Wow. Pride of Hawaii Taken Out of Hawaii Service - to be moved to Europe!

[sunshine 229]

Wow! I haven't been here in absolute ages, but I am now planning another cruise and came back today to this news about NCL(A) removing the POH from being an American flagged ship.

 

I see a lot of the same old names that posted here whan I was more active so, if you have been following this all along, what happened? I know I thought at the time that NCL had bitten off more than they could chew and were in for trouble with this venture. A lot of other posters thought that they just needed time to work the kinks out.

 

Is NCL finally admitting that they messed up and they can't make a go of the all Hawaii cruise idea?

[mikedw]

Think they're just admiting that they added way to much capacity way to soon and didn't give the market time to build. You basically went from one 50 year old ship with a capacity of I think of around 800 a week to three vessels with a combined capacity of over 6,000. I think I remember reading somewhere that when it was just the POA and POAL that things were running much more cost effective.

 

I think this will benefit NCL greatly, but cutting demand, they'll be able to raise prices a little bit more and it should cure the chronic crew shortages. They can keep the good people who actually enjoy working on a ship and get rid of the marginal ones who they only keep around out of neccessity. Maybe in a couple years the market will be strong again and they can bring back the POH. Let's face it, they have a corner on the 7 day inter-island cruises, it might take some time and adjustment, but eventually it should prove to be quite profitable.

 

Take care,

 

Michael

Hagerstown, MD

[JLC@SD]

One of my thoughts is why not Pride of Aloha? I know it was re-themed after its time as Norwegian Sky, but being not "purpose-built" for HI and having a previous name/decor it could transition back to seems much less costly than stripping the South Pacific out of PoH and starting over....

 

or, is this a sign of "leave the lesser, older ships in Hawaii, it's a mess anyway" and putting a new Star-class in Europe?

.....I think this may have some truth.....there is a lot of competition in Europe.....for a short season.......so you have to go in with your "Best Shot"...;)

[ce2000]

I'm glad NCL took my advice. I have been suggesting this for several months now. I believe that due to this decision NCLA will be profitable in 2008. As far as I am concerned this is great news. I also believe that the POH will never return to Hawaii.

[Don Haynes]

Is NCL finally admitting that they messed up and they can't make a go of the all Hawaii cruise idea?

 

Quite the opposite. NCL is still committed to NCLA and the Hawaiian market. I agree with mikedw, NCLA grew too fast, adding three ships to a market in three years.

 

Notice NCL hasn't added three ships to the European market or even the New York or Los Angeles market in the past three years.

[CruisinMinnie]

I was not happy to read this news about the Pride of Hawaii. We sailed many years ago on the old (now departed) SS Constitution. Also a week long cruise around the islands. That line went under in 2001, I believe. One of the reasons we chose NCLA is for the week long Hawaii cruise. I hope they are able to make a go of it and stay in Hawaii.

[vacacountdown]

I'm going on the POH in May and now I'm concerned. I already had concerns because of everything I have read here but I really wanted to cruise the POH for its itinerary and the fact that it's the newest ship of the three. I figured that as long as we didn't sweat the small stuff it would be great. Now I'm concerned the crew is going to be disenchanted after this news. It's mine and my mom's first time in Hawaii and I really hope this news doesn't impact things.

[Cuizer2]

Notice NCL hasn't added three ships to the European market or even the New York or Los Angeles market in the past three years.

 

What do you mean. For 2005 - 2006 Los Angeles got the NCL Star. Then for 2006 - 2007 Los Angeles got the NCL Star. For 2007 - 2008 Los Angeles is scheduled to get the NCL Star.

 

That is three ships in three years.

[NCL_Cruiser]

What do you mean. For 2005 - 2006 Los Angeles got the NCL Star. Then for 2006 - 2007 Los Angeles got the NCL Star. For 2007 - 2008 Los Angeles is scheduled to get the NCL Star.

 

That is three ships in three years.

 

 

That's one ship, three years in a row......They don't have three ships sailing out of LA.

[Cuizer2]

That's one ship, three years in a row......They don't have three ships sailing out of LA.

 

First of all, if I remember first grade correctly, one plus one plus one is three.

 

But if you are not happy with that, then:

 

Ship 1 - NCL Sun - will sail out of LA on April 29

Ship 2 - NCL Star - will sail out of LA on May 1

Ship 3 - NCL Pearl - will said out of LA on May 6

 

That is three ships "sailing out of LA." Is that better?

[Holg]

.....Perhaps Hawaii will reconsider its ban on gambling on the US Flagged ships so they can compete better.

 

ding ding ding!

 

We have a winner. Capt. Hoydal of the Wind said it best on March 30th... "I guarantee you the second Hawaii changes the laws we (NCL) will have casinos so fast it will make your head spin"

[Cuizer2]

ding ding ding!

 

We have a winner. Capt. Hoydal of the Wind said it best on March 30th... "I guarantee you the second Hawaii changes the laws we (NCL) will have casinos so fast it will make your head spin"

 

The question is, when will that second come? :confused:

[NCL_Cruiser]

First of all, if I remember first grade correctly, one plus one plus one is three.

