Why do people go shopping on vacation?

[Paul65]

You're right, you don't need to. But it would be nice if you did. :) I'm not saying that it's wrong to shop, it's just not my preference and I would like to better understand people who do.

 

Your post doesn't come across that way. It seems more that you want to belittle the activity with comments like "if you have so little time in port, why would you spend it shopping."

[Barb Nahoumi]

Many cruise excursions have a shopping experience built in. They want us to 'help the local economy in the places the ships visit.

[micmacmissy]

Chalk me up as another person who LIKES to shop. I don't go into stores that we have in the US, but try to find market areas/craft stalls (like they have on Labadee and in St. Thomas across from the port). It's fun to wander around, see what they are selling, and talk with the locals.

 

And I also buy a christmas ornament everywhere we travel; I try to find things that are specific to the area (like a shell or something).

 

But do we spend an ENTIRE port day shopping? No. We usually do an excursion and spend an hour on the way back looking in shops. And hello? It's nice to support the local economies as well.

 

I think however you choose to spend your vacation is up to you. No judgement here!

Edited November 16, 2013 by micmacmissy

[spookwife]

I never understood the shopping thing either, particularly when the ports are interesting and there is so much to see. On a trip years ago to Venice, there was a young couple who did nothing but shop. When I said that my niece and I took a gondola ride, the young woman said "Everyone on the gondolas looked bored." The couple stopped at every Hard Rock Café so that they could bring back T-shirts from each country. I just don't get it!

 

it's just like people who collect shot glasses or magnets from every place they visit.

 

for us it's actually christmas ornaments. One cruise we hit like 4 ports with Margaritavilles ( DH is a major Parrothead) so we had to buy a t shirt from each one. and beer coozies.

 

Quite frankly beaches bore us to tears and I like to look for handmade local items and regional foodstuffs.

 

for us, shopping is a nice leisurely walk that still lets us experience the local color. and I do research beforehand to see what a location is known for.

[spookwife]

Many cruise excursions have a shopping experience built in. They want us to 'help the local economy in the places the ships visit.

 

yup a few of our stops last cruise( CA/NE) in order to get back on the ship you had to walk through a big tent that was full of vendors. It was actually quite nice, prices were reasonable and the smell of those freshly roasted nuts.. heavenly....it was nice to be able to grab something extremely last minute if you forgot to go back to that one store.

[temple1]

We used to buy the crappy souvenirs. But now we buy nothing. But we lie to avoid problems in customs. The time we claimed nothing, they questioned our kids on how many times they have cruised. When they heard, they let us pass. Better to falsely claim a tshirt and some crap then to get questioned.

 

I only buy what we consume on the ship and in the ports.

 

That makes no sense. We just took the 2 nighter on Vision and I didn't even purchase a ship's magnet to add to my collection and we didn't get off the ship in Nassau so there were no purchases on our Customs Declaration form. The Customs agent barely looked at it.

 

As for shopping, I like to buy more local souvenirs. They might be made in China, but I've not found anything at home similar. In Costa Maya I bought a Mayan style mask. It is on display and every time I see it I think of our fun day in Costa Maya.

 

I live at the beach, I see nothing more useless than a beach day when on vacation. We usually do historic or nature tours. We learned quite a bit about the history of Belize on our jungle bike tour. On one of our Nassau stops I went into a shop that featured local artisans and had an interesting talk with the manager.

 

for us it's actually christmas ornaments. One cruise we hit like 4 ports with Margaritavilles ( DH is a major Parrothead) so we had to buy a t shirt from each one. and beer coozies.

 

Quite frankly beaches bore us to tears and I like to look for handmade local items and regional foodstuffs.

 

for us, shopping is a nice leisurely walk that still lets us experience the local color. and I do research beforehand to see what a location is known for.

 

I only buy Christmas ornaments when traveling with DH. On cruises with my sister I stick to magnets.

Edited November 16, 2013 by temple1

[sparky-elpaso]

it's just like people who collect shot glasses or magnets from every place they visit.

