Caribbean cruises and the 'shopping assistant'

[FigmentSpark]

You know, the person that sits beside the CMs that do your on-board bookings? They give you all the tricks to help you buy your 'duty-free' goods in the ports, like watches and diamonds. They love to hawk "Diamonds International", who should be call Diamond rip-off International.

Anyway, I wondered if anyone else has been sucked in.

I love the ring they sold me, don't get me wrong, but it was a super high-pressure sale (thank the Lord it wasn't a timeshare!). And when I had the ring appraised at home, it's actually worth about 25% less than I paid, or rather, what I paid in USD was the number in CAD that it's worth. To add insult to injury, I paid duty on it when I returned to Canada (because I'm not stupid and don't believe smuggling a piece of jewellery into the country is setting a good example for my kids).

So after I got home (because - no wifi on the ship unless you pay for it), I looked up Diamonds International on Cruise Critic. Pretty much most of the reviews are really bad. Next time, I'll make those sorts of purchasing decisions at home, not on vacation.

Oh yeah, and DCL's shopping assistant was right there, in the store, standing beside her recommended contact (think payoff) helping to convince me that this was a great purchase and a great bargain. Next time, I'll also bring my brain off the ship with my credit card.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I've never gone to a shopping presentation or taken the advice of the shopping guide people. I've always understood that they are not employed by the cruise line. They're paid contractors. Someone has to be paying them for their "service". I assumed it was the shops that they recommended paying their salaries. Especially with big purchases like jewelry or watches I do a bit of research ahead of my cruise so I can spot an actual good deal when I see it. If there's pressure, I'm out.

Sorry that happened to you. That stinks. Hopefully others will heed your warning.

 

[GPaLarry]

Somehow I never think of buying jewelry (perhaps because I am a male) when on a cruise...a t-shirt will do. After eight mouse cruises we found the worst pressure to buy anything was in 2008 when the Magic (EBPC) stopped at the newly opened Cartagena port. After a tour of the old town and fort, we pulled into a market for shopping, of course. The shop owners were OK, but the street vendors were super aggressive. They got after us as we left the shops all the way to the bus. We hurried inside and sat down. They pounded on the windows, and yelled at us, waving their stuff. Couldn't get out of there fast enough. For some reason Disney stops at Cartagena every chance it gets. On that same cruise we also docked at Aruba, now that is a port worth revisiting.

 

[over50visits]

We don't go visit another country to buy at cruise port store chains (Diamonds International and many others come to mind). We visit to see the country, people, local crafts, etc. That's where I'm coming from, and why we have no use for the "shopping assistant" folks who work for the shops they send you to. They are basically in the same category as the old art auction circus, I wish Disney would get rid of them.

 

[FigmentSpark]

I hope others are warned. I didn't go there to buy jewellery, either. That's the problem. If I'd thought I might buy jewellery, I'd have researched/shopped at home first to know what I was talking about.

It became a perfect storm of trust gone wrong for me. First, I didn't know that she wasn't a CM or on contract to DCL at least. So I thought she and her services had been vetted by the Mouse. Second, unsolicited, she'd said she was from Toronto, near where I'm from. So she had the trust of the Mouse and was a fellow Canadian. Now her trust level to me went up. In addition, there was a pretty full room of people that was interested in her presentation and waited to book time in the store with her, so I wasn't the only one. Again, more trust when others seem to be doing the same thing. Finally, the company was a large store, not a back room of a local shop. It looked like a place I or someone else with a lot more money than me would shop. That gave it an air of credibility, as well.

Ah well. Yes, I paid more than it was worth. Yes, I was talked into spending more than I'd wanted. But the ring does have a lot of value and is beautiful. I guess I should have also haggled with the sales person, but that's not how we do things most times, so it didn't come to mind.

Totally my fault, but definitely... people be aware that the shoppers aren't necessarily your friends or even in it to get you a fair price. Even when you know (KNOW!!!) to be wary of a deal that sounds too good to be true, you can still get caught up in the moment.

 

[SteveMP]

Its kind of the same with a lot of tourist things in pretty much any country. For example, in Germany I did a bus tour of some castles. In this one historic village, the tour guides stopped the bus in front of one particular gift shop and suggested if we were to do any shopping that we do our shopping here. They supposedly had the best prices and they could ship anything to the states, cuckoo clocks etc. i looked around there a bit then decided to wander off by myself. I found another gift shop maybe a 5-10 minute walk away that had a lot of the same stuff for half the price. Apparently the guides get kickbacks from certain stores that they help funnel money into.

 

[lizabu]

Don't feel bad...a lot of people fall for the sales pitch. My SIL went to the presentation and they gave her a charm bracelet and a charm with a tiny diamond in it and told her she would get more if she went to diamonds international so we went and drank the free champagne and walked around. I wasn't here to buy diamonds but when we got back to the ship DH was chatting with some lady in the DSA who said she had just spent $16,000 there.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Oh I don't blame you at all, @FigmentSpark. Those people have those jobs because they *are* that slick. You went into it with a good heart & pure intent. The ring may not hold the monetary value you'd hoped for at this moment but it's a souvenir from an adventure you took. Sometimes that's where the true value lies. Jewelry in general is one thing that has an insane, CRAZY amount of markup. No price tag is ever really the price.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Yeah, jewellery, like art, is worth what someone is willing to pay for it, I guess.

 

[Sytrace]

Oh dear @FigmentSpark . I honestly have never been to a shopping thing and would never buy fine jewlery from Diamonds International (we have them all over the place in Florida and the US) so they are not that special for us.
I am so sorry you got taken advantage of like that. I really don't care for high pressure either.

 

[FigmentSpark]

Oh dear @FigmentSpark . I honestly have never been to a shopping thing and would never buy fine jewlery from Diamonds International (we have them all over the place in Florida and the US) so they are not that special for us.
I am so sorry you got taken advantage of like that. I really don't care for high pressure either.

Thanks. Lesson learned. I just want to make sure no other 'newbies' are sucked in.

I didn't know they were all over Florida. Hmm.

 

[Sytrace]

Thanks. Lesson learned. I just want to make sure no other 'newbies' are sucked in.

I didn't know they were all over Florida. Hmm.

Oh my yes. And in lots of other states as well. My husband is not a fan of their jewlery OR the way they sell.
Thanks for the heads up for others... it is very disappointing.