By Sarah Greaves-Gabbadon
CJ Travel Editor

The best Caribbean ports don’t just give you a sample of the culture of the larger destination, they also provide worthy “shopportunities” at every price point. So if you want a tangible reminder of the terrific time you’ve had topside, pull into one of these ports, where world-class shopping is just steps from the gangway. Here are the Caribbean’s best cruise ports for shopping.

Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas The Caribbean’s most popular cruise port also has the largest concentration of duty-free shops, most along Droningens Gade, where purveyors of jewelry, crystal, perfume and leathergoods converge. But don’t miss the arcades that lead off the main street because they’re troves of art, craft and whimsical gifts.

Bridgetown, Barbados An easy walk from the terminal, the island’s busiest shopping thoroughfare, Broad Street, is lined with duty-free boutiques and department stores such as the venerable Cave Shepherd. And just minutes away, luxury retailers (think Breitling, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Louis Vuitton) can be found at Limegrove, an open-air shopping mecca in Holetown.

George Town, Grand Cayman You’ll have to tender into town but once you get there, the shops that line the main drag, Harbour Street, are poised to tempt you. And less than a 15-minute drive away, Camana Bay, a mixed-use shopping, residential and commercial village just outside the capital, will tempt you further with its posh boutiques and weekly farmers’ market.

Another favorite: the Coat of Arms boutique in Gustavia.

Gustavia, St Barth Passengers on small ships disembark at this petite port and are immediately treated to a trove of high-end stores along the waterfront Quai de Republique, where Hermes, Longchamp, and Vuitton vie for your vacation funds. Ten minutes’ drive away in St. Jean, you can spend any remaining cash in a clutch of stylish boutiques.

Philipsburg, St Maarten The Dutch-side terminal boasts all the big names in duty-free port shopping, and on the French side, the open-air waterfront market in Marigot will charm the euros right out of your pocket.

Nassau, Bahamas From Prince George Wharf it’s just steps to Bay Street, the capital’s shopping hub. Those in search of even more shopportunities should hop the 10-minute water taxi to Paradise Island, where there are more stores to be conquered at Atlantis’ Crystal Court Shops and at the burgeoning luxury shopping destination at the Baha Mar.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica The pier at this classic cruise port leads straight into Island Village shopping center, which is itself along Main Street, where you can’t walk two steps without bumping into a souvenir store, duty-free shop or craft market.

Above: San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico The capital’s cruise terminal is smack in the center of Old San Juan, a cobblestoned historic district where you’ll find several stores selling everything from duty-free jewelry to rum, artisanal soaps and original art. Luxury lovers should catch a cab to Avenida Ashford in Condado, where Cartier, Gucci and Ferragamo reign. And there’s something for everyone at Plaza Las Americas (the Caribbean’s largest) and the Mall of San Juan (Puerto Rico’s newest.)

Basseterre, St. Kitts While it’s still a bit under the radar, St. Kitts’ 27-acre Port Zante has become an increasingly popular port of call for destinations like Royal Caribbean. And it’s easy to see why, thanks to a suprisingly large collection of top-level duty free shopping.

Terre-De-Haut, Guadeloupe You’ll feel like you stepped into a French-Caribbean fairytale when you land on this tiny island. But the charming boutiques that line the tiny waterfront village’s streets – not to mention the ladies dressed in national costume selling fresh-baked pastries from straw baskets – make it feel a little like a shopper’s dream, too.

The post The Best Caribbean Cruise Ports For Shopping appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Another significant new hotel project has come to the Spice Isle.

The highly-anticipated Silversands Grenada has announced a target opening date of March 2018 for its luxury resort on the island’s famed Grand Anse Beach.

The project will be comprised of two main buildings off Grand Anse, including 39 open-plan suites, three one-bedroom suites and a large penthouse.

That will be joined by nine residential villas, includign five beachfront villas and four hillside villas.

The resort will be anchored by a 100-meter infinity pool, billed as the longest in the Caribbean, stretching from the heart of the resort all the way to the sand.

Amenities will include a pair of restaurants: the casual-fare Beach Club and the Asian-inspired Thai eatery, along with the “Silversands Spa,” which will include four treatment rooms, a sauna, a hammam, a temperature-controlled pool and a gym.

It’s the latest major new project for Grenada, which has been looking to carve a luxury niche in the increasingly competitive Caribbean market.

A rendering of a beachfront villa.

The centerpiece of that new wave of development is the planned Kimpton Kawana Bay project, announced earlier this year, Kimpton’s second resort in the Caribbean.

— Caribbean Journal staff

The post Silversands Grenada Set to Open March 2018 appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Fast-growing Caribbean carrier Winair has announced the expansion of its service between St. Maarten and the island of Curacao.

The carrier has announced that it is now offering flights between St. Maarten and Curacao three times weekly.

