Cruise Visitor Says Public sale Merchandise Was Swapped After $5,000 Profitable Bid

Artwork auctions are a staple exercise on most cruise ships, providing not solely work and sculptures, but additionally memorabilia from well-known athletes, actors, and films. However how genuine are the objects?

One Royal Caribbean cruise visitor is warning different vacationers to not essentially belief auctions, as you might not really be bidding on the precise merchandise you see onboard.

Based on A Present Affair, a Brisbane man and his spouse attended an onboard public sale throughout their cruise trip. Whereas they have been having fun with the occasion, they reminisced about how a signed Muhammad Ali glove was obtainable at a cruise public sale they’d attended a few years in the past and the way they regretted not bidding on it.

Unbeknownst to the couple, a signed Muhammad Ali glove was a part of the public sale they have been watching, and it hadn’t been listed within the preview.

The couple noticed the coincidence as an indication and instantly determined to bid, finally successful the glove with a $5,000 (AUD – roughly $3,500 USD) bid. As their son is a good Ali fan, they believed the glove would make an incredible and one-of-a-kind reward.

The couple supplied to take the merchandise as-is off the ship on the finish of the cruise, however weren’t permitted to take action. As is commonplace process with cruise ship artwork auctions, the merchandise could be shipped to them after it was re-framed.

The public sale was run by Park West Gallery, the world’s largest artwork seller and probably the most prevalent firm for cruise ship artwork auctions. The gallery operates auctions on greater than 90 ships, together with Carnival Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian Cruise Line, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, and Movie star Cruises.

The precise ship and crusing the visitor was on was not disclosed, however onboard auctions are all the time a lot the identical, with a wide range of items obtainable for bidding. Park West Gallery describes its auctions as having “one thing for everybody” and that the art work is “specifically curated for every cruise.”

Memorabilia auctions could be notably standard, providing seemingly distinctive objects from superstar figures, blockbuster hits, and extra.

Did They Obtain the Similar Glove?

The issue for this visitor started when, 10 weeks after the cruise, the glove arrived on the couple’s dwelling – or did it?

Their son was ecstatic to open the glove, however the household quickly observed it wasn’t precisely the identical glove they’d bid on whereas on the cruise ship. They have been fast to match the glove they’d acquired with photographs of the merchandise on the ship.

An additional ink dot, slight variations within the signature, and even a distinct serial quantity confirmed the couple didn’t obtain the very same glove.

“It was simply fortunate sufficient that we took photographs of the glove previous to leaving the ship,” the visitor famous.

The couple had been assured that they might obtain the precise merchandise from the public sale, which was apparently an error on the auctioneer’s half.

Park West Gallery did attain out to the couple to make clear that objects onboard ships are “show items” solely, and the acquisition contract does stipulate that completely different, related objects could also be substituted if a particular public sale merchandise is unavailable.

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To cruise visitors who bid on memorabilia art work, this could really feel like a bait-and-switch tactic and calls into query the authenticity of the merchandise.

“Who would bid on an public sale in the event that they knew that?” the visitor commented.

Forgeries are widespread with superstar memorabilia, and whereas Park West Gallery does present a Certificates of Authenticity with each buy, it will take a forensic investigation to confirm any single merchandise.

The gallery has supplied to appropriate the scenario with this explicit visitor, guaranteeing they obtain the precise merchandise from their cruise ship. The scenario has been off-putting, nonetheless, and it’s unknown whether or not or not the supply was accepted.

This isn’t the primary time cruise ship artwork auctions have come underneath scrutiny. In Could 2025 onboard Royal Caribbean’s Freedom of the Seas, a household believed they’d received an public sale with a $650 bid, solely to later be taught the precise worth was $2,700.

Park West Gallery, whereas it does function onboard many cruise ships, is a separate firm and never run by the cruise traces. However, cruise visitors occupied with artwork auctions ought to make sure you all the time follow “caveat emptor” – purchaser beware – to make sure they’re assured of their purchases.