NCL SUN art auction beware

[peg013]

We have won the art raffle twice. (Also have never bought any art on a cruise) The first time on my birthday in Nov 2003, it was totally free - free print, free frame - free shipping. A great prize. The last time (Oct 2009) they changed it to you have to buy their frame and pay your own shipping. They will not allow you to carry it off the ship. We didn't like any of our three choices in prizes enough to pay to have it framed and shipped so we told them to keep it.

[spamwhiches]

we just returned from our NCL Spririt cruise to bermuda and Melanie and her PW staff were phenomenal, forthright and the auctions were highly informative. Granted I'm totally new to the art world but I learned more about the art world in two days of auctions than i have in my whole life.They did not put ANYTHING in the auction that was not selected by us in the preview prior to the auction so there was absolutley no "shoving art down our throats" ... there were two auctions and two seminars. it was great and we were higly impressed with the PW staff. I've read a few internet posts that say they never received their artworked shipped after the cruise; hopefully that will not be our case. I'm very much looking forward to what i bought at auction AND won in the raffles. If you got snowed it wasn't from this particular group i assure you!

 

Okay really, who Discovers cruisecritic and on their very first day and very first post have a glowing report of how teriffic the art auctioneers were? Not calling anyone out here, but this seems to lack credibility to me.

 

I hope this poster proves me wrong and becomes a cruisecritic contributor for years to come.

Cheers,

[shanmerryfan]

on our particular cruise we just came home from they had all the artwork divided on either side of the room; one side was prints that didn't come with the frame...the other side was framed canvases so u knew in advance what was what. They simply asked us if we wanted anything framed or appraised and we said no and there was no pressure so it's being shipped in a tube. They dont let you take it off the ship if it's a print because it gets shipped from the warehouse. If it's framed artwork they have to ship you a new frame because theirs get all banged up on the ships. There was one or two small framed pieces that they let walk off the ship tho. Anything that is won in a raffle is FREE SHIPPING. I won THREE prints in the raffles and shipping was free. ALL THIS INFO WAS GIVEN UP FRONT TO US BEFORE THE AUCTION STARTED SO NO COMPLAINTS HERE MAN! :)

[spamwhiches]

okay, that's great shanmerryfan. I'm sure you can understand some scepticism.

welcome to cruisecritic!

 

Cheers,

[uppitycats]

I consider the art auctions as purely entertainment. I go for the free beverage (not champagne, but not bad) and people-watching. I've not yet seen any piece of "art" that I've liked well enough to bid on, and knowing that it has cost some folks more for the frame and/or shipping home than the print is worth!, I haven't bothered to bid.

 

I hate all the announcements, too..and the halls cluttered with the stuff (hard to maneuver in a wheelchair, around it). And I also hate the bingo announcements. But there, too, while I don't play bingo, it can make a long sea-day afternoon entertaining to watch all the frenzied people playing it.

[SeaShark]

SERIOUSLY people...This thread is from 5 YEARS AGO!

 

 

It there really any logical reason to pull it out of the archives and continue a discussion that hasn't had any interest since 2005? :rolleyes:

[shanmerryfan]

seriously seashark if it's from 5 years ago then why are you bothering to check it? not sure why my glowing report of PW is being met with scepticism spamwich but that's your perogative and i can respect that. but it's the honest to god truth. I stumbled upon this board only because i was googling NCL art auctions in hopes of finding the art auctioneer on our cruise so I could drop her a line and i ended up here. sorry if i've opened old wounds but hopefully i've updated some opinions. It really really was a positive experience (as for the REST of the NCL cruise, not so much; the art auction was one of the highlights!!) It's just a little too negative here so I wont be coming back but have fun all and continue your persuit of great art, no matter the venue.

[SeaShark]

seriously seashark if it's from 5 years ago then why are you bothering to check it? not sure why my glowing report of PW is being met with scepticism spamwich but that's your perogative and i can respect that. but it's the honest to god truth. I stumbled upon this board only because i was googling NCL art auctions in hopes of finding the art auctioneer on our cruise so I could drop her a line and i ended up here. sorry if i've opened old wounds but hopefully i've updated some opinions. It really really was a positive experience (as for the REST of the NCL cruise, not so much; the art auction was one of the highlights!!) It's just a little too negative here so I wont be coming back but have fun all and continue your persuit of great art, no matter the venue.

 

We "check it" because you've brought it to the top of the list.

 

You should always read posting guidelines before you start posting in a forum. Always.

 

If you have a review to give of your experience, then give it in the REVIEW section.

 

In any case...why rehash an OLD topic instead of just starting a NEW thread?

 

 

You are obviously only here to drum up support for your pet cause.

