buyer beware

[JLMoran]

1 hour ago, princevaliantus said:

As for the artwork,  I agree on being careful what you buy and do your due diligence, BUT, Park West Galleries is extremely well know and I attest that you can actually find great artwork BUT make sure you get a Certificate of Authenticity.

Sorry for the ignorance, but is Park West Galleries the actual owner of each ship's on-board art gallery? I've never attended one of the auctions and have only ever seen the art pieces for the big displays arrayed in a place like the central hallway leading into the MDR, with no storefront to speak of. I've never known if the art is just directly commissioned by Royal and sold by them, or if it's actually a curated collection run / managed by a third party.

[princevaliantus]

4 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Sorry for the ignorance, but is Park West Galleries the actual owner of each ship's on-board art gallery? I've never attended one of the auctions and have only ever seen the art pieces for the big displays arrayed in a place like the central hallway leading into the MDR, with no storefront to speak of. I've never known if the art is just directly commissioned by Royal and sold by them, or if it's actually a curated collection run / managed by a third party.

Correct-a-mundo! Park West Galleries is the actual owner over several cruise lines including RCCL, Carnival, Princess, Holland, NCL, etc.

[tiny260]

7 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Sorry for the ignorance, but is Park West Galleries the actual owner of each ship's on-board art gallery? I've never attended one of the auctions and have only ever seen the art pieces for the big displays arrayed in a place like the central hallway leading into the MDR, with no storefront to speak of. I've never known if the art is just directly commissioned by Royal and sold by them, or if it's actually a curated collection run / managed by a third party.

The last ship I was on was Allure, Park West had a small space just outside the Casino where they had a couple of desk and had art displayed leading up to the desk in the hallway.

It seems like Freedom class also has an area on the ship for Park West also, I want to say it's around the photo area but can't remember.

[JLMoran]

2 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

The last ship I was on was Allure, Park West had a small space just outside the Casino where they had a couple of desk and had art displayed leading up to the desk in the hallway.

It seems like Freedom class also has an area on the ship for Park West also, I want to say it's around the photo area but can't remember.

Thanks! I'll have to try and find where Anthem tucks theirs away when I'm on her in October. I've seen a couple of pieces on the last two cruises where I was tempted to try and find out how to buy them, but my wife wasn't keen and that put the kibosh on that.  

[tiny260]

4 minutes ago, JLMoran said:

Thanks! I'll have to try and find where Anthem tucks theirs away when I'm on her in October. I've seen a couple of pieces on the last two cruises where I was tempted to try and find out how to buy them, but my wife wasn't keen and that put the kibosh on that.  

I'll be on her in July for the GC, so I'll look also.

[JLMoran]

6 minutes ago, tiny260 said:

I'll be on her in July for the GC, so I'll look also.

Heh, I just looked on Cruise Deck Plans. Art Gallery is on deck 5 (Royal Esplanade) starboard, across the hall from the Shore Excursions desk. A little bit aft of Wonderland.

[tiny260]

Just now, JLMoran said:

Heh, I just looked on Cruise Deck Plans. Art Gallery is on deck 5 (Royal Esplanade) starboard, across the hall from the Shore Excursions desk. A little bit aft of Wonderland.

Sure enough, I should be close around there enough, Jamies, Vintages and Wonderland. Have to stop in and see what they have.

[Doc]

On 10/6/2015 at 6:11 PM, pyramid said:

hey guys just got back from freedom of the seas,cruise,,it was fantastic,,but I want to warn every one about two unscrupulous characters on the ship,,,,they work in the Regalia jewerly store,,,Tyson is the name of one of the guys the other guy goes by the nickname Vin...they tried to sell me a diamond ring for $14,000 dollars,,I hesitated and they brought the price down to $8,000 dollars,,I was still suspicious,,so at final they sold it to me for $6,700 dollars,,,no tax remember?  they swore it would be worth more in the states and to prove it gave me a certificate ( not GIA Certified ) that if I found it to be worth less they would make it right...I have called Kallati jewelery the company who makes the ring,,no response..the ring has apprasied for $3,200 dollars GIA certified in the states,,have called Royal Carribean,nothing they can do for me....please do not buy any jewelry from regalia,,or Royal Carribean you will be sorely dissapointed and will have no avenue for relief,,they know once you step foot off the ship,,your recourse for satifaction is severly limited....these two guys re highly polished and know how to sell the problem is the stuff they are selling is close to worthless........

I just got off the Royal Caribbean Independence of the seas and i bought a tissot Watch and i just opened the package and the watch has multiple scratches on it. I will keep you posted on how it goes. From what i was told on the ship is that i have to contact the main supplier which is Hyneman america. I just called and   was told they would call me back in the next 48 hours. So we will see. And oh yea I purchased the watch from Regalia luxury watches.

[wordell1]

Even though this thread is really old.  It's probably good for everyone to realize that its not a good idea to mix your vacation and jewelry/art buying. Unless you have done some research and know what you are buying and what normal pricing is, its likely you will overpay. 

 

[FSUFAN]

Amazon Prime Days are coming up soon (July 11-12).  Last year I bought one of those very expensive   (at least per the ship prices) Invicta Pro Dive watches for just $32 during Prime Days sale. Spent another $5 at the local jewelry store to get the band resized for my wrist.

I find the prices for booze to be just so-so on the ship.  I can most stuff for about the same price (at bad Tennessee pricing) and when we lived in Florida, way cheaper at Costco Liquor.  I'm sure there are some one-offs, but just not worth the hassle of getting it home after the cruise.

