Shops onboard are boring.....

[wizard-of-roz]

I really think it's time that Princess takes a hard look at the merchandise onboard their cruiseships......boring! I'm a shopper and I like to bring home trinkets from my various cruises but this last voyage, I found nothing interesting and the stuff that was interesting was way too expensive.

They really need to "kick-it-up-a-notch!" ;)

[Kmkub]

Completely agree. I'm not a big shopper, but I have my moments. I had $100 burning a hole in my pocket on the last cruise.... money I had saved and saved just for splurging on ship-shopping fun.

 

I walked away with $95 or so... I bought a deck of cards.

 

Princess' loss... nice dinner out for us when we got back, though. :p

[wizard-of-roz]

Completely agree. I'm not a big shopper, but I have my moments. I had $100 burning a hole in my pocket on the last cruise.... money I had saved and saved just for splurging on ship-shopping fun.

 

I walked away with $95 or so... I bought a deck of cards.

 

Princess' loss... nice dinner out for us when we got back, though. :p

 

Exactly! I had money to spend and nothing to spend it on!!!!!!!

[centralcalicruzer]

Just curious, what shops do they have on board? The usual jewelry, perfume & liquor? Princess logo merchandise? Do they have those $10.00 shops like other cruise lines with evening bags, pashminas and such?

[cherylandtk]

Yep, all that.

[Kmkub]

Just curious, what shops do they have on board? The usual jewelry, perfume & liquor? Princess logo merchandise? Do they have those $10.00 shops like other cruise lines with evening bags, pashminas and such?

 

All that, yes... I find the clothing uninteresting.

 

They carry Swarovski Crystal, too...... super fun to look at, but nothing I can afford to take home.

[wizard-of-roz]

On my last trip onboard the Sapphire, they had nothing interesting and, the stuff that they were selling was outrageously priced. Let's not talk about the folks who work in the shops and could care less about customer service.......I walked out and felt a bit like Julia Roberts [i wish], in Pretty Woman, where she tells the shop keeper [who treated her miserably], "big mistake, big mistake!" I had money to spend and they were too busy chit-chatting to really wait on me!!!!!!

They need a new buyer with some interesting fare that would be afforadable and enticing to the masses. If Carnival can have interesting boutiques so can Princess.

We were doing a California Coastal. It doesn't really take much imagination to think of all the wonderful cities and offerings in California......get creative, make it fun and inviting. Gear some stuff towards families, and most towards women & men who like to shop.

[beg3yrs]

I walked out and felt a bit like Julia Roberts [i wish], in Pretty Woman, where she tells the shop keeper [who treated her miserably], "big mistake, big mistake!" I had money to spend and they were too busy chit-chatting to really wait on me!!!!!!

 

 

Where is your Richard Gere when you need him?! That's my wife's favorite scene followed closely by launching the escargot across the room.

:D

[Kmkub]

Let's not talk about the folks who work in the shops and could care less about customer service......

 

Agreed. They probably get paid lousy wages and don't get tips. (You get what you pay for.)

[wizard-of-roz]

Where is your Richard Gere when you need him?! That's my wife's favorite scene followed closely by launching the escargot across the room.

:D

 

 

Where-for-art-thou-Richard? That movie had so many wonderful parts to it......I can watch it over and over again. And, the shopping/salesperson scene is played out over and over again in so many instances, in so many shopping adventures in all our worlds, I'm sure!

[wizard-of-roz]

All that, yes... I find the clothing uninteresting.

 

They carry Swarovski Crystal, too...... super fun to look at, but nothing I can afford to take home.

 

Have a 2 hour Swarovski Crystal sale on a sea day......move some of the merchandise out and around......come on!!!!

I love the crystal animals and would buy more if they were affordable.

Other cruiselines have glass animals [all different kinds & colors.] I'm a real sucker for those. They were under $20.00, I spent the better part of an afternoon buying one for each of my children and making sure that I didn't repeat a color or an animal. I've NEVER seen these on a Princess ship.

I found sets of "Stacking Dolls" on an Alaskan cruise and bought some. I've never seen them again, although I've looked on subsequent cruises. I understand the Alaska/Russia connection but bring them onboard other ships too!!!

Sorry, it seems I'm preaching to the choir.....don't mean to!

[vickie_bernie]

i too like to wander thru the shops and have to say that I find them dull, would love to see more items like scarves, hats, souvenir type things, more cameras, elctronics like iphone/ipad etc, lots more accessories, lotions but I guess that would mean i spend more too

 

vickie

[cruzsnooze]

I have a suspicion that the older passenger Princess attracks is not a real shopper like the younger crowd you'd find on Carnival. I bought a log polo shirt, my one and only on board purchase. I would have bought two or three if they'd had more colors and styles and sizes.

