Back from the Caribbean

Just got back from a sweet 8 day cruise. I was a little bummed that cigar smoking was only allowed in the cigar bar on the ship and not on the open decks, but the music and atmosphere in the cigar bar were great. I packed my smokes a couple days ahead of time in a tupperdor with a small credo and a digital hygrometer. The humidity jumped to 90% and I did not catch it until we were on the ship. The smokes I packed soaked up enough moisture that they were basically unsmokable on the trip. However, I did find some great smoke shops that provided the needed cigars for the rest of the trip. Below is a review of each port and the cigar scene there.

San Juan, Puerto Rico:

I found a really nice shop in Old San Juan. The name of the shop is The Cigar House. They had all the General and Altadis stuff along with a full line of RP, Ashton, Fuente, Padron, etc. They had boxes of Casa Magna for ~$130. They had tons of Opus @ $30+ per stick! They also had a nice selection of accessories. There were a couple other shops, that while not great, still had a decent selection of NCs.

St. Thomas, USVI:

There were a few nice shops in St Thomas. There is a shop right off the boat. They had a nice selection. Mostly General and Altadis, but also Fuente, Padron, Ashton, etc. They also had Opus for $30+ per stick. They had several of the Montecristo tobacco leaf ring tools hanging around, but would not sell me one.

The next shop was Captain's Corner in downtown. Only one of the locations has cigars. Basically, the same selection as the other shop. They also had tons of the Dominican Cohibas (with Cuban style bands). I talked the cigar salesman into selling me one of the Monte ring tools. I picked it up for $30 with the nice montecristo hanger.

I visited another shop that had a small selection of General/Altadis and the Dominican Cohibas. This was basically a souvenir shop with a small humidor. The guy that was working there tried to sell me some of the nastiest looking churchills that he claimed were "Cuban Montecristos that I took the band off". I laughed and left.

AH Riise also had a decent selection of smokes. They had Opus X at reasonable prices....Reserva d Chateau for $18 per stick or the 3pk tins for $54.


Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda:

There were a couple liquor store selling smokes. One store had a small, but nice selection of NCs and a small CC selection. The NCs included several Graycliff lines, RyJ, Macanudo, etc. The CC selection included Monte #2 and #4, RyJ Churchills (tubos), Cohiba Robustos. The CCs were authentic...as best I could tell from all the studying I have done. I bought a Cohiba Robusto and RyJ Churchill. After smoking the Cohiba, I was certain it was the real deal.

The other liquor store had fakes that were obvious fakes. Boxes improperly sealed, no triple caps, poor construction, etc.

I found a nice shop in the upstairs of the Heritage quay "mall". They had a full line of authentic CCs. Prices were a little steep, but I did pick up a Juan Lopez Sel No2, Cuaba Exclusivos, and a Fonseca No1.


Tortola, BVI:

There is very little shopping on Tortola. I did find Little Denmark which sells souvenirs. They had a full line (in the tiniest walk-in) of CCs. Prices were a little more reasonable than the shop in Antigua. I picked up a Sancho Non-Plus, Quintero Nacionales, and Por Larranaga Montecarlo (I was trying to pick up a selection of brands I had never smoked). It was tempting to pick up a Sancho Panza Sanchos (9.25x47)...but I didn't think I could tackle it. I was also able to buy a book, The Journey of the Havana Cigar. This is a nice book that talks about cigars from seed to finished product.

Nassau, Bahamas:

Fake CCs everywhere. I had a guy try to sell me some CCs at the straw market. A few minutes prior, I saw him putting Cohiba labels on a pyramid shaped cigar. All the shops had nothing but fakes.

I did visit Graycliff. The place is beautiful. The cigar factory is basically a small room with 12 rollers working. I got to take some pics. I don't plan to post them, because there is really nothing different from the pics others have posted....and no need to waste bandwidth. The cigars were pricey in their shop...which only sells their products. I picked up 3 different lines (Chateau gran Cru, Espresso, and Crystal). I smoked the Chateau Gran Cru and it was very nice...much better than the 1666 I smoked. Graycliff is definitely worth a visit. Once you leave the ship terminal, it is about a 15 min walk.

The lady working at Graycliff advised that Atlantis Hotel is the only place in the Bahamas where you can safely buy legitimate CCs. I didn't go to their shop due to lack of time, etc.

Well, that basically sums up my port cigar reviews. Hope this is helpful for those traveling to the islands in the future.

Thanks for sharing James. Sounds like a great trip!

[Caymus]

Thanks for the great review ! I love to travel, so cigar reviews of ports or cities are very helpful and interesting to me. Sounds like you had a real good time, and I'll use the information for my next cruise. What cruise line and ship were you on ?

[WildBlueSooner]

Awesome. Sounds like a blast, thanks for sharing!

[BORIStheBLADE]

I've been wanting to go to the Caribbean for a while.. looks like you had fun.

[DPD6030]

Yeah what cruise line were you on? I'm on Carnival in Dec. (cozumel, grand cayman and ocho rios) and if they give me chit about smoking a cigar on the side of the ship that cigs can then they are in for one. Or I may just go back to my private balcony and sip on some rum.