[Geezer Of The Seas]

1 hour ago, wordell1 said:

Even though this thread is really old.  It's probably good for everyone to realize that its not a good idea to mix your vacation and jewelry/art buying. Unless you have done some research and know what you are buying and what normal pricing is, its likely you will overpay. 

 

No truer words ever spoken. Our first cruise ever on Mariner, we went into the Effy store on the last night. Wanted to get something to commemorate the trip and get our grandson some ear studs. Wife got the free charm bracelet in another shop and bought charms to add to it. I was interested in an anchor and neck chain, until the salesperson revealed the price.  I politely declined and then was treated to car salesperson like pressure.  Stood my ground and walked. The manager appeared and the $1795 anchor/chain suddenly became less than $800, and the ear studs we selected became $70 less than tag price.

Got my souvenir, we're good from now on. Wife only checks on charms to add each trip. 

 

[tjcruisers]

For the most part I won't buy anything outside of souvenirs when on the cruise. A few times the wife has bought jewelry, but something we can't find up here, but nothing to an extreme price.

[WAYNO]

We have been jewelry buyers for a lot of years.  Just like with buying a car, you've gotta know the value of what you're buying.  A sales person's job is to get as much for any item as he can possibly get.  And if he can capitalize on a customers lack of product knowledge, that's part of it too.

 

Many folks on a ship, they've not been buyers, and they don't know how to be one.  Gee, if the nice salesperson says it's a good deal, then boy-oh-boy it must be. (Poor example.  I don't find many of the sales people to be nice).

If you were to buy the same product at the local mall, you'd likely be faced with the same sales tactics and inflated prices.  

Even on a ship, you've gotta stick with your haggling skills.  If there's a profit to be made, even a slim one, many managers will not let you walk.

As far as counterfeiting goes... The counterfeiters are good at the craft.  I don't even know if the sellers always know when they're selling counterfeit goods.  But, when counterfeit goods are discovered, the seller better step up to the plate and take responsibility, or risk fireworks. 

Bottom line... I seldom buy expensive jewelry onboard.  And I also seldom buy expensive jewelry in Caribbean ports.

OTOH ... If you have your heart set on an item only available on the ship, and money is not an issue, go for it.  It's your choice.

 

[tonyfsu21]

I would stick to booze and royal Caribbean logo garb purchases on a cruise ship. For the most part all the jewelry is junk. If you are a buyer of higher end items from shoppes like Cartier or Rolex then there is zero issue making these purchases on the island provided you are going to the boutique directly and an authorized Rolex dealer (verified by checking website). I have made several of these purchases and enjoy the duty free aspect. Also important to note, please don’t buy a pre owned Rolex on the ship as its older reference models that are VERY overpriced. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Slightly off topic....but I found this very interesting on a recent cruise that stopped in St. Maarten.

In years past, we had purchased a number of knock-off Rolex watches in St. Maarten.  They were surprisingly good quality, lasted a really long time and were excellent time pieces.  We knew they weren't authentic and they were priced accordingly.  They made great souvenirs to take to folks back home.  On our recent trip, Dan decided that he wanted a new one, so we began the hunt.  Nope.  Not a-one anywhere.  One of the merchants told us that "they" had cracked down on knock-off watches and nobody had any (at least, not out in public view).  He offered to "get" one for us, but we declined.

Before I start getting the righteous responses telling me that purchasing counterfeit merchandise is a moral (if not, mortal) sin, let me just say....you're right !  Counterfeiting is wrong.  It's a good thing they stopped it.  Except that we wanted a new watch and couldn't get one.  Whatever...

[Geezer Of The Seas]

27 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Slightly off topic....but I found this very interesting on a recent cruise that stopped in St. Maarten.

In years past, we had purchased a number of knock-off Rolex watches in St. Maarten. 

What gave away they were counterfeits? The name on the dial read "Rolodex"?  

One of my fire station assignments when I was working covered the International Drive area between Wet & Wild (RIP) and the Orange County Convention Center. US Customs & Border Protection had a cottage industry going in that area with routine surprise search and seizure operations of all those strip center gift shops that festooned that section of I-Drive. Everything from counterfeit watches, to Levis and other 'designer' merchandise hauled off in rental trucks.

Then there were the little kiosks selling outright fake 'discount' theme park tickets or timeshare hustlers peddling partially used passes bought from visitors that for whatever reason didn't use the full value of the multi-day pass.............

[WAAAYTOOO]

10 minutes ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

What gave away they were counterfeits? The name on the dial read "Rolodex"?  

[Bowen]

On 6/24/2023 at 2:49 PM, Geezer Of The Seas said:

What gave away they were counterfeits? The name on the dial read "Rolodex"?  

One of my fire station assignments when I was working covered the International Drive area between Wet & Wild (RIP) and the Orange County Convention Center. US Customs & Border Protection had a cottage industry going in that area with routine surprise search and seizure operations of all those strip center gift shops that festooned that section of I-Drive. Everything from counterfeit watches, to Levis and other 'designer' merchandise hauled off in rental trucks.

Then there were the little kiosks selling outright fake 'discount' theme park tickets or timeshare hustlers peddling partially used passes bought from visitors that for whatever reason didn't use the full value of the multi-day pass.............

Counterfeit items don’t bother me really, only because I presume people know based on the price whether or not it’s too good to be true. Counterfeit tickets do bother me though. I need to work through this mentally.

[AlmondFarmer]

1 hour ago, Bowen said:

Counterfeit items don’t bother me really, only because I presume people know based on the price whether or not it’s too good to be true

I got sold a $100 bill for a $20 bill once. Worst purchase ever.