St. Thomas or St. Maaaaarten?

[sgriff17]

My fiance and I are thinking about purchasing wedding bands for eachother soon and thought about looking into it on our upcoming cruise. We are of course going to price around at the various shops here in lovely Richmond VA first to get an idea of prices and quality - but we are wondering if anyone knows what port is better for jewelry?

 

We always hear that St. Thomas is THE PLACE to shop for jewelry...however, last year when we went we were not blown away by what we saw (I had just purchased a ring and proposed to her on the ship, so I was an expert on diamonds at that point :) )

 

On a few threads I saw that people considered St Martin better because "the shops in St Thomas know they are the first port and price accordingly..."

 

Any experience on this? It's a tricky situation! I don't want to pass up a great deal on St Thomas in the hopes of finding something at the next port - then it NOT be there! (Okay, I mean good deal. If it's a GREAT deal then I'm buying!) I also don't want to buy something in St Thomas then find it 20% cheaper in St Martin.

 

I guess I'm just going to go with my "gut" feeling on this...just wanted some input from y'all. Ive been to St Thomas before, but never the other.

[BigDoug]

I think that you should read this thread from the Princess board. It is all about jewelry purchases and the pros and cons. Hope this helps.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=37545

[sgriff17]

Thanks BigDoug

[cpayne]

I would discourage you from purchasing jewelry on the islands. I personally have never had a bad experience (never purchased any while traveling), but have heard numerous horror stories. I have also watched the various sales people in the different jewelry shops over the years trying to make a sale. They use a lot of strong arm tactics knowing they are preying on vacationers who are in a more lax frame of mind.

 

My biggest concern would be service after the sale. Once you get home these rings will need to be serviced over your lifelong marriage. They may need sized over time, they'll need buffed and/or polished, stones may come loose (happens on the best of jewelry), etc...You are better to establish a relationship with a trusted vendor and maintain the relationship over the years. They will be sure to treat you right because you are a repeat customer. On the islands they don't care because they'll probably never see you again!

 

We were in St Thomas last week and I watched a sales person attempt to sell a lady a 5 ct solitaire diamond. I have stones of comparable size and could tell for a fact that stone was NOT the size and quality they were telling the customer!

 

Don't be a sucker and get taken by them! You may spend a few more dollars buying from a jeweler at home, but over the years you'll make up for it with a jeweler that takes care of you!

[Cruisin'Susan]

st maarten was cheaper for us .

[cruztime]

We've always gotten the better deal in St Marten. You just have to know what you want. If there is a question of reputable jewelers you can always go with the ones suggested by Carnival. They have been throughly checked out. We always deal with Oro Diamante in St Marten. Some friends of ours are repeat customers so we get very good deals there. With the cost of gold what it is today, I'm not sure if you would do any better there than in the states on bands. The real upside is there is no sales tax. So if you are buying high end pieces, that can come to a pretty good amount. Just check out what you want before you go and compare.

[pshaze]

Is anyone ever concerned about the Custom Allowances? I rarely see it mentioned at all on these boards. We took our first cruise in April and went to all the shopping talks. Custom Allowances were never mentioned until we received our Debarkation information at the end of the cruise. That information would have made a difference where we made our purchase.

 

The total allowance when we sailed in April was $1200

 

St Thomas allowance was a max of $1200 pp

 

St Maarten was only $200pp

[S.S.Oceanlover]

we pricred tanzanite bracelets St.Thomas. They were more than we wanted to pay so we waited til we got to St.Maarten and found what we were looking for at the price we wanted to pay. Just hesitate a bit before buying and they usually come down a little in price. We bought the bracelet at Kays Jewelers, no pressure at all. :)

Bill

[vermonter16]

Personally, I think the prices in St. Maarten are better. If you know what kind of wedding bands you are looking for then you know the general price range in the US...so just go on that when comparing... And yes, use what the ship recommends....we have never had a problem and those folks seem reputable.