How Many Cruises Before You Stopped Attending the Informicals/Seminars

[Anubi]

Our first two cruise were pre-internet (gasp!! :p) so we went primarily to get information on the islands but we noticed all the jewellery stores that got mentioned. Not since. CC is the best source of info, who needs the talks?

[Tiggertastic]

Never been to the shopping one

 

Been to the excursion one on the first cruise until we found we can book privately - e do check when this is on though because if we want to book something through the ship we make sure we do it before this takes place and there is a sudden rush for spaces

[iancal]

We have only been to one,,,,and even then we left about five minutes when we figured out what it was really all about.

 

And that was enough, thank you very much.

[Gracie115]

I spent five minutes in one on my first cruise.

 

 

Ditto.....:p

[JLSPOOL]

One or two infomercials: captains club recognitions, shore excursions, spa, jewelry, wine tastings, welcome aboard, leaving the ship, and more.

 

Twice or three times, then no more.

 

jls

[thebutlerdidit]

I didn't even make it all the way through the first one I attended.

[CaroleLee]

Iam am sure that we have all attended the infomercials disguised as seminars for shopping, tours, and etc.

 

How many cruises did it take before you stopped going?

 

I remember the first time we were really excited about shopping and getting the best bargains. We attended the "seminar" listened and took notes and talked to the Expert Shopper afterwards, and even visited him at his desk for the free coupons, booklet, and raffle tickets.

 

We were slow learners as it took us about 3 cruises to figure out it was a waste of time and the only recommended stores were those that were willing to pay for the recommendation.

 

We also got sucked into visiting a store for the free gem stone, charm, and hung around for the raffle. It was fun the first few times but now we don't bother.

 

Just wondering if any veteran cruisers continue to attend the seminars, go to the stores for the gifts and raffles?

 

 

.

.

On my first cruise I listened as the male port shopper gushed over a certain diamond store where he had just purchased the ring for his fiancee. How romantic I thought for about 10 seconds.Walked out of the lecture laughing.It was so obviously a come on pitch. A year later on another cruise line another male port shopper gave the exact same speech for the exact same store. So my only question is who is this woman and how many rings does she have :)!!!

Carole

[jackdiamond]

never!

Same here.

[richstowe]

Was thinking about the "art ""auctions" and if people feel the same way.

(Art & auctions are in quotations because I don't believe they are either :p)

On my first cruise I listened as the male port shopper gushed over a certain diamond store where he had just purchased the ring for his fiancee. How romantic I thought for about 10 seconds.Walked out of the lecture laughing.It was so obviously a come on pitch. A year later on another cruise line another male port shopper gave the exact same speech for the exact same store. So my only question is who is this woman and how many rings does she have :)!!!

Carole

Funny story. And people wonder why so many are so cynical.:mad:

[Jane2357]

I've never gone to one, never gone to the art auction. Trust you me - I can jewelry shop just fine myself! One tip - carry your own loop and know how to use it - once the store sees that - kinda helps cut through the B.S. as they figure you know a thing or two. :D

[neverbeenhere]

But we keep getting Exclusive Invitations!

[Tantra1]

I went one time a very long time ago and haven't wasted my time on another since. Anyway, I have a watch and don't wear jewlery. My wife won't wear a watch and doesn't care about buying jewlery (makes it difficult when birthdays, etc. come around. Last time I bought her a motorcycle instead) so that cuts down on shopping in the ports.

 

Cheers!

[BrusselsGirl07]

Oh my gosh, this brings back fond memories of our first cruise! We had no idea about cruising, knew nothing about the different cruise lines, or the best rooms. I booked Celebrity just as a fluke as I liked the itinerary and we went in blind! We did not know Cruise Critic existed and we booked all of our shore excursions through the ship. We went to every lecture offered about fat loss, the art shows, the port lectures etc. We even went to the spa and gym lectures!

 

That was the one and only cruise that we attended any of those 'exclusive events', but I must say it was our favourite cruise, as we knew absolutely nothing and every day was an amazing surprise!!

[hcat]

we always skip the lectures on shopping, gems wine, liquor, art, acupunture etc but did get snagged recently in the gym area..Never again!

 

They had an interesting topic on the black board. Having a relative who was ill we signed up to see if we could get some healthy tips as did many others.

