Kinda Kooky Cruiser Christmas Gifts

Looking for something a bit different for the hard-to-please cruiser on your list? You’ve come to the right place. Check out these kinda kooky, kinda wacky and even a few practical gifts that will stand out. Maybe you’ll even want them for yourself.

What’s outside is almost as good as what’s inside. No bottle of guavaberry should be without a Santa hat. Find these cuties in the Sint Maarten shop in Philipsburg. Or buy the liquor online.

Send your family on a cruise all year long. If only through the pages of Porthole.

Float their boat and beer. Know someone who likes to take their brew to the beach? They won’t lose it to the sea with this little beer saver. Find it in the Navigator of the Seas’ gift shop.

Bring the bedding to your buddy. You and partner slept like babies on your Royal Caribbean cruise? Must have been the bedding. Do it again, this time in your own home, with linens from the cruise line. Rocking motion’s extra.

When monopoly is a good thing. Yes, there’s still such a thing as board games, but this one you won’t find anywhere but Philipsburg. You might say St. Maarten has a monopoly on it.

They can wear it on their sleeve. Someone passionate about cruising? Deck them out with a Cruise Critic tee shirt from their online store.

Bring on the bling. This is the perfect jewelry travel case—it’s got separate zipped sleeves and the whole thing folds into a tight compact case. It’s only 10 bucks, but you’ll need to fight the crowds at the onboard $10 sale to buy one. Get there early; they go fast.

Captain Mickey on your tree. Hang Captain Mickey Mouse by his ear with an ornament for your holiday tree. Find it at Disney’s online store.

Book it. This will take some work, but send your best cruise photos to Costco, Shutterfly or online others that will make a coffee table book out of it. It’s great for bringing back memories and working on that you’ll-never-catch-me-cruising person you happen to know.

Missed out on the photos? Disney will let you order photos from your trip even after you’ve walked down that gangway—but you’ve got to act fast. In six weeks, deleted!

Get those pictures out of your smart phone. And into something your cruiser will like. Think calendar, mug or mouse pad.

For the kid or kid at heart. I mentioned this one in the posting, “Keeping the Cruise Going After It’s Gone: Part II”: Princess’ adorably smiling stuffed captain teddy bear. Best yet, if you don’t have a Princess cruise on the horizon, you can pick one up from the cruise line’s website.

Clip ‘em. Walk by the pool on any ship and your eye will be caught by bright clips some folks use to keep their towel from shimmying down their chair. Amazon has a bunch of choices—they’re cute, functional and cheap. Some of them look like flip-flops or sea shells. Great for stuffing those stockings--or keeping them up.

Tag ‘em. Another Amazon cheapie but goodie are plastic holders for the cruise luggage tags you print up when you do online check in. We just bought some and they’re a perfect fit for the tags, and come with metal loops for slipping around your suitcase handles. Beats stapling any day.

Can’t end without this one. The best gift of all is the one they want the most—another trip on the wide open sea. And while you’re at it, give one to me!

How to Spend Your Cruise Day in St. Maarten

Keep your money in your wallet and pass on an excursion in St. Maarten. With a beach and tons of shopping, you can easily fill the whole day in lively Philipsburg—and come back again for more.

The Dutch island at the northern end of the Lesser Antilles is often the last stop on Eastern Caribbean cruises. Sint Maarten, as it’s locally known, is popular and with good reason—with its long calm blue sea harbor, tropical foliage lining the waterfront and streets, beachfront bars and restaurants, steel drum band and coconut stand, it positively screams the Caribbean.

You can do the place in many different ways—nibble on French macaroons (there’s a stand at the pier), and shop in Diamond International and Ralph Lauren. Or go for knickknacks and snacks in your flip-flops. With tourism its main industry, St. Maarten is dedicated to your pleasure, whatever it is.

Here’s just an example of how you could spend your day in port:

9 a.m.-10 a.m. Take your time on the short walk from ship to pier—you’re going to be in St. Maarten all day. Check out the shops in the plaza, but you might want to resist buying anything—the prices are better in downtown Philipsburg. But be sure to grab a free sample of the coconut smoothie from the vendor in the plaza for a mouthful of marvelous.

10 a.m.-noon You’ve done the shops at the pier, had your smoothie sample, and now you’re ready to see Philipsburg, so you head toward the water taxi, on the far left side of the plaza. It’s a bargain—$7 buys you unlimited travel for the day. The ride is about seven minutes or so, and treats you to a sweeping view of the coastline.

 Wander Front Street (parallel to the waterfront) and stop in the high-end boutiques and low-end

Find treasures chic to cheap on hopping Front St.

tourist shops, getting your free bamboo necklace from Cariloha and color-changing mood ring from Del Sol (if you go to your ship’s shopping talk, you’ll get the magic words to use to get your free stuff).

Visit the Guavaberry Emporium at the far right end of Front Street for samples and a bottle for the road, and pick up some rum in the colorful painted bottles you’ll find in many liquor stores in town.

