Death By Coinage?

Ever heard the term "nickeled and dimed to death?" For decades, that was a saying that was geared towards the hotel industry, who would entice people in with low fares, then stack, pack and rack up charges for everything short of breathing. It was one of the biggest advantages cruise lines had, by telling people to come-on-down, relax and have your meals and most services included in the fare. We're not talking about the recently-imposed-then-relaxed fuel supplements. Those were not only explainable, but completely understandable and unavoidable, based on the rocketing fuel costs from last Fall. One of the last great freebies has fallen, though, on Royal Caribbean cruise line. You could always sell people on the relaxed atmosphere, and the fact that if people weren't in the mood to go to the dining room, they could order room service complimentary. Royal Caribbean has decided to nix that notion on all room delivery requests after 12pm midnight. They are now adding a "service fee" of $3.95 per order. Cap'n Bob has another name for the fee: RIDICULOUS! It's not like they're having to hire extra people for late-night duty or pay them a shift differential. Crewmembers work on salary, and they work when they're told and where they're told. You wanna know what this is? It's a sneak-attack on another free onboard service. If they get away with this, without passengers raising holy Heck about it, it won't be just after midnight any more. It'll be all day every day. It'll be another nail in the coffin of excess greed that is stagnating the industry. It'll be another reason for people to price and purchase an all-inclusive vacation island trip, instead of worrying about being buried alive under a pile of nickels and dimes. Way to go Royal Caribbean. You're being a trend-setter once again, but I neither applaud you for it or wish you the best with it. I'm personally hoping it's a dismal failure, and you go back to being a class act with the sense of history to remember what got you on that lofty perch in the first place.

A 57-year-old man in Missoula, Montana man says he is lucky to be alive today, after accidentally crashing his bicycle. You'd probably figure he crashed into what - a car? A wall? Maybe a dog? No, middle-school teacher Jim Litz said he often sees wild bears during his daily commute home along a dirt road, but he wasn't paying close enough attention the other day and ran headlong into the side of a large black bear that had wandered into his path. The local newspaper, the Missoula Missoulian (nice name - very original), quoted Mr. Litz as saying “I didn’t have time to respond, or even hit my brakes.” He said the impact flipped him off his bike, at which point the bear began clawing at him, apparently in confusion and anger. The attack left Litz with scratches and bruises over most of his body, but he holds no ill will toward the animal. I'd bet if we interviewed the animal, he'd hold plenty of ill will towards Jim Litz! "Dang that hurt - maybe I oughta kill somebody...."

Everybody sing along: "A THREE HOUR TOUR...." Yes, we have a Gilligan-related travel incident to report. Robert Vassallo and his girlfriend, Angellette Smith, flew into Miami Christmas Eve. The couple had plans to sail around the Caribbean for a while, when they encountered rough seas and crushing waves, and they found themselves washed ashore with substantial damages to the boat. Unfortunately it wasn't in a Bahamian out-island or anything quite so romantic. No, they were in Cuba and Ms. Smith did not have a passport, and neither of them had visas for travel to Cuba. So they got everyone's Holiday wish, to spend a night in a Cuban jail, waiting for U.S. authorities to secure their release! They were released Dec. 26 and finally this past week were able to fly back to Florida. There's no word on whether they encountered any millionaires, movie stars or professors along the way.