 

Maybe if your PW opinions are so relevant you should consider sharing them over on the RCCL boards....being that RCCL recently decided to dump PW because of their shady business practices.

 

How about THAT fact?

[LJH1]

we just returned from our NCL Spririt cruise to bermuda and Melanie and her PW staff were phenomenal, forthright and the auctions were highly informative. Granted I'm totally new to the art world but I learned more about the art world in two days of auctions than i have in my whole life.They did not put ANYTHING in the auction that was not selected by us in the preview prior to the auction so there was absolutley no "shoving art down our throats" ... there were two auctions and two seminars. it was great and we were higly impressed with the PW staff. I've read a few internet posts that say they never received their artworked shipped after the cruise; hopefully that will not be our case. I'm very much looking forward to what i bought at auction AND won in the raffles. If you got snowed it wasn't from this particular group i assure you!

 

 

I'm glad to hear that your happy with what you wanted to hear and that what they know you needed to hear.

Now go to ebay or some of the art houses on the net and do a search for the artist you purchased and do price comparison.

[debnjoe1438]

So...You're saying buyer beware? I've been to several on board auctions and I've never been made to believe that I would be buying an original or something so valuable that it's a good thing I took the cruise because I would have missed out on a once in a lifetime piece. It's a business. It's their job to sell you art. It's our job to not let them snow us. ;)

 

Who knows what happened with the raffle. I won a raffle at an art auction on the Dream and I didn't buy a piece of art.

 

I also won a raffle on the Jewel, never placed a bid

[STARFISH*4]

We "check it" because you've brought it to the top of the list.

 

 

 

i was wondering about this too...5 years:confused:and since i am sailing on the SUN in december i was interested and also CHECKED IT.

[Tucker in Texas]

I checked it because Royal has dumped Park West and wondered if NCL was following suit.

 

Tucker in Texas

[newmexicoNita]

I just returned form a cruise on the NCL Sun. As an artist I was very interested in the art auction. I signed up for a bidding card even though I had no intention of bidding. It did add my name to the raffle though. DID IT? I noticed two things. First, the winners all were bidders. Second, when the raffle tickets came forward they were in two buckets. One smaller than the other. The actioneer and the poeple in the back,( office support), are in communication via computers. It is the job of the office support to keep track of which bidders have signed in and which have bid successfully. When the actioneer began to draw raffle tickets he put the smaller bucket in the larger one. Gee I wonder why there were to buckets and why he only drew from one of them? :rolleyes:

 

Next if you do intend to buy art please remember that most of the pieces are prints. Most are signed by the artist, this is good. Some are pulled from original plated made by Rembrandt and other historically signifcant artist but they are not pulled by the artist nor are they signed by the artist. Any amount can be made and the value is questionable.

 

I am an origanal snob. If you buy a print you are buying somethig you like, not an investment unless it is signed by a historically significant person. In other words you are buying the signature. All other prints are speculative as to whether the artist will make history. So do your home work as to who is truely worth to price of their signature.

 

Last, this auctioneer on the Sun is a great salesman. He placed a mystery auction up for sale. If you bid on this you do not have to buy it. They are turned backwards so you have no idea what you are bidding on. The auctioneer set the price at $5,800.00 each and insisted that he could not let them go unless 15 people bid on them and assured everyone thay would hate them selves if they missed out. When revealed there were 8 or 9 prints from original plates but not pulled or signed by the artist. And he then said " Did I say $5,800.00? I should have said $6,800.00. Did I really say that? Are you sure? Well, now I am in trouble. Well, it will be alright. Let's take a break right now." What do you think? Did these people save $8 to $9,000.00 by going ahead and making the purchase or was that the slickest sales pitch you ever heard? :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Buying all 8 would be a $46,000.00 sale! Nice commission on that sale. And you saved so much due to his mistake!

 

You point out some interesting things but I would hope most realize they are not getting great buys, rathing getting something they really like. I will add one thing to your comments: I have actually gone to 3 auctions and believe it or not won the raffle twice, once I didn't buy a thing, once I bought a picture that was already framed, what they called a carry off for almost nothing, so I don't know how much truth is in your claim about who does and doesn't win.

 

Yes, like all autionaireers he is a great salesmen, he should be.

 

Oh wait a minute: this thread is 5 years old, how and why did it get dug up?

Nita

[Pennypocket]

I have never been able to comprehend these auctions as it is so very easy to attend a general run of the mill land auction and acquire exceptional original art for prices well under $500. True the artist may not be well known but it is original art not a $5 print (one of maybe hundreds) in a $10 frame sold for $800 plus dollars.

[Richie2pies]

Art "auctions" are a great source of entertainment when you have nothing else to do on a cruise. In my humble opinion they are one giant scam.