Shopping for Jewelry

[Kjlive]

My wife usually buys some type of "nice" piece of jewelry whenever we visit islands in the Caribbean. I have seen everything from decent prices to outrageous. We are traveling to St. Thomas, San Juan, Samana and Labadee on RC in a few weeks. (I know there is nothing in Labadee from visting this island before). Any recommendations in the other locations? Suggestions?

[Cruise Fanatic]

St Thomas will probably be your best shopping. As always you should check out prices before leaving home to compare.

[travelgal]

I have been to St. Thomas more times than I can count and love to shop for jewelry there. During one of my first visits I found a little out of the way shop and bought a couple smaller items. I make sure I stop in on every trip and usually end up buying several things. The stor is call J.C. Jewelers and they are now at 22 Main ST. (guess I bought enough that they could move up to a better location). I have never gotten anything that has not appraised higher when I got home. I always try to buy from Cristina, she was the first person I met there years ago. If you have any questions email me and I will be glad to help you out. If you go tell them Sue from Ohio recommended them to you. I hope you enjoy St. Thomas it is a beatiful place. We like to go to the top of the mountain and have a banana daquiri(sorry for spelling, I just know how to order and drink them) they are wonderful and the view is great. You can see for miles.

[Kjlive]

Thank you very much for the information. Don't be surprised if I e-mail you later this month with questions before I leave. While we were in Ocho Rios two years ago I bought my wife a diamond ring. Although it was beautiful, I am always a bit leary. Again, thank you very much for the insight! I truly apprecaite it. Any other tips in general for St. Thomas????

[4runner]

WATCH OUT FOR VENETIAN JEWELERS - You Can't Trust Them

This company uses deceptive sales techniques. I purchsed a "Sophia Fiori" blue diamond ring for my wife for our tenth anniversary. I was told that I would receive an appraisal after the sale. What they gave me was a sheet that listed the price I paid and the size of the diamonds; not a word about clarity/quality of the stones. This is worthless as an appraisal. They told me to get it appraised when I returned home. I took it to a master appraiser and found out that the main blue diamond had a crack across about two-thirds of the face of the stone and that the diamonds were of very low quality. He recommended that we return it. I contacted their customer service and they were rude and uncooperative. I sent it back to the company by registered mail and asked for a complete refund as it was defective and could not be restocked or resolded by any reputable jeweler. They were unresponsive. I had to dispute the charge through American Express and after a couple of months I was given a partial credit and was being charged a $1400. restocking fee. When I disputed the applicability of this fee for a defective product, Venetian lied or at least gave American Express false information. Currently I am still on the hook for $1400. to American Express for the Venetian fee. I will pursue additional methods to try to get this money back.

To sum up - DON'T BUY FROM VENETIAN JEWELERS IN ANY OF THEIR LOCATIONS!

In addition, OnboardMedia, the company that promotes Venetian on Royal Caribbean and Princess also were unresponsive contrary to what they tell you on the ship.