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print disclaimers. This helps explain how Carnival Cruise Lines could report $13 billion
in revenue in 2009 during the Great Recession.
Then there are the diamonds. I was perplexed by the diamond-shopping seminars and
the ubiquitous presence of Diamonds International stores, even though diamonds and oth-
er precious jewels are not mined, cut, polished or set in the Caribbean. Diamonds In-
ternational stores cluster like barnacles along the cruise path, offering the same jewelry
whether the stop is Cozumel, St. Maarten, Cabo San Lucas or even Juneau, Alaska. This
is all calculated. The chain of Diamonds International stores was created specifically for
the Caribbean to service cruise lines.
Diamonds International was founded by David Gad, an émigré who found work in the
diamond trade in New York City. Eventually he was able to start his own business with
an unnamed private partner and quickly opened his first retail store in the Caribbean in
1988. Its market was the emerging cruise industry. In partnership with Caribbean govern-
ments and, often, with the cruise lines, Diamonds International established their shops on
piers that ensured cruise passengers would become customers on their way to the main-
land. And those cruise ships heavily promote Diamonds International.
Today the chain has more than 125 stores from Key West to Aruba in the Caribbean,
including four on the Pacific coast of Mexico, and 3 in Alaska. In the space of two decades
this small, privately held company grew into a powerhouse and in 2007 won status on the
exclusive Diamond Trading Company list as a sightholder authorized to buy bulk rough
diamonds in Namibia, where the firm built a large gem-polishing factory.
The base of this phenomenal growth is Diamonds International's position as the jewel-
er of choice for both Royal Caribbean and Carnival Cruise lines. Each line hosts “shop-
ping seminars” onboard, where jewelry from Diamonds International is praised for its high
quality, low prices and great guarantees—all the promises Bill and I heard on our cruise.
It is the only retailer that receives this blue-ribbon endorsement and exclusive publicity
onboard for its jewelry and those of its subsidiaries, such as Tanzanite International.
When I asked Adam Goldstein of Royal Caribbean about the business relationship with
Diamonds International, he said theirs was an “arms-length, third-party relationship.
“We don't have any stake in them and they don't have any stake in us,” he said.
But, Royal Caribbean owns several ports with Diamonds International, including those
in Belize and Aruba. In an interview Jane Semeleer, the president of Aruba's Central
Bank, told me that her government was negotiating with Royal Caribbean and Diamonds
International to upgrade the pier that the two companies own jointly in her country.
When I brought this up, Mr. Goldstein acknowledged that yes, Royal Caribbean has
some partnerships with Diamonds International. Overall, he said, theirs was “an advert-
ising, promotional relationship with us, so they are paying us effectively, without going
into the details of how it is structured.”
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