Oasis - Sketch Artist

[Buttercup229]

My husband and I sailed on the Oasis on Oct 9th. Had a fantastic time. We purchased what we thought to be a sketch of us from the artist in located in the promenade. He had many nice drawings on display of whom he said were passengers and that though he had all the work he could handle on this cruise he would take our picture and then send us an email of the proof for our approval. Then upon approval we would receive our drawing/sketch. All this cost $100. I am under the impression that we would receive a drawing as displayed on the ship.

 

Yesterday I received an email from FunPhotos with the proof as a digital email attachment. I okayed the proof. When I asked how we would receive our finished drawing/sketch the email person stated that, that was it. And that she would email me a release to take to our local print shop to have as many copies printed as I desired.

 

I am certain that I did not agree to purchase a $100 email attachment. I expressed my dissatisfaction with this and provided her an option to rectify our obvious miscommunication by send my print as displayed on the ship to my home address.

 

At this time I have had not response. How long should I wait to contact Royal Caribbean? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

Thanks

[mstrc1]

My husband and I sailed on the Oasis on Oct 9th. Had a fantastic time. We purchased what we thought to be a sketch of us from the artist in located in the promenade. He had many nice drawings on display of whom he said were passengers and that though he had all the work he could handle on this cruise he would take our picture and then send us an email of the proof for our approval. Then upon approval we would receive our drawing/sketch. All this cost $100. I am under the impression that we would receive a drawing as displayed on the ship.

 

Yesterday I received an email from FunPhotos with the proof as a digital email attachment. I okayed the proof. When I asked how we would receive our finished drawing/sketch the email person stated that, that was it. And that she would email me a release to take to our local print shop to have as many copies printed as I desired.

 

I am certain that I did not agree to purchase a $100 email attachment. I expressed my dissatisfaction with this and provided her an option to rectify our obvious miscommunication by send my print as displayed on the ship to my home address.

 

At this time I have had not response. How long should I wait to contact Royal Caribbean? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

Thanks

 

No we never have. But thank you for passing this along. I'll watch out for this and I would contact RCCI now.

[ChipLondon]

Straight away, this is not acceptable.

 

................How long should I wait to contact Royal Caribbean? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

Thanks

[funfamilyof6]

My husband and I sailed on the Oasis on Oct 9th. Had a fantastic time. We purchased what we thought to be a sketch of us from the artist in located in the promenade. He had many nice drawings on display of whom he said were passengers and that though he had all the work he could handle on this cruise he would take our picture and then send us an email of the proof for our approval. Then upon approval we would receive our drawing/sketch. All this cost $100. I am under the impression that we would receive a drawing as displayed on the ship.

 

Yesterday I received an email from FunPhotos with the proof as a digital email attachment. I okayed the proof. When I asked how we would receive our finished drawing/sketch the email person stated that, that was it. And that she would email me a release to take to our local print shop to have as many copies printed as I desired.

 

I am certain that I did not agree to purchase a $100 email attachment. I expressed my dissatisfaction with this and provided her an option to rectify our obvious miscommunication by send my print as displayed on the ship to my home address.

 

At this time I have had not response. How long should I wait to contact Royal Caribbean? Has anyone else had this happen?

 

Thanks

 

Sneaky...we got a sketch of our family of 6 in Disney for 30 dollars years ago. It is one of our favorite treasures. Why does RCCL think anybody would pay $100 for an email. Outrageous! Thank you for the warning.

 

If you don't hear from RCCL quickly, I would send the email again. In a big company, sometimes communication gets "lost".

[kathyemma]

I would call Royal now. That is insane. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Kathy

[MelissaE1]

I would be upset with that as well.

 

Was there a phone number included in the correspondence from FunPhotos? If you can find contact info, I would give them one chance to fix the situation via phone call (email is much easier to ignore). If that did not happen, I would then contact Royal Caribbean. The vendors they have on their ships reflect directly on them, and I am sure they would want to know if they are not providing the promised product or service.

[Aquahound]

Your first hint should of been when he said the displays were of people on the ship. I remember one of the displays being of the actor Will Smith.

 

It sounds as though they are following the proceedures most local graphic designers/artists would do when you have to take their art to a printer. In that case, it would be normal. However, I think it is underhanded to operate that way on a cruise ship and without disclosing to you upfront the way they will be doing it. I would have thought the drawing would have been done and delivered to you also, not just a plate for you to take to a print shop for an additional charge.

