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Hello all,
I am a newbie and have recently booked my first cruise. I am starting with the Eastern Caribbean and if all goes well hope to expand my horizons. I am not a big time shopper, but I want to bring home a really nice bottle of rum for my son who loves the stuff. My research shows that the top 10 rums come from other islands than the ones I am going to visit on this cruse, those being PR, Haiti, St Thomas and St Maarten. My question is this, will I be able to purchase a bottle from one of the other islands on this trip or will I have to wait to go to the Southern Caribbean to do this? Thanks in advance for your help.
Bob
Cruzan Rum will be available on St. Thomas.
I don't know who grades rums to come up with a list of the best but the locally produced Cruzan rum is excellent from their Special Reserve to the wonderfully flavored!
If you buy your rum on St. Thomas you can bring back 5 bottles duty free and a 6th if one is from the USVI. And yes, you can buy rum from all over the Caribbean. If you go to A.H. Reiise you can get help picking a nice bottle for your son. It's not the cheapest place but you can get the help you need. Basically, get the bottle aged the longest.
My personal favorite is 15 year old El Dorado from Guiana.
You might also consider 5Star Barbancourt from Haiti. These are rums that you sip, don't mix.
Don't often drink any hard stuff but here are my two cents for what it's worth.
I have cruised the Caribbean many times, started with an Eastern one in 2001. I am betting that regardless of what line you may be on, you'll be on the leased "private island" of the cruise line in Haiti and not going into any towns. But Barcadi is made in Puerto Rico, Cruzan is the rum for the VI (distillery in St Croix) and I forget what is big in St. Maartin but they definitely have tastings on the cruise dock in Philipsburg at a place called Rum Jumbies among others. I have been to all 3 of these ports many times, they are favorites (STT/STJ is the Number 1). In St. Maartin, there is also the Guavaberry Emporium with guavaberry liqueur being the specialty there. Don't recall if they have rums.
Enjoy your time in port. If you "graduate" to the Southern itinerary you'll embark from Puerto Rico as you probably know. Always worth flying down a day before to enjoy Old San Juan.
Was on a southern in Feb. and we sailed from there to St. Thomas, St. Lucia,Guadeloupe(forgettable) Antigua and back to St. Croix before returning to PR. It's not a good cruise in my opinion unless it includes the VI. So this one was twice as good. Finally got my husband to book land vacations in St. Thomas and we loved every moment and can't wait to go back.
No problem with Cruzan, the rum of the Virgin Islands. For a Puerto Rican rum, try the three star Barrelitos.
Tom
You can purchase liquer at most grocery stores such as Cost U less, PriceSmart, Pueblo, etc. as well as K-mart. They also have many different flavors of Cruzan Rum and other brands.
Just remember, when you re-board the ship they will take your rum purchases (all alcohol purchases actually) from you when you go through security and they deliver to your stateroom on the last night of the cruise.
Pia
Come on be a good parent... A bottle? One from each!
PR - Ron del Barrilito Three Star
Haiti - Rhum Barbancourt 5 star
St Thomas - Cruzan Special Reserve
St Maarten - Rum Jumbie for fun
Then for Christmas we can get into the real expensive ones 😉
I have to add...
I disagree with the comment about Guadeloupe forgettable)
My wife and I spent a wonderful week on the island, and may have the best food in the Caribbean.
I have lived in the Caribbean and traveled to many of the islands, and Guadeloupe is special place. Not a tourist island, but a real place and very French :).
agree with Guadeloupe and it being a special place.
spend 4 days making a boat ready for delivery to newport ri.
food was way above bvi/usvi.
looking to go back.
Thank you to you and the previous poster for your perspective on Guadeloupe. I certainly enjoy less touristy experiences too and will keep in mind what you've both shared about the island. We spent a pleasant enough few hours on a hotel beach while there but it was nothing special, i.e. kind of a nondescript touristy experience. Shopping for spices and meeting some of the local vendors on the dock heading back was a highlight though!
Since the original poster described themselves as a "newbie" cruiser, I was coming at it from the point of view of the limitations of a few hours off a ship especially when you've never been on a cruise or in any of these islands before.
Still, I promise to keep a more open mind about Guadeloupe.....though one can tell from my presence on this forum where my own heart lies in the Caribbean. 🙂
