Buying watches on cruise ships?

Elkins45 · Post by **Elkins45** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 4:49 pm

I’ve been on cruise ships from four different lines and one of they things they all have in common is a shop selling watches. I’ve seen Tissot, Citizen, Tag Heuer, Bulova, Hublot and of course, fashion brands like Fossil and plenty of Invictas. I usually wander into the shops and if I’ve ever seen a decent deal I’ve since forgotten it. Obviously these shops must generate revenue or they would certainly replace them with something that does.

Has anyone here ever bought a watch on a cruise? Is it possible to get a deal or do they just get rich people who spend money on impulse?

Post by **MoT** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 5:09 pm

Zero experience, but I would think it would be harder to strike a deal when you have a captive clientele.

Post by **TheJohnP** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 6:11 pm

I wonder if you'd get a better deal shopping at a port duty free depending on the destination?

Robotaz · Post by **Robotaz** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 6:38 pm

The only way I see buying a watch on a cruise is if you’re willing to pay a higher price than aggressive shopping can normally get you because the wife is willing to watch the dollars go bye-bye as part of the vacation.

It’s possible. I’ve seen it all.

Post by **watchpalooza** » Fri Dec 24, 2021 10:16 pm

My uncle used to buy watches in the Bahamas or Cuba bc they were priced to the local market and typically much cheaper. The US had at that time some regulation that only permitted import of I believe it was 2 per trip. If the cruise ships take advantage of local price variation, and avoid tax by being in international waters at time of purchase, then there could be deals. But no personal experience, and this was 30 years ago, so may be different now.

MoT's WDF