Art auction...why??

[Danno]

Everytime I stumble across the "art" auction I wonder how these people make enough money to keep this "event" alive...unless I'm not looking close enough, anything that is available can be bought as a print in any of the thousands of "art" and framing stores. I've never seen more that a half dozen people at one of these things...part of the X experience I'm not able to grasp I guess.

 

Is there really anything special at these sales??

[ahoymatey3]

Not that I have seen. I've gone to get a glass of free champagne, then cut out.

[GBarrontine]

I always go to the art auctions because they are fun and you get free champagne.. lol

 

I have actually bought several pieces on board.

[joeyanddavid]

unless I'm not looking close enough, anything that is available can be bought as a print in any of the thousands of "art" and framing stores.

Is there really anything special at these sales??

 

We are able to purchase one of a kinds and original works, Hand embellishments, .. Plus the free "posters they give you make nice little token presents!

 

As far as "special items" they have on occasion pretty good sports memorabilia, and artist cells if you collect so.. It's a nice breezy afternoon! JMO though :)

[jff50]

Everytime I stumble across the "art" auction I wonder how these people make enough money to keep this "event" alive...unless I'm not looking close enough, anything that is available can be bought as a print in any of the thousands of "art" and framing stores. I've never seen more that a half dozen people at one of these things...part of the X experience I'm not able to grasp I guess.

 

Is there really anything special at these sales??

 

I have not bought anything through Celebrity, but I have through Princess. What they are selling is not prints. They are limited edition or original pieces of art. They are pieces that you might find at an art gallery, but not at one of thousands of framing stores.

[Nitemare]

We've always had at least 30 folks at each auction we've been to (Princess and Celebrity), with as many as 100. On Golden Princess last month they had some originals (including Peter Max) that sold for well over $10K, and another piece that sold for $175K.

 

Like jff said, they don't sell posters. I've never seen them sell a lithograph from an edition of more than 500, and usually the edition sizes are 350. The prices compare very favorably with land based galleries, but never buy something you don't love.

 

The free stuff, however, is rarely worth the cost. I don't recall the price of shipping of the free stuff on Celebrity, but on Princess it's $10. We're going to frame our "winnings" very cheaply (can you say "Poster Frame from Michael's"? I knew you could), and hang 'em in an out of the way place. Those editions are "limited" to 900 or 1000.

[joeyanddavid]

The free stuff, however, is rarely worth the cost. I don't recall the price of shipping of the free stuff on Celebrity, but on Princess it's $10. We're going to frame our "winnings" very cheaply (can you say "Poster Frame from Michael's"

We were not charged to ship the posters..( trust me if they would have tried we would have rejected The "free" ones ;) Thye had always just included it in the same tube with pieces we ordered, or we just hand carried the small ones off the ship.

[gerif]

DH loves the art auctions - prefers the seriographs and does do some research. We've got many pieces in our home and they all get many compliments from visitors. Alas, framing often triples the original price.

[Andym]

Same as the Wine auction I guess. We passed by this year as one was on and there were 8 people there.

[WeBeCruisin']

We've been to quite a few of the auctions, but not so many lately, because we've run out of room on our walls. :) We've also attended the quarterly Park West auctions here in Charlotte. You can get some pretty good deals on those, since they are already framed.

 

The auctions can be quite a lot of fun, especially if the bidding is spirited. We've almost always seen most of the seats full, and anywhere from 50 to 100 in attendance.

 

The key to buying most art is not to buy it as an investment, but to buy it because it makes you feel good to look at it, or reminds you of a wonderful trip you took.

 

Allen

[Danno]

.... but to buy it because it makes you feel good to look at it' date=' or reminds you of a wonderful trip you took.

 

Allen[/quote']

 

Couldn't agree more....Jill and I have been buying prints from local artists while in port...just looking at any of them brings back a flood of memories of islands past.

 

I don't expect they'll ever be worth anything, nor do I care, we really enjoy them...what more could we want??

[Longboysfan]

Simple - Because they like it. ;)

[emcee207]

Okay, stupid naive question, how does one get the art home? Does the auction house ship it home for you?

 

Regarding Princess, we have some "friends of a friend" who cruise Princess at least once a year. Apparently, they always buy at least $2 -$5K worth of art each cruise. (Note, can't figure out how....one is a cop the other a bartender but I digress!)

Supposedly the last cruise they took they bought $20K (!) worth of art. Because of this they received a "free" cruise from Princess. Is this a realistic thing?

No judgements here, just curious.

[girlbuffalo1]

My fiance and I went to an art auction on RCL and found a piece we absolutely loved which was a serio lithograph and a limited print of 500. We bought it for around $100 and as I can see from the artists website they sell the same thing (different prints) for around $300 so I think we did pretty good!

