Princess fine art no more !

[dmc511]

I have been a long term buyer of art on Princess buying many "fine art" pieces, original art and other lovely lower priced pieces for the last 14+ years...

 

...

 

I think the question posed is a good one about the offerings going forward regarding their commitment for reselling art. I will send an email to PFA and see what they say. Although we had a poor experience, it doesn't mean I wouldn't try again because of the excellent deal they offer for reselling art.

 

I have just received this response back from my inquiry regarding the status of the agreements for repurchase or consignment. This is the response I received.

 

"Thank you for your recent email.

If you want to return or consign your artwork in the future, you will need to contact Princess Cruises Customer Relations. You have a signed agreement with the Cruise Line for your artwork. GFA will close January 30, 2014. "

[nnrd79a]

"GFA will close January 30, 2014."

 

Fantastic (Sarcastic)..... My Wife and I still have two pieces floating around within the GFA system.

 

The two pieces we purchased were aboard the Sun or Sea princess. (I remember the ship was on the other side of the globe near Fiji when we purchased.)

 

I hope our last pieces of GFA supplied art arrive before the 30th!

 

Thanks so much for the information.

Edited January 2, 2014 by nnrd79a

[caribill]

Fantastic (Sarcastic)..... My Wife and I still have two pieces floating around within the GFA system.

 

The two pieces we purchased were aboard the Sun or Sea princess. (I remember the ship was on the other side of the globe near Fiji when we purchased.)

 

I hope our last pieces of GFA supplied art arrive before the 30th!

 

 

Be proactive.

 

Contact them now while they are still around to ask where your art is.

[Cruzman]

I have never understood how people are so gullible as to buy this crap that is called "art". Hey folks, if 'ya wanna blow your money, just tell me what you want and I'll show up on your next cruise with whatever it is that you want to blow your money on,lol. Who was it that famously said that "there is a sucker born every minute"?

[nnrd79a]

I have never understood how people are so gullible as to buy this crap that is called "art". Hey folks, if 'ya wanna blow your money, just tell me what you want and I'll show up on your next cruise with whatever it is that you want to blow your money on,lol. Who was it that famously said that "there is a sucker born every minute"?

 

 

We are all different.

 

Some people appreciate art, some people do not.

 

Some people spend wads of cash on Booze, some people do not.

 

Some people reserve spots in the Sanctuary, some people see no added value of the Sanctuary.

 

Some people book Suites, some folks book interior.

 

Some people play Bingo, some do not.

 

Some people enjoy the music at piano Bar every night, some people pass by on the way to the casino.

 

Some people jump on threads about Bingo, Sanctuary, Booze, Suite questions, casino.. etc. and tell the folks who are interested/passionate about said things that those folks are wasting their money on “crap”…… Some people do not…

 

Life comes down to choices.

 

My opinion as to where to spend my discretionary income apparently differs from your opinion.

 

The World will continue to spin, and people will continue to have different opinions about everything.

[RickEk]

I have never understood how people are so gullible as to buy this crap that is called "art". Hey folks, if 'ya wanna blow your money, just tell me what you want and I'll show up on your next cruise with whatever it is that you want to blow your money on,lol. Who was it that famously said that "there is a sucker born every minute"?

 

Well, we bought an original (not a print, not embellished) oil painting last year on a Princess cruise. We have had it independently appraised and it is worth quite a bit more than what we paid. We are quite satisfied with the purchase.

 

We are all different.

 

Some people appreciate art, some people do not.

 

Some people spend wads of cash on Booze, some people do not.

 

Some people reserve spots in the Sanctuary, some people see no added value of the Sanctuary.

 

Some people book Suites, some folks book interior.

 

Some people play Bingo, some do not.

 

Some people enjoy the music at piano Bar every night, some people pass by on the way to the casino.

 

Some people jump on threads about Bingo, Sanctuary, Booze, Suite questions, casino.. etc. and tell the folks who are interested/passionate about said things that those folks are wasting their money on “crap”…… Some people do not…

 

Life comes down to choices.

 

My opinion as to where to spend my discretionary income apparently differs from your opinion.

 

The World will continue to spin, and people will continue to have different opinions about everything.

 

Well said...

[CraigRDR1]

Well, we bought an original (not a print, not embellished) oil painting last year on a Princess cruise. We have had it independently appraised and it is worth quite a bit more than what we paid. We are quite satisfied with the purchase.

 

DITTO!!

 

 

 

Well said...

 

and agreed well said...

[Shoalwater]

I'm really disappointed to hear that Princess has sold out their in-house Fine Art business to PW .

 

My Wife and I have purchased several Guyton and Derubeis originals from GFA.

 

We have never had any trouble with GFA, and have really enjoyed our art.

 

On the other hand, I will never give Park West one *#@(#$@ cent.

