Monday I got on a conference call with my CFO and the director of sales of a Maui resort to see if we could soften our penalty fees for walking out of a contract.
The conversation seemed to be going well until I said something to the effect that we might book a cruise ship next fall in the Caribbean.
To me it was logical. We had decided to expand the trip from 300 to 3000, so the Maui hotel just wouldn't be able to accommodate the group. No hard feelings, right? Wrong.
I unknowingly hit upon a sensitive subject with Hawaii Hotels. They are existentially threatened by the rise of Caribbean Cruises.
After I mentioned these two forbidden words, our discussion was over. The remainder of the phone call was spent exchanging platitudes: "Oh, but in this economy. . .Not after the three years we've just had. . ."
Over the past decade cruise ships have been trending bigger and bigger. Royal Caribbean's twin ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas hold roughly 6,000 passengers each. The combined capacity of Allure and Oasis could very well rival the total hotel capacity of Kauai, or maybe even Maui.
With a 24 hour buffet, Broadway shows, waive rider, climbing wall, and multi-island stop itineraries-- and all for the cost of an airline ticket from the East Coast to Hawaii--its no wonder the Islands feel threatened.
Lesson learned. Cry, lie, cheat or steel. You might even try claiming Chapter 11, but never mention a cruise when canceling a contract with a Hawaii resort.
The conversation seemed to be going well until I said something to the effect that we might book a cruise ship next fall in the Caribbean.
To me it was logical. We had decided to expand the trip from 300 to 3000, so the Maui hotel just wouldn't be able to accommodate the group. No hard feelings, right? Wrong.
I unknowingly hit upon a sensitive subject with Hawaii Hotels. They are existentially threatened by the rise of Caribbean Cruises.
After I mentioned these two forbidden words, our discussion was over. The remainder of the phone call was spent exchanging platitudes: "Oh, but in this economy. . .Not after the three years we've just had. . ."
Over the past decade cruise ships have been trending bigger and bigger. Royal Caribbean's twin ships Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas hold roughly 6,000 passengers each. The combined capacity of Allure and Oasis could very well rival the total hotel capacity of Kauai, or maybe even Maui.
With a 24 hour buffet, Broadway shows, waive rider, climbing wall, and multi-island stop itineraries-- and all for the cost of an airline ticket from the East Coast to Hawaii--its no wonder the Islands feel threatened.
Lesson learned. Cry, lie, cheat or steel. You might even try claiming Chapter 11, but never mention a cruise when canceling a contract with a Hawaii resort.
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