[vantec]

I just returned from a Carnival Cruise - in my opinion, the shops compare to the Princess shops - very boring, nothing I wanted to purchase.

[wizard-of-roz]

I just returned from a Carnival Cruise - in my opinion, the shops compare to the Princess shops - very boring, nothing I wanted to purchase.

 

This is not good news....What do we have to do.....wake-up cruiselines....you have people with money who want merchandise!!!!! :(

[vantec]

This is not good news....What do we have to do.....wake-up cruiselines....you have people with money who want merchandise!!!!! :(

 

It does seem short-sighted on their part, I love walking through interesting shops and buying something - they are missing out!

[Kinkacruiser]

The shops fill in some time, but I keep my serious spending for the ports. You rarely (if ever) see lots of customers in the jewellery shop. Perhaps that store should carry more costume jewellery. Who's got a spare thousand plus dollars on a cruise?

[notentirelynormal]

I agree. My last few cruises I go to the shops with money burning a hole in my pocket and, well, come back with money burning a hole in my pocket. As someone suggested on another thread, they don't have those personalized teddy bears any more. I used to buy one for my kids and grandkids and any other kids traveling with me. That could be up to 10 bears for one trip. Now, they are generic and don't have the ship name on them so need to buy any more. I don't need a deck of cards or another mug. Even if I did buy the mug, they are again... generic. My husband had to drag me to the last sale on board. I didn't want to go and the best we could find was a cheap watch to use because his battery went dead. I used to buy something that indicated my trip. I have a pewter Regal Princess ship. I'd love to have had the whole collection, but they stopped selling them.

[robsaw]

Princess makes plenty from their kickbacks from their "preferred" port shops, why bother with the costs of inventory and merchandizing onboard?

[Toto2Kansas]

I think the problem is that the merchandise really never changes much. If you visit the shops on one ship, and then sail on another ship, even a few years later, it is all pretty much the same on all and stays that way.

[Donder1]

I agree with all of the above posts. Princess and HAL shops are very predictable. Ho/Hum.....and a lot of stuff no one wants or needs.

 

I will say, however, that I bought a great black fleece jacket with a totem pole on the back on a Princess Alaska cruise. I get so many compliments on that jacket which is perfect here in Maine during these brisk autumn mornings.

 

On our most recent Princess cruise to the Baltics and Russia, the many items on board from Russia were lovely and VERY expensive. I bought a very reasonable jacket with a Princess /Baltics Cruise logo tastefully done. The best thing we got on that cruise was three bottles of Standard Vodka. Our Russian tour guide told us it was the best and it is what the locals like to drink. Very smooth, indeed. We keep in chilled in the refrigerator. Gave one to our daughter who loved it.

Anyway, what I don't need or want is anymore junk. I don't want to buy magnets, key rings, cheap ugly watches, cheap t shirts, formal wear, evening bags, Clinique, etc, etc. I am trying to get rid of stuff at home and am very careful what I buy whether on a cruise or not.

[wizard-of-roz]

Creative, that's what we need here....something creative. I don't want a key chain/refrig. magnet or another mug. But a snowglobe of San Francisco or San Diego or a Monkey with a Princess logo or stacking dolls of San Francisco. Some interesting pins/earrings/rings/bracelets [sterling silver & costume] affordable to everyone would have been fun.

There will always be someone who doesn't want "one more souvenir" in their home.....but, how about buying something for Grandma/Auntie/the kids or the dog sitter?

[srpilo]

Exactly! I had money to spend and nothing to spend it on!!!!!!!

 

 

Though not a huge shopper, I have to agee Princess onboard shops make it pretty easy to say no.

 

 

 

 

Srpilo

[rdsqrl]

Despite loving to shop, I don't spend much time in the shops onboard, except once or twice a cruise buying postcards (I love to send postcards to torture, er, I mean say hi to, people back home). And I have bought two of the $10 evening bags that I just love using.

The best thing, though, was last cruise: I bought a key chain. And I have to say, I don't know why there's no love on this thread for the key chains -- every time I take out my keys, seeing that little brightly-painted enamelled cartoon cruise ship and the little chrome tag with the Princess logo just makes me smile. For whataever it cost -- $15, maybe -- I have a daily reminder of something I love and, more importantly, a "souvenir" that's both useful and used. And even better, took up no space in the luggage!

[DeepWaterMariner]

We're not shoppers but we always go through the shops on every cruise. Every cruise line we sail has the same stuff...RCI, Celebrity, NCL, Princess, HAL, Carnival. Maybe Disney has something different. Different ships, different cruise lines, same old stuff.