 

Sad, back to the (Non Park West) land galleries for us.

 

Our purchases are only a tiny, tiny portion of GFA's sales anyhow....

Park West and Princess will not miss our $2000 or so per cruse...

(Some passengers spend more than that on Booze)

I would be willing to bet that there are several thousand of similar small buyers out there who fill the same way.

 

Happy Sailing PW.

 

Haven't gone thru entire post, but a few observations from our first encounter with PW. Like others we have enjoyed a ling relationship with Princess' art dept. This time we were not in the acquirimg mode.

You won't see Derubis, Matiros, Patricia but some stuff that "looks" like theirs. They had a Rembrandt etching, but it was a millenium strike and if Rembrandt ever saw it he would retch. The plate was so reworked the lines looked like the were pencil. Its all lok alike to me. Plenty of Muhamed Ali signed pictures if that's your bag. They had a large Peter Max collection, but mostly mixed media. The "auction" style was not to our liking and we stopped attending. Sorry to see PFA go away and the many nice art directors we have befriended over the years. RIP.

[piper28]

Had my first encounter with the new setup, and I'd pretty much have to say that I'm done with buying art on the ship. I felt the selection of what they had was unimpressive, and not to my taste. They claim they'll ultimately have the pieces that were there before back on the ships, but I'm not necessarily convinced that will really happen (I question whether all those artists are going to be willing to work through PW).

 

I also was pretty disturbed by the emphasis that the art person on the ship was placing on how the sale was for hundreds of "original" pieces of work and that everything was an "original" work of art. I always felt PFA did a pretty good job of making sure you knew what pieces were original, and what were limited editions. I never felt there was an intent to deceive with them, but with the PW folks, I definitely can't say I felt that way. Left a sour taste in my mouth.

[DiRonT]

We have purchased numerous items from GFA while onboard and have always been happy with price as opposed to actual value. I have heard too many nightmare stories about PW, so going forward we will not be purchasing our art onboard ships.

[RickEk]

On my December cruise on Caribbean Princess, they had just completed the changeover to PW. As a past buyer, I was invited to the wine and cheese party. What I saw offered for sale didn't thrill me, but the outgoing art director did say that the art that GFA used to sell would be back. I did not attend any of the auctions. My next cruise is in March on Sapphire Princess, so I'll reserve judgment until then...

[Loonbeam]

My guess would be it would have to be pulled back to the workshop, inventoried to wind down GFA then sold to Park West, so I can see it coming back at some point. The question will be does PW replenish that type of art once their stock from GFA is gone.

 

On my December cruise on Caribbean Princess, they had just completed the changeover to PW. As a past buyer, I was invited to the wine and cheese party. What I saw offered for sale didn't thrill me, but the outgoing art director did say that the art that GFA used to sell would be back. I did not attend any of the auctions. My next cruise is in March on Sapphire Princess, so I'll reserve judgment until then...

[jkadventures]

deleted

Edited January 6, 2014 by jkadventures

[Thrak]

Could... Not... Care... Less...

 

We've only cruised twice so far but will be cruising much more in the future. I've checked out all the art on the two ships I've been on - Sea Princess and Star Princess - and haven't liked any of it.

[jwitt2]

This is incorrect. I am just off the Oceania Riviera - they had art auctions on board on the 11/6 and 11/18-12/2 cruises. It was not Park West but it was the same merchandise.

 

I was about to post similarly when I found this post. I was on Riviera last week. I was attending needlework group in the same lounge which had the art displayed for the auction. At one session the art person did a lecture with slides of art through the ages. We could hear what was going on and I thought it was a good overview, but I don't find the auctions worthwhile. Several sea days later it appeared that there was not enough of an audience, so the auction was cancelled. Other ladies in the needlework group agreed that they think that the artwork at the auctions on cruises are a joke.

[nnrd79a]

<snip>Other ladies in the needlework group agreed that they think that the artwork at the auctions on cruises are a joke.

 

This is the exact point as to why so many of us are upset with Princess. Their dissension to dissolve their in-house art program and lease space to Park West drives some of us crazy.

 

You are referring to a different line that simply leases space to a 3rd party. Not Park West, yes, but basically the same concept.

-----------------------

Lease space, sale as much low-end high profit merchandise as possible.

-----------------------

 

Princess in house Art service, did not submit to these practices.

 

A GFA/PFA director would work with each person, explain in detail, the difference between, prints on paper, limited editions lithographs, edition size, giclee on canvas, orgionals... etc. He/She would also tell you what the minimal price it would cost to purchase any piece on any ship.

 

I personally worked with the Art Director Mitch on the Ruby about a year ago. My wife and I just moved into a larger home. We worked with Mitch during his office hours. He showed us his inventory, plus the inventory via photos of offerings on all of the Princess ships. After almost two hours, we settled on four originals scattered across the fleet. (substantial savings to land galleries)

 

The above example is why I am so sad to see GFA disappear from the Princess Fleet.