 

But if you are not happy with that, then:

 

Ship 1 - NCL Sun - will sail out of LA on April 29

Ship 2 - NCL Star - will sail out of LA on May 1

Ship 3 - NCL Pearl - will said out of LA on May 6

 

That is three ships "sailing out of LA." Is that better?

 

I believe the spirit of the comment was about regular sailings, not a specialty cruise during a repo......with your logic, you could say that NCL will deploy the Sun out of San Diego in October of 2007, when it makes its Panama Canal repo.

[NCL_Cruiser]

ding ding ding!

 

We have a winner. Capt. Hoydal of the Wind said it best on March 30th... "I guarantee you the second Hawaii changes the laws we (NCL) will have casinos so fast it will make your head spin"

 

I recall on our sailing on the Wind in 2004, the slots and tables were onboard, behind curtains, in the "art gallery" where they held the auctions.

[electricron]

The Southern Caribbean creates problems with NCLA's PSA exemptions.

If they sail the Pride of Hawaii there, the exemption is voided. Sailing to Alaska, Mexico Riveria, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean (including Bermuda) would void the exemption. If NCL wants to keep options open to return the Pride of Hawaii under the Amercian flag in the future, these itineraires with the Pride of Hawaii will be avoided.

Sailings to Euope, South America, Africa, and Asia are allowed. It could sail European cruises year round and keep this option open.

[Cuizer2]

I believe the spirit of the comment was about regular sailings, not a specialty cruise during a repo......with your logic, you could say that NCL will deploy the Sun out of San Diego in October of 2007, when it makes its Panama Canal repo.

 

What logic? :confused:

 

As to the Spirit, I believe it is sailing out of New York through November 3.

 

Finally, how do you tell a regular sailing from an irregular sailing?

[Holg]

I recall on our sailing on the Wind in 2004, the slots and tables were onboard, behind curtains, in the "art gallery" where they held the auctions.

 

Yea, they're still there (as of last week)

[Don Haynes]

I cannot believe anyone can confuse what I meant above, even my seven year old grandchild understood what I meant in context. Adding ships, is another ship for a market. Anyone with a brain larger than a gnat could understand this. In the past NCL has repositioned ships through LA for Alaska and back again to the Caribbean. Thus the numbers by your reasoning Cruiser2 is the same each yearm since NCL in the past has repositioned two ships to Alaska from the Caribbean. But as been noted before, I was thinking in terms of a season of cruises, not one fluke repositoning cruise.

 

NCL still deploys the Star during the winter season in LA. NCL has not added a second ship. Even if one were added during this season, LA still hasn't added a third ship for a season. In fact, the Star deploys to Alaska during the summer Alaskan season. LA couldn't have added three ships unless NCL deployed 6 ships to Alaska with your reasoning. Since they have not, the number would still be the same.

[Cameron1971]

So what does this mean for the cruise experience between now and then? I'm ready to book this cruise in a couple of days and I'm starting to wonder if things are falling apart for NCLA. I cruised on POA last year and loved it, so I thought we would do the same trip again but go with the newer ship. I don't like to hear that for financial reasons they are making changes, are they also allocating less resources such as service and quality as well? Any insight would be much appreciated.

[Cameron1971]

I'm going on the POH in May and now I'm concerned. I already had concerns because of everything I have read here but I really wanted to cruise the POH for its itinerary and the fact that it's the newest ship of the three. I figured that as long as we didn't sweat the small stuff it would be great. Now I'm concerned the crew is going to be disenchanted after this news. It's mine and my mom's first time in Hawaii and I really hope this news doesn't impact things.

 

 

I'm sharing similar feelings about this too. I'm almost considering Alaska because of this. Has this type of thing happened before and what was the result for cruisers that were booked before the change?

[Don Haynes]

I figure NCL will not fire anyone that doesn't deserve to be fired. With the American crews quitting, attrition should provide the needed layoff numbers during the next ten months.

[Cuizer2]

I figure NCL will not fire anyone that doesn't deserve to be fired. With the American crews quitting, attrition should provide the needed layoff numbers during the next ten months.

 

The question is, will they fire the people that deserve to be fired? I would start with whoever is in charge of customer service training for the land based staff.

[d man]

I think that dropping two ships from Hawaii will help NCLA turn a profit, and the service will then get better

[Jana]

Well, high-end hotels in the US don't seem to have a problem hiring and retaining dedicated, polished staff that is willing to serve the customer. Why can't NCL attract similarly qualified American staff for their all-American crews?

 

Vegas you hit the nail on the head. NCLA pay scale is a joke. one of the main reasons that can't find or retain great workers.

 

But that's not the only thing. Hotel workers, by and large, enjoy life in the same way most American workers do, with days off, the ability to be with their families for holidays, the ability to go home after work, stretch out, make a meal, take a bath, enjoy solitude and quiet.

 

It's not just the wages, but the culture shock and the months and months of tedious, 10-hour days and the contant presence of roommates, bosses etc. 24 hours a day.

 

Jana

[Masta Blasta]

I don't think anyone will be "fired." don't they work on contract? I'm sure NCLA will make sure all the contracts will end on 02/2008.