[newmexicoNita]

There is quite a difference between prints you see in framing shops and what you buy at the art auction. I have only bought 1 thing as I don't have the money, but our kids have bought several pieces. They bought one piece for us for our 45th anniversary; had it framed and appraised. It certainly did not appraise at what a print would sell for in a framing shop. I don't know what they paid for it, we paid about $150 to get it framed and the appraisal made $150 look like just a bunch of nickels. NMnita

[cruzn4abruzn]

Okay, stupid naive question, how does one get the art home? Does the auction house ship it home for you?

 

Regarding Princess, we have some "friends of a friend" who cruise Princess at least once a year. Apparently, they always buy at least $2 -$5K worth of art each cruise. (Note, can't figure out how....one is a cop the other a bartender but I digress!)

Supposedly the last cruise they took they bought $20K (!) worth of art. Because of this they received a "free" cruise from Princess. Is this a realistic thing?

No judgements here, just curious.

 

Hi,

Hubby and I go to all art auctions on board all cruises we have been on. Even purchased art on all usually totally around $1000.00. They have a credit card you can get, interest free for 13 months, must pay it off before then or its a real fortune. My hubby is a Cop, Im an Office Manager and like I said, theres that credit card. However, I have never heard of a "free cruise". But we only like to sail Celebrity and have never heard of a free cruise for purchasing alot of art. We have friends who purchased $25,000.00 worth of art on our last cruise this past April. They didnt get a free cruise, nor a discount and were charged all shipping costs necessary. Heck, they wanted to get the entire collection of the little free works of art they are 8x10 inches and there were probably 7 in the collection and they wouldnt even give them the entire 7 free little works of art!!! Whatever...just dont think a "free cruise" is possible......not on celebrity anyway.

[slotaddict]

We have bought several pieces of art on cruises. Our last cruise on the VOS, there was standing room only at the art auctions. I saw someone buy $30,000.00 worth of art. WE got a great buy we did a mystery bid and wound up with a Thomas Kinkaide for $ 150.00. It was shipped to us and we had it framed by friends who happened to frame things in their antique shop, we had it framed in a Kinkaide frame for $ 111.00. The same print is selling on ebay for $ 1500.00. So I think it was worth the hour at the art auction. Our walls are full in our home, but we just bought a small house in Florida, so I suspect we will be at the art auction on the Zenith in January. :)

[phtktz3]

I love the art auctions and just recieved my newest purchases 2 days ago from my Summit cruise in September. All the auctions I have been to barely have enough seating for all in attendence. On this last one if you purchased any piece you recieved a scratch off ticket from Park West Galleries for a chance to win a cruise or a truck....of course every scratch off was a winner and all you had to do was send in a couple of hundred dollars to the folks who handle the sweepstakes:rolleyes: . We did not send any money so we forfieted our 3 day cruise. The auctions at sea are all run by Park West Galleries on all cruise lines, they are a seperate entity from the cruise lines, they are contracted out so to speak...so I would really doubt that Princess or any other line would give you anything for purchasing at the auctions since they are not the ones collecting all that cash. I am sure there is a deal with Park West but it was probably one of the Park West sponsored sweepstakes that was happening.

On our cruise last year there was a man who bought a "NAKIA" for $95,000( yes that's 95 THOUSAND dollars) and the next day bought another for $74,000. After these 2 purchases he disembarked in Alaska (I forget which port) mid way thru the cruise. He was on the cruise for the sole purpose of buying these pieces. He was about 32 yrs old and when talking to his wife she made the comment that she hoped they had somewhere to put it in their home!

[cruzn4abruzn]

For all those who love those art auctions with Park West, heres a funny little story. Hubby and I live in Queens, New York and decided to go to one of these Park West auctions on land. They had one at the Marriott in Long Island in September. We figured, hey, free appetizers and free drinks (yes, alcohol). We were the first ones there, this guy workin the auction says to us, "hey, wanna earn $150 each in bidding credit?" so we said "sure". He told us they were short handed and needed some volunteers to help with the auction. So there was my husband and I at the "meet and greet" table having people fill out there forms and give them their numbers. My husband ran around giving people their art at the end and I was ringing people up on the computer and charging their credit cards for the art!!! It was a hoot!! Yes, we did have a chance in the beginning and the end to pick out some art we wanted (2 pieces) and even got to negotiate the price plus get a total of $300 off the total amount of pieces!! We also managed to have our drinks, the appetizers and oh yes ladies, there was a chocolate dipping machine with all kinds of fruits, pound cakes, marshmellows, etc. to dip in the chocolate for FREE!! They do the art auctions 3 times a year, every 4 months. My husband is going to work the weekend in January to get $400 in bidding credits just so we could buy MORE ART (as if we need it!!)

