Carnival ridiculous overpriced merchanise

[Joanne G.]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

I don't know about Carnival but on other cruise lines, the shops are not operated by the cruise line. They're operated by a third party and they just lease space from the cruise line.

 

If that's how it's done on Carnival, it makes no difference to Carnival if the goods sell or not - they are getting their lease paid either way.

The lease agreement may include payment of a percentage of sales.

 

Whatever the arrangement, I remain baffled by the amount of space taken up for selling high-end accessories and jewelry.   I never see a lot of people in those shops, but it must work for the cruise lines and the vendors as ships on all the major cruise lines have these shops. 

[mz-s]

27 minutes ago, Joanne G. said:

The lease agreement may include payment of a percentage of sales.

 

Whatever the arrangement, I remain baffled by the amount of space taken up for selling high-end accessories and jewelry.   I never see a lot of people in those shops, but it must work for the cruise lines and the vendors as ships on all the major cruise lines have these shops. 

 

They sell a ton of those Invicta watches and the inch of gold, the t-shirt sales, and things like that. Always huge lines for those events on cruises I've been on. Yeah I don't see many diamonds being sold but you have to figure they're selling enough of them or they would take out the diamonds and put in more beach bags etc.

[nc762shooter]

I'm sure they've run the numbers and figured out we only need 1 customer out of X to actually purchase for the shops to be profitable, the fact that the shops are still onboard tells me the cruise line and the shop owners must be making money from this arrangement. Plus the presence of "high-end" brands adds to what a fair number of cruisers perceive to be a "luxury" experience. Not everyone lives in an area or has travelled to places that routinely provide the level of service and amenities you find on even a cheap cruise and just the presence of these shops and brands just adds to the wow factor. I'm sure the psychology behind this especially if coupled with a few drinks and the lack of easy internet access for research has led to more than a few impulse buys. It'll be interesting to see how effective this marketing tactic is going forward with the prevalence of usable and affordable internet onboard. 

[Jeafl]

32 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

They sell a ton of those Invicta watches and the inch of gold, the t-shirt sales, and things like that. Always huge lines for those events on cruises I've been on. Yeah I don't see many diamonds being sold but you have to figure they're selling enough of them or they would take out the diamonds and put in more beach bags etc.

The inch of gold seemed like a decent deal, until I priced out a 20-inch paperclip chain necklace.  It was $7.99 an inch, so the whole thing was $160 which was ridiculous for a costume jewelry piece.  I can get the same thing on Amazon for $29.99.

[Butterbean1000]

24 minutes ago, Jeafl said:

The inch of gold seemed like a decent deal, until I priced out a 20-inch paperclip chain necklace.  It was $7.99 an inch, so the whole thing was $160 which was ridiculous for a costume jewelry piece.  I can get the same thing on Amazon for $29.99.

After seeing the gold by the inch on several cruises, I broke down and bought a bracelet and charm for my granddaughter.  What a POS. I don't remember how much I paid, but what ever I paid, it was too much.

[Viajera7]

On 4/21/2024 at 8:23 PM, mz-s said:

 

I'm sure people discuss things like that on airport critic if such a site exists.

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[davy jones]

It's not just Carnival.  In my experience, all cruise ship shops are overpriced.  

 

The possible exceptions are liquor and smokes (and I do not smoke)