Tanzanite- what's the deal?

[JohnDS]

I had noticed all the jewelry shops and find it discouraging. I guess all I hope to find is a t'shirt and a fridge magnet since the chances of finding truly local craft seems so dim. I would not buy jewelry at an outlet mall, I certainly wouldn't buy it in this arrangement.

 

[alagille]

Johnds, don't get too blue. If your "lucky", one of your tours will find a bathroom stop that just *happens* to be attached to a tacky souvenir shop. Hated those 30 minute rest breaks! You'll never get that time back, it's gone forever...

 

[justmestace]

Jewelry is made to worn not saved, life is too short. Although I do typically wear the fake stuff when cruising (QVC has some nice stuff), only because i'm too lazy to take it off when snorkeling/swimming or in rather dicey ports.

I do the same thing! I bought an inexpensive band that I wear whenever I travel to any foreign country (instead of my wedding set) and take only "cheap" right hand rings and bracelets and watches.

 

[justmestace]

OK, you got me thinking. I checked ebay for tanzanite earrings and came up with over 5300 listings. Most that had just Tanzanite set in a sterling silver setting or dangle averaged between $10-20. Now, if you added gold or diamonds, then obviously the price went up, but WOW. I remembering seeing prices when we walked back thru the stores on the way back to the ship in St. Thomas going for $200-300 range. I can't recall if those were white or yellow gold settings or just sterling silver, but don't think I'll spend too much effort finding a pretty piece of costume jewelry on my next cruise. But, I did "watch" a couple on ebay for 12.99 plus shipping- I don't mind spending time at home looking nor would I be too upset if I didn't like the $15 dollar item once I received it. Some were cute and seemed like what I might find at a craft fair.

On a slightly different note, I wonder how those shopping consultants end up on the boat with us. Do the stores have a contract with DCL and pay to have them onboard, like a paying guest?

Without a certificate of authenticity from a certified jeweler, I wouldn't believe that any of those less expensive items on eBay were genuine....even the ones set in silver, because the cost of silver has gone up also.


We rode on a bus in one of the Alaksan ports, seated across from a shopping consultant. He didn't even offer to tell us what his job was, until we asked. Seemed like a nice guy, and he wasn't pushy, like some people have mentioned.

 

[TheLanes]

Without a certificate of authenticity from a certified jeweler, I wouldn't believe that any of those less expensive items on eBay were genuine....even the ones set in silver, because the cost of silver has gone up also. We rode on a bus in one of the Alaksan ports, seated across from a shopping consultant. He didn't even offer to tell us what his job was, until we asked. Seemed like a nice guy, and he wasn't pushy, like some people have mentioned.

I'm sure most of them are nice people, they just are earning a living like the rest of us. If being pushy helps earn your living, I can't blame them! A simple no usually suffices, but they know the people that can't say no, so they push them. Thankfully they can tell I'm not one of those, so they give up quickly...

 

[insureman]

They seem to be paid by the companies they're pushing, although this was not front and center acknowledged.

You are correct, they are not DCL employees and are paid by an outside vendor. The same goes for the "recommended" shops in the ports. They pay DCL a fee to be listed in their shopping guide.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I did an Alaska cruise last year on Princess. When we were in Skagway, we booked an all day excursion into the Yukon. As we were leaving, the shopping guide tried to hand us the shopping guide. I politely explained that we would not be shopping due to an all day excursion, we were heading straight to the bus and then when we got back, straight to the ship. He seemed a bit peeved..... Had a hard time taking no for an answer. I am glad that for Alaska, for the port shopping talks the first words out of their mouths must be "I do not work for the cruise line. All stores I am going to talk about have paid to be mentioned."

That reminds me of when I was in Cartagena during the 2007 EBPC and one of the stops for the tour i was on was some mall. The Shopping expert on the ship came into the store and as I was looking around got asked by her if I was going to be buying some emeralds there. lso at that time one of the store employees announced some sort of special sale because it was the "shopping experts" birthday. At that point I left the store as I was just browsing anyway.

 

[Luv2Diz]

When I told my brother (who cruises frequently) that I won a tanzanite necklace at a shopping talk on our cruise, he replied that he calls tanzanite "cruisinite." You only tend to see it at the cruiseport jewelry stores....not so much at your hometown jewelry stores!

 

[Maddysdaddy]

Tanzanite reminds me of an episode of Newhart (the series where Bob owned the B&B, not the original where he was the psychiatrist).

Bob somehow ended up hosting the local home shopping channel, and the item for sale was some sort of jewelry. He was struggling to say something nice about the piece, and eventually came up with, "Selendric Diamacron................. almost as rare as glass".

 

[lucyem]

I don't get all of the jewelry stores at the cruise ports. In Ketchikan there were 72 jewelry stores. This is a town of 13,000 people. A tour bus driver told us there were only 3 stores owned by locals and the other 69 were owned by the cruise ship companies. I can't imagine these stores offer better prices or service from any other jewelry store. Is it just people like to spend money on vacation???

I never got it either. Enough people must be buying (paying 100 times too much) or the shops would be gone.
My perfect cruise would have tons of yummy food, like an all day dessert bar. Lots of crafts and activities. You want me to spend money - have a class on decorating cupcakes and sell me an expensive set of piping tips. Overpriced jewelry - meh.

 

[hrhdhd]

Tanzanite is a gemstone mined in a small mining area near the Merelani Hills, Tanzania, Africa. It is a variety of mineral zoisite that contains trace amounts of chromium, iron, manganese, titanium, vanadium, and zirconium. These elements give tanzanite its unique color i.e blue and purple. This sparkling gemstone is the best alternative to blue sapphire.

Zombie thread from 2013, but tanzanite, while a pretty stone, is quite soft and not suitable for everyday wear. A sapphire, on the other hand, is a 9 on the Mohs hardness scale, so it is harder.

 

[Kennywood]

Tanzanite is just like Vibranium:

 

[iuki]

10 years ago, Alaska cruise, SAME nonsense. I hadn't ever heard of it then, but blue-ish-purple isn't really my thing, so we weren't tempted.

Later on I was able to buy a tanzanite ring from ice.com for almost nothing. Laughed really hard at the concept of it being SO rare blah blah blah.

And the people at the stores in Alaska came really close to making it sound like it's FROM Alaska. Like it's super-special for an Alaskan cruise. Weird.

I checked out ice.com and didn’t see jewelry for sale. Years ago I bought my tanzanite ring in Alaska. I love it and wear it whenever I go out. When I buy jewelry, it’s not for investment. I buy it if I like it. The one piece of jewelry my husband bought that, really IS rare, is a Mark Henry alexandrite. Since it’s my daughter’s birth stone, she will get it when I go to the Big Jewelry Store in the sky.