beware carnival gift shop merchandise

[Silent Penguin]

Thank you for the warning about the merchandise. I always lose my sunglasses, so I'm sure I'll be at the ship's shop looking for another pair. After reading this thread, I'll wait until we are in port.

[Catrin]

I am also a fan of the $10 watches. They are not worth much more than the $10 - but I always get my money's worth!!

 

The Tshirts they USED to sell on the 2 for $20 days were always great. The last few cruises, the selection AND quality have gone downhill.

 

Catrin

[freebird61]

I still have my t-shirt from our first cruise on the fascination and it has held up pretty well for all that I have worn it, the ones we got from the dream are made of different material and are already shrinking and cost more go figure

[Twibbs]

Thank you for the warning about the merchandise. I always lose my sunglasses, so I'm sure I'll be at the ship's shop looking for another pair. After reading this thread, I'll wait until we are in port.

 

For me, the best way to make sure I don't lose my sunglasses is to bring an extra pair with me!

[Momis2]

We have purchased many items and never had any issues. The faux(fake) pashmina shawls/scarves for $10 are a good deal. I figure if I lose it I am only out ten bucks. DH has bought 3 watches ...2 Tag Heuers for him and a Citizen for me. We liked the fact that there would be no tax/duty and the watches are covered by the manufacturer as to quality and repair. When you are buying an expensive item this is important. We checked the prices online before purchasing and we did save a lot of money.

[laurenpie]

We got one of the same bags, but the Royal Caribbean version instead of Carnival. Exact same thing happened..

[maxamuus]

Not to belittle your plight, but did you honestly think a roll away bag on a cruiseship for under 25 dollars would be a quality item ??

 

Their mark up has to be close to 500 percent, if not more. So at best your bag probably cost a dollar or so to make in China, if that much. If you made it to the parking lot in one piece you probably got more life out of it then it was designed for.

 

Again not belittling you, but just remember everything in those gift shops are total crap, other then maybe the booze and smokes cause those are name brands. (or are they?)

[leelee1966]

I bought one of their Guess purses a few years back on one of our cruises. Paid 125.00 for it, and came home and used it for 3 weeks and discovered it was coming unsewed at one of the seams. I have never bought anything else from their shops. :(

 

I have a couple of Guess purses from the Carnival shops...no problem here...but if I had a problem, I'd contact Guess along with your receipt. I've had problems with Coach purses bought at different store and contact Coach and they will give you a credit for the original price of the bag, if they can't repair it or have another one like yours. Give it a try & good luck! ;)

[bluehenfan]

Funny, we have the dufflebag that crnival sells. We bought it in 2006. and We expected it to fail. We only use it for coming home from vacations but it has been on 3 cruises. treked threw italy ireland, london, paris. germany, and austria. and looks great waiting for a new vacation

 

Same here! Mine has been all over USA, UK and France. I actually bought another one on my last cruise to have as a replacement when this one goes, but so far after 5 yrs it is still in great shape.

I thought about buying the one with retractable wheels but after looking at it closely I thought the wheels were not too great - didn't look like they'd hold up for long.

 

Sorry OP had a bad experience with their rolling bag but appreciate the heads up about CCL not being responsible if there's a problem.

[susie8862]

:):):)

[kingoftheicedragons]

I haven't had any problems with my purchases on board the ship (other than the tshirts on the Costa Rica/Panama cruise did shrink...I'm kicking myself for not buying a size larger. Now I know. But overall, the shops are no worse than retail stores in general. You can get very poorly made products almost anywhere--especially at one large big box retailer that I won't name.

[Crusing Nut]

We purchased earrings on one of Carnival cruises. I tend to wear my earrings all the time, anyway the stone had fallen out. I made one call to Carnival and then one call to the main office of the seller. My earring was shipped down and returned fixed.

 

The best advice I will give you is to keep the original receipt for anything you buy. The company will request it if repairs are needed.

[bobandsherry]

Nothing is carnival's problem. Ever. :rolleyes:

 

Not really a fair statement. Carnival has stepped up on each occasion when we had any issue and made it right. Suitcase was damaged by them and they fixed it. A razor was broken during rough handling by them they covered replacement. 12 cruises in Carnival and happy with how they handled any of our issues and those of our guests.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

[bigcraig]

Do the t-shirts shrink or are the contents expanding?:rolleyes:

[leelee1966]

Do the t-shirts shrink or are the contents expanding?:rolleyes:

 

LOL....that is great!

Just like anything you do buy in clothing...if its 100% cotton....ummm...it's going to shrink ;)

[Tasha4199]

I bought the same bag back in 2006 when I "accidentally" bought too many souvenirs. ;) It's since gotten me through 2 other cruises and 2 moves into new cities. It's still in perfect condition! I love it.

[jmwg49]

I have bought the 2/20 t-shirts and own 4 or 5 of them....as someone else posted, I buy a size larger, and have had no issues what so ever! I have bought the 'by the inch' necklaces too and 2 years later they are perfect! Just remember, it isn't gold, it is gold plate, it isn't silver....don't wear it in the shower, or the pool. Treat as costume jewelry and will last! I have never bought the watches, but some look quite nice! Remember, you get what you pay for!