 

for us it's actually christmas ornaments. One cruise we hit like 4 ports with Margaritavilles ( DH is a major Parrothead) so we had to buy a t shirt from each one. and beer coozies.

 

Quite frankly beaches bore us to tears and I like to look for handmade local items and regional foodstuffs.

 

for us, shopping is a nice leisurely walk that still lets us experience the local color. and I do research beforehand to see what a location is known for.

 

Agree on this. Right now on my TV stand is a small painting by an Aborigine artist from Australia, a painting (finger painting) on a ceramic tile from Mexico, and a purchase made absolutely just for fun, a little stuffed sheep from New Zealand that I fell in love with.

[impatientlywaiting]

We buy small to medium water color paintings/drawings depicting that particular city/country from a local street artist. We bring it home, frame it, and hang it on the wall in our entry way. Every time somebody new comes to our home, we get to tell the story of where each of the framed paintings came from. Returning guests always check the wall to see if there's a new painting! It's such fun and our guests really enjoy the stories. :D

[artypharty]

I do some minimal shopping for regional "things" that I incorporate into my art work, which I then sell and use the money I make on art sales to go on more cruises, to do more shopping for "things" to...

 

Perfect synergy!:D

[Ladysilver]

Some people simply can't afford the excursions so the only other thing to do in the ports is shop. It's fun, you see different and unusual things. And it gives you the feeling that "you've been there." :D

[capsfloyd]

Well for us ( pops and nana ) its grand kids . For me it's buying a Harley tee shirt where we have been . The wife, it's looking and picking up and putting back . She might buy something for the house or Christmas ?

I am just walking and looking with her , shaking and nodding my head ..lol

[voyager89]

I LOVE shopping. Thats one of the things that I look forward to the most when I travel. I google places to shop, stores, etc and I plan activities around that.

 

When I went on the Oasis, the spent the pre-cruise night in Sunrise FL to go to the infamous Sawgrass Mills Malls and we bought a lot of things, we even went back the embarkation morning for more shoping since it was so huge we didnt see it all before heading to the port.

 

While in ST. Maarten, I bought a Goyard bag that it is so so hard to find, it was such a bargain I couldnt pass on it. I am looking forward to St Maarten on January hoping to find a similar deal :o

 

 

I live in Mexico so there are a lot of things I cannot find in my city. Even Walgreens excites me lol. Walmart has so much different stuff that the Walmarts in Mexico :mad:

[babyher]

Different people like different things. Personally I don't get those that bring stuffed animals on their cruises and take photos of them everywhere or those that will sit in a Señor Frogs and drink the port away but whatever floats their boats. I don't do a lot if shopping but will look around in a few shops to find a shirt for our DS.

 

 

 

The take a picture of a stuffed animal everywhere you go thing is a little strange to me too ( I mean for a kid I could see it being cute) . But hey live and let live . We all enjoy in our own way.

 

The family of 40 all wearing Day Glo Orange T shirts announcing them as the "Cruisin' Cohens" is another one I don't get . But again Live and let live and enjoy.

 

My wife is the power shopper most of the time. Me I couldn't tell you the last time I went to a mall.

 

On vacation she might check out a jewelry store if the mood strikes or a local little gallery for something nice for the house. But we stopped the shot glass t shirt refrigerator magnet thing a long time ago.

[KarinaGW]

Back when they used to sell the port books, I'd buy one and my kids and I would pull out all the coupons for free stuff. And, then we'd hop off the ship and just try to find the shops....kind of a scavenger hunt...using a map as little as possible. As a result, we got to see all different areas, ate at hole-in-the-wall-restaurants, actually occasionally got something that we wouldn't have been able to stateside...and wound up with a whole bunch of teeny tiny little gemstones.

[FLSteve11]

When we go on vacation, no matter where it is, we look for a a Christmas ornament from the area to remember the vacation. If it is a cruise, we may try to get an ornament from multiple ports if time allows.