 

I hope you get resolution on this and I hope RCI take some sort of action.

[sjcruiser]

We saw the sketch artist on the Explorer working on/off of photo's in the Promenade on the Explorer when he didnt have someone n the chair. I'm sure these were ready before the pasengers left the ship. Again, even when someone wasn't in the chair having a sketch done, he was working on sketches being taken from photos that he was given. I wouldnt leave the ship without the sketch.

[Mollypuss]

We purchased two sketches on the Liberty this April. One was of a pug he had already done....it looked just like one of our little guys, so I had to have it. (I am a bit pug nutty) The other was of our daughter. He took a photo of her and said he would work on it and send it to the photo shop. We could pick it up on the morning of debarkation. I went ahead and paid and was worried that we wouldn't ever see the prints. It was with guest relations the morning we left just like he said. He put both together and had them in a cylinder container.

 

I think what you received is crazy.....and ours was $70, not $100!

[kyriecat]

OP,

 

Do you have anything from the ship (receipt, order form, etc.) that states you will receive a sketch? For $100, I'd want more than a photo attached to an email. If you have documentation showing that you paid for a sketch, contact RC and find out how to get your money back.

[Buttercup229]

Thank you everyone for validating my feeling of being mislead. I have sent a detailed email to RCCI regarding this experience. I'll let you know it turns out.

 

Incidentally, it is a very nice drawing of me and my husband. However, it is the principle.

[JKYChildes]

Thank you everyone for validating my feeling of being mislead. I have sent a detailed email to RCCI regarding this experience. I'll let you know it turns out.

 

Incidentally, it is a very nice drawing of me and my husband. However, it is the principle.

 

I would call RCCL and get a live person looking into this as soon as possible.... emails can take a little while to bring a resolution, while speaking to someone directly can often solve the problem right then and there.

[sparks1093]

OP, good luck and I hope they resolve this quickly.

[Buttercup229]

I received an email late on Friday 10/22 from Fun Photos stating that she had spoken with the Artist and that he would send me a print when the ship reaches a US port.

 

We shall see what comes. No response from RCCI yet.

[griffy116]

I'm not sure how much time has elapsed, but if you paid with a credit card, I'd be thinking about complaining to the credit card company. Even though you like the print, it's (as you said) the principle. No print; no payment.

[waterbug123]

he was working on sketches being taken from photos that he was given. I wouldnt leave the ship without the sketch.

 

Here's my story:

Last March on Freedom, my BF and I had a caricature done. The artist took our photo to work from. It was the last day and she said she'd call and leave a message when it was ready. Well, we had a very late night and forgot all about it until we got back to the cabin around 1or 2 am and got her message. We certainly couldn't pick it up at that hour! Checked the next day to see if we'd been charged and we hadn't so we figured, "oh, well, no caricature" but felt bad that she'd done the work for nothing.

Six weeks later on Enchantment we're walking through the atrium and I see an artist with some caricatures on display. One catches my eye, and I think "wow, looks kind of like us." Then I realize, "It IS us!!" Then I notice that the artist is the same one who was previously on Freedom. She immediately recognized us, we apologized for not getting her message in time to pick up our sketch last time, and then of course we paid for and got our sketch. Obviously we were meant to have it, LOL. :)

[East Bay Skiers]

Here's my story:

Last March on Freedom, my BF and I had a caricature done. The artist took our photo to work from. It was the last day and she said she'd call and leave a message when it was ready. Well, we had a very late night and forgot all about it until we got back to the cabin around 1or 2 am and got her message. We certainly couldn't pick it up at that hour! Checked the next day to see if we'd been charged and we hadn't so we figured, "oh, well, no caricature" but felt bad that she'd done the work for nothing.

Six weeks later on Enchantment we're walking through the atrium and I see an artist with some caricatures on display. One catches my eye, and I think "wow, looks kind of like us." Then I realize, "It IS us!!" Then I notice that the artist is the same one who was previously on Freedom. She immediately recognized us, we apologized for not getting her message in time to pick up our sketch last time, and then of course we paid for and got our sketch. Obviously we were meant to have it, LOL. :)

 

Wow!!! What an extraordinary coincidence!

