Posted on 06/08/2005 9:21:24 PM PDT by fight_truth_decay
Fair and balanced doesn't float.
A cruise featuring Fox News star Bill O'Reilly that had been shilled on the conservative pundit's popular cable show has been cancelled due to a lack of interest.
The week-long Caribbean cruise, themed "The Battle for American Values," hoped to have 800 passengers on board, but it fell "well short" of its goal, according to The Thomas More Law Center, which was to get a share of the revenue.
"Mr. O'Reilly, who has been a friend of our organization for a long time, wanted to go to bat for us, and a cruise sounded like a good idea at the time," said Dan Costanzo, director of public relations for the conservative think tank.
"Unfortunately, it didn't work out the way we hoped," he said.
Passage on the November cruise cost between $1,099 and $1,629 before taxes - which would have scored two private appearances by the star of "The O'Reilly Factor," as well as a lecture from former U.S. Sen. Jeremiah Denton (R-Ala.) and a symposium on "How to Combat the ACLU."
"These types of cruises featuring politicians or about a political issue - either conservative or liberal - are usually quite popular," said Brian Major of Cruise Lines International Association, an industry group.
"So this is really surprising that this one didn't sell enough to happen," Major said.
The Thomas More Center asked the organizing travel agency, Corporate Travel Services, for an extension to book more guests, but it still wasn't able to sell enough tickets to make the voyage feasible, Costanzo said.
A spokeswoman for Corporate Travel Service confirmed the cruise was sparsely booked, but would not provide details.
O'Reilly declined comment through a Fox News official, but one of his liberal foes took a more sarcastic approach.
"I'm very, very disappointed," said liberal political comedian Al Franken. "My wife and I had made it our vacation, and we really had been looking forward to the cruise and hearing Bill O'Reilly talk about the American values all while sailing the high seas."
Maybe if he advertised - I never even heard of this
Maybe he should call people personally. I hear he likes to talk on the phone. ;-)
All you can eat buffets and all you can stand egomania. How could that possibly fail to sell?
Ummm no, not by a long shot.
Most people realized that if they had to spend a week on a cruise with bill o'reilly, they'd probably jump overboard after day 3.
1st i've heard of it. It's not till november. Why such a rush to cancel with 5 months left?
An automated message at Corporate Travel Service, Inc. :
"Hello and thank you for your interest in the Thomas More Law Center Cruise with
Bill O’Reilly. Unfortunately, the cruise did not have the participation that all parties
anticipated. Although the guest appearance by Mr. O’Reilly and the other speakers
have been canceled, the ship will still sail...” (Now priced under $600 per person visiting the same stops)
Toll Free: 1-877-927-777 Recording.
Bill O'Reilly is an arrogant blowhard - who would pay to spend time on a cruise ship with him? They'd have to PAY ME $1000 a day to put up with that bag of intestinal gas.
"According to the Thomas More Law Center, the response was surprisingly poor. The organization ultimately renegotiated with Holland America Cruise Line in an attempt to pare down the expected guest list but maintain the event as scheduled. Sales continued to trickle in and finally, after two more negotiations with Holland America to reduce the group size, the event was finally scrapped."
The order in which the guests were listed says everything about what's wrong with today's celebrity-driven media. The featured speaker on this cruise -- Bill O'Reilly -- is nothing more than a creation of Rupert Murdoch's media empire. And the man who got second billing on the guest list -- Rear Admiral (and former U.S. Senator) Jeremiah Denton -- would have been worth the cost of the cruise all by himself.
Ummm no, not by a long shot.
Number 1 show on cable.
I was referring to the "conservative pundit" comment.
You are all entitled to your opinions of Bill O'Reilly, and you each may or may not be right. However, give the man his due; He is anti illegal immigration and has been doing a good job of keeping the heat on GW about securing the borders. This issue must be kept in the public eye and O'reilly is doing a decent job of that.
Never heard a word about it, this is the first.
I'd want to throw HIM overboard.
If they had billed it as a cruise with just Jeremiah Denton they'd have done much better! There isn't a greater example of an American Hero living today! Look up his bio and you'll be amazed! He's the first one to confirm that US POW's were being tortured in Hanoi. He spent 7 years and 7 months as a POW in North Vietnam. The Vietnamese were trying to use him as a propaganda tool and recorded him on camera, and he pretended that his eyes were bothered by the bright TV lignts and blinked his eyes in morse code T-O-R-T-U-R-E!
Bill O'Really? is a blowhard. I couldn't imagine paying to see him after he grabbed his ankles for Hanoi John during the runup to the election.
Good gracious....what are you doing up at this hour?
Mr. O'Reilly, while having some worthwhile things to say, doesn't come across as someone to hang around with. I would think a Sean Hannity or Michael Reagan cruise would be viewed as more accessible. And then there's Mr. O'Reilly's inappropriate behavior in contrast to the cruise's theme, The Battle for American Values.
Then again, why pay over a thousand dollars to listen to what one can hear on TV?
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