KLA Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Hey guys, I'll be cruising to Nassau on Majesty coming up in February, and my fiance and I had the idea to try and find a wedding band for him while in port. Does anyone have advice for jewelry shopping in Nassau (or, should we not consider this as an option?), and advice on the best places to go as far as reputation and quality? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Kayla, I shop for jewelry a lot in the Caribbean...and I really do not particularly recommend Nassau as a good place to find a bargain. It's not terrible, but definitely the LEAST affordable [Caribbean] port for getting a good price. The best, IMO, is St. Thomas...but if you're not going to St. Thomas, that information isn't particularly useful to you. I recognize that. I guess the one other piece of advice I will offer is do NOT purchase any expensive jewelry on the ship. I have heard waaaytooo many horror stories of people who thought they were getting a bargain just to find out that they paid way more than they should have. The jewelry vendors on the ship are NOT owned by Royal Caribbean. They are concessions and I have never seen what I would consider a GREAT deal on any ship. While Diamonds International is not one of my favorite places to shop (they are owned by the cruise lines !) I do believe that they are honest and will guarantee their product. I do not believe that you would get cheated there...but I also don't believe you will get as good a bargain as you might, somewhere else. If you are looking for a basic wedding band, you will most likely simply be paying for the gold. Know what gold is running and refuse to pay more than the weight of the ring. If you start adding diamonds, etc. then you're complicating things and the simple weight of the ring will not be as good an indicator. Bargaining for jewelry in the Caribbean is no different than bargaining for ANYthing in the Caribbean. Talk them down, walk away and if there is wiggle room they will not let you leave without another offer. KLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Kayla, I shop for jewelry a lot in the Caribbean...and I really do not particularly recommend Nassau as a good place to find a bargain. It's not terrible, but definitely the LEAST affordable [Caribbean] port for getting a good price. The best, IMO, is St. Thomas...but if you're not going to St. Thomas, that information isn't particularly useful to you. I recognize that. I guess the one other piece of advice I will offer is do NOT purchase any expensive jewelry on the ship. I have heard waaaytooo many horror stories of people who thought they were getting a bargain just to find out that they paid way more than they should have. The jewelry vendors on the ship are NOT owned by Royal Caribbean. They are concessions and I have never seen what I would consider a GREAT deal on any ship. While Diamonds International is not one of my favorite places to shop (they are owned by the cruise lines !) I do believe that they are honest and will guarantee their product. I do not believe that you would get cheated there...but I also don't believe you will get as good a bargain as you might, somewhere else. If you are looking for a basic wedding band, you will most likely simply be paying for the gold. Know what gold is running and refuse to pay more than the weight of the ring. If you start adding diamonds, etc. then you're complicating things and the simple weight of the ring will not be as good an indicator. Bargaining for jewelry in the Caribbean is no different than bargaining for ANYthing in the Caribbean. Talk them down, walk away and if there is wiggle room they will not let you leave without another offer. Thank you - this is exactly the type of thing I was looking for, and I figured about as much regarding shopping in Nassau since it's such a frequently visited port. I've heard all kinds of horror stories, and really wouldn't want to come home and find out that such an important purchase wasn't what we thought it was. So, do you think we'd be okay at least taking a look at Diamonds International? Or are we better off just sticking with something at home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 5, 2016 Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Absolutely. There is nothing at all shady with DI. They are a reputable company. You are "in the market" so you know what wedding rings are running (price-wise). It's just a matter of comparison shopping ! If you see something you like in DI and the price seems reasonable to you, based on what you know you would pay in the US....buy it. They are not going to misrepresent the jewelry to you at DI. You should ask the right questions (solid 14K gold, right ???) and then see if they can save you some money or not. As I said, unless you are getting really wiggy with a bunch of diamonds or other weirdness, you are basically just going to pay for the gold. Any design, etching, carving...whatever...is basically -0- cost to you. There should be NO cost to you above the cost of the gold itself. BTW, it's really not about Nassau being a frequented port. It is about the fact that Nassau is so expensive in EVERY way. There is hardly a port more often visited than St. Thomas but it's just a place to find some real bargains if you know where to look. They have a lot of top notch jewelers there and the competition keeps the price down. Good luck !!! KLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted December 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2016 Absolutely. There is nothing at all shady with DI. They are a reputable company. You are "in the market" so you know what wedding rings are running (price-wise). It's just a matter of comparison shopping ! If you see something you like in DI and the price seems reasonable to you, based on what you know you would pay in the US....buy it. They are not going to misrepresent the jewelry to you at DI. You should ask the right questions (solid 14K gold, right ???) and then see if they can save you some money or not. As I said, unless you are getting really wiggy with a bunch of diamonds or other weirdness, you are basically just going to pay for the gold. Any design, etching, carving...whatever...is basically -0- cost to you. There should be NO cost to you above the cost of the gold itself. BTW, it's really not about Nassau being a frequented port. It is about the fact that Nassau is so expensive in EVERY way. There is hardly a port more often visited than St. Thomas but it's just a place to find some real bargains if you know where to look. They have a lot of top notch jewelers there and the competition keeps the price down. Good luck !!! This is awesome - thank you SO MUCH WAAAYTOO! You rock. We're definitely going to do our research and make sure that we go in as informed consumers. I'll go in with the mindset of not being totally set on something and willing to walk away, but I just think it'd be kind of nice to have a fun memory in the Bahamas attached to his wedding band since we both love cruising so much... our honeymoon is even a B2B on Allure! :) Thank you!!!!!! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firegal2539 Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 I purchased an emerald and diamond ring from Colombian Emerslds (there in practically every port) after about s month one stone started coming lose and I found out that one of the prongs was bent. I called them and they asked me to insure it and send it back, which I did, and I got s brand new ring about two weeks later. I think the big retailers are perfectly fine. Make sure you check prices in your city before your cruise! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WHStoneman Posted December 6, 2016 Report Share Posted December 6, 2016 Hey guys, I'll be cruising to Nassau on Majesty coming up in February, and my fiance and I had the idea to try and find a wedding band for him while in port. I would find a "face to face" jeweler you know and trust in your neighborhood. Buying a $79 necklace is one thing...but buying a lifetime wedding band is quite something different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted December 7, 2016 Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 Last time I was in Nassau my wife bought some items from Tesh at Effy Jewelers. He recognized us from when he worked at the St. Maarten store and we bought something there. Seems to be a good chap, I'd recommend him and Effy since they are a legit company. I don't know if they carry wedding bands though. KLA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 Last time I was in Nassau my wife bought some items from Tesh at Effy Jewelers. He recognized us from when he worked at the St. Maarten store and we bought something there. Seems to be a good chap, I'd recommend him and Effy since they are a legit company. I don't know if they carry wedding bands though. Thanks! Yeah we have no idea. Ryan already picked out my wedding band so we're just looking for his. Doing a bit of research on what he likes and how much we'd plan on spending here and then seeing what we can find in Nassau. Based on the responses here I don't think we'd be crushed if we didn't find something, and be willing to walk away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcarney Posted December 8, 2016 Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 KLA - don't worry about your budget. Go all out with genuine SILICONE wedding bands! https://chickadeesolutions.com/products/silicone-wedding-ring-for-men-by-roq-affordable-high-quality-silicone-rubber :D DocLC 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KLA Posted December 8, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 8, 2016 KLA - don't worry about your budget. Go all out with genuine SILICONE wedding bands! https://chickadeesolutions.com/products/silicone-wedding-ring-for-men-by-roq-affordable-high-quality-silicone-rubber :D LOL... Ryan actually does want one for things like... working out or visiting cruise ports. Lol! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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