Journals
Wednesday,Aug 12 2009, 06:09:47 PMNew York Resident Removed from Royal Caribbean....
Press Release
New York Resident Removed from Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship
for Criticizing Art Auction Practices
(Oslo, Norway — 28 July 2009) Mark Jacobs, 41, U.S. citizen and resident of Garrison returns to New York after Royal Caribbean forcibly removed him from its Jewel of the Seas cruise ship. Jacobs was left at the Oslo, Norway port on July 26, forcing him to find his way to England where he reunited with his family today for their scheduled return flight to JFK airport. His wife, Elena Pousada, and his two children, Jessica, 15, and Ben, 12, stayed on board in order not to have to pay extra to return to England.
Park West Galleries runs art auctions on over 80 cruise ships working as a contractor for a variety of cruise lines. On this particular 12-day cruise, Park West is running three art auctions on days when the ship is at sea in international waters. Jacobs attended the first auction on July 18, and became concerned that the claims of the auctioneer might not be wholly accurate. Using on-line searching, he found that there were lawsuits and class action suits in addition to many individual stories regarding people being duped by Park West. Jacobs says, "Even though I have never bid at a Park West auction, I became concerned for my fellow vacationers. When I heard there would be two more auctions, I felt I had to let people know about Park West's track record."
On July 25, Jacobs compiled information from on-line sources and drew up a one-page fact sheet (*see below). "I wanted people to know about the lawsuits and accusations of forgery, fraud and inflated valuations so that they could decide for themselves before bidding. I also wanted them to understand that typical consumer protection laws might not apply in international waters," said Jacobs. He printed about 50 copies and distributed these to registered bidders prior to the second auction.
Later that day, Jacobs was summoned to a meeting with the ship's Hotel Director Rodney Darwin and Staff Captain Aladin Hafez. He was told that he would be removed from the ship on the following day at the next stop, Oslo, Norway.
Jacobs said "I was quite surprised, especially since they could point to no rule I had broken. I guess freedom of speech is not protected on Royal Caribbean cruises."
At 3:30pm Oslo time on July 26, ship security requested that Mr. Jacobs voluntarily leave the ship. He refused. Oslo police were brought onto the ship and they informed Jacobs that, regardless of what actually happened on the ship, the police would remove him from the ship at the request of the captain. Jacobs was escorted off the ship by Oslo police.
Jacobs is a teacher at and co-founder of Longview School in Cortlandt Manor.
Wednesday,Aug 12 2009, 06:01:43 PMA Tsunami of Class Action lawsuits filed Against..
On July 22, 2009, a fourth class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court in Michigan against the self-proclaimed "largest art gallery on the planet," Park West Galleries, Inc., Park West Gallery, PWG Florida, Inc. which does business as Fine Art Sales, Inc., Vista Fine Art, LLC. dba Park West at Sea, Albert Scaglione and Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd.
The whopping 68-page complaint PDF, a copy of which is provided here on Fine Art Registry® in its entirety sets forth the most scathing allegations yet against the beleaguered art ...
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Wednesday,Aug 12 2009, 05:59:41 PMOn Video - Park West Auctioneer Misrepresents Da..
We were recently sent the following link to a video of part of a Park West auction on Enchantment of the Seas
(Royal Caribbean) by an attendee who happens to be a Dali collector. This video was shot on July 19 2009.
Park West Dali ...
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Thursday,Jul 23 2009, 04:34:17 PM86-year Old Victim of Park West Gallery...
Park West at Sea and Celebrity Cruise Line Art Auction Fraudulent Misrepresentation and Deceptive Trade Practices
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Mr. & Mrs. John Pfingsten ...
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Thursday,Jul 23 2009, 04:26:16 PMSandy Jeakins, a Victim of Park West Gallery and..
A sequel to the case study on Sandy Jeakins published on the Fine Art Advocacy™ website
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In February 2009 we published a case study of Sandy Jeakins, a victim of Park West Gallery aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line ship Park West Gallery and Norwegian Cruise Line art auction fraud-Jeakins Case Study. In this sequel we are publishing the events that have occurred since that case study was published, as Sandy continued to try to get her situation resolved with Park ...
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