Shipboard Purchases

[NJ Fred]

Given the shops aboard most vessels, what do you feel comfortable buying?

 

I rarely go further than a logo item, t-shirts, etc. I have found that I can usually beat the prices either on land or online. And should the need for service after the sale arise, I find those "magnificent" guarantees to be unenforceable.

 

Fragrances are cheaper online. So far as liquor goes, I just don't enjoy the hassle of carrying the bottles into airports, onto planes, etc; all to save a few dollars.

 

High ticket items like jewelry and cameras I would never consider purchasing on a cruise. Cameras sold on ships often are "gray market" ("international warranty") meaning you might have a problem with warranty claims stateside.

 

Curious as to your thoughts . . .

[Shelly&Jack]

Given the shops aboard most vessels, what do you feel comfortable buying?

 

I rarely go further than a logo item, t-shirts, etc. I have found that I can usually beat the prices either on land or online. And should the need for service after the sale arise, I find those "magnificent" guarantees to be unenforceable.

 

Fragrances are cheaper online. So far as liquor goes, I just don't enjoy the hassle of carrying the bottles into airports, onto planes, etc; all to save a few dollars.

 

High ticket items like jewelry and cameras I would never consider purchasing on a cruise. Cameras sold on ships often are "gray market" ("international warranty") meaning you might have a problem with warranty claims stateside.

 

Curious as to your thoughts . . .

My wife buys name brand cosmetic products in the shops. Prices are somewhat cheaper than at the Department Store cosmetic departments and there is no State sales tax. All totaled she says the savings are about 15% when including the sales tax savings.

 

She also likes the facial and hair products sold in the Spa. If you have promotional OBC, then the purchases are"free" because you now have to use all your OBC or lose it.

[bigbenboys]

When it comes to OBC I will buy Johnnie Walker Blue. It is real cheap buying on the cruise ship. The cost in Seattle is over $250.00 per bottle. I put the bottle in my checked luggage. As I have to spend the OBC I will buy Fragrances or even a purse. Our OBC has been $600 to $850 per cruise.

[impatientlywaiting]

I usually buy a purse. The Royal ships carry Guess (not sure about Celebrity - will find out soon). After not purchasing one I liked on the ship I was on, and trying to find the exact same purse at home and couldn't, I decided from then if I liked it on the ship to buy it.

[KristyEllen]

Given the shops aboard most vessels, what do you feel comfortable buying?

 

 

 

 

Curious as to your thoughts . . .

 

 

This is a great thread -

 

would responders consider stating what country they are from - it makes a big difference to comparative pricing ...

 

 

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[2theship]

I agree about buying cosmetics on the ship, especially products I would otherwise buy at home. I know what the price is at department stores and the ship price is never higher. Even if it's the same, I'm at least saving the sales tax and using onboard credit.

 

For fine jewelry, I'd rather go to a trusted local jeweler. If a piece of costume jewelry on a ship catches my eye, I might buy it.

[hcat]

The spa has some nice quality work out items, sun and swim hats....I have also purchased Guess and M Kors purses, some nice costume jewelry ( and often regret passing something by to learn not available at home..NY/Fl) , alcohol if we are driving .

 

I dislike the flea market tables they set up but sometimes the stores are ok...hit or miss

Most OBC goes to spa treatments.

[KristyEllen]

What is a swim hat? :-)

 

 

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[NJ Fred]

I make fragrance and cosmetic (mostly for my bride) purchases via reputable online sites.

 

The poster mentioning Johnnie Blue - - I concur; being a Scotch drinker myself. Prices on the ship and in some ports are far, far below stateside liquor stores.

[Mr. Click]

Since we are not big drinkers buying spirits on board is a waste for us but the prices we see seem to be better than they are stateside. DW always goes into the cosmetics shops and always walks out saying "no savings here". When we have had some OBC to use I have picked up a watch, not the bargain flea market watches but a good quality. Last one I got was a Citizen Eco for $165. For grins we we looked at "used vintage" Rolex for DW but they wanted $6000 for a watch I know I can buy for under $2000 at home so that was a waste. Jewelry is something we stay away from on board since our knowledge is limited on what the real quality is and the prices are all over the place. Bottom line is if you are looking to buy a bigger ticket item, make sure you know the prices at home before you go. Some of the shipboard bargains are not really bargains.

[R'man]

The camera I recently bought on Silhouette has a USA warranty card.

 

Is there any price guarantee on purchases? The camera was a "good price", and now it is on sale "everywhere" for $50 less than I paid shipboard. Any way I can have the purchased adjusted through Celebrity?

[Lois R]

I have purchased several Anne Klein watches over the years. Never had

an issue with them. I have to replace the battery but I have to do that

with any watch I buy here at home too.

 

Yes, I feel totally comfortable making the purchase.