 

The Ho-hum.. Prints on paper, the "signed" photos, endless Kinkade stuff........ Welcome to PW on Princess....

 

FYI, the last PW auction I attended was on a Carnival ship. They rolled out one of those huge Rubbermaid gray trashcans... They started some type of blind bid on posters that were rolled up in plastic cellophane. The posters were just crammed in this enormous trashcan. When they started trying to get bids on paper posters, I left. No thanks. No PW for me.

Edited January 7, 2014 by nnrd79a

[Gunner22aa]

People purchase art for two reasons. First they like what they see and feel it would be a good fit for their home decore. Others buy it as an investment. I have several wildlife prints in my home, most from Ducks Unlimited dinner auctions that I have attended. Bought those because I liked them and although they are limited editions the editions are large and while some have appreciated in value they were never bought as an investment and in most cases I paid more than they were worth at a fund raiser. We also have a half dozen originals, a couple from very well known Canadian artists namely Ken Danby and Robert Bateman. These were investments and have appreciated considerably over time. While we have purchased a couple of pieces while cruising they definatly fall into the "liked them" catagory and it is highly unlikely we will ever buy from PW.

[petlover]

All of the art auctions should be taken off all ships. Takes up to much room and most of it is ugly anyway.

 

I so agree!! I hate that they sell art on ships, clutters up and ugly....especially Park West.

Edited January 8, 2014 by petlover

[Loonbeam]

Personally? I think they can get rid of all the bars. I don't drink, and the alcohol makes people unruly.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm being facetious, but I trust my point is made?

 

I so agree!! I hate that they sell art on ships, clutters up and ugly....especially Park West.

[AZJerry]

Our first PW auction (on the Sapphire) with Ricardo, where to begin...

 

- The preview event and both auctions started 30 minutes or more after the advertised starting times.

 

- Ricardo spoke very fast and was, at times, almost unintelligible.

 

- Ricardo really pushed making an appointment in the gallery. I got the feeling that a lot of buying was meant to take place behind the scenes.

 

- I wasn't impressed with his art knowledge. For every one of the few artists available, he had one or two facts that he would repeat... every... time... an... artist... was... displayed.

 

- As others have mentioned, none of the previous PFA artwork was available. When asked, Ricardo said it would be back after inventory. I wonder.

 

- Auctions started with Ricardo speaking the estimated retail and minimum auction prices. Having attended the preview event we also knew there was an unspoken lower than minimum price that you had to ask for. So the minumum wasn't really the minimum. Nobody we heard tried that.

 

- The second auction was advertised as focusing on Kinkade, said so right on the flyer. Yet not one Kinkade was upstairs nor was his name mentioned. When an audience member asked about Kinkades, holding up the flyer, Ricardo told her he was discussed yesterday. But, he would be willing to to make an appointment in the gallery. We both felt sorry for the woman as she was berated publicly.

 

- The second event was also advertised as an under $700 auction. The first 10 or so items retailed around $1000 with minimums of around $800. How is that under $700???

 

- Fairly often there were "mystery" auctions, the only mystery being that the artist wasn't revealed until just before the bidding started. These usually included two or three pieces.

 

- Sometimes Ricardo would start with one piece, mystery or not, give us the retail and minimum prices, and then add one or two more pieces while keeping the original retail and minimum prices, sometimes after people had started bidding. It felt like the late night infomercials where "But wait, if you buy now we'll throw in another Sham-wow absolutely free"

 

- Other auctions would start at $1, the price would increase as people dropped their bid cards, and then stop at some point. Everyone left at the point would get a set at that price. One I remember was an allegedly $800 set that went for $80.

 

- Other auctions weren't auctions at all. After displaying and pricing the pieces, they were just moved to the side if anyone was interested in buying them later.

 

- I don't believe there was an actual original, one of a kind piece at all. Everything was part of an edition.

 

- Several pieces were put on the easels upside down, probably because they had been framed upside down.

 

- The Explorer's lounge was packed for the first auction. About half full for the second. Different than previous cruises.

 

As others have mentioned, we also have bought many pieces that we enjoy over the years. We have also quite enjoyed attending the auctions themselves. Not anymore. We're done.

[nnrd79a]

Our first PW auction (on the Sapphire) with Ricardo, where to begin...

 

- The preview event and both auctions started 30 minutes or more after the advertised starting times.

 

- Ricardo spoke very fast and was, at times, almost unintelligible.

 

- Ricardo really pushed making an appointment in the gallery. I got the feeling that a lot of buying was meant to take place behind the scenes.

 

- I wasn't impressed with his art knowledge. For every one of the few artists available, he had one or two facts that he would repeat... every... time... an... artist... was... displayed.

