Bring my watches? Where to store them?

[77red96]

Please allow me to explain my thoughts before I get started.

With my next MSC cruise approaching, I've decided to go all out with the formal wear, yes I'm young (ish), yes I did casual last time in the Med (more because I can't bear the warm climate) but this time I'm going to Norway and the temperatures should be more what I'm used to.

 

When I wear formal wear I like to wear my dress watches. I've never traveled with them before. I usually take 3 or 4 homage watches with me (they don't have much value.) My plan was to bring 3 watches, the value of the 3 dress watches combined is approximately £38,000. Not the most expensive to some I know, but they are to me. I'd hate to lose them because of a bad decision, especially if the advice would be to not travel with them.

 

If the advice is to not travel with them, I'd consider buying a nice watch onboard, I know from past experience MSC has Tag, Omega and Cartier on board, so there are plenty of options at every price point. How do you cover a watch you purchase onboard for insurance purposes, and do you wear it traveling home?

 

(I've also just realised that the same rules probably apply to ladies jewelry and perhaps I should have searched for that but I've typed this much so I'll continue)

 

My questions are, 

 

1. Should I bring them at all?

2. How do you pack yours?

3. Will travel insurance cover them?

4. Where should I keep them? Room safe/ships safe (if that's even a thing)

5. Should I just bring the homage watches and make do?

6. What to do if I buy onboard.

 

I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever find themselves having these thoughts. I'm looking for some advice from the more experienced cruisers. Especially those who carry and wear expensive timepieces.

 

[Match Game 72]

You will likely get several opinions on this. Personally, I do not bring items that are not insured or I would be upset if lost.

Here's an article to read.

https://www.jewelersmutual.com/the-jewelry-box/how-to-travel-jewelry-safely

[77red96]

Thanks, that's a good read, it pretty much says leave it at home, which is what I've done in the past.

[jinpasco]

If you really want to, I would say being ONE. The safe is the best place and maybe take a picture of the watch. Personally,  I wouldnt bring any expensive jewelry and surely wouldn't announce their value. Many fakes these days look very real and  would be hard to know if it was of real value or a knockoff. If it concerns you then I would say leave it home.

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, 77red96 said:

Please allow me to explain my thoughts before I get started.

With my next MSC cruise approaching, I've decided to go all out with the formal wear, yes I'm young (ish), yes I did casual last time in the Med (more because I can't bear the warm climate) but this time I'm going to Norway and the temperatures should be more what I'm used to.

 

When I wear formal wear I like to wear my dress watches. I've never traveled with them before. I usually take 3 or 4 homage watches with me (they don't have much value.) My plan was to bring 3 watches, the value of the 3 dress watches combined is approximately £38,000. Not the most expensive to some I know, but they are to me. I'd hate to lose them because of a bad decision, especially if the advice would be to not travel with them.

 

If the advice is to not travel with them, I'd consider buying a nice watch onboard, I know from past experience MSC has Tag, Omega and Cartier on board, so there are plenty of options at every price point. How do you cover a watch you purchase onboard for insurance purposes, and do you wear it traveling home?

 

(I've also just realised that the same rules probably apply to ladies jewelry and perhaps I should have searched for that but I've typed this much so I'll continue)

 

My questions are, 

 

1. Should I bring them at all?

2. How do you pack yours?

3. Will travel insurance cover them?

4. Where should I keep them? Room safe/ships safe (if that's even a thing)

5. Should I just bring the homage watches and make do?

6. What to do if I buy onboard.

 

I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever find themselves having these thoughts. I'm looking for some advice from the more experienced cruisers. Especially those who carry and wear expensive timepieces.

 

Since you are asking for advice, here is my opinion. I do not bring anything which is so valuable. This is MSC not Cunard or Hapag Lloyd. At MSC no one displays their jewelry because actually no one cares about it. You might see Starowsky stairs as part of the ship and as a matter of fact you my see my Starowsky pendants if I am in the same cruise with you (🫢). But MSC cruises are not the place to show off. 
Ivi
 

[HardToPort]

My daily wear watches are Citizens. Sturdy, functional and inexpensive. I have a valuable, vintage gold Bulova that is not only valuable but was gifted to me by a now deceased uncle. 
 

If I lose or have stolen my Citizen I go to duty free and buy another. I don’t lose a minutes sleep.