Meander down alleyways, where you’ll find knickknack heaven and even an art shop where you can get original local paintings for as little as $10. 

These colorful bottles of yum are everywhere.

Noon-2 p.m. Hop on the ferry back to the ship for lunch or enjoy local seafood and Caribbean beer Presidente at a beachside restaurant or quiche at a French café on Old Street. (St. Martin, the other half of the island, is French.) While you’re on Old Street, look for the Manneken Pis in front of The Belgian Chocolate Box and you’d swear you were in Brussels.

2 p.m.-4 p.m. Start your siesta with one of the cheap umbrella-bucket of beer packages touted along the waterfront and plant yourself on the beach. Spend your last hours at this great port dipping in the water or digging your feet in the sand, as you watch the jet skis kick up some spray and the majestic schooners lazily float by.

Musing’s Top Tip: For more on what the island has to offer, an app to download, brochure to order, video and island map, see the island’s official tourism website.

Have Yourself a Cruise Christmas

If your ideal Christmas is on a liner bound for the Caribbean, this posting’s for you. Here are 10 ways to make yours a Cruise Christmas—whether or not you’re actually going to be on a ship:
 
Take a cruise over Christmas! Bask in the lights when you’re not in the sun. The ships do it up with trees and lights, poinsettias and more. Get in the mood by doing up your door.

Oasis of the Seas at Christmas

Book one today for tomorrow. Got some time off this holiday season? Use it for planning. The best way to start the New Year is with a cruise already lined up! See the posting, Cruising the Web, for the best sites for research.

Owl ornament from Bonaire

Buy a gift for the cruiser on your list. See Christmas Shopping for the Cruiser for a slew of ideas for your favorite mariner.

Don the port ornaments. Time to take out those ceramics bells and baubles from Cozumel and painted gourds from Bonaire.

Conjure up the Caribbean with eggnog. Make up a batch of chaudo (eggnog) with a splash of island rum. 
 
Speaking of booze...Is there St. Maarten guavaberry, blue curacao or Jamaican rum gathering dust in your closet? Time for a toast!

Pull out the popcorn. Those cruise videos will look great on your big screen TV.

Do above, but invite that you’ll-never-get-me-to-cruise friend or family member.  Who knows—when they see how much fun you had, you might just get him/her to try one.

Month-by-month memories. It’s fast and easy to make a calendar with your cruise photos on many of the sites out there. Our favorite is Costco’s—you get a really nice one for $10 and can even pick it up at your local store.

Kick off the New Year with a blog. It’s easy and fun. And did I mention, it’s also free? Check out Blogger to begin sharing your stories in the Google world.

For this final posting of 2015, Musing wishes you for the coming year the brightest sunshine, the bluest skies, the calmest seas and an endless horizon of possibilities.

Christmas Shopping for the Cruiser

Help has arrived to find the perfect gift for the cruiser on your list! It’s not hard to find something for the cruising aficionado—deciding from all the choices is the challenge. Just a handful that come immediately to mind:
 
One if Buy Land

The practical stuff. Tablets and readers are the perfect choice for those who like to laze around the pool. And who can take a trip without a camera (or the smart phone version)?



St. Maarten's guavaberry liqueur dressed

for the holidays

Want to spend less? Walkie-talkies, which you can pick up at Walmart or a sports store, will help cruisers stay connected to their companion. Or, help them hide away that smart phone with Home Depot’s neat new travel safe.

Want to spend even less than that? With some colorful luggage tags, they’ll be able to tell their black bag from someone else’s.
 
Or, go nautical (or “nausical,” as they say in retail) with something for their home or to wear. Like a print of a palm tree or beach scene for their wall.  Blue-and-white striped something or other. Charm bracelet with an anchor, sunfish or sand dollar.
 
The fun stuff. There are gifts that keep on giving, like Cruise Travel or Porthole magazines. Or Cruise Critic logo stuff like lanyards, bags and bottles.
 
Keep them in the mood with calypso or steel drum, Jimmy Buffett or Harry Belafonte CDs.
 
More work but no less appreciated—turn their cruise photos into something else. A photo book or calendar. Mug or mouse pad.

Two if Buy Sea

 

The best place to get a gift for the cruiser may just be while you’re on the ship. There are chains by the inch, and the clothing and jewelry sales; see Catch ‘Em While You Can. You’ve got a ton of choice in the ship’s logo stuff—from mugs to model ships and teddy bears too.

The ports also have a plethora of possibilities. Food and booze are always welcome; see Of Chocolate, Rum and Spice: Food Souvenirs of the Caribbean. 

Then there’s the ubiquitous Cariloha and its clothes and such made from bamboo, and the color-changing tchotchkes of Del Sol.

And you can still find some handmade crafts if you know where to look—from mahogany bowls in Roatan to baskets in Dominica to ceramics in Cozumel; see Caribbean Crafts by Way of China.

But that ultimate gift? A new cruise, of course!

 

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.