[Cruise Raider]

I sometimes buy a clothing item while onboard if I really like it. I do buy a ring now and again .. Celebrity's jewelry is of pretty good quality in my experience. I have bought jewelry on Princess and it seems to break or fall apart rather quickly. I am not buying the cheap costume jewelry but also not spending thousands of dollars. I am talking about jewelry in the $200-$400 range ....so not expensive but also not super cheap. I have bought watches ... some of those being the cheapo ones that I expect to last a year but I did get a nicer one once that is still one of my favorites. Did I get a smoking deal? No, I don't think so but it is a fun little memory. Whenever I wear it, I think of cruising so that is priceless in itself. I won't buy those exorbitantly overpriced products that they try to pawn off on you while getting a spa treatment. Please, NO talking (ehem...I mean hawking) while I am getting a massage.

I do hate those $10 sales (not even sure if that is Celebrity) ... way too many people in those rooms. Reminds me of Black Friday and I hate Black Friday!!

 

I did purchase a waterproof camera on Royal Caribbean once and it still does a good job after having it for nearly 10 years. My camera I had with me just stopped working and bought an Olympus in a pinch. When I got home, I did see it in Costco for $20 less but then again, I didn't pay any tax on it onboard, which would have come to about $20 so broke even. So again, no smoking deal but it worked out ok.

 

I know if you buy an Apple product onboard, you can certainly still purchase the Apple Care, just as you would when buying it at an Apple Store at home. All you are really saving is the tax ... and I guess that all depends on what products you are purchasing and if you've met your duty free limit. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase these onboard if it means using up some shipboard credit that I won't otherwise use. Oh wait, I never have any shipboard credit left over ... thus, I still don't have that iPad that I want. hahaha!!

[HUNKY]

Usually pick up a $10 tie for work, and if the ship is coming from a different region, two for $10 t-shirts. Sometimes we get the Swarovski annual Christmas ornament.

[dkjretired]

T shirts and liquor only if driving. United States

Edited December 18, 2016 by dkjretired

[champagne123]

I know Royal has Coach, but did I read somewhere that X has Michael Kor's?

[Coloradohawk]

I'm writing this on an iPad Pro I bought with onboard credit.

[cb at sea]

I've never bought a thing on the ships...except drinks! I'm not into souvenirs....and it's true that nowadays, even things from the islands can be bought online, without the hassle of lugging stuff home!

[Lois R]

No lugging a watch........I wear it. No taxes on the ship either.

[prim8keeper]

I know Royal has Coach, but did I read somewhere that X has Michael Kor's?

 

 

Yes, as well as Kate Spade. We had a bunch of OBC to spend so we bought my mom a Kate Spade bag on our last cruise.

 

We also buy liquor and have purchased two iPads on board with OBC we needed to spend. Generally, as others have pointed out a lot of the time you can find things cheaper back home, however if we have non refundable OBC we figure it's better to use that as opposed to letting it go to waste.

 

 

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[TMLAalum]

With non-refundable OBC from Celebrity, we use it for alcoholic beverages beyond those we enjoy at the Elite happy hour, if we don't have a drink package.

 

On our last cruise we had the GO BEST, with $400 Celeb OBC so spent it on specialty restaurants and I used the remainder for a Skagen watch, that was overpriced in comparison to purchasing it online, but it was essentially free for me.

[hcat]

What is a swim hat? :-)

 

 

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A sun visor you can wear in the water with a nice brim made of lightweight quick drying sun protective material

I have 2..they work well...esp when combined with sunscreen and sunglasses

[tybeelucy2]

When it comes to OBC I will buy Johnnie Walker Blue. It is real cheap buying on the cruise ship. The cost in Seattle is over $250.00 per bottle. I put the bottle in my checked luggage. As I have to spend the OBC I will buy Fragrances or even a purse. Our OBC has been $600 to $850 per cruise.

 

 

 

We just bought this on our cruise last week. It was $310 /2 bottles and we got a 10% discount making it $279. It was the same price at the airport in SAN Juan - $280 /2 bottles.

 

 

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[Jem 12]

I know if you buy an Apple product onboard, you can certainly still purchase the Apple Care, just as you would when buying it at an Apple Store at home. All you are really saving is the tax ... and I guess that all depends on what products you are purchasing and if you've met your duty free limit. Still, I wouldn't hesitate to purchase these onboard if it means using up some shipboard credit that I won't otherwise use. Oh wait, I never have any shipboard credit left over ... thus, I still don't have that iPad that I want. hahaha!!

 

 

 

I did buy an IPad on board, to use onboard credit, it was cheaper than in the U.K., but unfortunately the guarantee was shorter buying it onboard than it would it have been if I had bought it from Costco's and of course once the years guarantee was up it did play up!!!!

 

 

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[rockdoctor]

I don't know where you got your info on grey market purchases. I wish I could stop the emails from companies I have registered my purchases with.