 

We were seated where we could not get out, & although some of it was educational, it went way long & soon became clear it was a very hard sell pitch to buy very costly sea products for body cleansing on a long term basis.. The woman presenting it was outrageous, esp. to many of the more elderly present.. ..it was really annoying & we felt silly we were gullible enough to think it would be a helpful seminar. NEVER AGAIN!

[Gracie115]

on my first cruise i listened as the male port shopper gushed over a certain diamond store where he had just purchased the ring for his fiancee. How romantic i thought for about 10 seconds.walked out of the lecture laughing.it was so obviously a come on pitch. A year later on another cruise line another male port shopper gave the exact same speech for the exact same store. So my only question is who is this woman and how many rings does she have :)!!!

Carole

 

 

lmao

[wwcruisers]

By the time we started cruising on X, we were way past going to those! ;)

From the way they are presented in the daily bulletins, you could mistake them for the valid enrichment lectures, if you didn't know better. At least Royal is more upfront, calling them talks by the "Port and SHOPPING" guide! :rolleyes:

[Hlitner]

I will tell you all a tale that really turned us off to Celebrity's shopping lectures and recommendations. A few years ago we were on the Infinity in South America and had a port stop at Rio. Rio happens to be the home of some wonderful jewelers the most well known being H. Stern and also Amsterdam Sauer. These are both very reputable companies (with some comparing Stern quality to places like Tiffany's) and popular with many cruisers. A few years ago Mrs. Stern (she owns H. Stern) decided to stop paying the ever increasing "bribes" to the port shopping folks (and cruise lines). Meanwhile, her competitor, Amsterdam Sauer, was willing to pay the "bribes" and take out large ads in the various cruise line shopping magazines and books (given to passengers).

 

So the day before we get to Rio there is an announcement in the daily Celebrity schedule telling folks not to use the free transportation provided by jewelry stores (they will give you rides from the port to downtown and their stores) such as Sterns. They had the nerve to tell folks to only deal with Amsterdam Sauer! Of course H. Stern was waiting in the terminal and happily provided free car service to anyone who wanted to go downtown and/or to their flagship jewelry store (which is also a true jewelry factory).

 

When we were at Sterns we spoke to the store manager and brought up the situation on the Infinity. He said that Mrs. Stern just got fed up with all the underhanded stuff that was going on (with the companies that do the shopping lectures) and decided not to give the cruise lines (or their franchisors) one cent! At one time they did do a lot of advertising on the ships...but he said that it had gone from paying for simple advertising to much much more. We do not know if this situation has since changed.

 

Hank

[miched]

I got to know a store manager quite well in St Martin. Years ago I asked him why he wasn't on the approved list ( the island map that is in the daily paper) and he said that it cost him $500 for each ship docked and sometimes there would be 6 or 7. Besides that cost there was the expert shoppers paying a visited for their taste. He said that he didn't need to advertise as people will still come in and he hasn't really noticed a drop in customers.

 

 

The whole purpose of the buyers guarantee paper that they want you to fill out is to make sure that they are getting their share. If you read the guarantee closely and dont try to read into what they want you think it isn't worth the paper that it is printed on. It doesn't guarantee a thing except that you purchased some merchandise.

 

 

.

[iancal]

Exactly. And who do you think really pays for those recommendations?

 

 

I think that it is very disingenuous of the cruise lines to do this WITHOUT declaring very openly that these vendors pay for this recommendation and that it is not a reflection of the quality of their offerings or the fairness of their business practices.

[alliebrandy]

Iam am sure that we have all attended the infomercials disguised as seminars for shopping, tours, and etc.

 

How many cruises did it take before you stopped going?

 

I remember the first time we were really excited about shopping and getting the best bargains. We attended the "seminar" listened and took notes and talked to the Expert Shopper afterwards, and even visited him at his desk for the free coupons, booklet, and raffle tickets.

 

We were slow learners as it took us about 3 cruises to figure out it was a waste of time and the only recommended stores were those that were willing to pay for the recommendation.

 

We also got sucked into visiting a store for the free gem stone, charm, and hung around for the raffle. It was fun the first few times but now we don't bother.

 

Just wondering if any veteran cruisers continue to attend the seminars, go to the stores for the gifts and raffles?

 

 

.

.

 

 

We never even bothered to go. On our very first cruise, they told us what the concept of it was about and DH and I looked at one another and said no way, no how. That was not our thing and we never went.

