donolog

fonemanbob,
 
My mother collected Thomas Kinkade. When she died four years ago, she was the proud owner of 7 of his works, some were just framed reprints (numbered proofs), some were framed signed reprints (gallery proofs) and she had one original (artist proofs), number 276 of 500, framed. She paid less than $100 for the framed reprints and signed reprints, the framed original was about $300. After she died I tried to find a value and kept being referred to various sites that I would have to pay for a estimate. At that time I went on an RCCL cruise and noticed that Park West was selling Thomas Kinkade in the auction so I asked the auction manager if he would sit with me and tell me about the value of my paintings. On the cruise the least priced Kinkade, not an original, a signed reproduction (international proofs), was selling for over $1000 but he told me my mother's original would not bring more than $500. Didn't make sense to me because of the high selling price of Park West Kinkade paintings. When I got home I finally found a site that gave me the approximate value of the original painting and it was well over $2500. I donated all of the paintings to my local Humane Society for a Black Tie auction and all 7 paintings brought over $10,000 for the charity. 
 
Since then I have looked at reviews of Park West, they have really bad reviews. They sell approximately 300,000 pieces of art a year and many people say they were lied to about the art, claiming large estimated values but when the purchaser arrived home and started researching found they had overpaid for most art work by many thousands of dollars. Purchases try to contact Park West and never get answers from them. Many have tried to get a refund and send the picture back but they never get their money back. 
 
I agree with WHStoneman, find a local dealer with an excellent reputation and buy from them, if you really want to start collecting. If you are on a ship and a piece of artwork is speaking to you and you have to buy it, get online on your phone and look up prices for the piece and see if Park West is comparable, before you buy. Donolog's advice is spot on.
 
Park West has a set price they start the bidding at, they won't tell you this price before the auction. They also will frame and ship to your home your artwork for free.
 
Candie

Most excellent post donolog.  And Thank you to the others as well that  sent a reply.  I would like to ad an additional pointer to donolg.  DO NOT  drink the free champagne.  Art auctions as well as other high end auctions serve free champagne so as to loosen you up and make you happy and care free.  I noticed at every one of the 4 auctions that we attended there were at least between four to six couples  if not more that were pounding down the free champagne and bidding away on various art works.   And yes Buyer Beware and do your homework.  The piece we bought was unique and not overly expensive like some art work can be.  Thank You all again for your input.

And for those that are happy with a good ol' regular brewed coffee (or tea) you can get those for free (i.e. without a beverage package) most of the day at places like Cafe Promenade, the MDR, Windjammer, etc.

I share in your excitement. My cruise in 14 days is my first in 10 years. Thankfully I never married him, but when my son (who will be 7 in 2 weeks) was 11 months old I was officially a single mother, although really I was a single mother from the day he was born but that story is for another day!
 
Things were very tight financially, and like you I am so thankful for the family support I am so lucky to have. I am finally in a place in my life where I am no longer living paycheck to paycheck, and struggling to pay the bills. I have a wonderful man of 3 years (3 years today actually!) Who loves me and also my son as if he was his blood. The 3 of us go on Harmony in 2 weeks and which we are calling our 1st annual family cruise.
 
I hope you and your family have a wonderful time, and maybe even make it a tradition! Happy cruising!

They're linked to your Seapass card and it will be scanned at the doors to the venue.

One thing I have noticed, having taken both Caribbean cruises and European cruises:  A Caribbean cruise is a "Do Things" type of cruise, and an European cruise is a "See Things" type of cruise.  If you are interested in seeing castles, palaces and history you will be in your glory.  If you want to Scuba, Snorkel or just lounge on a beach, it is not for you.

I liked Altun Ha in Belize, our tour went by boat down a jungle river (cool) and took a bus back, very large ruins.
I haven't tried it but people like Tulum out of cozumel, a sometimes rough ferry ride to get there but it looks amazing. Worth checking out some pitchers of both.
The only ruins I have ever heard are not the best is ones on cozumel itself, very small.
My dream ruins are Chichen Itza (known as best), because they are inland they are very hard to get to via most cruises, you really need a overnight stop.
One common complaint I hear about ruins is they don't give you much time there, maybe a hour or so.

