Auction art still dominates the Mariner (yuck)

[ridojar]

All things siad, you must admit the frames are nice.

[ridojar]

All things said, you must admit the frames are nice.

[Dolebludger]

Well, seriously now, do you thing they are going to hire ugly art salespeople?

[jhp]

As I see it, when the art auctions get to be enough of a nuisance (I hate them)to really bother passengers, they will complain enough that the sellers will go away, or they will never find buyers. All you have to do is complain. again and again. and not buy. Dolebludger, you and I have been sailing on this line for many years, me more than you in recent years. It is the same as I remember it used to be. Those darned easels were always in the hallways leading to the cabins! It never bothers me. To each his own, so long as it doesn't get in my way.

[wripro]

Maybe if a few of those easels were "accidentally" knocked over.......??????

[linolive]

The sad thing is that unknowing people are persuaded by Park West employees to buy high-priced artwork with no means to research whether their purchase is worth what the price is. If you want to buy art, you should buy from a reputable auction house such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Swann, Bohnams, etc or a reputable art dealer. There are many sad stories on the internet about people who bought grossly overpriced art from Park West after being misled about the value of what they bought.

[Travelcat2]

The sad thing is that unknowing people are persuaded by Park West employees to buy high-priced artwork with no means to research whether their purchase is worth what the price is. If you want to buy art, you should buy from a reputable auction house such as Christie's, Sotheby's, Swann, Bohnams, etc or a reputable art dealer. There are many sad stories on the internet about people who bought grossly overpriced art from Park West after being misled about the value of what they bought.

 

What you say is very true. If I recall correctly, Park West was being sued about mispresentation of some of their artwork (not 100% certain what the charge was). As a result, the buyer now has a certain amount of days to change their mind about their purchase -- this gives them time to check with a professional.

 

In any event, IMO, there is no place on a luxury cruise ship for "auction art":cool:

[wripro]

They don't want you to research. They want you to impulse buy.

[raysig]

Being on the Mariner now, I just thought I'd pop back into this thread with my observations. Yes, the Park West art is hanging on many -- but not all -- of the stairway landings and public space hallways. I agree it's tacky, but I don't find it offensive or bothersome. I also did not see any art on easels constricting entry to dining rooms as Travelcat described, though. So to me, it would be nice if Regent got rid of the art-for-sale decor, but it's not disruptive or overly annoying.

 

-- Eric

 

We were on the same cruise. Wasn't the weather delightful?

 

On the topic of art and Park West, I would observe that without the PW art in the hallways and landings the Mariner would be deadly dull. There are three shades of beige throughout the whole ship (with the exception of the Stars Lounge). Carpeting and walls, all the same. It's really quite boring. Ignore the PW stickers in the corners of the artwork. The color provided by the displayed pieces is refreshing regardless of your taste.

 

(Don't get me started on the "artwork" hanging on the walls in the atrium, owned apparently my RSSC)

 

Just my 2 cents.

[cruiseej]

We were on the same cruise. Wasn't the weather delightful?

 

Yes, spectacular! Now we're spoiled -- how can we go back to Alaska in the future, knowing the odds of getting comparable weather are incredibly small! ;)

 

On the topic of art and Park West, I would observe that without the PW art in the hallways and landings the Mariner would be deadly dull. There are three shades of beige throughout the whole ship (with the exception of the Stars Lounge). Carpeting and walls, all the same. It's really quite boring. Ignore the PW stickers in the corners of the artwork. The color provided by the displayed pieces is refreshing regardless of your taste.

 

I think the assumption/hope is that if Regent dumped Park West, they'd fill in most of the void areas with other art, not leave the halls and stairways empty. And as with any art, no matter what they'd install, it wouldn't please everyone. ;)

 

-- Eric

[Travelcat2]

Yes, spectacular! Now we're spoiled -- how can we go back to Alaska in the future, knowing the odds of getting comparable weather are incredibly small! ;)

 

May and early June generally have the best weather of the summer. It was 75-80 degrees on our May, 2008 Alaska cruise. While this is no guarantee, I carefully watched the weather this year and see it was beautiful. Not surprising that we are booked for next May:)

 

I think the assumption/hope is that if Regent dumped Park West, they'd fill in most of the void areas with other art, not leave the halls and stairways empty. And as with any art, no matter what they'd install, it wouldn't please everyone. ;)

 

Actually, they could leave the current "art" on the walls for all I care. I do not feel that the problem is with the style of art -- it is with the auction (Regent is the ONLY luxury line that stoops to the level of mass market cruise lines in terms of art auctions). Alternatively, if they want to hold a private art auction in a conference room somewhere -- that's fine. It was the "in your face" easels that blocked the Mariner lounge last year that was upsetting. This does not occur on other Regent ships.

 

-- Eric

 

Really glad to hear that you had such a wonderful. Any future cruises on the horizon?

[cruiseej]

Really glad to hear that you had such a wonderful. Any future cruises on the horizon?

 

Not at the moment, unfortunately. We're not to a point of being on a cruise (or more) per year schedule... yet! So many places to travel to, so little vacation time and money. I'll have to live vicariously through y'all here for awhile until we plan our next cruise. :)

 

-- Eric

[donaldsc]

Do you mean taking copy of the photographs that the photographer takes? Interesting! Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it), photographers are no longer on Regent ships).

 

There have never been photographers on any ship ever. There are lots of people who make feeble attempts at taking snapshots that are sold at inflated prices but photographers - no way.

 

DON

[MsBatt]

We were just on the Mariner, and I was not at all bothered by this art auction thing. Actually I agree with whoever said that the art on the walls probably livened up the dull walls. No hard sells anywhere from what I could see; yes they had an art discussion and there was the actual sale the last afternoon, which was the only time I noticed that the walkway was impeded by the easels, but it was only one afternoon. It was something that did not interest us, but certainly did not disturb us, and hardly interfered with our total enjoyment of this ship.

 

I would sail again with Regent in a heartbeat, time and money being what they are, but seriously we do hope to take another cruise with them someday.