 

- As others have mentioned, none of the previous PFA artwork was available. When asked, Ricardo said it would be back after inventory. I wonder.

 

- Auctions started with Ricardo speaking the estimated retail and minimum auction prices. Having attended the preview event we also knew there was an unspoken lower than minimum price that you had to ask for. So the minumum wasn't really the minimum. Nobody we heard tried that.

 

- The second auction was advertised as focusing on Kinkade, said so right on the flyer. Yet not one Kinkade was upstairs nor was his name mentioned. When an audience member asked about Kinkades, holding up the flyer, Ricardo told her he was discussed yesterday. But, he would be willing to to make an appointment in the gallery. We both felt sorry for the woman as she was berated publicly.

 

- The second event was also advertised as an under $700 auction. The first 10 or so items retailed around $1000 with minimums of around $800. How is that under $700???

 

- Fairly often there were "mystery" auctions, the only mystery being that the artist wasn't revealed until just before the bidding started. These usually included two or three pieces.

 

- Sometimes Ricardo would start with one piece, mystery or not, give us the retail and minimum prices, and then add one or two more pieces while keeping the original retail and minimum prices, sometimes after people had started bidding. It felt like the late night infomercials where "But wait, if you buy now we'll throw in another Sham-wow absolutely free"

 

- Other auctions would start at $1, the price would increase as people dropped their bid cards, and then stop at some point. Everyone left at the point would get a set at that price. One I remember was an allegedly $800 set that went for $80.

 

- Other auctions weren't auctions at all. After displaying and pricing the pieces, they were just moved to the side if anyone was interested in buying them later.

 

- I don't believe there was an actual original, one of a kind piece at all. Everything was part of an edition.

 

- Several pieces were put on the easels upside down, probably because they had been framed upside down.

 

- The Explorer's lounge was packed for the first auction. About half full for the second. Different than previous cruises.

 

As others have mentioned, we also have bought many pieces that we enjoy over the years. We have also quite enjoyed attending the auctions themselves. Not anymore. We're done.

 

Thank you AZJerry! You are the first to review PW on Princess.

Your experience sounds exactly as I expected.

 

I will be on the Ruby at the end of this month. I can give you guys my rundown of the PW auctions after I return. I'll be very forthcoming, I do not care for PW, but I'll do my best to provide a neutral review.

 

AZJerry, one positive. No Huge Gray Rubbermaid trash can! That's a Plus. :)

Edited January 10, 2014 by nnrd79a

[Redwing55]

Jerry,

thanks for your review above. I sure hope these are start up issues, but I admit, I'm not holding my breath.

We'll be on the Coral in a couple of months and maybe some of the niceties of GFA will still be part of the Art auction.

With the real estate that is taken up for art on each ship, I would think that Princess would see the light quickly if the revenue is not coming in. Sadly, this would be after our next cruise, if ever.

I would hope that for us fools (joking) that enjoy these things, that we comment to Princess to right the ship in the Art auction world if things aren't at least OK.

[AZJerry]

I was hoping to copy/paste the info into my Princess survey but they limit the length of comments. I did give them the link to my post if anyone there will bother to read it.

Edited January 10, 2014 by AZJerry

[Times Prince]

I have just received this response back from my inquiry regarding the status of the agreements for repurchase or consignment. This is the response I received.

 

"Thank you for your recent email.

If you want to return or consign your artwork in the future, you will need to contact Princess Cruises Customer Relations. You have a signed agreement with the Cruise Line for your artwork. GFA will close January 30, 2014. "

For those who have not experienced this - that comment means the GFA division/company will be closed and everyone will be fired. :mad:

I would hope that for us fools (joking) that enjoy these things, that we comment to Princess to right the ship in the Art auction world if things aren't at least OK.

We can try, but do you really think anything will happen after everyone in GFA has been left to find other employment at the end of this month?

[nnrd79a]

I was hoping to copy/paste the info into my Princess survey but they limit the length of comments. I did give them the link to my post if anyone there will bother to read it.

 

Normally when any "corporate" decision is made, the folks in power rarely turn back, even if it was a clear mistake. (The PW situation is too new to determine if it will be a corporate mistake)

 

Many of these people achieved their level of success by making correct dissensions more times than not, or by being at the right place at the right time.

 

That being said, it takes a bunch of small fish to make these folks notice. I fit into the small fish bracket.

 

Now if a handful of larger fish start making noise.... Perhaps several someones like "dmc511" on page 5 and 6, then perhaps.... perhaps.... some changes will be made.

 

I highly doubt we will ever see high quality originals at reasonable prices on Princess ever again.

 

If I were a betting man, (And I am!) I would say this situation has something to do with Holland America management taking over Princess. (PW is on HAL)