[Coz77]

Originally Posted by DPD6030

Yeah what cruise line were you on?

Im cruising with Royal Caribbean in August, I believe the name of the boat is Freedom of the Seas. Im looking froward to the cigar lounge. Also do you have any tips on keeping your cigars at proper humidity levels when cruising?

I was on the Carnival Freedom. I smoked a Monte #2 on deck as we sailed away and nobody said anything, but I read in the daily paper that cigar smoking was only permitted in the lounge. On past Carnival ships, I have seen a ton of cigars smoked on the deck.

As far as maintaining the cigars for a week. You should be fine with a tupperdor and a hygrometer. Once I realized I didn't need the Credo, it was too late...they had been at 90% for at least 24 hrs. I smoked a couple of the sticks and it was like trying to suck a watermelon through a garden hose.... Once I realized that they were over humidified and unsmokable, I opened the tupperdor and just let them sit at room humidity. That varied between 55-62%. I am letting those sticks rest for a while before I smoke any of them.

BTW, the cigar lounge was a nice place to smoke. It had nice leather chairs and glass top tables with "cigars" as the base. However, it did not have windows so that you could see the water. Another "gripe" is that they only put out cigar ash trays at night. During the day, there were a few cigarette ash trays around, but I always had to dump out cigarette butts before using them.

[DPD6030]

Monte # 2 one of my favorites

[sikk50]

Sounds like an awesome trip, you've got me jelouse

[Caymus]

I was on the MSC Orchestra in March, and they had an awesome cigar lounge. It's right in the heart of the ship at the top of the atrium, they play great music, big leather chairs, very large room, and a great attendant. They also sell CCs out of their humidor, and even had Havana Club rum at the bar. The last night of the cruise I struck up a conversation with the author of Fodor's "The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruising" who happened to be in the cigar lounge. She has been on just about every mainstream cruise ship, from Carnival to Royal Viking, from Crystal to Celebrity, and she said this cigar lounge was the nicest one on the seas. I was disappointed that I was not permitted to smoke on my balcony, however.

This came in at the perfect time as we are cruising the Carribean right now,,we left Barbados Sunday on Princess and will be going to the same islands except for Tortolla,,,been there done that and you're right,,,not much there and was kind of a waste of time in that port. Thx for the tips on Antigua. Nice to have free Internet on Princess as we are Platinum members,,,about time we got "free" stuff and got upgraded from a balcony to a suite,,,this is the only way to travel.

[DPD6030]

Originally Posted by Cigary

This came in at the perfect time as we are cruising the Carribean right now,,we left Barbados Sunday on Princess and will be going to the same islands except for Tortolla,,,been there done that and you're right,,,not much there and was kind of a waste of time in that port. Thx for the tips on Antigua. Nice to have free Internet on Princess as we are Platinum members,,,about time we got "free" stuff and got upgraded from a balcony to a suite,,,this is the only way to travel.

Oh a suite. Congrats on the platinum status. I'll be going on my 3rd or is it 4th Carnival cruise in December. I've never looked back since I've had a balcony. Love it.

[GodOfFire]

I agree 100% with the Balcony. We are taking Princess cruise line on a 10 days honeymoon in June 29th... great on the cigar shop reviews in the port. I will be checking out a couple of them.

Outside of Opus how were the prices?

I'm not real familiar with what the "real" prices of cigars are. I purchase most of my NC stuff from cbid or discount places like JR, etc. The prices for most of what I saw seemed reasonable except in the cigar bar on the ship ($10 for Fuente Cuban Corona, etc). The CC prices seemed high for singles, but then again, I'm not that familiar with what the singles usually sell for.

[phidelt076]

I took my first cruise back in October and it was a 7 day Carribean cruise on the Carnival Conquest. Although they stated that cigar smoking was only allowed in the cigar lounge, I never had any trouble smoking on deck on the smoking side. I wasn't the only one with a cigar either. The cigar lounge was really nice too but the bar portion of it and the bands didn't start up until the evenings.

Sounds like an awesome trip!

[BryanB]

Welcome back buddy. Sounds like you enjoyed yourself.

Originally Posted by DPD6030

Oh a suite. Congrats on the platinum status. I'll be going on my 3rd or is it 4th Carnival cruise in December. I've never looked back since I've had a balcony. Love it.

If you stay with Carnival you will have their top status in a couple more years if you cruise,,,,here is another secret to getting top status quickly. Take short inexpensive cruises like a 3 or 4 day and you can usually score them for about $200 and that counts as a full cruise itinerary towards platinum status. We are Gold members on Carnival and Holland America as well but there is no beating Platinum. You get checked on the boat without going thru the regular lines,,,you have wine and champagne waiting in your cabin,,,flowers,,,and you always get an upgrade. We have gone from Ocean View to Suite on a couple of cruises and FREE internet with free laundry,,,add senior citizen rates and it's actuall cheaper for us to cruise than it is to stay home.