Watch Purchase - Celebrity Constellation

Thanks all. I think I'll lean to purchasing from the ship and probably stick to TAG or CITIZEN--- if anyone has recommendations on which model between the two I'd appreciate that.

To be honest I don't think you can compare TAG and Citizen. Two different markets and TAG are quite a bit more expensive. I tend toward somewhere in the middle. I really like Tissot and have bought them on sister company Azamara. Not sure if Celebrity do them, but the T-Touches are really nice. Nice way to use up the OBC.

Phil

I wanted a Citizen EcoDrive, so I priced it at home. While we were in the Islands we priced the same or similar model in several shops and then checked on board. The salesman told us to wait for the 40% off sale, and sure enough it was $40 less than the islands and close to $100 less than at home. It is still giving good service. There wasn't a great selection, but they actually had the one I was interested in.

Finally made it to the end.

Loved your review. Thank you for taking the time to do this. Get registered with http://www.cruisedeckplans.com you can post photos of your stateroom and they will pay for the use of your photos. Not a ton of money, but it helps fellow cruisers out there.

Hi All,

 

I'd like to purchase a watch on this upcoming cruise (Mar 28 Western Car. Celeb Constellation) and I am wondering if anyone has cruised recently on Constellation and is aware of when they had the best deals during the cruise.

 

This so much.

 

PK

Just keep in mind, you have to have some idea of prices before hand. iMPORTANT--disregard the prices on the watch price tag. Any one can put an inflated price, say $850 on a tag, and then give you a discount of 75 percent, which sounds tremendous, but in actuality, it's not.

Are you looking at a $10 watch or a $10,000+ watch.

There have been reports that Celebrity reports large on board purchases to US Customs, and when the purchasers leave the ship at the end of the cruise, they are stopped for inspection when they swipe their key cards, identifying themselves. I don't know if this is true, but I have read enough reports over the last few years that I thought I should mention it.

There have been reports that Celebrity reports large on board purchases to US Customs, and when the purchasers leave the ship at the end of the cruise, they are stopped for inspection when they swipe their key cards, identifying themselves. I don't know if this is true, but I have read enough reports over the last few years that I thought I should mention it.

Customs is very far away from when you get your final scan off the ship, so that isn't likely.

It is quite possible that Celebrity sends a list of names of large purchases to Customs, though, and that they could cross-reference that before letting you leave.

Re: another poster mentioning that the prices are "duty free" -- keep in mind that this isn't some magic wand that prevents you from having to pay import duties when you bring the item back into the US. If you bring newly-purchased items back that are over the amount of your personal exemption, you must declare them to Customs and may be required to pay duty on it (the duty for most watches you'd buy on a cruise is 4.2%).

There have been reports that Celebrity reports large on board purchases to US Customs, and when the purchasers leave the ship at the end of the cruise, they are stopped for inspection when they swipe their key cards, identifying themselves. I don't know if this is true, but I have read enough reports over the last few years that I thought I should mention it.

Shop Managers on different ships told me that purchases over $2000 are required to be reported. One of the duties of the ship's Documents Officer is to show the sales of the ships shops at each port. Ask it he Manager on your ship if you have any questions.

What would be helpful is to know what they are currently carrying beyond Citizen-- any thoughts there?

I bought a Bulova watch in 2014 on the Celebrity Infinity. Still works great. :)

We bought a Tag about 7 years ago on the Constellation-at the time Celebrity offered a match price from the islands if you brought back a card with the price & model. We did this in Aruba & saved over $700 from what the ship wanted. We'd done our homework prior to traveling & saved $600 over what we could find within 75 miles of our area (no one in our area at the time sold Tags). The replacement batteries are quite expensive, we'd recommend getting an automatic version without a battery. DH is seriously considering selling his Tag & getting an automatic Tag

There have been reports that Celebrity reports large on board purchases to US Customs, and when the purchasers leave the ship at the end of the cruise, they are stopped for inspection when they swipe their key cards, identifying themselves. I don't know if this is true, but I have read enough reports over the last few years that I thought I should mention it.

This is definitely true but the results and method of declaring this vary a little from what you said. If you have exceeded your customs allowance you are supposed to go to a customs office set up on the ship early on embarkation morning. There you present your customs form declaring your purchases and they will have you pay the duty, stamp your customs form and give you a receipt. They'll often waive the duty if the amount is small.

Years ago we purchased some jewelry on the ship. When we went to customs to make our declaration they had a list of all purchases over a certain amount made on the ship and crossed our name off. I do not know what happens of one does not declare their purchase but I suspect you'll be stopped when passing through border patrol and presenting your documents after you disembark for a search and to explain why you didn't declare your purchases.

The customs operation on the ship is to save time for you but the hours are pretty short and early on disembarkation morning. If you miss the customs office hours on the ship then you can still declare your items by listing them on the form and showing it to border patrol in the cruise terminal. They'll direct you to another counter to pay your duty.

Hi All,

Thanks again for the replies.

I think I'm probably looking in the 300-500.00 range as I'm mainly aiming to use up my OBC.

If you have any further suggestion please let me know. Also interested in hearing if anyone has bought an apple watch on board.

Thanks all.

PK

Hello all,

Brian (me), husband larry. Our son Hunter (age 4) and my sister in law Gerry. Celebrity is new to us and we are

looking forward to the cruise. Not sure how to register for the meet up, but would like to and I know Gerry and I are both top to a slotnpull!

I think you are looking for your Roll Call but you posted instead ***** this zombie (long dead) thread.

What ship and sailing are you on?

Hi All,

 

Thanks again for the replies.

 

I think I'm probably looking in the 300-500.00 range as I'm mainly aiming to use up my OBC.

 

If you have any further suggestion please let me know. Also interested in hearing if anyone has bought an apple watch on board.

 

Thanks all.

 

PK

Have you checked to make sure if your OBC was refundable. It never hurts to ask and there is nothing better than cash back.

As for buying watches from cruise ships, you are always better off just comparing prices to Amazon.

Have you checked to make sure if your OBC was refundable. It never hurts to ask and there is nothing better than cash back.

 

As for buying watches from cruise ships, you are always better off just comparing prices to Amazon.

Zombie thread. OP has been home for almost 2 years. Thread was resurrected by a miss-post.

I'm waiting for somebody to tell us if the cost of the watch put them over their duty free limit.

Are you looking at a $10 watch or a $10,000+ watch.

That's the $64 question. I might buy a Citizen or Invicta (Invicta ???), but if you are looking for a quality purchase, Grand Cayman has some wonderful shops, selling top brands. Used Rolexes were being sold on the Summit for prices easily beaten by reputable dealers in the States, incidentally

I saved over $1,000 on my Tag Heuer .... by buying it at home.