The Travel Industry News - Editorial Archives

February / March, 2006

IS BIGGER BETTER?

It wasn’t for the Dinosaurs, Goliath didn’t do that well against David, TWA and Pan Am came down to earth from great heights, Zuno Travel grew like ‘Topsy’ before extinction ... in fact history both ancient and modern tell tales of rapid growth and glory followed by ignominy.

In the TIN of August 2003 I wrote of my dismay at the announced 2005 coming of a CARNIVAL cruise vessel that would carry 4,000 passengers. Well at this time that project is ’on hold’ ... BUT ... ROYAL CARIBBEAN have just announced the 2009 arrival of a 6,400 passenger liner!

She will be built in Finland by a Norwegian based company. Cost will be $1.24 billion, measure 1,800feet long, 154 feet wide, stand 240 feet high and weigh in at 220,000 gross tons ( it doesn’t get any ‘grosser’ in my book, I’m afraid!) Can you imagine the buffet line?

Do you remember when people took a cruise to get away from the traffic, the crowded sidewalks, the cacophony of sounds that put you in a combative mood, so that they may relax, be waited upon for a few days .. and made to feel special ... even important.

I’m sorry, I guess I really am old-fashioned. Can you imagine 6,400 polite passengers plus crew spilling into Skagway or Aruba? Can you see the .. say .. 15,000 thousand pieces of baggage laid out neatly on the dock ?

Heaven forbid the ship has to miss a port for some reason ... 6,400 Discount Coupons ( or Free Cruises?) sure would add up fast.

There is no doubt in my mind that this vessel .. which currently is under the title of ’Project Genesis Royal Caribbean’ .. will be beautiful and offer amenities that many have never encountered, but will it come to pass?

Will docks be able to handle this colossus of the oceans? What about security? How much fuel will this ’little lady’ consume? Do people really want to cruise with that many ’friends’? How much open deck space I wonder ? Do you get allocated a deck chair period? How many buses for shore excursions? The mind boggles ....

Is BIGGER really better? Do you really believe that any BIG TRAVEL AGENCY is better than yours? Do you always book the biggest wholesaler, the biggest hotel chain, the biggest airline? No ... you book the best or the most convenient... maybe its the biggest, probably not.

Good luck to Royal Caribbean, we can’t stop time, but let us hope we never judge the best as automatically the biggest, in a rush to mediocrity... or simply to make money.

Is older better? Antique collectors believe that it is and you know what they say about ‘fine wine’. However ... now that I have passed my 21st birthday, my 31st, my 41st, my 51st ... and so on ( and on ), things don’t work quite as well as they did when newer, my speed has diminished somewhat, my lifting capacity seems to take more leverage these days .. no older isn't always better ... as many of you know!

Still age can still have its advantages. Vintage cars, vintage clothes, paintings that were created by ‘the masters’, vintage wines, buildings and monuments that will probably still be wonders another hundred year from now. The Taj Mahal, the Pyramids of Gizah, Masada. Macchu Picchu .. the Statue of Liberty, yes the past has left a rich legacy, let’s hope our modern instinct to tear down anything old does not eliminate future generations from sharing our present and past.

TINs 25th BIRTHDAY...

AND SO ... TIN is now older. Born in Seattle in 1981, ‘The Travel Industry Newsletter’ celebrates its Silver Anniversary this year. The father was the late Larry LaFollette of ’Travel Exchange’ ably assisted by Bette Thompson. D & D purchased ‘The Newsletter’ and did not changed the title to the ‘Travel Industry News’ until October 1992. When we first purchased TIN we bought it as an adjunct to our other business operations, little did we know it would become our ‘ace in the hole‘. AND, little did I know that I would one day become ... publisher, writer, printer, salesman,book keeper, label printer, collator, mail preparer and mail sack carrier .. by myself .. talk about ’Jack of all Trades, Master of None’. It has been a fun ride .. and continues to be so.

David (TIN MAN) Bond

Return to Editorial Archives