 

That is what we get as well. We try to pick up a Christmas ornament from each location we visit. If we have been someplace already, we won't get another, unless there is something unique about it (or what we did) to "justify" a second ornament. *grin*

[Desert Cruizers]

We don't do the shoping thing, browse maybe. If we do buy anything it is not a shirt/T shirt that I will end up only wearing a few times, but something pertaining to the area we are visiting. I collect Ducks so look for a native duck or bird of that area. We have enough in our suitcase without adding more clothes so look for small items that can be tucked inside shoes etc.

[OCruisers]

I have a friend who lives to shop!

 

She actually plans cruises around ports of call with the best shopping. :rolleyes:

 

Different people enjoy totally different things ....

 

LuLu

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[Sisley]

Very interesting thread! Thanks for posting :)

[jbond]

Over the years, it has taken longer and longer to decorate our Christmas Tree. We buy ornaments in every port. Hanging them brings back so many great memories. For something that usually costs less than $10, the memories are priceless.

[cb at sea]

If I'm in a place that has stores with items I can't get easily at home, I might check it out.

 

We never shop for souveniers.....I think it's a waste of money! Unless it's something that I can actually use, I don't acquire it.....yeah....I'm cheap!

 

On cruises, we rarely shop. On land vacations, like I said, if there is a store that we don't have at home, I'll check it out! There may be a nice pair of jeans, or shoes, or shirt.....you never know! Shopping is a time-filler.....if we're busy with other things, shopping is on the back burner.

[ktbr11crs]

Tanzanite tanzanite tanzanite...lol

 

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

 

We agree completely, and will add all the other colored precious gems to the list! We have bought some great pieces that have appraised for 2 - 3 times what we paid when we got home. Fortunately my BF has a great eye for gem stones :D; I don't think I would have felt comfortable buying them without his advice.

 

We don't do beaches, so shopping for jewelry for me and watches for him is fun when we're in St. Maarten or St. Thomas, and recently more ports are getting some great jewelry shopping (dangerous!).

 

Other ports it's all about the history so we hit museums, forts, cathedrals, etc.

[emilygrace]

I'm not a shopper either, whether at home or on vacation. I have friends who live for shopping. I just don't have the attention span for it and could never spend a whole day doing it.

 

One of the only things I look for when in a new location is a bookmark with some sort of scenery or mention of the area. I can always use a bookmark and they take up so little space to take home. I did buy a tiny watercolor (about 2"x3") when we were in Honfleur, France. If we go to a historical site where we need to buy a ticket I will keep the stub as a souvenir (and it can double as a bookmark!).

 

Now that I'm thinking about it, I do look for one other thing, and this is on the ship. If the logo shop has a pool towel with the name of the ship on it I will buy it. So far I only have 3 (Radiance, QM2 and Holland America). I go to the pool almost every day during the summer, so this is something I will use. Can you tell I am unbearably practical?

[DandDM]

I got married a few years ago and one thing my wife and I have in common is a deep love of traveling. But I learned quickly that our priorities when traveling are very different. My wife LOVES to shop. It doesn't matter if we go a few towns over, a few states over, or to another county: shopping is always part of her agenda. And it doesn't have to be to get a great deal, a souvenir or a gift - it is about the shopping.

 

For example, we travel to Las Vegas quite a bit and she always has me stop at a grocery store (usually Wholefoods) to get "supplies" for the room. That originally drove me crazy, but it makes her happy.

 

I don't know how to explain it, and I know I'm not about to change my wife's behavior, its just how some people are wired, I guess.

[Midwestgal]

We only shop if we have a little extra time to kill. However in Grand Cayman we go right to our favorite store and get our rum and then go on with our day.

[knobcreek]

Over the years, it has taken longer and longer to decorate our Christmas Tree. We buy ornaments in every port. Hanging them brings back so many great memories. For something that usually costs less than $10, the memories are priceless.

 

I'm the same and it's an easy way to bring back memories of all our amazing trips...Linda