.
 
Here, I’ll do a quick take on the Western ports of Grand Cayman and Cozumel:
 

Slice of the Grand Cayman waterfront

Fish and other fun in Grand Cayman. Most ships dock in the center of George Town. The harbor
horseshoes around the blue waters, and provides plenty of shops—both high and low end—and a Margaritaville, as well as a bit of history in the form of (very few) remains of Fort George, originally built to protect the island from Cuban invaders.

 

Along the waterfront’s Harbor Drive, merely steps from the cruise pier, is a small fish market on the sand, where you’ll be as likely to find a snoozing local in the shade of the market tent as an array of snapper, grouper and other fruits of the sea laid out like handicrafts.


Take your pick among these fruits of the sea

The fishmongers throw chum into the water a few yards away, drawing two-feet long tarpon and other species, delivering an aquarium-like experience literally at your feet.
 
And if watching all this gives you a craving for fresh seafood, you only need to venture a bit further down Harbor Drive to find a restaurant sign beckoning with “You hook it, we cook it.”

Mexican mementos in Cozumel. The docking for most ships is Puerta Maya pier, two miles and about an $8 taxi ride into town. We did the walk a few times, but it’s not for the faint-hearted, especially under the scorching Caribbean sun. Perhaps the only benefit of doing so (along with walking off those newly accumulated calories) is the chance to spy an iguana scurrying in and out of the brush or check out the large modern supermarket (with public bathrooms upstairs) along the way. 

Fortunately, a plethora of shops have sprung up at the cruise terminal and during a recent trip, we found ourselves so immersed in the shopping, we never left it. 

Tchotchke shopping at the pier in Cozumel

While mass produced, there are plenty of inexpensive and different trinkets to bring home as mementos—from costumed dolls (actually made in Mexico!), colorful ceramics and onyx chess sets to the local specialties of vanilla and tequila.

If you want to spend a bit more, the jewelry store owners would be only too happy to show you their silver and stone. The shopkeepers can be quite aggressive, but it does work to your advantage. The price of a silver-and-lapis piece I was eying had dropped in half by the time I exited the store door. Needless to say, bargaining is strongly recommended.

Try to make it to the far end of the shopping village, where you’ll find Los Cinco Soles, the best of the shops. It’s an outpost of the bigger store in town, but has same higher quality of ceramics, jewelry, onyx, folk art, clothing and more. 

Fill your fruit bowl at Los Cinco Soles

One unique offering at Los Cinco Soles is a huge variety of watermelons, mangos, red peppers and other brightly colored papier-mâché fruits and veggies. Filling a lovely wooden bowl from the Western Caribbean port of Roatan (watch for a future posting) with these makes a great centerpiece (and conversation starter) for your table back home.

And if shopping’s not your thing, the pier’s got several places to eat and drink. Or, get your photo taken with a modern Mayan, submerge yourself for an underwater oxygen infusion or turn yourself into mush with a massage by the sea.