7 Day Hawaii Cruises

[Signet]

Curiosity question: Does anyone know why Norwegian is the only cruise line that does the 7 day Hawaii circuit?  It must be a profitable run for Norwegian, they do it every week of the year. Why are there no other cruise lines challenging NCL’s monopoly?   I would like to do a 7 day Hawaii cruise, I just do not like NCL, just a personal preference not to cruise NCL.  

Might have to wait until I retire, when I will be able to get the time off for the longer Hawaii cruises.

[Silver Sweethearts]

40 minutes ago, Signet said:

Curiosity question: Does anyone know why Norwegian is the only cruise line that does the 7 day Hawaii circuit?  It must be a profitable run for Norwegian, they do it every week of the year. Why are there no other cruise lines challenging NCL’s monopoly?   

 

This from a CC website:

 

"If you want to fly to Hawaii, then catch a cruise ship 'round the islands, your only options are Norwegian's Pride of America, which sails year-round from Honolulu, or expedition line Un-Cruise Adventures' seasonal sailings. This is because foreign-flagged cruise ships sailing between U.S. destinations need to include a foreign port in their itineraries to comply with passenger shipping laws. 

Other cruise lines that offer Hawaii sailings must sail round trip from California or Vancouver, spending more time at sea than in the islands, or offer one-way sailings between Vancouver and Honolulu".

[CruiserBruce]

The NCL operation is very special and unique. And, no its not hugely profitable...they used to have 3 ships operating in Hawaii, but that didn't last long...it was over very fast. The cost of US labor (required for this special operation) is much higher than  normal foreign flagged ships. It doesn't have a casino, due to Hawaiian laws.

 

The only reason it operates year around, is because the weather is attractive year around. And it needs special permission to operate anywhere else. A couple years ago it had to get special permission to transport passengers to San Francisco, for a dry dock.

 

Keep reading around. Pride Of America is a very unique operation. For a number of reasons.

 

 

[chengkp75]

On 9/25/2019 at 11:37 AM, CruiserBruce said:

The NCL operation is very special and unique. And, no its not hugely profitable...they used to have 3 ships operating in Hawaii, but that didn't last long...it was over very fast. The cost of US labor (required for this special operation) is much higher than  normal foreign flagged ships. It doesn't have a casino, due to Hawaiian laws.

 

The only reason it operates year around, is because the weather is attractive year around. And it needs special permission to operate anywhere else. A couple years ago it had to get special permission to transport passengers to San Francisco, for a dry dock.

 

Keep reading around. Pride Of America is a very unique operation. For a number of reasons.

 

 

Actually, the POA cannot operate anywhere but the Hawaiian trade.  The ability to carry passengers between Hawaii and the mainland, when proceeding to/from a drydock, was written into the original legislation granting the ship a PVSA waiver, there was never any special permission required.

 

For the OP, here is a thread I started years ago regarding NCL's US flag operations, and why they cost more, and why the cruise experience is different.  Over the years, the reviews I see have been getting better with regards to crew attitude and service, but most of the economic points I bring up are still valid. 

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1724554-pride-of-america-some-realities/

 

The reason NCL could get into the PVSA trade was that another cruise line had gone bankrupt after 9-11, and there was a partially completed cruise ship hull lying in a US shipyard that the US government was on the hook for in loan guarantees.  NCL bought the ship, and in exchange for some concessions on the US build requirement, got the ship a PVSA waiver.  Any other cruise line that wanted to do this would need to either build a ship in the US, or petition Congress for a PVSA waiver, which wouldn't go anywhere, since PVSA waivers only last until a valid US flag alternative exists, and the POA is that valid alternative.

[Yehootu]

Prior to NCL sailing in the Hawaiian Islands, we had American Hawaii Cruises. They had the Independence and the Constitution. There was a 7 day and a 10 day. Both ships had to sail to Fanning Island to fulfill the PVSA requirement. It was a 2 day sail down and back to Fanning. The Island loved it as the cruise ship brought donations and supplies to the tiny Island. The Independence was reflagged and the Constitution was cannibalized to support the Independence and finally sank while being towed to Singapore for scrapping.

[Diver2014]

On 10/11/2019 at 11:15 AM, Yehootu said:

Prior to NCL sailing in the Hawaiian Islands, we had American Hawaii Cruises. They had the Independence and the Constitution. There was a 7 day and a 10 day. Both ships had to sail to Fanning Island to fulfill the PVSA requirement. It was a 2 day sail down and back to Fanning. The Island loved it as the cruise ship brought donations and supplies to the tiny Island. The Independence was reflagged and the Constitution was cannibalized to support the Independence and finally sank while being towed to Singapore for scrapping.

 

I sailed on the Independence in the late 80's on the 7 day cruise around the Hawaiian islands.  We did not sail to Fanning Island.  We left from Honolulu, went to Kauai, Maui and the big island (Kona and Hilo) then back to Honolulu.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Diver2014

[vivian02]

On my first Hawaiian cruise back in 2002 we booked the NCL Star which was a ten day Hawaiian that included Fanning Island. The cruise at the time was very popular with retired folks. The statistics showed that one in three cruises to Fanning Island never made it to Fanning. The main change of schedule was medical emergencies. On our ship I remember sailing out of Hilo heading for Fanning and the next morning a fellow passenger said we were headed in the wrong direction. (This fellow passenger had previously worked on the older American Hawaii Cruise line years earlier) Soon the captain came over the load speaker saying for everyone to clear the front of the ship because there was going to be a rescue helicopter land. Sure enough the passenger in need of medical attention was put on the helicopter and taken to the nearest medical facility probably in Honolulu. Because our ship had changed course there was no way for us to make it to Fanning. Because of the schedule change we sailed into Kona for a day. We ended up with two days in Maui instead of a half day. Turned out to be a pretty nice cruise at the time. The three ships that sailed the Islands at the time were all sent off else where and POA came on line. It took years to get POA up to the standards that cruisers like. The transition for POA was complicated and drew a lot of bad reviews. Those reviews are now pretty good and a lot of cruisers like the seven to ten day cruises that POA does. Looking back my 10 day cruise on the NCL Star was a fraction of the price that you sail on POA. I still do Hawaiian cruises but since I am now retired I like doing the 15 day cruises out to Hawaii and back to the west coast. Who knows maybe one day I might try POA. Tim