Source
r/Cruise•
duoderf

Jewelry stores that try to liquor you up (asking about Nassau, Roatan and Puerta Maya)

In Cozumel, the Diamonds international and a few other jewlery stores will typically feed their customers a bunch of liquor during their sales pitch. Last time I was in Cozumel my wife and I got pretty happy, just shy of drunk while our daughter looked at high end jewlery, we also talked the store down a couple of thousand dollars on some rings too.

Are there any stores in Nasau, Roatan, or Puerta Maya that do the same thing or have the same sales pitch?

Posted Jun 24, 2018, 1:40 AM UTC

822
[deleted]•

[deleted]

9
duoderfOP•

seeking

9
ThrowUpDaX•

Oh ok, I was hoping you weren't complaining about the free booze lol

4
duoderfOP•

No, I want the free booze in Puerta Maya, Nassau or Roatan. I know that some of the bars in the ports will try to attract customers by pouring quarter shot drinks straight into your mouth, but my wife and daughter like trying on pretty jewelery so its something we can all do together.

7
Ewalk•

It'd be a great way to get free booze. I'd totally do it.

9
fahque650•

ICYDK, Diamonds International and most other jewelry stores that are near the port or where cabs will "drop you off" are owned by the cruise lines and are massively overpriced.

5
duoderfOP•

I'm not looking to buy jewlery. I am looking to drink their alcahol while they try to sell my wife jewelry.

The last time I was in the carribean I think the best "deal" I saw was a $30k necklace that was negotiated down to $2500. I still think that was a huge ripoff

8
Ewalk•

Wait. 30k to 2.5k?

Jesus, that markup. Yeah, most likely not worth a hundred bucks, but being so brazen about dropping the price is insane to me.

6
proggieus•

they aren't "owned" by the lines but they do get a kickback

1
SunflowerJYB•

Do people actually buy jewelry over $199 on a cruise? Diamonds? I might but silver or turquoise, etc but not a major item

4
duoderfOP•

Yes. There was a time before cruising blew upwhere these small cruise ports that the ships would visit actually had decent deals because they could import jewels and gold fairly cheaply and did not deal with artificial price controls that the US stores generally impose, AND they didnt charge tax in most places. The myth of good deals from duty free shops really drew in people like my grandparents who sunk a ton of money into that kind of stuff in the 70s and 80s.

Plus if you can liquor up your customers you might be able to convince them to make a big purchase.

edit:

Also ignorance on the customers part and wierd brand like Effy which are marketed across the carribean as cool/niche/up and coming brands.

5
SunflowerJYB•

I would never spend more than couple hundred. I’d feel convinced I was being fleeced

1
ActuarialNCL Pearl July 22•

The key is to drink $300 in alcohol

2
Lime_Time•

I work on a ship. Yes. People spend thousands and thousands on jewelry from the ship shops and the stores at the ports (Caribbean). We specifically have someone on board whose job it is to get you to buy from the port shops. He gets commission from the sales and he makes bank.

5
SunflowerJYB•

That’s kinda sad. I guess it’s just me. Life is about cool experiences not stuff. Jewelry has a tendency to sit in a box, get lost, stop being enjoyable. Experiences and time with people I love are PRICELESS. To each his own of course. That said I have lots of jewelry, it just didn’t cost 1000’s

5
SunflowerJYB•

Wow.

2
SpyCake1DID: X, Costa, CCL, HAL, NCL NEXT: RCI•

Did you think the "sales adviser" shilling Diamonds International is doing it for fun? On every ship, ever.

3
ThrowUpDaX•

All the watches I own have come from cruises I've been on lol. I've gotten some super great deals on some really nice watching I normally wouldn't be able to buy.

3
RunShootDrink•

Not everybody does research on how much stuff is actually worth. They just think "ohh pretty" and buy it.

Pretty sure it's also a selection thing, if you don't live in a major city it can be hard to find a wide selection of quality jewelry.

2
SunflowerJYB•

Yep I understand. If it’s $200 who cares if it’s with 70, but add a zero and to me it’s different

2
Kodiak01•

Diamonds? No. I did buy two pieces that DW liked at two different places for ~$550 combined. She's happy, I stayed within budget, so I'm not complaining.

1
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
Kodiak01•

Dammit, all we got at DI in Cozumel was a tiny slushie cup allegedly containing some alcohol.

2
expyrian•

The first time we cruised, we went to a DI in Cozumel and were actually shopping. They kept trying to puwh some yellowish diamonds on us, and ignored us when we said we wanted better quality so we walked out after jotting down some prices in our minds. Turns out everything was cheaper at freakin' Zales and the more exotic stuff like Tanzanite they try to push on you is on ebay from other cruiser's buyers remorse.

2