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Buyer Beware


m steve

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Park West is back on board with those ??? art auctions and cheap sparkling wine. It's interesting that the same stuff is back on board that went away last year and of course, PW tells you what the vallue is.

 

I thought that HAL was done with PW! :( One must have made the other an offer that just could not be refused! :rolleyes:

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Park West is back on board with those ??? art auctions and cheap sparkling wine. It's interesting that the same stuff is back on board that went away last year and of course, PW tells you what the vallue is.

Are you SURE it is Park West? While I admit I do not know the true answer but I was told that HAL was going to do the Art Auctions themselves. I could be mistaken. I just wondered where your confirmation was that it was in fact Park West.

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I can not believe that any responsible cruiseline would let Park West thieves back aboard their fleet.

 

I have an art background and can tell you that none of the so called signed "original"litho's they sell are real!

 

Just do a google search to see just how much litigation they are involved in!

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I think the term they use is "a multiple original" translated; a silk screened print, (low or no value). I have produced millions of " multiple original" lapel pins over the years, so whenever PW, or any other talks about M/O art, I am really skeptical. I look for originals only. Multiple Originals are just junk... As far as art is concerned.

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I think they are poor value at best, a scam at worst.

 

However, as long as they keep the stuff away from the aisles and passageways we really could not care less. We don't attend. The 'free' drink is hardly worth the walk to the event. Perhaps this profit center helps reduct the cruise fare.

 

For some that do bid and win....that free glass of horrible sparkling wine could turn out to be the most expensive glass of wine that they have ever had! No one is forced to bid.

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It was lovely to be on the Maasdam in January/February without Park West. Trying to remember if they were in absentia on our Noordam cruise the winter of '10. I think they were not on board then either.

Whatever. We have no interest in the auctions...we cruise to enjoy the ship on sea days...and that's not to sit at a silly auction of what they call "art". Same as the teeth whitening and weight loss fads we've seen promoted on the ships.

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The sad part about the revenue PW generates is that its based on the level of ignorance of the audience it attracts. PW sets the reserve, so if a print doesn't get the minimum bid, it goes back into inventory so some poor soul who trusts HAL not to cheat them is made to believe a print is worth what the PW contractor tells them its worth! It truely is a scam, and I'm sorry to hear that HAL brought PW back onboard!:(

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Money Talks. Park West is a significant source of on-board revenue for the cruise line.

 

That's it in a nut-shell.

 

I still wish they would go away permanently.

 

Precisely! Now if we all make a pact not to buy the junk they peddle, reveneues won't go anywhere and off they go!

 

I can only imagine what went on in some cruise line's office a couple of years ago:

 

"Hey have I got an idea to increase OBR!!! Let's hawk junk (we'll call it "art") and make it sound like the suckers (er... guests) are getting a great deal. After all, they're on vacation, what else would they want to do with their time and money?"

 

"Sounds good - one more way to separate the passengers from their money! Let's do it!!!"

 

And so it happened. And worse, it worked. So it replicated itself through the industry like the noro-virus. For the life of me, I don't get it. I think it cheapens the cruise experience and takes up valuable space on the ship (usually hallways and foyers). Blech!!!!!

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I dunno, but every cruise I have been on the "art" that was being sold looked more like it belonged on the wall of a 0 star motel. There were some pieces that folks were BEAMING over and were so goofy looking it'd not even be on the walls in a porno.

 

I love when names are thrown about like the names are important; I often whispered to Karen that the particular name must've been the name of the heavily medicated chimpanzee who finger painted the eye sore.

 

I know art & beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but as I said there was never once any piece of "art" on any cruise that I simply had to have. Well had to have out of my sight perhaps.

 

Derek

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I am not fan of PW and the whole art thing but really is this any different than gold by the foot, 'specials' at Mirabella, or any of the assorted crap hawked in the ships stores?

 

In my mind - no. They are all attempts by the cruise line to generate more revenue per person. The art auctions are entertainment to some folks the same way throwing your money away at the casino is to others. And personally - if people with way more disposable income than I have wish to buy junk on the ship that will keep my cruise fare low than I am all for it!

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