The CC almost certainly charges more than 3% to convert (probably in the 4% to 5% range). Most Canadian credit cards will charge their "buy rate" plus an additional 2.5%.
 
As I write this post, the Bloomberg market rate is 1.3156, so US$13 = CA$17.10, but that's just the spot rate, regardless of whom you're trading with, the "buy rate" will be more, and the "sell rate" will be less (the spread in between is how currency traders make money).
 
So right now, if RCCL was to convert the US$13 would be CA$17.49. If I went to my local Canadian bank, I would pay CA$17.53. If I charged it to my CAD visa it would probably come in about $17.69. The best rate would be from my local private currency exchange office which would charge $17.40
 
Of course it all gets tricky to track because exchange rates are always changing. It might take a couple of days before visa processes the transaction, and the rate might be higher or lower then.
 
Personally, I have my onboard charges charged in USD to a Canadian bank visa I have that is denominated in USD, which I'll later pay from a USD bank account.

I'm not certain how unversal this is, but several years ago the EU required Visa and Mastercard to expose their exchange rates.  You can actually check here:
 
https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html
https://ferates.com/mastercard/usd
https://ferates.com/visa/usd
 
As a US resident and holder of a 'no fee' US Visa, I'd get the following rate:
CAD = 0.758477USD
 
The market rate:
1CAD = 0.760248USD
 
Now, if I go to the Travelex down the street, I'd buy 1.181CAD for 1USD, which means I'd be get a rate of .8468, paying about .08USD more for each CAD compared to using my card - of course this business would flip that if I were selling them CADs, they're in the business of making money.     At least, this is how I understand it for my circumstance, but could be mistaken as this isn't my bag :-)  Let me know if I'm missing anything.

@monorailmedic
 
The part that's not universal about your situation is the "no fee" visa. That type of visa is not common outside of the US, where most card companies continue to levy an additional 1%-3% on top of the 1% charged by visa itself. The going rate for Canadian bank visas seems to be 2.5% -- so if I were to plug that into the calculator you provided the US$13 would hit the visa at CA$17.74 (worse than what I estimated in my earlier post).  
 
The good news is other markets are beginning to introduce "no fee" visas ... Canadians looking for one should check out this article, but for now at least, "no fee" visas remain few and far between in Canada.
  For what it's worth, I just checked the rate to buy US$13 from Travelex in Canada and it came to $18.20 -- by far the worst rate I've seen anywhere (I should note it is currently a public holiday in Canada so it's possible some sources haven't updated their rates recently).

I purchased art at onboard Park West Auctions twenty years ago, and again about twelve years ago. I usually go to the auctions on every cruise, but have only purchased those two times. Of the pieces I purchased, I eventually framed most of them, I've given some away, some are in storage, and some hang on the wall to this day and will likely be prized family heirlooms for years to come.
 
The auctions on my first cruise were my first purchases of original artwork. At the time, those purchases inspired me to learn more about collecting art, and over the years I have purchased other art through alternate means, although I wouldn't call myself an "art collector" and I have never sold any of my purchases.
 
I would compare the art auctions to the ice rinks onboard. If you're a serious skater, or you want to learn to ice skate, then I wouldn't go on a cruise for the ice skating. And while your cruise likely won't be any less complete if you don't go skating onboard, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't enjoy the novelty of skating on a ship, especially if you don't get the chance to go skating in your normal life.
 
Likewise, the onboard auctions likely aren't the best fit for serious, or aspiring art collectors (although if there are serious art collectors out there who disagree please chime in). That said, the auctions can be a fun experience to check out some art, witness or even participate in an auction, have some champagne, and maybe even pick up something to hang on your wall at home.
 
