virginia

can anyone compare the jewelry stores at havensight with those downtown

MIM04

Some of the shops downtown are the same (brand) as in havensight. They do have a guarantee at the shops at havensight (but not against buyer remorse, lol) I like shopping in town better because I think the area is more interesting and there are more stores. Is there something specific you want to know or to look for there?

virginia

mim - i personally will be shopping for tanzanite. however i am traveling with group of 40 for a wedding, and several of the ladies have jewelry in mind but i don't know specifics. we are staying at sugar bay and secret harbour and i thought it might be at little less traffic to use the havensight stores.
have you ever heard that on no ship days the shops may make better deals???

KVR

We just returned from St. Thomas a couple of weeks ago. We stayed at the Wyndham Sugar Bay. We did the St. Thomas Island tour provided by the tour desk that gave us 2 1/2 - 3 hours shopping in downtown Charlotte Amalie. That was plenty for us. There had to be a least 200+ jewelry stores. Many with people standing outside begging us to come in and look at their stuff. One concept I thought was interesting is a bar located inside many of the jewerly stores. They will give you drinks for free, when they think your good and liquored up then they will start showing you their wares.

My DH and I had planned on buying me an anniversry ring for our 5th wedding anniversary. I searched my home area and got pricing and ideas of what I wanted. Didn't find anything in St. Thomas or St. John that matched the design, quality and price. We ended up buying the ring here at home. Good Luck.

Diana

We have been jewelry shopping all over the Caribbean, and found prices, selection and quality to be some of the best in the region on St Thomas.

In January, my husband bought me a John Hardy necklace and earring set at AH Riise in STT, and we saved about $500 over US prices.

They carry a wide variety of selections up to very high end items.

Be VERY careful where you buy Tanzanite as it is easy to fake. The most obvious sign of fake Tanzanite is if all of it in the store is the same color or if prices are very low.

MIM04

Virginia - yes I used to live in ST Thomas and they were always willing to make deals on non-ship days. Be really careful where and what you buy down there, if it looks like a fantastic deal, too good to be true it IS. GL

virginia

leaving monday. can't wait. thanks for the tips

MIM04

Virginia , have a great time! I used to work at Sugar Bay. I am sure you will have fun!

MIM04

Also, I meant to ask you, is the wedding at sugar bay, I used to be the wedding coordinator there... who is handling it?

virginia

mim - too cool! yes the wedding IS at sugar bay on the 18th. ceremony on the beach. then an hors d'oeurves, champagne, and cake reception on the patio with the gazebo. followed by a sunset sail towards st. j from sapphire with more munchies and open bar. (we'll be lit up for sure) laura or lauren, i believe, is the co-ordinator. of the 40 of us, bride's uncle w/wife & i will stay at secret harbour. rest at sugar bay.
any tips for the best snorkeling from your (sbay) beach? (already know about s.h.)

MIM04

Thats too funny, small world I guess. The sunset sail will be really nice! It really is beautiful there. For snorkeling of course the best really is St John, if you have time I would go there for the day. Its beautiful over there and lots of beaches, etc.
There is good snorkeling on St thomas although st john is better and the ferry is only like 15 minutes, short taxi ride from sugar bay.

If you have a free evening for dinner go to Craig and Sallys. It is fantastic. Its in Frenchtown, which is just past downtown on the way back to the airport. It is so wonderful, one of my favorite restaurants anywhere.

I am sure the wedding will be beautiful, I did tons of weddings on the beach, and we just blocked off the area so that people would not walk through the ceremony, although you have a lot of people going so I dont think that will be a problem!

Have a wonderful trip!

KVR

We found the best snorkling at the Wyndham. Since it is so rocky and the ocean floor is full of sea grass and seaweed, there is fish everywhere. We also enjoyed Coki Beach for snorkeling. Was disappointed in Trunk Bay on St. John. The snorkle trail didn't have very many fish.

We saw a beach wedding at the Wyndham at the little gazbo. It was near dusk and the biting gnats were everywhere. We were in the ocean and being eaten alive as was everybody else on the beach including the wedding couple and their group. They seemed to come out right at dusk and stay the evening. Didn't have any problem with them during the day.

MIM04

Virginia - yes sugar bay snorkeling is pretty good. I would NOT recommend Coki beach though, you CANNOT leave anything on the beach, including your flip flops, they just might not be there when you come out. There is tons of petty theft on that beach. Anyway, hope you have a great time!

virginia

mim - we are considering craig and sally's but have also heard alot about havana blue. was it there when you were? been there? know somebody who has actually eaten there? is tony romanos still good? and please your best suggestions for SAFE bars to go to (red hook end,not char. am. please) for bachelor and bachlorette parties. (this safety part seems all that much more important just now!!!)
may not have time to snorkel st. j. in addition to other plans, i am going sunday to bvis with new horizons II. if it weren't for this pesky wedding i know i could do alot more with my 8 days -lol.
thanks for coki advice. is lindquist beach still supposed to be not the safest place???? when we went before we thought we were ok and then were later told we had been in a not so safe place all day...
kvr - thankfully by dusk we should be sailing and bug free in the breeze. really glad to hear you liked the snorkeling at sugar bay as we will not be able to go in search of good places this trip.

KVR

I disagree regarding the comment about Coki Beach. We left our stuff on the beach ie:, beach bag,towels, flip flops, cover-ups, our glasses and nobody came near it. I have a water proof wallet for ID and money that I kept around my neck. We got a locker at Coral World and placed our digital camera in it while we were at the beach. Just so it wouldn't get wet or get sand in it.

We got some great pics of sargent majors with our disposable waterproof camera. We feed them french fries and they swarmed us.

We did the New Horizons II to the BVI's and it a great trip.

Try Duffy's Love Shack at Red Hook or Paradise Point in Charlotte Amalie. Red Hook has lots of bars within walking distance of each other, but I felt safer at Paradise Point. We went on Wed. night for the live entertainment and had a much better evening.

MIM04

KVR - just becase you didnt have anything happen, does not mean there is no crime there. I personally never had anything stolen --- however
I lived in St Thomas for years and stuff vanished off that beach everytime I went there. I never left anything, I didnt even bring flip flops, left them in the car. Everyone I knew who lived (and still lives there) does not take anything to the beach there.

I guess you were lucky!

Havi2000

Hi~ Back on the jewelry store topic, does anyone have any information about the Scandanavian Center at Havensight? I did buy a ring there last summer, my local jeweler thought I got a pretty good price, but we really took a chance just dropping in, not knowing anything beforehand about the store.Our ship happened to be the only one in port that day, & it was late in the day as well.. They came down a huge amount off the price on the ring. I'd appreciate any info you may have.