The expanded service will operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, according to a company release.

Winair, which is based in St. Maarten, offers flights across much of the northeastern Caribbean.

For more information, visit Winair

— Caribbean Journal staff.

The post Winair Adds More Caribbean Flights appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

Looking to cruise to the Panama Canal?

Holland America Line is adding more cruises to the Panama Canal, the cruise line announced this week.

Holland America will be sending eight ships and 19 cruises to the Canal between fall 2017 and spring 2018.

In addition to full transits, the line’s ms Zuiderdam will offer two Southern Caribbean and Panama Canal Sunfarer cruises that include a partial transit through the canal.

The transits range from 14 to 23 days.

“The Panama Canal is among the greatest engineering feats of our time, and its easy access from a U.S. home port makes it one of the most popular longer itineraries we feature,” said Orlando Ashford, president of Holland America Line. “There’s no better way to become more immersed in the world than by experiencing something like the Panama Canal, where history comes to life as you witness up close what it took to connect these two oceans. Everyone should transit the Panama Canal at least once in their lifetime.”

From September 2017 through May 2018, ms Amsterdam, ms Eurodam, ms Maasdam, ms Nieuw Amsterdam, ms Oosterdam, ms Westerdam and ms Zaandam will make 19 transits between the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean from five departure cities. Guests can set sail from Boston, Mass.; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; San Diego and San Francisco, California; and Vancouver.

The post Holland America Adding More Panama Canal Cruises appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico

By Alexander Britell

Before you read any further, know this: the Baha Mar is open in the Bahamas. And it is an impressive thing.

It is remarkably built, wonderfully modern and tastefully executed. It is a class above what you’re used to in the Caribbean.

Whatever you may have thought about it, it will exceed your expectations.

If you’re not familiar with the Baha Mar resort project, the largest in the Caribbean, it first broke ground on Cable Beach in Nassau back at the beginning of 2011.

As it grew over the years and its infrastructure transformed the Cable Beach area of Nassau, it became a large question mark: what was this project all about? How would it draw visitors when Atlantis was just a few miles away?

Of course, that was before the years of legal troubles, the bankruptcy, the ownership change and the developer-government battles, before Rosewood’s parent company, Chow Tai Fook Enterprises, acquired the property last year. And while those stories dominated the conversation about the project, they omitted something important: what the resort would actually be like.

The Baha Mar officially welcomed its first guests in the spring to the property’s first hotel, the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, which has opened several hundred of its total 1800 rooms, where we stayed and which will be one of three hotels — along with Rosewood and SLS, both of which are scheduled to open within the next year.

The rooms at the Baha Mar are elegantly designed, the food at the restaurants that have opened already (there will be 42 in total) is excellent – and the service is vigilant — there has been training here, and it shows (as does the sheer scope of the employment benefit to the country).

The lovely Cafe Madeleine, where the macarons are a must.

As I walked around the property, though, the answer to the biggest question became clear.

What is this place? What is it all about? What’s the point of the Baha Mar?

This is Las Vegas.

This is meant to be the Caribbean’s Las Vegas, the Caribbean’s Macau — a high-level luxury resort complex anchored by a 100,000-square-foot casino (nearly twice the size of Atlantis), the kind of property the Caribbean has never seen, with a world-class offering that just isn’t in the Caribbean.

The terrific Churchill’s Cigar Lounge.

It’s something that becomes clear as you walk around — the quality of the shops, the jazz lounge, the cigar bar, the light shows, the imposing, massive waterfalls at the entrance of the resort — even the direction signs in the casino look identical to the ones you’d find in the Venetian.

Of course, that’s not to say there isn’t a Bahamian identity. This is not blind to its location by any stretch — from details like restaurant and bar names like The Swimming Pig Gastropub and The Lynden (named for the country’s first Prime Minister) to Graycliff cigars at the bar to a massive Bahamian art component, among others.

And it’s all done beautifully, clearly targeting a wealthy, serious, entertainment-seeking visitor — and, perhaps most crucially, not just from North America, either.

Most importantly, this isn’t meant to take away visitors from Atlantis, a decidedly more family-friendly, Disney-like place.

A room at the Grand Hyatt.

This place can legitimately draw visitors who would usually fly to Las Vegas for the meetings or their gambling trips, and instead take a significantly shorter flight to Nassau. (Yes, there’s an 82,000-square-foot convention center).

This is the kind of resort that can increase the size of the Caribbean’s tourism pie, when everything is firing, when the place is completely open.

If they can pull it off.

It’s Las Vegas with sandals, Las Vegas on a beach. And that’s pretty hard to beat.

See the video at the top for more.

Video by Guy Britton and Alexander Britell.

The post VIDEO: Baha Mar: The Caribbean Las Vegas appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

Powered by WPeMatico