Kilroy

Does Legend have the steakhouse?

The Legend sails from Tampa.

That ribeye looks awesome. Looks like whole bulb of garlic on top!

Looks much better than Chops on RCCL. They have no ribeye. That, in my mind, disqualifies them as a real steakhouse.

I have never been on a Carnival shop with this restaurant. We get a lot of the smaller ships in Tampa due to the Sunshine Skyway bridge.

My appraiser did a fine job.

Ha!

 

You need to find a new appraiser!

For several years, my father-in-law bought art while on cruises. At first I didn't pay much attention, because God knows he probably disagrees with how I spend some of my money. He was very proud of them and had them hung and framed all over his house (they came in the mail rolled up in tubes, as all great works of art throughout history have), creating additional expense. He has at least a dozen, all large-format, not the cheap stuff.

A couple of months ago he had a conversation with me during which he told me that this art was, according to the auctioneer, appreciating at such a rate that soon it was going to be a valuable part of his retirement and eventually an inheritance for my wife and myself. He was planning many more purchases during future booked cruises to increase his quality- of-life during his retirement. At that point I was broken-hearted for him, because he was so proud of these things, and because he was now figuring them into his retirement plan after a lifetime of hard work.

I didn't say anything for a couple of days, because I knew how emotionally invested he was in these things. I needed to develop a course of action that would prevent him from being further fleeced while not breaking his heart. I also realized that while I had my suspicions, there was a slight chance these could be genuinely valuable.

So the next time we spoke, I brought up the idea of having them appraised. It took a while for it to sink in, in part because he already had the "appraisal" that the art auctioneer sold him. We decided to at least call one and set up an appointment. We found one through a local museum, and called him. He said he would be glad to do the appraisal for a reasonable cost.

So we loaded these things in the trunk and back seat with blankets between them and went to the appraiser. He looked at each piece and said exactly this: "They are worth whatever you paid for the frames."

We questioned him further, and he explained how art at sea works, that most of what they sell is basically high-quality posters. The company gets away with legally calling them "limited editions" through a variety of means, including making the next batch in a slightly different dimension by changing the height or width by a centimeter.

That was a horrible moment, and I could see his countenance fall as the implications for his future sunk in.

All the art he bought is now hidden under beds and behind dressers in his house. He painted the walls to cover up the un-faded spots where the posters had protected the paint from the sun.

It was a dreadful thing to go through, and it was a dreadful fraud that the company and auctioneers committed against him.