 

I’d be crushed if I lost the Bulova. So, are your watches just expensive accessories or sentimental in value? If they’re just accessories and you can afford to replace them, by all means take them and enjoy wearing them.

 

if you can’t afford to replace them or if they are sentimentally irreplaceable then leave them home.

 

Keep them in your cabin safe. Travel insurance is unlikely to cover them. They should be specifically insured on your homeowner / tenants policy. Note I say Specifically”. High value items should be appraised, documented with matching provenances and reasonable efforts in place for their safekeeping.

 

As for packing, I’ve read too many comments here about luggage pilferage. I’d safely pack your watches in your carry on and keep it with you at all times.

 

Enjoy showing off your bling. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by HardToPort

[Gatordad1967]

first world problems

 

[PTC DAWG]

I don’t even wear my Apple Watch onboard, mainly because I don’t care what time it is. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[RD64]

I am a watch fan as well, and usually bring four to five. I am obsessive about my watches. Each watch will go into a thin sock. The thin sock then goes in to a much thicker sock. The thicker sock then goes into individual jeweller bags that I received in St. Maarten. The jeweller bags then go in to a cotton drawstring bag that goes in to my carry-on.

 

For the more valuable ones, I will wear two on my wrist at the same time - for travelling to/from the ship.

[Gatordad1967]

19 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

I don’t even wear my Apple Watch onboard, mainly because I don’t care what time it is. 

agreed

[77red96]

42 minutes ago, Gatordad1967 said:

first world problems

 

Very much so, I'm pretty sure being on a cruise forum equates to the same thing.

[77red96]

2 hours ago, jinpasco said:

If you really want to, I would say being ONE. The safe is the best place and maybe take a picture of the watch. Personally,  I wouldnt bring any expensive jewelry and surely wouldn't announce their value. Many fakes these days look very real and  would be hard to know if it was of real value or a knockoff. If it concerns you then I would say leave it home.

Thanks, yes, perhaps bringing one on my wrist is the best option.

[77red96]

1 hour ago, travelberlin said:

Since you are asking for advice, here is my opinion. I do not bring anything which is so valuable. This is MSC not Cunard or Hapag Lloyd. At MSC no one displays their jewelry because actually no one cares about it. You might see Starowsky stairs as part of the ship and as a matter of fact you my see my Starowsky pendants if I am in the same cruise with you (🫢). But MSC cruises are not the place to show off. 
Ivi
 

It's not really about showing off though, it's about feeling like my outfit was complete, I've been on an MSC cruise,  to not have a quality timepiece on my wrist whilst sporting a tux would just feel wrong, also the chances of someone who isn't a watch person recognising what is on my wrist is slim.

[jules815]

Store them in the safe. (How easy was that?)

 

Have a great cruise!

[travelberlin]

28 minutes ago, 77red96 said:

It's not really about showing off though, it's about feeling like my outfit was complete, I've been on an MSC cruise,  to not have a quality timepiece on my wrist whilst sporting a tux would just feel wrong, also the chances of someone who isn't a watch person recognising what is on my wrist is slim.

I understand. The tuxedo is also not necessary unless you are cruising in Northern Europe.

Ivi

[PTC DAWG]

4 minutes ago, jules815 said:

Store them in the safe. (How easy was that?)

 

Have a great cruise!

That was my second thought. 

[77red96]

3 hours ago, jules815 said:

Store them in the safe. (How easy was that?)

 

Have a great cruise!

That was my first thought too, but when I stay in hotels for a few days I have on many an occasion asked for them to be kept in the hotel's main safe. I'm not sure if this is something MSC offer as a service.

[styles27]

Personally I don’t even wear my real Diamond wedding set when I travel.
I leave them in the safe at home. I have a CZ set that is much smaller and less expensive that I always wear whenever traveling out of the country. 
The last thing I want to do is draw attention to my jewelry while in some of these less than safe ports. 
 

 

Edited March 19, 2023 by styles27

[77red96]

11 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Personally I don’t even wear my real Diamond wedding set when I travel.
I leave them in the safe at home. I have a CZ set that is much smaller and less expensive that I always wear whenever traveling out of the country. 
The last thing I want to do is draw attention to my jewelry while in some of these less than safe ports. 
 

 

Thanks, yes I'm thinking the best thing to do is not take them with me, I'll put them in my safety deposit box before I go. Perhaps buy a few homage watches, I might even get an invicta onboard.

