Grocery Prices-Are they really that much higher??

[cptnkirk]

Rick would explain this much more eloquently but ciguatera is fish poisoning caused by a bacteria found in red tide. It builds up in fish at the top of the fish food chain, Barracuda is a big no no can get in any top predator fish especially if taken near shore reefs. If taken in open waters the risk is not very high. I’m sure Rick or someone will chime in on some specific fish to avoid.

[stjdeb]

Because we are doing carry on only for 9 days, four people, I am shipping a box ahead of time. It's mainly filled with alot of sunscreen, bug spray, toiletries, peanut butter, coffee, tea. The rest we will purchase at the local grocery stores. We typically do one rather large shopping trip at the beginning with some breakfast stuff, sandwich stuff and a few snacks, and one dinner. I find we work on the fly - we don't plan on eating out, it just happens. So I don't get another villa dinner until we've eaten the first one. I know it sounds kind of crazy, but we don't leave much behind or waste alot of food. The prices are higher than at home, so we just try to be conservative and get only what we will eat. So far, it's worked well and I am prepared for prices to be higher. The box I am shipping will cost $4.00 to be held for our arrival, and of course the cost of shipping. I have very fair skin coloring and go through a lot of sunscreen, the same with bug spray - noseeums love me! These are the items that give me sticker shock!

[BeachKitten]

stjdeb:

You sound like you travel like us. I too, am leaning towards shipping ahead like you with the items you listed.

And just going with the flow for the rest.

Looking forward to reading the rest of the tips on fish and "ciguatera risk", which I have never heard of...?

How are you shipping and who is holding your package for $4?

We're going to be there for 17 days with carry-on only for 2 people, so the discussion on how to do this is a very enjoyable part of the trip prep!

[RickG]

I really know less than Wikipedia on ciguatera. We mostly stay away from reef fish, but still eat grouper and snapper at Shipwreck. We buy fast swimmers like tuna, dolphinfish and wahoo. We love mackerel, but skip the warm water verions; no hardship as a wahoo is mackerel-like. King mackerel should be fine as well.

But, this is just a rationalization. When I researched this again I found that the only way to be certain to avoid ciguatera is to not eat warm water fish.

As Sweet Christine says, "Kill me, kill me now."

I'll let you know if my lips start tinging.

Cheers, RickG

[Gromit]

Beach Kitten--

Another great spot for fish is the little fish market that Aaron Willis runs attached to the Fish Trap.

Also since you mentioned that you will be down for 17 days IMHO that changes things a bit in terms of pricing value.

What I mean is it might be worthwhile for you to do some heavy grocery shopping and eat more meals in if you choose. Due to the length of your stay you will probably actually use up everything you buy including he extras.

But to save $$$ it helps to know about the various all you can eat nights etc. Plenty of good value eats on island too like the Tourist Trap.

YOu'll have fun!!

[BeachKitten]

Gromit:

I added your tip to our list, we will be eating lots of meals in, and packing a cooler for the day to explore all these beaches/

Appreciate the tip on where to buy fish, I smell the grill heating up!

You're right, we will have fun! We just keep smiling at each other, and saying 'we're going to STJ!!!!!'.

So blessed!

[RickG]

Another STJ grocery receipt from St. John Talk blog.

http://www.stjohntalk.com/blog/?p=974

Cheers, RickG

[MistB'Haven]

Since we were to be there for 3 weeks, a tip suggested to us that we used was to rent a jeep on STT and shop at the Food Center just before you get to the car barge at Red Hook. We got all our basics there, then just shopped as needed in St John. However, coffee (1 lb can) was $6.99 on STT, $4.99 at Lilly's. Ham and turkey cold cuts at Lilly's were $10/lb. A container of strawberries $7.00. At Starfish I paid $7.00 for a head of cauliflower. Unfortunately I didn't keep the itemized receipts. However, Dolphin Market was cheaper than Starfish and had good produce but didn't have as much meat nor what I call "gourmet" bread. The market at The Fish Trap had excellent seafood. Not cheap however. But, as was mentioned earlier, the food is a bit more but the booze is cheaper. It all works out in the end. I didn't think it was unbearable.

[RickG]

Check out a recent grocery price survey across stores on STT, STJ and STX. Prices vary, but Food Center on STT came out at the high end - higher than Dolphin Market on STJ.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/i ... d=17631134

Cheers, RickG

[Teresa_Rae]

Check out a recent grocery price survey across stores on STT, STJ and STX. Prices vary, but Food Center on STT came out at the high end - higher than Dolphin Market on STJ.

http://www.virginislandsdailynews.com/i ... d=17631134

Cheers, RickG

This is kinda like an SAT question...

From the numbers they give you can’t tell if Food Center or Dolphin Market had better prices because at the former they bought 33 items but only 30 at the latter.

Regardless, I’ve become a fan of Dolphin Market because their flavored Cruzan is so cheap. I'll never buy it at Food Center again, though I will still get things like water, pop/soda, and milk there.

[Steve S]

Thanks Rick. Funny but you never see mention here of shopping the Pueblo markets here on the forum. We drove past 2 last year, the Sub-base and over by Havensight on the way to Red Hook last year. Tutu Mall also mentions a Pueblo on premises. I used to shop the Pueblos on Puerto Rico and they were nice stores. Does anyone use/recommend Pueblo over food center, cost-U Less or K-mart?