Why do the mexican store keepers get all excited when you come to there shops. on the carnival cruise?

Thats just good customer service. Plus everyone gets happy at the chance to make money.

Tourist markets all over the world are like this. They overcharge because they usually expect you to bargain with them to reach a lower price. Often you can pay only 1/2 or 1/3 of their original price.

If you are shy or not sure if bargaining is OK, try showing interest in an item you don’t really want, and offer a really small amount for it. If you start with an item you don’t really care about, it is easier to just leave it if your bargaining doesn’t go well. Also, this practice will give you an idea of how much, in general, you can cut them down.

For example, if they say something is $20, offer $10 or less. You might end up paying between $12-15.

Or, agree with the original price but say you want 2 of the item for that price.

Another idea is to deal for several different items at once, as they are likely to give you an overall better deal.

Cruises are their bread and butter. In the off-season they don’t do a lot of business. A lot of them have signs, Welcome Royal Caribbean, Welcome Carnival Passengers, etc. that they put out as the ships arrive. Plus, as a customer, you aren’t coming back. If they don’t get the sale that day, you aren’t going to be around.

Here’s my anecdote about St. Maartin. I wanted to buy my wife a bracelet, but we were on a budget. The waterfront is one jewelry shop after another. We started at one end and everyone’s price just seemed too high, but we kept looking hoping to get a deal. By the time we got to the other end of the shops, our ship was about to leave. The shop keeper knew it and he gave us a deal.

They are happy they are not at home in Mexico, a socialist disaster and criminal cesspool with a failing education system, a national identity crisis, and an economy dependent on gringos.