My husband and I have rented a villa for 1 month. We are expecting a number of friends to visit. Hearing how expensive everything is, I was wondering if it was worthwhile to ship things like alcohol, good olive oils, etc. or should I just buy everything on the Island? Any guidance would be appreciated as I love to cook and plan to do a lot of it.

Pack a cooler full of your favorite spices and snack food. The meats are not bad in price unless its processed meat. The veggies are not bad. Snack food, alcohol, paper products, also laundry detergent, can get expensive.

hi, i've done this several times. i travel to provo with a large cooler on wheels that goes to checked luggage. everything in it is frozen solid for days ahead and packed at last minute. if we overnight en-route i ask the hotel to keep it in their walk-in cooler overnight for me. we take meats of all sorts, frozen juices (for cocktails & bfast), butter/marg, cheeses, coldcuts, bacon/sausage, frozen lobster meat, maybe some salmon or sword (i come from maine) and a lot of premade appetizers (premade to save beach time and avoid having to buy large amounts of ingrediants so i have a tsp.)
some island fruits and veggies are great some not so much, (or wait a couple days for new shipment, but taking these involves a whole other cooler). i would buy booze in duty free shop when you leave the US. allow extra time in airport.
leave the cooler unsealed until you get to security. after they see it, you can give them some duct! tape to seal it shut. do this! upon arrival in provo you may be asked to present a written list of the contents. we have never been asked for the list or any import duty fees. write the villa name and address on the outside. also same 50 lb weight limit or you must pay extra -maybe $25.
when i gave a wedding shower on st. thomas i sent 3 boxes of supplies ahead. dry goods, party things and for your purpose vinegars and oils is a good idea as these particular items are very expensive on island. laundry soap is a good idea considering the length of your stay (how jealous am i -we only get 2 weeks) also nice crackers, cereal, coffee/tea, spices - things that don't outweigh themselves in shipping costs. ship early!

there is a tiny store on the five cays road next to an elementary school on your right that makes fresh bread and a fish market a couple miles further out. go to both early in the day. there are 3 maybe 4 groceries. the big one has tons of stuff but the little ones have a few odd items as well. oh yes, at some gas station on the hwy out east of the big grocery is another fresh bread spot. several times we cheated some and picked up fabulous desserts from restaurants in the afternoon.
what villa did you get? you and guests are going to have a wonderful time.

Virginia, Thanks so much. We rented Sunset Point Villa. This is our first time in T&C. We live in Montreal from which we depart and then connect in Miami. I'm wondering if it will be different leaving Canada with food, although they probably care more when food comes into Canada.

After reading your email, I think I'm going to pack a couple boxes of staples, wine and herbs and send it ahead. I'll get a wheel on cooler, if I can find one and bring it with us. I don't plan on taking a lot of clothese so it shouldn't be too bad. It's not a long flight so everything should stay frozen.

You've helped me tremendously and anything else you can think of will be appreciated. Thanks so much. Anne

Dear turksoldtimer,

Thanks for your response. Although we're not leaving until February, I now know that I'll be shipping stuff in advance of my arrive. Thanks, Anne

Virginia, one more question... Did you ship UPS or Fedex and if UPS how much time does it take to get there?

acprod: she doesn't send it-she "checks it in the airline!"
Wed night at Tiki hut is chicken and ribs night-for 12.95-can't cook for any cheeper.
Also, allow your friends to treat! You are very generous to invite them.
Supermarket is probably about 1/2 more than in States. Chicken ($9 a 3 pack chicken breats?) is about the same, veggies aren't too bad.
The expensive stuff is chips, drinks, etc.

Simply put, don't ship food, snackes, etc. by Fed-Ex or UPS - you'll pay a lot more in shipping fees than you'd save purchasing things "at home". If you must bring food do as others suggested, pack a cooler. If you plan to carry-on the cooler you can't use ice or the artifical "blue ice" packs they fall into the category of baneed liquids & gels. Also, airlines won't let you use dry-ice in a carry-on cooler. You can use a limited amount of dry ice (amounts vary by airline so check directly with your carrier) or as much regular ice or "blue ice packs in a checked cooler.

Thank you all for your help. Anne

anne, i used ups and i think i allowed 3 weeks - but i was nervous nellie giving such a special party so far from home. no doubt fedex would do as well.
re cooler: US didn't care what i was taking - just that no bombs were inside. they did a quick swipe with a tiny piece of cloth around the handles and top of the cooler. then duct taped it for me as you can't touch it after they check it. i did not use any ice or dry packs in the cooler. i do re-package everything still in the original wrapping but then with a seal-a-meal.
i have stayed at one of mr. moog's other houses, the cottage. it's quite small. your house is huge. taylor beach is too shallow for swimming but is nice for walking. you'll find dick clarks villa at the other end of the beach. sapodilla is very nice for swimming and lounging. there should be some ok snorkeling around the rocks below sunset point. and we found coral about 1/3 of the way across taylor bay straight out from your next door neighbor wauwinett too's swimming platform by their gazebo.
assume you have looked at the little map of all the ocean point houses on the northshorevillas.com site. there is a great map of the island at: http://www.aquamarinebeachhouses.com/map.htm
before you go down on your dock for morning coffee be sure to spray well with bug spray. at dusk also!

You're very kind, Virginia. Thanks for the info. I'm very excited and really looking forward to totally relaxing and this sounds like the place to do it. Anne

This was most helpful as we, too, love to cook and are coming with our extended family in March. We now know that it is fine to bring food. Is wine also a good item to bring from home or it is readily available? We are staying at Thompson Cove. It that a good location for snorkeling and general beach activities?