Duty Free Alcohol - Noumea or ship?

[Tripmode33]

Heading on Luminosa cruise very soon that calls into Noumea. Need to decide whether to purchase duty free liquor on-board or wait until Noumea.  I know Port Vila, Vanuatu, used to be priced well, but never looked in Noumea. Does anyone have recent experience from Noumea?  And if so, where is best shop once in Port?

[windsor26]

I found the ship is comparable to Numea and less trouble to carry from the shop  Nothing like as good as Port Vila

[foxfilbert]

just got off the luminosa some of the duty free shops were closed in Numea  and one that was open had a long line out the door so i would advise to get it  on board but do it on the first couple of days as the do run out of  popular drinks.

[MicCanberra]

Noumea has never been that great for duty free unlike Port Vila, so I would say the ship is more convenient and likely cheaper. If you know what you wante in mind, do some research against Dan Murphy's specials as well. Sometimes there is no difference 

[Matt1jus]

Hi we just got back from our cruise. Port Vila prices were amazing. We got ours from the shop called Paris. Way cheaper than on the Ship. 

[SinbadThePorter]

I don't know about prices, but the range of French wine in Noumea is pretty impressive.

[lyndarra]

9 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I don't know about prices, but the range of French wine in Noumea is pretty impressive.

Range is impressive but not the quality but that may have changed as it's been forty years since I last bought wine in Noumea. Just because it's French is no guarantee without prior knowledge or being able to taste before purchase.

[Aus Traveller]

13 hours ago, Matt1jus said:

Hi we just got back from our cruise. Port Vila prices were amazing. We got ours from the shop called Paris. Way cheaper than on the Ship. 

Alcohol prices in Port Vila are renowned as being exceptionally good. Which ship were your on? On cruises that go to Port Vila, P&O and Princess usually drop their on-board duty free prices to match the Vila prices. However, the ships don't have a very big range of spirits. For that reason, we always buy ashore if we are going to Vila. We go to Fung Kuei, the last shop at the far end of the main street.

[By The Bay]

Another vote for Fung Kuei.👍

[cheznandy]

Us too for Fung Kuei....have to wait till December to go back there, been ages

[SinbadThePorter]

Just now, lyndarra said:

Range is impressive but not the quality but that may have changed as it's been forty years since I last bought wine in Noumea. Just because it's French is no guarantee without prior knowledge or being able to taste before purchase.

 

Next time you are there, check out the wine section of the Casino supermarket, you may be surprised.

[Hogbay]

Picked up this lot for Au $ 66 from Mr F. K . 

[ozziepost]

On one eventful trip on a P&O ship that has probably been turned into engine blocks for Subaru or razor blades. We couldn't get into Port Vila harbor due to unsafe conditions in the harbor itself.

 

We had a ship load of stroppy passengers who were really peed off at not being able to get their cheap grog from Fung Kuei in Vila. Our attitude was that the safety of the ship comes first regardless of what the inconvenience is, we just bought our duty free on the ship, while the variety wasn't all that great the price was good.

 

A bonus was that they sent us down to the Isle di Pins which wasn't on the original itinerary due to missing out on Port Vila.

 

[Tripmode33]

Been on several land based trips to Port Vila as well as cruising. We would have been very pleased with the visit to Isle of Pines. Lovely swimming and snorkeling.

[ozziepost]

We've been to the Isle de Pines a number of times. On one visit we did a ship tour that did a loop of the island and into the main town which I think was called Vao. The island itself is a gorgeous place with good swimming and snorkeling especially near the "Sacred Rock" and one I'd happily visit any time.

[suey]

10 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Next time you are there, check out the wine section of the Casino supermarket, you may be surprised.

Casino supermarket has changed hands - no alcohol now and no $A either

[Hogbay]

5 hours ago, ozziepost said:

On one eventful trip on a P&O ship that has probably been turned into engine blocks for Subaru or razor blades. We couldn't get into Port Vila harbor due to unsafe conditions in the harbor itself.

 

We had a ship load of stroppy passengers who were really peed off at not being able to get their cheap grog from Fung Kuei in Vila. Our attitude was that the safety of the ship comes first regardless of what the inconvenience is, we just bought our duty free on the ship, while the variety wasn't all that great the price was good.

 

A bonus was that they sent us down to the Isle di Pins which wasn't on the original itinerary due to missing out on Port Vila.

 

Isle de Pins has been closed to cruise ships for years 

[SinbadThePorter]

On 2/27/2023 at 7:55 PM, suey said:

Casino supermarket has changed hands - no alcohol now and no $A either

 

Just got back from Noumea. It's called Johnston now, but I noticed that they are building a new section in the back corner. Maybe for wine. It's hard to see how a store that big would not be selling French wine in Noumea.

[possum52]

17 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Just got back from Noumea. It's called Johnston now, but I noticed that they are building a new section in the back corner. Maybe for wine. It's hard to see how a store that big would not be selling French wine in Noumea.

That supermarket was called Casino Johnston when we were last there pre-covid.