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Royal gives Park West the boot

02143

By 02143,
in Royal Caribbean International

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andrzej5914

andrzej5914

Posted
Posted
I agree with you but again they are not as unavoidable as the art auctions. I simply don't fill out any raffle forms for spa prizes, allegedly free or not.

 

and I simply don't sit down at the art auction, what's the difference?

 

I don't shop in their over priced duty free shops

 

and I definitely don't shop for high priced ticket items at their recommended port jewelry shops as I can get better deals at home.

 

So, what's the difference?

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mommabean

mommabean

Posted
Posted
Well I checked with the preview function, it appears the board software will let me post this link here. Very interesting reading. I suppose being named as a co-defendant in a class action lawsuit would probably be ample inspiration for one to not renew a contract...

 

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/feature/Royal-Caribbean-drops-Park-West-051110.cfm

 

Theron

 

Brief excerpt:

 

I wondered if this had ever happened. RCI certainly seemed to be condoning the sales tactics. I wonder if they will be keeping Park West on Celebrity. I was surprised to see that Celebrity actually has near daily lectures given by Park West as part of their "discover" program. I suppose one could learn some things about artists at one of these lectures, just as I learned some things about the diamonds at a lecture by the port and shopping guide.

 

Which leads me to......that port and shopping guide sales pitch offering that $25 book for all the great free stuff. RCI is also condoning this from an outside vendor. Most of the stuff in the book isn't even at ports the current cruise will be going to, much of it you can get for free anyway, and to pretend they have a limited supply so you have to cross out the 3 and put a 2 for the book limit on the form........is that really acceptable? :rolleyes:

 

Gina

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mommabean

mommabean

Posted
Posted
We just got off the Oasis a couple of weeks ago and they have a NEW art auction company, I wish I payed more attention for name etc but didn't. We went into their show room and spoke with the auctioneer. I picked up a small, very small, bronze figure which was $4,500.... so I left:D

They were having some kind of champagne auction, but didn't go..Didn't really like the art work they had, not to mention $4,500 for a small bronze:eek:. I read most of this post so if this was already mentioned, sorry..

 

The company is "art actually".

 

Gina

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negc

negc

Posted
Posted
and I simply don't sit down at the art auction, what's the difference?

 

The difference is that on Radiance class ships especially, the art auctions in the Centrum disrupt everything on all of the decks above the Centrum, including the library and other supposedly quiet sitting areas and the art work clogs the hallways. On a recent cruise when they were moving the artwork out of the Centrum after the auction they blocked off one of the elevators and with that elevator's doors being open, the buttons for summoning any of the other elevators were rendered inoperable.

 

The bigger point however is the fact that Park West was found to be engaged in questionable business practices and it hardly seems wrong to be pleased to see that RCI and Disney will no longer be a party to their activities.

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rubrrick

rubrrick

Posted
Posted

It will be interesting to see what RCL replaces this onboard revenue generator with....in the future.

 

Personally, I'm happy to see Park West gone. I think, at one time, they were a good company, and had some pieces of art (limited prints) that were fairly priced. Then, over time things changed. JMHO!!;)

 

Rick

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted
I wondered if this had ever happened. RCI certainly seemed to be condoning the sales tactics. I wonder if they will be keeping Park West on Celebrity. I was surprised to see that Celebrity actually has near daily lectures given by Park West as part of their "discover" program. I suppose one could learn some things about artists at one of these lectures, just as I learned some things about the diamonds at a lecture by the port and shopping guide.

 

Which leads me to......that port and shopping guide sales pitch offering that $25 book for all the great free stuff. RCI is also condoning this from an outside vendor. Most of the stuff in the book isn't even at ports the current cruise will be going to, much of it you can get for free anyway, and to pretend they have a limited supply so you have to cross out the 3 and put a 2 for the book limit on the form........is that really acceptable? :rolleyes:

 

Gina

On one cruise we were on the "shopping expert" said she was going to do everyone a huge favor and take some of the guides alotted to the following week's cruise and make them available for us.

 

With favors like that.......:rolleyes:

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RevSmith

RevSmith

Posted
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We used to get some really nice frames (for a good price) from Park West, but the pictures were not worth anything. We would buy something at rock bottom price, take it home, remove the picture, throw it away and use the frame for a good piece of art that I had gotten without a frame. Saved a lot of money that way.:D

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Mack2

Mack2

Posted
Posted
Here is their link.

 

http://www.artactually.com/docs/index.php

 

It sounds like it could be more interesting with an artist in residence on each cruise. Who knows?...maybe there really is original art by relatively unknowns. Click on "meet our artists". I don't know enough about art to recognize the names.

 

Gina

 

That's too bad.

 

I kinda liked the artists represented by Park West...

Even though I could never afford him... Peter Max (which is always pushed by PW) made it to a cover of Newsweek once.

newsweek3.jpg

So it was kinda neat to see his stuff on cruise ships... his old stuff and the new stuff.

 

I did look at the Art Actually page... and it's pretty much like the Fine Arts Registry page... FAR and Art Actually sell their prints online, and they have a large list of artists that are unfamiliar with me.

 

At least with Park West... you could ALWAYS see the Kinkaide at the mall or on the ship... the Dali prints (whether real or fake... who knows.. all there is to know is that they were ridiculously expensive.... and ugly)... but also the Scott Jacob stuff... which WAS cheaper from Park West than if you had purchased it on his website.

http://www.scottjacobsstudio.com/ghd/time_to_unwine.html

 

and I did get a Scott Jacob print from PW on a cruise... one of the Marilyn Monroe wine things the guy did... looks GREAT by my bar in the basement.

 

I dunno... I have mixed feelings.

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suenruss

suenruss

Posted
Posted
Hooray, I hated looking at all those damaged frames, and "not so original art pieces". I was always surprised that the limited editions were available on all the ships over so many years.

 

Why did you keep looking at them then?

Some of the pictures are expensive but no one was ever tied down and forced to buy them - art auctions are just another shipboard activity that you either join in or you don't. I don't understand why people get so over excited about how others spend their money:confused:.

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Puffinater

Puffinater

Posted
Posted
On one cruise we were on the "shopping expert" said she was going to do everyone a huge favor and take some of the guides alotted to the following week's cruise and make them available for us.

 

With favors like that.......:rolleyes:

 

Heard that the first time which was also the last time we attended the session. Yes, we bought the book and went on our silly scavenger hunt. Wasted the port day.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

Posted
Posted
Heard that the first time which was also the last time we attended the session. Yes, we bought the book and went on our silly scavenger hunt. Wasted the port day.

 

Your discription of a scavenger hunt made me laugh! :D I always take my parents along when we cruise and my mother spent a day doing exactly what you describe! I then had to sit through dinner hearing her chatter about the JUNK she accumulated and how she wasted her time, and her money. She has never gone to another one of those "shopping talks" again.:D

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wayne_trisha

wayne_trisha

Posted
Posted

Park West gets replaced by Art Actually and the cruisers see no difference. Same BS, and hopefully same revenue stream for RCCL or they have to make it up elsewhere. People are either amazingly stupid or gullible on a cruise.

 

Final auction where you can win a bid credit worth $XXX we once saw a guy who appeared to have a fresh unused roll of tickets.

 

Either dumbarses pay for overpriced art or we all pay for it in higher cruise fares.

PS: I have 3 pieces of art from our cruises. We love them and but paid less than $200 for each. We do not believe that BS we should buy soon cuz the dude may die soon or whatever they say.

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