Art Auction

[denmarks]

What is your opinion of Park West taking over the Princess art auction? With Princess the default was that a frame was included in the price. With Park West it is assumed there is no frame. There also did not seem the be a buyers premium with Park West. The works of art are also from completely different artists. I no longer buy anything but it is sometimes fun to watch.

[san diego sue]

Some of the ParkWest art comes with frames. Most don't. Give you the opportunity to customize your art. Prices seemed good . ParkWest has much more artists available. I don't purchase anymore but go to the auctions to check out prices and what they sell for. Last February, I won free art 4 times. After the third one, I declined so someone else could have a chance. I did have them frame the pieces I won because prices of framing(included shipping) were so much less than framing at home.

A mistake was made because I was told the matting was going to be pulled linen and it was the cardboard matting. Well ParkWest was really good to deal with. I could have sent it back, have it done locally with reimb. I chose the reimbursement and check came very quickly. Left the pieces the way they were as didn't really look bad and my original framing cost almost nothing.

[lake5298]

I have bought a lot of Godard art (both limited editions and original works) over the last few years - so I will miss seeing his works if Park West don't have them.

 

Then again, my walls are pretty full already, so it's not the end of the world, like it would have been when I was still collecting…

 

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[MSN-Travelers]

We have had nothing but good experiences with Park West.

 

I will note that the "free" art you can win isn't really free. Nearly all must be shipped to your home for a fee. We did have ours framed after considering the cost to have it done at home and the likelihood that it would really sit in its shipping tube in a closet if we didn't have it framed up front.

 

Packaging and documentation of the pieces we did buy was very good.

[cr8tiv1]

I have purchased art from Park West (a very long time ago) and Princess Fine Arts more recently. I just got off the Golden and have been trying to give Park West a favorable review (over several cruises since they joined)....but just can't.

 

Here are my latest comments (October 29 auction).

 

I object to having to register for a "paddle" just to get the free champagne (1 glass) that I don't drink.

 

The dancer Emma and some other guy was at the table. He gave my friend 4 raffle tickets. She gave me one. When I asked for more, she said that I should have seen him instead. Ironically, my one....won...a hundred dollars off of CP (Collector's Piece) only. And I "won" one of the prints for free with $35.00 for shipping and I would have to frame it. I did not take advantage of either offer.

 

They always start late. This time, the Flash auction should have started at 3:30. We left an event to be there on time. They did not start until 3:50. The previous cruise started almost a half hour later than announced in their invitation/patter. Then he said it was to give people an opportunity to "view" the works.

 

This is not an auction. You can go over to the gallery and purchase the same artwork for the gavel price. Correct...most pieces are for the work only. Shipping, matting, and framing are extra.

 

During the "Mystery" section, the auctioneer makes you feel very guilty if you do not raise your paddle to show interest. He points to you and I felt intimidated. After a while, I just stopped and so did he.

 

I miss the classical pieces of art that Princess Fine Arts had. Park West pushes a lot of Peter Max and very modern stuff.

 

They did announce that if he wasn't able to show 50 pieces in 50 minutes, we would all get an extra piece of art work (one free for staying the entire time). At the rate he was going, there was no way he would have done it. He did 35 pieces in the 50 minutes.

 

One of the "suits" told me that Princess begged them to come back since their attempt failed. The paddle does say Princess Fine Arts and not Park West.

 

I do miss Princess Fine Arts. They were personable, warm, inviting, and generally very helpful. I feel that Park West is only interested in making money and service is not part of their philosophy.

 

I have had conversations with several passengers who also miss the former vendor. I keep hoping, but am losing confidence that I will actually find something that I could purchase.

[denmarks]

I have to agree with it starting late. A couple of times I arrived at the 10 AM auction and watched the auctioneer wandering around for 20 minutes before starting. Then he spends 10 minutes explaining how it works. Since I had to be somewhere else at 11 I saw very few works of art being auctioned.

[RickEk]

 

One of the "suits" told me that Princess begged them to come back since their attempt failed. The paddle does say Princess Fine Arts and not Park West.

 

I do miss Princess Fine Arts. They were personable, warm, inviting, and generally very helpful. I feel that Park West is only interested in making money and service is not part of their philosophy.

 

I have had conversations with several passengers who also miss the former vendor. I keep hoping, but am losing confidence that I will actually find something that I could purchase.

 

Hmmmm....I'd have to say that the "suit" was lying or maybe misinformed. I had a conversation with the Princess Global Fine Arts (PGFA) Art Director on Caribbean Princess in December. It was his last cruise and he specifically stated that he had been offered a position with Park West but had declined. His opinion was that even though PGFA was profitable, the decision had been made to sell the business to Park West for the cash and to reduce overhead.

[cr8tiv1]

Hmmmm....I'd have to say that the "suit" was lying or maybe misinformed. I had a conversation with the Princess Global Fine Arts (PGFA) Art Director on Caribbean Princess in December. It was his last cruise and he specifically stated that he had been offered a position with Park West but had declined. His opinion was that even though PGFA was profitable, the decision had been made to sell the business to Park West for the cash and to reduce overhead.

