Deals on board

[gdnr68]

Hi,

I've heard that each day the shops offer a great deal on something such as watches etc. What other sort of things do they have great deals on? Thanks in advance :)

[Jdell]

I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the merchandise that went on sale (which they setup outside the shops) was kind of junky. Watches that were $10 and actually looked as cheap as they costed. Celebrity logo clothing, knick-knacks and cultural items from the countries visited--that sort of stuff.

 

In my mind, it was nothing worth buying, but I'm sure others will disagree. The nicer merchandise (overpriced to begin with) doesn't really go on sale (at least it didn't on a recent Equinox cruise).

[bbappel]

I got a really nice fleece vest for sale on a Med cruise and another fleece jacket that I needed in Dubrovnik both left over from the Baltics trip earlier.

[Lois R]

Hi,

I've heard that each day the shops offer a great deal on something such as watches etc. What other sort of things do they have great deals on? Thanks in advance :)

 

Each day? I would say it is much closer to the end of the cruise.

They do offer clothes and some jewelry but I have never seen "great

deals" during the week. If you are looking for sale prices I would say

it is at the end of the cruise and of course it depends on what one

would consider "great".

 

The better stuff is never on sale except for being duty free (no taxes)

on the jewelry.

[Lsimon]

They do have "sales" almost every day but that doesn't mean the prices are great - it is mostly just marketing. For example one day might be an "inch of gold" sale. The only truly marked down merchandise I've seen are closeouts of discontinued and end of season stuff. other than these closeouts the sale items just seem to be merchandise stocked for those particular "sale" events.

[Pilot70D]

All of the junk and crapola that any flea market would be proud to sell is on sale everyday outside the shops. Save your money and get the Blue Light Special at your local K-Mart.

:eek::eek::eek:

[elena7seas]

There is something "featured" every day in the centre spaces of the Millennium-class shopping galleries. Some of the merchandise is from the shops and is featured at a reduced price. Some of it seems to be brought in especially to be featured as a sale. You have to dig through a lot of stuff to find a real bargain, and you need to know your prices.

 

I usually manage to get one really nice Anne Klein watch at a fairly good sale price on each cruise. On my last cruise I got some Ralph Lauren (I think...it was one of the designers of that genre) costume jewelry for 70% off retail. The time before that I got two good-sized bead bracelets, one black onyx, one carnelian, for $10 each. (I took both of these in with my good jewelry to my insurance appraiser last time, just for fun, to see if they were really the stones advertised, and they were). I've picked up some pretty faux sparklers (you know, cruise jewelry :p...I never take the good stuff with me on a cruise ship), reasonable quality for costume jewelry, at pretty good prices. I have never seen Swarovski jewelry offered in the centre space for sale, but sometimes it is 10% off within the stores.

 

There is also some quite pretty "artisan" jewelry offered on these sales from time to time, at pretty good prices. They seem to be trunk shows...on the ship for one day only. I bought one beautiful handworked silver and stone pendant for an excellent price, and a very nice amber pendant, also a very good price. Both of these were appraised for five times what I paid for them.

 

Then of course, you get the standard cruise ship "sales" of pashminas, evening purses, etc. all for $10. These are sometimes the same merchandised offered within the shops for the same prices on regular days, and sometimes they are a special inventory offered for the sale only.

 

Generally, the really good stuff (Movado watches, Tag Heuer, etc.) doesn't go on sale, although they offer these things at "duty free" prices. I can usually do better on these things at home, and I prefer to buy them close to home, anyway. I have, however, had good luck with Celebrity standing behind the products they sell.

 

Near the end of the cruise you will usually see the logo things offered at a sale price, especially if you are on a repositioning cruise, or on the last cruise before the ship repositions.

 

On the Solstice class ships, the sales are different. There was actually more upscale merchandise IN the shops on Solstice, although the prices didn't seem great. But the "sidewalk" sales (no centre court sales) had WAY more junk for very low prices...Chinese brocade bags and eyeglass cases for $1.00, $5.00 pashminas, and that type of thing. Big crowds at these sales, though.

 

In general, shopping on cruise ships takes a bit of stamina..."you've gotta kiss a lotta frogs before you find a prince". But if you have a little of the shopper in you, and you enjoy the hunt, it can be fun way to pass a little time while DH is in the casino. :p

[gdnr68]

Thanks everyone!

[labeachcomber]

I agree with all of the above. On Equinox, they had "sales" set up outside the pool area on sea days or in front of the shops before dinner. Usually at the pool it was just standard Celebrity logo merchandise (tshirts, mugs, etc) at maybe 50%. In front of the shops, it was the standard pashminas, ugly handbags, etc. Towards the middle of the cruise, they started having stuff from the port we visited the day before. So there would be souvenirs from Greece or Turkey. IMO, it was just all junk. Maybe the intent is to give somebody a second chance at buying a souvenir that they may have missed getting while the ship was in port.

You'll find much better prices - and wider selection - if you shop at the actual port, of course. It also makes it seem more authentic.

 

On Equinox, there are some higher end stores. There's a jewelry store where somebody tried to sell my wife some blue diamond earrings, telling her that it was a great price. I'm not sure if these stores allow bargaining, he kept insisting that it was already the discounted price. It is true that things are duty free, but I think you probably could get a better deal in port. I saw a bunch of higher end watches, but these are not going to be the ones that go on sale. There was a men's store that sold a lot of Polo apparel.

 

One thing I didn't see - and what I was kind of waiting for - was the 50% off on a cheap travel bag. I know Royal Caribbean always had one for sale during the last days of the cruise so people that bought a lot of things would have an easy way of getting them home. Never saw it on Equinox, so we lugged a lot of souvenirs home in paper bags.