 

One little hint though, somehow you end up paying for those free appetizers in the cost of the art because we have bought art and saw art cheaper on all the ships, only thing is, all the frames were free and you take your art home that night. In addition, theres no tax on the ships!!

[Danno]

I stand corrected....:p

[F5Loar]

The thing I hate about these "auctions" is they are not true auctions. They have a reserve on each piece. If it does not reach that reserve it will not be sold to the highest bidder. Twice I've gone by to bid on a print I liked and no body would start the bidding. Then he says "no offer refused, start it as low as you like" so I make a ridiculously low bid and then it's rejected when it does get up to reserve bid. I believe the fine print on your sales contract reads they are one of a kind at sea but on land you can get all you want.

It's like buying jewelry or any other fine art piece in port towns or on a ship, you better know what you are buying if you want a deal.

[Nitemare]

... The auctions at sea are all run by Park West Galleries on all cruise lines, they are a seperate entity from the cruise lines, they are contracted out so to speak...so I would really doubt that Princess or any other line would give you anything for purchasing at the auctions since they are not the ones collecting all that cash. I am sure there is a deal with Park West but it was probably one of the Park West sponsored sweepstakes that was happening

Princess does their own auctions, it's all done in house. They also have a 10% buyers' premium, instead of the 15% that Park West charges. On our Princess cruise last month, there was lots of "free" "art" that I mentioned above, but no sweepstakes or anything like that.

[jff50]

The auctions at sea are all run by Park West Galleries on all cruise lines, they are a seperate entity from the cruise lines, they are contracted out so to speak...so I would really doubt that Princess or any other line would give you anything for purchasing at the auctions since they are not the ones collecting all that cash.

 

Princess has been doing their own art auctions for years, and I know that Carnival has adopted that same program. I'm not sure whether the other cruise lines owned by Carnival use Park West or not. I have spent well over $20,000 at several Princess auctions, and have never received a free cruise--but I do have some art work that I love. I prefer the Princess auctions to what I have seen on Celebrity--

• Most of the pieces of art come framed.
  
• Princess' buyers premium is less.
  
• It seems that Princess is more interested in happy customers than getting the most for the each piece of art. Typically, once the auctioneer has gotten a few bids on a piece he/she will stop the bidding and offer the piece to both parties at the most recent bid. They do not continue to drive the price up, unless the art is an original or the last one they have.

[pbk917]

Danno;

 

I had the same thoughts as you every time we cruised. A few months before we sailed on the Infinity to Alaska (7/05) we were looking into buying a particular picture by Thomas Kinkade. We decided that we would wait until after the cruise so it would not hit our budget too hard. On land, the picture we wanted was anywhere from $800.00 to $1,200.00. One day on the ship we looked at the art auction flyer left in our room & saw a "Feature" for Thomas Kinkade. My wife & I decided to attend the auction really as registered spectators. The picture we wanted was on display so we approached the auctioneer prior to the start and asked him for an idea of his selling price. He confirmed to us what we already knew of how much they sell for in a retail shop. He told us to stay for the auction to see if he could "Do Something Special" for us. We stayed & actually enjoyed ourselves. There were some items with prices over $10,000 which I was not surprised that no one bid on, but most items sold for a few hundred dollars and some for less than $100. When the picture we were interested in came up for auction he said "Im going to do something special here" and opened the bidding at $200.00. I immediately bid (yes I did have a maximum) and so did another person. The bidding went up steadily between us when all of a sudden the auctioneer said "Stop" the bidding. He had a few of this same print available so he knocked DOWN the pricing for the both of us and closed the auction. What we wound up with is a authentic (authorized) Thomas Kinkade, matted, framed (we chose the frame) and shipped along with a certificate of authenticity for less than $600.00. The only drawback was that it took 8 weeks before we received it. Overall the experience was great & we will attend onboard auctions on our future cruises.

[AFT_LOVER]

our tablemates on the Golden Princess in Meditterean, got wquite buzzed on free champagne at their art action & paid $500 for a piece. When they got home to NC, a new gas station opened with diner, wine & beer, even a laundrymat. So they went there to fill up & have a meal. They were given a carboard roll that contained a "Gift". They get home, slice open the role to see the identical piece of art they paid $500 for on Princess. When she emailed me her story i could have died. But then I remembered the slip of paper in our final bill stating that a 90 day guarnatee on all purchases onboard the ship or a t any of the stores Princess recommends. So she got her money back when she reported it.