[TheYoungFamilyCruisers]

We considered doing that on the Oasis - if I understand correctly, the price to have it done on board and get a sketch was higher, about $125. They advised I could give them a pic or they could take a pic and send me the attachment to print on my own for about $100.

 

I am so glad they are taking care of you because I had to keep asking over and over before I finally understood that I would not be getting an actual print and I thought it was too expensive for an attachment.

[Buttercup229]

I'm happy to say that Fun Photos sent a sizable print to my home as I requested.

 

I did receive an email from RCCI and basically they said, although they regret that I had a negative experience with one of their vendors onboard, the vendors are all independent contractors and not employees or representatives of RCCI. They provided the contact information for me to I contact the company directly. Basically, RCCI said, too bad so sad, but we hope you'll come back again!

[Merion_Mom]

I'm happy to say that Fun Photos sent a sizable print to my home as I requested.

 

I did receive an email from RCCI and basically they said, although they regret that I had a negative experience with one of their vendors onboard, the vendors are all independent contractors and not employees or representatives of RCCI. They provided the contact information for me to I contact the company directly. Basically, RCCI said, too bad so sad, but we hope you'll come back again!

 

I am glad that this was resolved to your satisfaction.

 

Enjoy your print!

[kyriecat]

I'm happy to say that Fun Photos sent a sizable print to my home as I requested.

 

I did receive an email from RCCI and basically they said, although they regret that I had a negative experience with one of their vendors onboard, the vendors are all independent contractors and not employees or representatives of RCCI. They provided the contact information for me to I contact the company directly. Basically, RCCI said, too bad so sad, but we hope you'll come back again!

Buttercup,

 

I'm glad you finally got a real sketch. I have a question about the transaction. Did the artist charge your Seapass card or a separate credit card? If he charged your Seapass, in my mind at least, the artist is a representative of Royal Caribbean whether they call him an independent contractor or not. If he is truly "independent" then he should charge you directly (cash, credit card, etc) and not through RC (Seapass).

[Merion_Mom]

Buttercup,

 

I'm glad you finally got a real sketch. I have a question about the transaction. Did the artist charge your Seapass card or a separate credit card? If he charged your Seapass, in my mind at least, the artist is a representative of Royal Caribbean whether they call him an independent contractor or not. If he is truly "independent" then he should charge you directly (cash, credit card, etc) and not through RC (Seapass).

 

There are other "independent vendors" on the ships, and all of those transactions are on your SeaPass card, because ALL of your transactions are on your SeaPass card. The most obvious "outside vendor" is the spa. They are NOT employees of RC, but of Steiner Spas.

[kyriecat]

There are other "independent vendors" on the ships, and all of those transactions are on your SeaPass card, because ALL of your transactions are on your SeaPass card. The most obvious "outside vendor" is the spa. They are NOT employees of RC, but of Steiner Spas.

They may not be direct EMPLOYEES of Royal Caribbean, but they are REPRESENTATIVES of Royal Caribbean. Royal Caribbean allows these people to operate on their ships. To disavow their actions because they aren't direct employees makes it seem like Royal Caribbean doesn't care what happens onboard as long as they get their cut of the profits.

 

In Buttercup's case, RC should have assisted in resolving the issue of the sketch since it was THEIR contractor. Telling her to resolve it herself is poor customer service in my opinon. She has very little leverage with the vendor since she apparently paid RC and not the vendor directly.

 

I work as a contractor to a large company. In some cases, I act on their behalf during design reviews with their vendors. If I make a poor decision and approve something that doesn't meet the specifications, they don't blow it off because I am a contractor. I am representing them (probably for not much longer if that occurred) so they take care of any financial and schedule implications to change the design. Just because I don't work directly for the company does not mean that I don't have to keep their best interests in mind.

 

I quit visiting the onboard spas because RC doesn't take any responsibility for the quality of the vendors. The few treatments that I had were sloppy, rushed, and either a constant sales pitch or an emotional blackmail campaign for more tips. While I sympathize with some of the poor women who haven't seen their children in 6 months and send every penny they can to them, I really don't want to hear about it while getting a massage and trying to relax. I probably sound like a villain for saying this, but it actually makes me inclined to tip less not more.