[karena1]

Iam am sure that we have all attended the infomercials disguised as seminars for shopping, tours, and etc.

 

How many cruises did it take before you stopped going?

 

I remember the first time we were really excited about shopping and getting the best bargains. We attended the "seminar" listened and took notes and talked to the Expert Shopper afterwards, and even visited him at his desk for the free coupons, booklet, and raffle tickets.

 

We were slow learners as it took us about 3 cruises to figure out it was a waste of time and the only recommended stores were those that were willing to pay for the recommendation.

 

We also got sucked into visiting a store for the free gem stone, charm, and hung around for the raffle. It was fun the first few times but now we don't bother.

 

Just wondering if any veteran cruisers continue to attend the seminars, go to the stores for the gifts and raffles?

 

 

.

.

 

Went to one the first cruise we took in 1994 and have never been back since. Once was enough for us

[Abuelita2012]

I recommend Stern's highly. They give you a tour around the city and then take you to their shops where you are not pressured to buy anything and where you can tour their jewelry making shop. I have been on their shuttles in Manaus and in Rio . In Manaus I took the shuttle by Stern's in the morning and Amsterdam Sauer in the afternoon. In Rio, Stern's is better because the tour of the jewelry making area is very interesting.

 

 

ote=Hlitner;39363705]I will tell you all a tale that really turned us off to Celebrity's shopping lectures and recommendations. A few years ago we were on the Infinity in South America and had a port stop at Rio. Rio happens to be the home of some wonderful jewelers the most well known being H. Stern and also Amsterdam Sauer. These are both very reputable companies (with some comparing Stern quality to places like Tiffany's) and popular with many cruisers. A few years ago Mrs. Stern (she owns H. Stern) decided to stop paying the ever increasing "bribes" to the port shopping folks (and cruise lines). Meanwhile, her competitor, Amsterdam Sauer, was willing to pay the "bribes" and take out large ads in the various cruise line shopping magazines and books (given to passengers).

 

So the day before we get to Rio there is an announcement in the daily Celebrity schedule telling folks not to use the free transportation provided by jewelry stores (they will give you rides from the port to downtown and their stores) such as Sterns. They had the nerve to tell folks to only deal with Amsterdam Sauer! Of course H. Stern was waiting in the terminal and happily provided free car service to anyone who wanted to go downtown and/or to their flagship jewelry store (which is also a true jewelry factory).

 

When we were at Sterns we spoke to the store manager and brought up the situation on the Infinity. He said that Mrs. Stern just got fed up with all the underhanded stuff that was going on (with the companies that do the shopping lectures) and decided not to give the cruise lines (or their franchisors) one cent! At one time they did do a lot of advertising on the ships...but he said that it had gone from paying for simple advertising to much much more. We do not know if this situation has since changed.

 

Hank

[cruisestitch]

Have gotten to know one particular store in Aruba quite well. The owner always asks, "you're NOT on a cruise ship, are you?" even though he knows that I am. Reason: he will reduce the cost of the item by what he would have to pay to the line if I identify myself as a passenger. If you say you are a passenger, the cost of the item goes up to cover the fee they must pay.

 

Oh, and another vote for H.Stern -- a quality company with excellent products, great design and service after the sale. They have a shop at the Havensight in St. Thomas and one downtown. The shop at Havensight used to be their "outlet" with some incredible bargains on discontinued pieces, but now is just a regular store.

[miched]

Have gotten to know one particular store in Aruba quite well. The owner always asks, "you're NOT on a cruise ship, are you?" even though he knows that I am. Reason: he will reduce the cost of the item by what he would have to pay to the line if I identify myself as a passenger. If you say you are a passenger, the cost of the item goes up to cover the fee they must pay.

 

Oh, and another vote for H.Stern -- a quality company with excellent products, great design and service after the sale. They have a shop at the Havensight in St. Thomas and one downtown. The shop at Havensight used to be their "outlet" with some incredible bargains on discontinued pieces, but now is just a regular store.

 

When we are in a store and asked what ship are you on we say none. We are not lying, we are in the store. People are told at the seminars to mention their name or ship to get a special discount and they believe it.

[jackdiamond]

Went to the shopping seminar on our first cruise and learned quickly that it was just an infomercial. First and last one of anything.

I lasted half way through the first one. After that, never again.