[GAMOM4]

I am actually wearing a t-shirt today that I bought from one of the gift shops on board....it is the same size after washing as it was before...just feels softer. I purchased a fossil watch on our 2nd cruise (because I lost my watch during the cruise) I think I paid $40.00 or $50.00 for it and that in 2005 and I wear it every day - have it on now...I have replaced the battery 2 or 3 times in the 7 years. We also bought one of the Carnival bags that unzip...we bought it in 2004 ... it wasn't one of the ones on wheels (although I had thought about buying one every cruise...now I'm glad I didn't) but our regular bag is in the same shape it was in 2004 and we have used it on every cruise.

[Cruisin'Trooper]

Gift shop and quality rarely go in the same sentence. The OP complained about the item then also commented it might of happened by port crew during disembarkation. Either way, everything we buy sadly is crap from china :rolleyes:

[bookcreator]

just off Legend 2/25 cruise, my sister was eyeing a carnival nylon tote/luggage pice on wheels. last day was 5.00 off so decided to purchase, was on wheels and expandable seemed a good deal- BUT, used it on disembarkation, not overly stuffed, seemed fine, however when we got home and unpacked discovered was pulling apart at seam on bottom of case, something you would not have noticed at the time. took photos of it.called carnival to see if could get refund or exchange. well carnival took the position that the gift shops were independent of carnival and would not do anything.suggested i contact my insurance plan to see if it would be covered and the plan was a carnival insurance plan. bottom line, should have put in a complaint at time of disembarkation, had to have been damaged by port personnel. , this is clearly a defective product of manufacture. not due to anyone's negligence. just ring it up to lost money. no one would do anything. money not a lot, under 25.00, but is principle of poor quality. , a piece of made in china junk.

 

We are on our second one of these. We use it as a "press into service bag" if we are overweight on the trip home. We usually also use it as an extra bag and put our shoes in it to lighten the load in our suitcase from shoes. This is what we found: After several trips in checked in luggage, it ripped where the handle was with a run type thing that nylon frequently does. We did feel since we used it for checked luggage and they really abuse those bags, we felt that was the reason.

Our second one, the plastic wheels, fell apart, and we actually never use the wheel, we piggyback this extra bag to our regular rolling luggage. It has had about 6 trips in checked luggage and it is still holding up except the wheels.

 

Clearly these are not made to be heavy duty luggage, and we will probably buy another eventually when this one rips. We like them but if you really stuff them, or make them really heavy they will rip.

 

The gift shop, photo stuff, except the pictures they take,casino and spa are "contracted out" and we have never found them the least bit helpful once they have your money.

 

Thanks for posting and too bad it didn't last a few more trips like ours did.

[KrystalWaters]

just off Legend 2/25 cruise, my sister was eyeing a carnival nylon tote/luggage pice on wheels. last day was 5.00 off so decided to purchase, was on wheels and expandable .seeemed a good deal- BUT, used it on disembrkation, not overly stuffed, seemed fine, however when we got home and unpacked discovered was pulling apart at seam on bottom of case, something you would not have noticed at the time. took photos of it.called carnival to see if could get refund or exchange. well carnival took the position that the gift shops were independant of carnival and would not do anything.suggested i contact my insurance plan to see if it would be covered and the plan was a carnival insurance plan. bottom line, should have put in a complaint at time of disembarkition, had to have been damaged by port personnel. , this is clearly a defective product of manufacture. not due to anyone's negligence. just ring it up to lost money. no one would do anything. money not a lot, under 25.00, but is principle of poor quality. , a piece of made in china junk.

 

Call 1-800-540-4785(the company that is responsible for the shop) have your receipt ready and tell them what happened. Good Luck!:)

[swedish weave]

The T-shirts you buy the first day of the cruise ALWAYS shrink.

 

Those you buy the LAST day of the cruise don't shrink.

 

Isn't it amazing ??

[sparkscruiser]

We have made various purchases over the years and must say that one of the best buys I made was an Aquamarine/Tanzanite/Diamond ring... boughtnit last day ofthe cruise and upon getting home it appraised for almost twice what I paid for it. Love it and wear it all the time.

 

There are things that are not a good value and others that are.

 

To the person who bought the Guess purse - I would contact Guess... only because that way they know they have a problem with finished products. It is ultimately Guess' reputation that is at stake in this instance.

 

I almost always buy a Fossil watch when on board (or if we are in Grand Cayman - great Fossil store there) - they are about the only analog watch that I can't break!

[misguidedangel]

Any item you buy on the ship is supposed to have the 30 day guarantee. The company who runs the gift shops is supposed to honor the warranty for their items. Sad to know they are not. Carnival should have the number for that company and let the customer deal with them directly.

 

The problem I seem to have is I buy items that have the potential to break and are just fine until I pack em and go home.....somehow no matter where it is packed one or two of them seem to break. Thankfully I always have crazy glue at home to fix the broken items.....

 

I bought a watch on the ship just over three years ago and I still love it....Sadly, the mishima opal bracelet I bought was lost two years after I bought it. They put cheaper flip up snap clasps and somehow it flipped open and dropped off..loved that bracelet......

[iamwmn32]

gift shop t-shirts are the same way....One wash and it will never fit you again :cool:

 

 

That's not true. I bought plenty of T-shirts on board the ships while sailing over the past few years and every one of them are still in great shape and haven't shrunk one bit.