I was quite surprised that RSSC had recommended shopping inserts in the daily "Passages" newsletter, as I had only read about those on mass market Caribbean cruises. If I had seen something unique, I was looking for my daughter-in-law's birthday, but didn't have a lot of time to look, so nothing. When we got off the tender in Sitka, a girl was passing out flyers for a fur shop. My only purchases were books for grandchildren, purchased in Ketchikan, killing time, "Grandparents went to Alaska and saw this!"

There is an Alaska shop on the ship in addition to regular shop, but lighting is poor and I couldn't read the price tags!

A lot of the native guides were quite vocal about the plethora of jewelry shops which cater to the tourist trade!