NCL Pulls a Switcheroo

After announcing that the Pride of Aloha would be leaving the NCL America fleet and be transferred to Star Cruises (NCL's parent company), which anticipated selling the Aloha, NCL today announced a bit of a switcheroo. Instead of saying goodbye to the Pride of Aloha, she will instead be transferred to NCL, reflagged in the Bahamas with an international crew, and renamed back to her original name, Norwegian Sky.

That's not all the changes for her, either. NCL is going to use her to re-enter the popular 3- and 4-night Bahamas market out of Miami, a market they left back in 2003 due to lack of available ships. This market is one I expect to become more popular in the next year as some feel they need to tighten their belts, not to eliminate vacations, but perhaps scale them back a bit. These shorter cruises make for a great, affordable quick getaway. When she begins service, she will be the newest ship for any line serving these shorter Bahamas itineraries.

It was originally thought that she couldn't serve the new "NCL 2.0" as she had fewer restaurants than the newer ships, but for the shorter market, she can offer the choice that makes NCL so popular, and perhaps introduce more people to the concept.

Of course, during her wetdock prior to introduction in this market, she will be re-fitted with a casino and have other NCL 2.0 enhancements added. However, both her itineraries are fairly port intensive, featuring visits to Nassau and the NCL private island, Castaway Cay, with the 4-night option also visiting Grand Bahama Island, so you might not even notice the casino is there.

Sailings will start on July 14, 2008, and bookings through April, 2009, are currently on sale, starting at $229/person for the 3-night itineraries and $329/person for the 4-night options.

Sailings between July 18-September 26, 2008 have an additional bonus of a "Kids Sail Free" promotion if booked byMay 31, 2008. Call me for details and the fine print.

NCL America Shrinks Again

In the same week that the former Pride of Hawaii left on its final Hawaiian cruise before transforming into the Norwegian Jade, today NCL America, the sub-brand of Norwegian Cruise Line that deals with the American-Flagged ships sailing in Hawaii, announced that the Pride of Aloha will also be leaving the fleet.

The Pride of America will be transferred to parent company Star Cruises, reflagged, and redeployed to Asia effective May 11, 2008.

This leaves only the Pride of America as an American-flagged ship in the Hawaiian market, able to sail 7-night round trip cruises entirely within the Hawaiian islands. The good news is that, with this announcement, NCL America also opened up bookings on the Pride of America through the 2010 cruise season, with slight changes to its itineraries, and the full slate of "NCL 2.0" enhancements following its May, 2008 dry dock.

Folks, when NCL (or any cruise line) starts talking about "soft" or "disappointing" results in a certain market, you can expect a movement in that market, redeploying ships where they can be better (more profitably) utilized. That's obviously what's happened here, as the last reports on NCL America had that brand having to aggressively price and complaining about increasing competition from the West Coast, even going so far as to ask for tighter cabotage enforcement of the "distant foreign port" requirements for foreign flagged ships.

What does all this mean? If you're wanting to cruise Hawaii, plan on booking early and paying more. Hear me, honeymooners? This means people wanting to celebrate significant anniversaries in the Islands, too. Plan NOW!

One other hint of good news, is that Colin Veitch, CEO of NCL, stated that they hope to rebuild the Hawaii cruise business to the point they can once again re-flag and re-introduce the Pride of Hawaii. He did tie this, however, to the strengthening of the cabotage regulations of foreign-flagged vessels and enforcing "distant foreign port" requirements, which has been strongly opposed by cruise lines not only plying Hawaiian waters but many other areas as well (and which we've discussed here previously).

Realistically? I'm not holding my breath for at least 2 years for any reintroduction of the Pride of Hawaii.