06-27-2013, 07:13 AM
The reason why is the NCL must have US flagged (registered) vessels, per the Jones Act, ships that are flagged from foreign countries must stop in a foreign port between US city ports...also the reason why we had 3 NCL vessels for a short time..the Jones Act was being re-looked at & NCL volleyed by putting 3 boats on our route... at that time, they practically giving the cruises away (free airfare & very inexpensive weeks on board for a couple of years!) When the Jones Act was secure, with no strengthening or weakening provisions, 2 boats sailed away, along with the reduced cruise fares...
It is interesting to note how much of the islands economy was bolstered by this artifical tourist bump...many bemoan the loss of the boats, but the trade off between the older Pride of Aloha to the much larger Pride of America (~ 25% higher capacity from ~2000 to 2500 ) would have been great for the economy, if it hadn't been for those 3 years of more that 3 times the Pride of Aloha passengers every week...then that "measy" bump of 25% looks PATHETIC... but the cut in NCL cruises also left many people WANTING the cruise, with fewer options..so the price is now more that a much longer cruise from LA!
Interesting that the 2 boats with Hawaiian themes are the 2 that were removed, the older Pride of Aloha (Norwegian Sky) & the sister to the Pride of America - the Pride of Hawaii (Norwegian Jade) were both easier to put on their other, non-US routes than the Pride of America, which would have needed a whole retrofit to sail elsewhere....
It is interesting to note how much of the islands economy was bolstered by this artifical tourist bump...many bemoan the loss of the boats, but the trade off between the older Pride of Aloha to the much larger Pride of America (~ 25% higher capacity from ~2000 to 2500 ) would have been great for the economy, if it hadn't been for those 3 years of more that 3 times the Pride of Aloha passengers every week...then that "measy" bump of 25% looks PATHETIC... but the cut in NCL cruises also left many people WANTING the cruise, with fewer options..so the price is now more that a much longer cruise from LA!
Interesting that the 2 boats with Hawaiian themes are the 2 that were removed, the older Pride of Aloha (Norwegian Sky) & the sister to the Pride of America - the Pride of Hawaii (Norwegian Jade) were both easier to put on their other, non-US routes than the Pride of America, which would have needed a whole retrofit to sail elsewhere....