We are going to St. Lucia in about 6 weeks; have been to Aruba, St. Martin and Grand Cayman a number of times. Last night someone we know who had been in St. Lucia several years ago talked about how much more expensive basis like restaurant and liquor (beer especially) were in St. Lucia versus other islands. I'm hard-pressed to think that there would be any signifiant difference from other islands. Can anyone who has been to St. Lucia and other islands help to enlighten me?

First of all, it is more expensive to fly there. I believe that Jet Blue now has flights to St Lucia and that can ease the cost of the flight. But, St Lucia has always been a more expensive and less accessible island. It's hard for them to keep their prices low. Some people feel that it's worth the extra money, others (like us!) don't.
It's likely that you recognized a price difference in Aruba vs Grand Cayman just as we did, right?

I guess it depends on where you're staying and where you decide to eat and drink. I didn't find St. Lucia anymore or less expensive than St. Martin.

On St . Lucia (Feb 2009) we ate at a several local places as well as at a few hotels/resorts including Anse Chastanet, Ti Kaye and La Haut. Local places averaged $10-15 for lunch without drinks and the resorts $15-25 for lunch without drinks per person.

One odd thing that I noticed is much cheaper in St. Lucia was postage to the USA and UK.

Look up a few trip reports on here to get a better idea of costs. If you click on my name you can find the report I wrote for St. Lucia.

St. Lucia not any different for upscale properties for me

Quite costly for all of those

Moderate and budget is a bit more costly they import a lot

If it is about cheap beer go to Jamaica for a nice Red Stripe

www.rockhousehotel.com cheap flights down on www.spirit.com

My fav for value play...

If you drink enough that it matters a lot www.bookit.com AIs

Best values.. Jamaica Properties and www.puntacana.com there.

Happy Travels,

We stayed at Sandals in St. Lucia, so compared to other AI vacation destinations, yes it was more expensive with regards to air. We also paid significantly less for the Sandals in the Bahamas vs. St. Lucia. In comparision to AI hotels that we have stayed in on other Islands that were not a Sandals, then yes there is a huge difference.

We've found that off property food and drink are basically the same in various locations that we have been to. Expect beer to be around $5-6. Liquor $8-13 depending on what you order. Around $15-$20 for breakfast, $40-$60 for lunch, $80-$100 for dinner. (with drinks) We found Aruba and Grand Cayman to be more expensive with regards to food prices than other destinations.