On board shopping.......

[BIG_Steve]

Hi,
On our recent Carnival cruise, Mrs. Big_Steve fell in love with a ring. It wasn't terribly expensive, and she was smitten, so we got it for her. No regrets at all.

Just curious though...... They advertise the jewelry as being tax and duty free. Even so, I'm wondering if the prices for jewelry on ships are high, about right, or low? Don't know much about fine jewelry pricing, so just wondering for future reference.

[firefly333]

Id say high compared to sites like bidz. I bought a ring in the Caymans, 65% off retails without shopping around. Paid $350. Could have gotten it easily for around $100 if I had shopped online. Its a nice ring, but nothing special, a sapphire with two small diamonds and a large (thick) 14 K gold band. Some on bidz have very thin gold bands, so you need to be very careful and read the weights. I paid only $250 on bidz for a beautiful tanzinite that everyone ohhs and ahhs over, $25 to resize it, including shipping $278 I think. Way prettier than the sapphire I bought in the islands which is comparable to ships prices.

Be very careful of that retail price, because no one pays retail, but they use it to figure out some huge discount to make you feel like you got a deal. ports and the ships prices are comparable, but my local jewelry store has better deals imo. I went and compared there, and they have better quality tanzinite, starting at about $350, much better than what I saw on the ship where I priced them out.

[StillPooh]

Personally I didn't think the ship prices were all that great. I can shop tax free on military bases, so I didn't buy anything but an inexpensive watch on our cruise.

[paul929207]

Is anything on th ship reasonably priced?

[BIG_Steve]

Originally Posted by paul929207

Is anything on th ship reasonably priced?

Sure. Room, food and entertainment are a steal.

[silentbob007]

Some duty-free liquor prices aren't too bad.

[yogi2929]

The only thing that I do know are a good price are the Citizen Eco-Drive watches.
I have several and the only time I have seen them a bit cheaper than the ship was on a 'take an additional % off' clearance racks at Macy's & Mervyn's.

[Gablin]

I would never buy jewelry for myself anywhere but from a local, trusted jeweler. I've heard way too many stories of people getting "a good deal" on a ship or in the islands and then getting the jewelry appraised at home for insurance purposes, only to find out that the replacement cost is half or three quarters of what they paid.

A gemologist would be able to tell if she or he were getting a fair price.

I would not be able to tell precious stone quality myself unless the stones were so bad that the flaws are visible to the naked eye. I can tell the difference between 14 karat and 18 karat yellow gold, by eyesight, but I would not be able to spot the difference between 20 karat and 22 karat, unless they were side by side similar pieces on a dark background with great lighting. I would be hopeless at telling karat for white gold.

[STARFISH*4]

i wouldnt buy $$$ jewelry on a ship and think some of the pieces are very OVER-PRICED
costume jewelry....not a problem for me...i am the one going thru stacks and stacks of those $10 cards of jewelry and have gotten some FUN pieces over the years...but wouldnt pay the PRICEs for the GOOD STUFF
if i am paying the BIG BUCKs for jewelry i want to purchase it locally at a jewelers so if there is a problem i can go right back to where i purchased it from

[Azure Moon]

There may be some good jewelry deals on a ship, but I'm afraid of falling in love with something again then finding out I could have gotten the same thing cheaper at Walmart . I did that once with a cute little gold charm (for a bracelet). I could have purchased 2 charms at Walmart for the price of the 1 I purchased on the ship - same exact caret weight and design .

[McDebbie]

I think they might be a little high compared to the deals due to the economy. But if she loves it and thinks of the cruise every time she wears it then it was a good value.

I fell in love with the AK cruise watch a few years ago but didn't buy it the first time I saw it so then we had to book ANOTHER cruise. That was an expensive watch.

[whale-watcher]

Higher priced, but a convenient option for husbands (including myself) that don't have time for shopping back home, or live in rural areas where selection is very limited.

[navybankerteacher]

Your best bet for buying jewelry is a local store in your home town; however, if it an inexpensive item, the "souvenir" value of having gotten on ship might offset the overpricing.

[4bolts]

Originally Posted by yogi2929

The only thing that I do know are a good price are the Citizen Eco-Drive watches.
I have several and the only time I have seen them a bit cheaper than the ship was on a 'take an additional % off' clearance racks at Macy's & Mervyn's.

My husband wanted one of these watches he saw on board but I talked him out of it. I wish I hadn't because no website or store has the one he saw or as cheap.

[BND]

My DH and I both currently have two citzen eco-drive watches each. We love them. The fact we don't have to change batteries is the best part. I had one prior to the two I have now and it lasted 12 years before the battery gave up. We each bought one on board Carnival on two different cruises and the prices are better than they are here. They are definitely a good deal on the ships. As for jewelry, it's really hard to determine what is a better deal because of the variance in quality of stones, cut, clarity, shapes, etc. I don't think jewelry on the ship is any more overpriced than anywhere else. I do think they push certain items and stones more. I wouldn't buy an engagement ring onboard, but other stones are probably fine.