 

Thanks everyone for the feedback.

Edited March 19, 2023 by 77red96

[HardToPort]

28 minutes ago, styles27 said:

Personally I don’t even wear my real Diamond wedding set when I travel.
I leave them in the safe at home. I have a CZ set that is much smaller and less expensive that I always wear whenever traveling out of the country. 
The last thing I want to do is draw attention to my jewelry while in some of these less than safe ports. 
 

 

THIS ^!!
 

Should have its own thread. I have a throw away phone for travel. I just buy a SIM card at location. My (nearly) new iPhone stays home. Fancy watches, cufflinks, diamond pinky ring. Stays home. On shore excursions I dress down. I have a very low limit cc ($4,000 max) I leave the ship with along with minimal currency. Other cash and high limit cc stays on board. Frankly, I’m not worth the effort to rob.

Dress and behave like you’re worth robbing is the best way to get robbed. My next cruise has two stops in Mexico and, honestly, I may not even get off the ship. I think I’m getting Caribbean fatigue. I love the ship. Love the sun. Love Ocean Cay. But the harassment of tourists is just getting too much for me. 

 

[styles27]

16 minutes ago, HardToPort said:

THIS ^!!
 

Should have its own thread. I have a throw away phone for travel. I just buy a SIM card at location. My (nearly) new iPhone stays home. Fancy watches, cufflinks, diamond pinky ring. Stays home. On shore excursions I dress down. I have a very low limit cc ($4,000 max) I leave the ship with along with minimal currency. Other cash and high limit cc stays on board. Frankly, I’m not worth the effort to rob.

Dress and behave like you’re worth robbing is the best way to get robbed. My next cruise has two stops in Mexico and, honestly, I may not even get off the ship. I think I’m getting Caribbean fatigue. I love the ship. Love the sun. Love Ocean Cay. But the harassment of tourists is just getting too much for me. 

 

We’re the same way especially with the credit card. We had our CC number stolen at a restaurant in Playa del Carmen one time and by the time we got home they had purchased over $12k worth of round trip airfares. We know exactly what restaurant it was stolen at as it was the only place we used it. 
Our bank reversed the charges but they couldn’t do anything about the air tickets. It bothered me that they got away with it but at least we had our money back. 
 

Now we only carry a very low limit CC. 
 

 

A lady on our ship excursion in Colombia in January had her iPhone 14pro stolen right in front of all of us. She asked someone to take a picture, vendors surrounded her and the lady took off with her phone. I felt so bad for her as she said it was her lifeline. 
 

People in some of these ports are desperate after not having cruise ship tourists for two years because of Covid. We’re at the point where we’d rather stay on board instead of getting off in these ports. 

Edited March 19, 2023 by styles27

[HardToPort]

Styles27, I’ve had someone tell me, to my face, “you’re in my country. Spend money”. This was in Ocho Rios. I was barely off the ship. So instead of walking into town and actually buying some things. I just walked into the port bar (Senor Frogs or Margaritaville, not sure which), had a drink and went back on board.

 

umm … aggressively getting in my face isn’t the way to my wallet.

[styles27]

5 minutes ago, HardToPort said:

Styles27, I’ve had someone tell me, to my face, “you’re in my country. Spend money”. This was in Ocho Rios. I was barely off the ship. So instead of walking into town and actually buying some things. I just walked into the port bar (Senor Frogs or Margaritaville, not sure which), had a drink and went back on board.

 

umm … aggressively getting in my face isn’t the way to my wallet.

Wow,  I agree.  
 

We visited Ocho Rios on our Jan cruise also but we did a tour and our guide was great…he really kept the vendors away from us.  
He wanted us to love his country you could tell it mattered to him. 
 

The sales people at Diamond’s International in that port looked like mob bosses. lol

I couldn’t believe the people on our excursion that were spending thousands of dollars on jewelry there. I don’t get it. I would never trust that. 
 

 

[perakcruiser]

6 hours ago, Gatordad1967 said:

first world problems

Which can easily end up with first worlds problem number 1: tax. 

 

Bring all your receipts from buying these watches or prepare for a few test nights in a Norwegian prison. Having said that, I would expect Norway to have the most comfortable prisons in the world 😄

[77red96]

Wow, you're all scaring me! Maybe I'd be better off staying at home!🤣🤣