Citizen watches

[bac513]

Anyone know the current on board discount, if any, on Citizen watches. Thanks.

[keesar]

4 hours ago, bac513 said:

Anyone know the current on board discount, if any, on Citizen watches. Thanks.

On our last cruise, Citizen watches were discounted "up to 30%".  Make sure you know your model exactly,  There were some that looked the same as I had been searching for but had a lesser quality wrist  band.  

[bac513]

Thanks for the response. Did you notice if they had Satellite Wave GPS watches?

[1025cruise]

Just make sure you know what the cost is of your watch if purchased at home.

[canderson]

51 minutes ago, 1025cruise said:

Just make sure you know what the cost is of your watch if purchased at home.

Especially given the discounts are sometimes more than shipboard:

https://www.amazon.com/Citizen-Eco-Drive-Satellite-Freedom-CC3035-50E/dp/B07L9JQD33

 

[pete_coach]

7 hours ago, keesar said:

On our last cruise, Citizen watches were discounted "up to 30%".  Make sure you know your model exactly,  There were some that looked the same as I had been searching for but had a lesser quality wrist  band.  

I suggest you look at Amazon for price comparisons.

I was looking for a watch (not necessarily Citizen) and checked Amazon while on board and the prices were 25% and up higher on broad than at Amazon.

[Saturngrl]

I am a watch collector and used to buy at least one Invicta, Bulova or Anne Klein each cruise.  Since COVID and the return of sailing, I've found on-board prices equal to or higher than I can get online. I agree with the above posters...research prices online before boarding the ship!     

[Marie51]

A few years ago I bought an Anne Klein watch in a local store. Shortly after I saw the exact same watch on a cruise for $50 more than what I paid. The same thing happened to my son. I’ve come to the conclusion that buying watches on a ship is a rip off, but that’s just my opinion.

[the penguins]

On 7/9/2024 at 5:42 PM, Saturngrl said:

I am a watch collector and used to buy at least one Invicta, Bulova or Anne Klein each cruise.  Since COVID and the return of sailing, I've found on-board prices equal to or higher than I can get online. I agree with the above posters...research prices online before boarding the ship!     

also depends on how you are paying. If you have a lot of OBC to use up  buying a watch or ipad might make sense. 

[toledo_cruiser]

On 7/9/2024 at 12:42 PM, Saturngrl said:

I am a watch collector and used to buy at least one Invicta, Bulova or Anne Klein each cruise.  Since COVID and the return of sailing, I've found on-board prices equal to or higher than I can get online. I agree with the above posters...research prices online before boarding the ship!     

For me it was a $50 lesson when I bought a Tissot on one of my first cruises. I couldn't wait until I got home to see what a great deal I snagged. 😅 I never did tell my wife I could have gotten it cheaper at home. Lesson learned. I now have many more watches, but my buying days are over. I still check out the merchandise on each cruise. As others have said, Amazon and some of the grey market vendors have better deals.

[Provence55always]

16 hours ago, the penguins said:

also depends on how you are paying. If you have a lot of OBC to use up  buying a watch or ipad might make sense. 

I bought a Citizen watch 7 years ago with onboard credit. Wear it every day and love it. I also bought an iPad with onboard credit but I did have to add some dollars to that. 

[keesar]

I was pricing Citizens watches.  I bought a better quality one for less at Kohls.  In addition, the wristband was adjusted at the store.  Sizing was not available on the ship.  

[PTC DAWG]

On 7/9/2024 at 10:25 AM, 1025cruise said:

Just make sure you know what the cost is of your watch if purchased at home.

Maybe someone has some non refundable OBC they want to use..

[ReneeFLL]

14 hours ago, toledo_cruiser said:

For me it was a $50 lesson when I bought a Tissot on one of my first cruises. I couldn't wait until I got home to see what a great deal I snagged. 😅 I never did tell my wife I could have gotten it cheaper at home. Lesson learned. I now have many more watches, but my buying days are over. I still check out the merchandise on each cruise. As others have said, Amazon and some of the grey market vendors have better deals.

How do you really know if a grey market vendor has the legit thing? Same for Amazon. So many fakes out there.

[Iamcruzin]

I have found that even before covid the land prices were better than cruise ship prices. I was looking at a Seiko watch on board and priced the same watch on Amazon for less money so I just added it to my basket and purchased while still at sea. It was there when I got home. You really have to know your prices and that includes liquor as well. Most times I can get it for the same price or cheaper when ABC or Total Wine runs a sale. We are at the point where we don't buy anything on board anymore unless it's something unique to the cruise line.

