Mini riot on Liberty over cheap watches--dangerous

[skiwee]

Why would anyone riot over a bunch of junk watches is beyond me. I am surprised your wife even stuck around once she saw they were junk. Crazy that people would go nuts over that stuff. LOL Tell your wife next time go in the real jewelry store. No riots there. :)

[RuthlessBoss]

This type of sale goes on thru out the retail world. Once a year Filines Basment in Boston holds a bridal sale. "Ladies" have suffered broken bones fighting to get a hold of as many wedding gowns as they can grab.

I was thinking of what your post said. I saw it on t.v. Unbelievable.

[Thommy_Boy]

I am of the opinion of, it is not the fault of Carnival, but of the people, including he OPs and his wife.

[bplazo]

I think that it is great entertainment to watch the stampede. Much better than the shows.

[riclop]

Just off Liberty, fantastic cruise..more on that later.

 

Witnessed a dangerous "bread riot" at one of the shops, totally initated by sales staff. Displays of inexpensive $20 watch sets were set out Friday morning, my wife looked them over that morning around 11:00 and tried to buy one.

 

No, she was told, we will not sell them until 12:00 and be here at that time as we expect to sell out. Several other shoppers were told the same, no sales until noon. My wife went into the shop and there were more watches on tables covered with sheets, she peeked under the sheet and the sales guy ran over and told her no sales till noon.

 

Back we go amd my wife is standing by a display table with many other shoppers, the guy pulls the sheet off and backs away.. Then the whole scene deteriorated into pushing, shoving, curses, threats and overall cheap behaviour.

My wife had a box ripped out of her hand, kicked in the leg, stepped on and pushed into the table. if people weren't pushing from the other side of the table, they would have all gone down in a heap. One young guy was knocked over sideways. I had to wade in and help my wife escape.

 

Totally Carnival's fault for creating this crazed attitude by putting the merchandise and refusing to sell it.

 

Complained to Guest Services, spoke with the shop manager, he apologized, admitted it was bad system, but, it is designed to create sales tension. Told him how dangerous this was with all the glass display cases on the walls and floor, and the number of senior citizens at risk just trying to make a purchase.

 

Hope Carnival can institute a better system, oh by the way, manager offered a free bottle of champagne, which we politely declined.

 

Only bad experience on a great cruise.

Thats why we stayed away from those cheap sales.

[deborahjo]

Have seen this sale on every cruise. That is why we always avoid the shop area when they have these stupid sales.

[RD64]

The same thing happened on the Breeze last month - it was shocking watching the hordes fighting over the watches.

[awhcruiser]

Same scene in the buffet during mealtime. teehee

My wife was kicked in the leg, stepped on and pushed into the table. if people weren't pushing from the other side of the table, they would have all gone down in a heap. One young guy was knocked over sideways. I had to wade in and help my wife escape.

 

 

Only bad experience on a great cruise.

[Jimsgirl]

It is a corporate decision. This tawdry merchandise and this less than ethical sales tactics, also happen on Cunard line.

 

The sales tables are put out into narrow walkways, and sane minded passengers cannot walk through the area on their way to some saner place.

 

Believe me the Carnival mind set , has totally taken over , anything no matter how tawdry, or disgusting goes as long as the cruise line makes money from the event.

[Georgiagolfer]

Remember being part of the frenzy back on first cruise in the 90s. That and the gold by the inch. As Carnival aims for the lower markets, issues will continue and intensify. At some point, a gun will be involved. They can't possibly scan all luggage and some sagger will need his edge.

 

This has nothing to do with CCL aiming for the "lower market." DW and I have seen the same thing on RCI. IMO, the blame is on the customer, not the cruise lines. As others have posed, same thing happens at land based stores.

[topguy]

I am sorry to disagree. I do not feel that, in this case, it is the fault of Carnival. Rather it is the fault of many of the passengers who for the sake of a cheap watch which will probably malfunction before the week is out begin to act like animals. It reminds me of the riots at Wal-Mart during the Christmas holidays. But then again they do call Carnival the, "...Walmart of the Cruise Industry." This is just another example of Carnival becoming the bargain basement of the Cruise Industry.

I agree. The poor behavior of the passengers is the problem. What ever happened to civility?

[Carnival_Brides]

It is a corporate decision. This tawdry merchandise and this less than ethical sales tactics, also happen on Cunard line.

 

The sales tables are put out into narrow walkways, and sane minded passengers cannot walk through the area on their way to some saner place.

 

Believe me the Carnival mind set , has totally taken over , anything no matter how tawdry, or disgusting goes as long as the cruise line makes money from the event.

 

You're sort of right--it also happens on Cunard. However, the company that runs the gift shops on Carnival is Starboard Cruise Services and they also run the shops on non-Carnival Corp. lines like...

 

Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean, Costa Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Celebrity Cruises, Ibero Cruceros, Norwegian Cruise Lines.

 

 

I avoid the gift shop at all costs and only go in when I'm after something specific. The last time I was in one was when I bought the license plate frame for my car in January.

[babyher]

To play Devil's advocate .

 

Of course no one should be pushing and shoving and stampeding , no matter how great a deal or savings.

 

But the stores (whether a Carnival shop or a land based retailer ) should know better also.

 

Its not the first day in retailing 101 class for these people. They know what they are doing , and love to cry foul when it goes wrong .

 

They hype the sales and savings to the skies "Get here early for best savings."...."The Deals won't last long"...Blah blah blah

 

They love it when there is a line out the door, down the street, around the block, at 3am for a 5am opening

 

They know there are way more people out there then there are pieces of super duper bargain priced merchandise. And yet they are always shocked when a melee breaks out.

 

Yet it goes on cruise after cruise , year after year for the land based shops.

 

If someone gets badly hurt or God forbid killed, They read from a sincere and heartfelt form letter the legal department writes for them.

 

 

Again , absolutely no excuse to act like animals over a piece of merchandise (cheapo watch, OR the best price on the hottest gift out there ). But the retailers know what they are doing

[SkyMaster]

Same thing on "Breeze" last week. I have learned to avoid that area when at all possible. I'll just keep wearing my "cheap" 40 year old Rolex! ;)

 

"SKY"

[ddbaab53]

It really was the worse I have ever experienced. I was there for both the bead and watch sail and the watch sale was really bad. The way it was explained was right on. The big issue now is they limit to 1hour where in the past it was set up in a larger area for a longer period of time in the evening. The small gift shops are no place for this.

[graphicguy]

Cowboy....so I'll assume that you/your wife didn't get the watch you wanted?

 

As others have pointed out, the retail shops only lease space from Carnival. As they do on other cruise lines, which all do the same type of "sale".

 

I think any cruiser that's had more than one cruise under their belt know the drill. The watches are $10....$20 watches. They're worth what youy pay for them. Same goes for the "inch of gold". It's a think gold plating on those chains, not solid gold.

 

People who aren't knowledgeable go nuts on this stuff. People who do know what to look for in a watch, jewelry, gold, silver know to stay away from it (unless you actually want a $10 watch).

 

The crowd is the issue.