If you picked up a piece of art that you can afford and you'd like to see hanging on your wall at home, I wouldn't second-guess it by giving credence to online reviews -- just enjoy the art. I suspect the negative reviews you've read are from folks that had misguided expectations (possibly from the art auction staff) that the art was an investment that would be worth a lot more in the future (or now) and reality has since fallen short of those expectations. Maybe you could have spent less for something you like just as much at a local gallery, but if you're asking the question then you probably haven't done a lot of that, so take it for what it is, and enjoy what you have.
 
From my experience, here are a few pointers to avoid art auction disappointments:
only buy art that you like enough to hang on a wall in your home for the next ten or more years; don't buy something with the intent of selling it to make money -- if you're not already an educated art collector, a cruise probably isn't the place to start; similarly, don't buy something just because it's a good deal -- who cares if it's appraised at $1,000 and you can get it for $50 ... if it doesn't follow point #1 above, it's a bad deal; remember that in most cases you're going to be purchasing only the print, and you will have to pay to have it framed once you get home -- proper framing to preserve the art may cost hundreds of dollars; if you see art displayed that you're interested in purchasing, wait until the auction's VIP night on the cruise where they might have some big discounts; they might also have a silent auction (where you write in your bid on a sheet of paper), but if you're making a silent auction bid be sure to note if there's a minimum bid (those people writing in $1 bids on everything aren't actually that smart); if you think collecting art is something you'd like to get into, do some reading and research about it before (or after) going on the cruise and then decide how an onboard auction fits in with your ambitions.

I purchased art at onboard Park West Auctions twenty years ago, and again about twelve years ago. I usually go to the auctions on every cruise, but have only purchased those two times. Of the pieces I purchased, I eventually framed most of them, I've given some away, some are in storage, and some hang on the wall to this day and will likely be prized family heirlooms for years to come.
 
The auctions on my first cruise were my first purchases of original artwork. At the time, those purchases inspired me to learn more about collecting art, and over the years I have purchased other art through alternate means, although I wouldn't call myself an "art collector" and I have never sold any of my purchases.
 
I would compare the art auctions to the ice rinks onboard. If you're a serious skater, or you want to learn to ice skate, then I wouldn't go on a cruise for the ice skating. And while your cruise likely won't be any less complete if you don't go skating onboard, that doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't enjoy the novelty of skating on a ship, especially if you don't get the chance to go skating in your normal life.
 
Likewise, the onboard auctions likely aren't the best fit for serious, or aspiring art collectors (although if there are serious art collectors out there who disagree please chime in). That said, the auctions can be a fun experience to check out some art, witness or even participate in an auction, have some champagne, and maybe even pick up something to hang on your wall at home.
 
If you picked up a piece of art that you can afford and you'd like to see hanging on your wall at home, I wouldn't second-guess it by giving credence to online reviews -- just enjoy the art. I suspect the negative reviews you've read are from folks that had misguided expectations (possibly from the art auction staff) that the art was an investment that would be worth a lot more in the future (or now) and reality has since fallen short of those expectations. Maybe you could have spent less for something you like just as much at a local gallery, but if you're asking the question then you probably haven't done a lot of that, so take it for what it is, and enjoy what you have.
 
From my experience, here are a few pointers to avoid art auction disappointments:
only buy art that you like enough to hang on a wall in your home for the next ten or more years; don't buy something with the intent of selling it to make money -- if you're not already an educated art collector, a cruise probably isn't the place to start; similarly, don't buy something just because it's a good deal -- who cares if it's appraised at $1,000 and you can get it for $50 ... if it doesn't follow point #1 above, it's a bad deal; remember that in most cases you're going to be purchasing only the print, and you will have to pay to have it framed once you get home -- proper framing to preserve the art may cost hundreds of dollars; if you see art displayed that you're interested in purchasing, wait until the auction's VIP night on the cruise where they might have some big discounts; they might also have a silent auction (where you write in your bid on a sheet of paper), but if you're making a silent auction bid be sure to note if there's a minimum bid (those people writing in $1 bids on everything aren't actually that smart); if you think collecting art is something you'd like to get into, do some reading and research about it before (or after) going on the cruise and then decide how an onboard auction fits in with your ambitions.