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TheBuzz Erika Engle |
A $50-a-day Hawaii
cruise may be just
a few speeches awayTHERE are tons of opportunities for people to go on a fancy cruise for $25 or $50 per day.
Really.
"That's better than the friends and family rate," said Lynda Davey, director of operations for Sixth Star Entertainment & Marketing.
Naturally, there's a catch.
Sixth Star is a 2-year-old, Florida-based company providing so-called edu-tainment programs to cruise lines. It has launched a recruitment drive for kumu, or Hawaiian cultural teachers, and expert destination speakers who can talk about Hawaii on sailings by Celebrity Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Princess Cruises.
Experts who educate and entertain Hawaii-bound cruisers arrange for their own transportation to the cruise's embarkation point and pay $50 per day as a job placement fee. Kumu would also arrange for their own transportation but only pay $25 per day. In each case, a guest can tag along for free.
Experts are expected to provide four or five 35- to 45-minute programs on each cruise, but have free days in port and can take advantage of all cruise amenities.
It used to be that cruise lines paid a pretty penny for an expert's thoughts but nowadays most do not.
"Back in the day, in the late 1970s or early 1980s, the top luxury lines started by paying an honorarium and all expenses. They really rolled out the red carpet," Davey said.
"Then as the industries got more competitive and with consolidation and 9/11, they started looking at the bottom line. In the meantime, more talented speakers were looking for this type of opportunity so a sort of supply and demand situation arose."
Of course celebrities still get paid, because, well, they're celebrities.
"Many cruise lines don't have the in-house resources to do the recruiting that we're doing at our company. We do all that work for them and our compensation is the $50 a day," Davey said.
Do they understand the distinction between an expert and a kumu?
"Yes," she said. "Because we have some cruise lines familiar with the traditions that are specifically requesting kumu. They want to bring authenticity (to their guests)," said Davey.
Maui Community College history professor Dorothy Pyle had a great time and found professional enrichment when she signed up to educate passengers on a Hawaii-bound cruise.
She flew to Auckland, New Zealand, and sailed home, giving talks on Pacific history.
Pyle was told to expect anywhere from 25 to 300 people in her classes because they'd want to check her out. About 200 attended her first class, "but I actually had more people in the last lecture than the first ... and I had such a good time."
Much of the hiring process was done via the Internet and e-mails.
Sixth Star collects resumes online at www.sixthstar.com, for destination speakers, bridge directors, celebrity speakers and so-called distinguished gents, or bachelor male companions, among others.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at: eengle@starbulletin.com