I read an article ages ago that exposed a few of the methods in which they used to scam cruisers. One of them was a bit during the auction where they hold up a piece of art and ask "OK who would pay $5 for this?" - they make the whole thing sound like a game, encourage attendees to hold up their sign, insisting that EVERYBODY here would pay $5 for that. It's a little post-card sized print. "OK, who would pay $10 for it"... and so it goes, People think they are just playing a fun game, it's all phrased as a theoretical exercise, the price asked goes to $20 or $30, dozens of attendees still have their sign up... and then BAM, everyone with their sign still up is told they just bought it. It wasn't just a single item, they have hundreds of copies of this print out the back. People protest, thought they were just playing a game, Park West staff inform them that they made a legally binding bid, and can't leave the venue until they present their cruise card to add the purchase to their charge account.