 

I, whole heartedly, agree with your interpretation of the "suit's" remark. I also had a conversation with the art auctioneer on the _____ . He was "offered" a position with Park West and left Princess. The "suits" were very slick men. One sat next to me and tried to engage me in a conversation. When it obviously wasn't going in the direction he wanted it to go (I gave him a earful), he suggested that I turn around and pay attention to the wonderful pieces that were being showcased.

 

I hope Princess is monitoring this thread and will consider bringing back Princess Fine Arts. But I am finding that revenue is a huge driver for Princess (as it should be for any business). But....I also believe that service and humanity also should not be thrown out with the bath water.

[Times Prince]

His opinion was that even though PGFA was profitable, the decision had been made to sell the business to Park West for the cash and to reduce overhead.

 

I hope Princess is monitoring this thread and will consider bringing back Princess Fine Arts. But I am finding that revenue is a huge driver for Princess (as it should be for any business). But....I also believe that service and humanity also should not be thrown out with the bath water.

Unfortunately Princess Cruises' press release at the time made it clear that Princess Global Fine Arts was being closed as a company. To reinstate it they would have to start from scratch, so there is no going back.

 

It is unfortunate that a decision by a "bean counter" has taken away the integrity, class, and low pressure sales of PGFA, reducing our cruise experience. Almost every room of our house is adorned by art purchased from PGFA, but I honestly doubt we will ever buy anything from Park West, for many of the reasons cited by Cr8tiv1, starting from the need to register and get a paddle.

 

Our cruise card works everywhere else on the ship - why not at art auctions, where it was once good enough to buy a Picasso? Princess Cruises needs to lay down some significant Customer Experience rules with these new people and introduce them to the CRUISE program.

[nnrd79a]

I think as time passes, so shall the older passengers who knew PFA.

The newer passengers will have never experienced how the auctions were, thus they will believe that Park West style is how At Sea Auctions work.

 

I wrote a lengthy review of my First PW experience some time back:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41551953&postcount=144

 

If you would like to read the whole thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947413

 

Granted, you have to scan the first few pages where the naysayers have to interject they two cents about dogs and playing cards… …. Once you get through that stuff, the thread is honestly a very good read.

[cr8tiv1]

I think as time passes, so shall the older passengers who knew PFA.

The newer passengers will have never experienced how the auctions were, thus they will believe that Park West style is how At Sea Auctions work.

 

I wrote a lengthy review of my First PW experience some time back:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=41551953&postcount=144

 

If you would like to read the whole thread:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947413

 

Granted, you have to scan the first few pages where the naysayers have to interject they two cents about dogs and playing cards… …. Once you get through that stuff, the thread is honestly a very good read.

 

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read your review without hunting for it. Reading it reminded me of the chaos and frantic nature of the auction. You brought up some very good points and corrected my definition of CP.

 

I really did try very hard to give Park West a fair shake, but I will give up on attending their auctions. There's plenty of other things to do on a cruise.

[Thrak]

I checked out the "art" auction on two Princess cruises - before Park West took over. I never saw anything that I wanted to purchase or that I thought was a bargain. I can't imagine that changing to Park West will affect me in any manner. I simply don't care for the stuff that passes for "art" in these auctions.

[mellon1]

for years, we bought a lot of art. enjoyed the auctions. went to one after the change and they were not knowledgeable and we did not even stay as they were not able to answer questions about the art...so sad. always enjoyed the art auctions

[piper28]

Color me as one that now finds himself with more free time because I don't go to the art auctions anymore. I've been horribly unimpressed with what I've seen from Park West, and don't really feel like giving them business. I'm a little surprised as san diego sue's comment that she thought the prices seemed decent. There's not a huge amount of overlap between what was offered and what is now (despite their reassurances that they'd eventually end up with everything PFA had), but I did find a couple of pieces that they carried by artists I had bought from PFA, and had to do a double-take on the prices they were asking. For a comparable piece, the prices ran about 50% higher for the unframed piece. And I honestly don't believe it was a case of the artists value going up that much in that time period.

 

Oh well, I need to free up wall space just for what I have now, so it's not like I needed any more pieces anyways :).

[SoCal Cruiser78]

I checked out the "art" auction on two Princess cruises - before Park West took over. I never saw anything that I wanted to purchase or that I thought was a bargain. I can't imagine that changing to Park West will affect me in any manner. I simply don't care for the stuff that passes for "art" in these auctions.

 

I agree. What little I have liked seemed overpriced when I compared prices online.

[Viv0828]

If you google Park West Art Auction reviews you will see most of the comments are not favorable. Buyer beware.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

After reading abysmal reviews of Park West, I was highly skeptical at my first auction by them on the Regal. The auctioneer and his assistants were definitely used car salesman slick. It really wasn't as bad as I expected, though. It went wayyyyy too long and caused bingo to have to be moved to Princess Live for the duration of the cruise. The mystery art component was interesting. We all received a small poster at the end, though they try to get you to set up a viewing appt. as they're handing you your parting gift. Many seemed to love it; well over $100,000 of art was sold at the one auction we attended that cruise! Would I still prefer Princess Fine Art, though? Absolutely!

 

 

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