[1025cruise]

2 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

Maybe someone has some non refundable OBC they want to use..

If it were me, I'd find another way to spend it. I still have an aversion to getting ripped off.

[MISTER 67]

I have been buying watches for over 42 years in the islands mostly St. Thomas, you can’t bargain on board. I love Citizen and Seiko watches, we were in Aruba in February and I bought a Citizen Eco drive and got 40% off the list price. With Invicta watches which I buy when I need a watch for the golf course it’s seems like Amazon has the best prices but you need to re-size the band on your own, I bought a re-sizing kit for 19 bucks on Amazon.

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

I have found that even before covid the land prices were better than cruise ship prices. I was looking at a Seiko watch on board and priced the same watch on Amazon for less money so I just added it to my basket and purchased while still at sea. It was there when I got home. You really have to know your prices and that includes liquor as well. Most times I can get it for the same price or cheaper when ABC or Total Wine runs a sale. We are at the point where we don't buy anything on board anymore unless it's something unique to the cruise line.

I bought a couple of Seiko watches which are much better than Ciitzen watches about 15 years ago from Amazon to wear at work. Just had to check the vendor. The only reason they are in a drawer now is I have an Apple Watch. 

[Iamcruzin]

1 minute ago, Charles4515 said:

I bought a couple of Seiko watches which are much better than Ciitzen watches about 15 years ago from Amazon to wear at work. Just had to check the vendor. The only reason they are in a drawer now is I have an Apple Watch. 

My watch has been a Fitbit for the past several years. I have 3 watches different brands in the original boxes that I received for yrs of service from my previous job. They have never been worn. My phone and Alexa are my new time pieces at home.

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, keesar said:

I was pricing Citizens watches.  I bought a better quality one for less at Kohls.  In addition, the wristband was adjusted at the store.  Sizing was not available on the ship.  

If a jeweler on the ship can't size a watch that tells me that I shouldn't be making any jewelry purchases there. Don't even get me started with Effy a.k.a. Iffy.

Edited July 11 by Iamcruzin

[keesar]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

How do you really know if a grey market vendor has the legit thing? Same for Amazon. So many fakes out there.

I brought a friend's watch to a reputable jeweler to have a new battery installed.  The technician talked about the number of fake high end watches he is asked to repair. Look good from the outside but...   So be careful. 

[toledo_cruiser]

7 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

How do you really know if a grey market vendor has the legit thing? Same for Amazon. So many fakes out there.

Any watch I buy on Amazon is not going to be a high end watch.😃As for grey market vendors, I only purchased from two and they both had a reasonable reputation in the watch community. If I were buying a Rolex, Omega, or similar quality watch I would use a brick and mortar store. I'm not knowledgeable enough to know a high-end fake from the real McCoy. The copy cat makers "probably" don't fake Invictas or similar low cost watches, but anything is possible these days.

[canderson]

5 hours ago, Iamcruzin said:

If a jeweler on the ship can't size a watch that tells me that I shouldn't be making any jewelry purchases there. Don't even get me started with Effy a.k.a. Iffy.

On a cruise in 2021, we noted that one of their representatives was taking purchases from the ship and having them resized at the local retail Effy shops along the Caribbean itinerary where they had personnel qualified to do the work.  If they can, they will.  If outside their brick and mortar sales territory (e.g., North America / Caribbean), then you have to send the item back to NY for resizing.  They don't ever seem to have people trained for any of that sort of thing aboard.

 

Personal advice:  On their higher end items, unlike some of the other shops afloat, if you're not bargaining, you're leaving money on the table, but you need to do some homework to have a sense of what's possible and reasonable before you sit down with them. 

 

Hematian was in and working on designs pretty much right up to the end.  Was sorry to hear he died last year.

 

[Iamcruzin]

Apparently there is room for bargaining. First of all on the islands they never have anything priced. They are always using a calculator to make up the price at the time of inquiry. Second,  have a good friend who lives on Antigua and she told us that the jewelry stores always mark up the items on days that there are cruise ships in port. Effy is in all of the department stores on land so if I was ever inclined to make a purchase I would just go to Macy's where I can return or go back there when the stones fall out or the chain breaks.  The average person can remove links from a watch band to resize it if they have the tools. There is no reason why ship sales associates can't learn how to do this. 

[Charles4515]

1 hour ago, Iamcruzin said:

The average person can remove links from a watch band to resize it if they have the tools. There is no reason why ship sales associates can't learn how to do this. 

There are YouTube videos that show how to remove watch band links.