I'd Like Some Maui, Please: Why Norwegian Cruise Line is All About Hawaii
October 13, 2005
A U.S.-registered cruise ship can do some things that foreign-flagged vessels (most of the "American" brands of cruise ships are actually registered with non-U.S. flags) cannot. Okay—U.S.-registered ships cannot offer gambling onboard. But they can take passengers on a round trip cruise from Maui without stopping in another port of call. Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of Aloha can give guests a total Hawaiian experience and nothing more, and that doesn't sound like such a gamble, does it?
Generally, the deal with cruises to Hawaii is that ships must stop at a foreign port of call before returning to the port from whence they came. That's because of the federal law, the Jones Act of 1917, which basically states that only foreign-flagged cruise ships arriving from foreign ports, or arriving from mainland ports which also include a stop in non-U.S. territory, would be permitted to anchor on U.S. soil.
That rule is easy to follow in areas of the globe such as the Caribbean, where hundreds of islands, not to mention South America, Central America, and Mexico, are only a stone's throw away from one another. But in Hawaii, where the closest foreign port is well over 1,000 miles away, having a foreign-flagged vessel poses a larger problem.
Therefore, most cruise lines have included a stop in Ensenada, Mexico as part of their Hawaiian itineraries. But not Norwegian Cruise Line; the Pride of Aloha, a ship registered right here in the good old U.S. of A. has recently begun offering weeklong inter-island cruises that originate and end at Kahului, Maui. And both Norwegian Cruise Line and its passengers are going ga-ga over it.
Robert Kritzman, the executive VP and managing director for Hawaii operations of Norwegian Cruise Line America, said the new service from Maui gives the company's passengers another option than what is normally offered on Hawaiian itineraries. "Maui is obviously a very popular destination," Kritzman said. "From what our travel agents say, there are a lot of customers who are interested in starting on Maui."
Maui is a great place to start and end a Norwegian Cruise Line Hawaiian cruise for many reasons. Nature lovers will love the island's animated and misty rainforests, cutting-edge mountain ranges, and the thousands of humpback whales migrate from Alaska to mate in the sheltered waters off the island's coast from December to April. Lahaina's Front Street will keep you happy with restaurants and shops, and Kahului—the port city where your cruise will begin and end—is the largest town on the island, offering big city fun with a Hawaiian flair.
Of course, Norwegian Cruise Line offers more options than the roundtrip Maui option. Choose Norwegian Cruise Line's 7-Day Honolulu Roundtrip Cruise on Pride of Hawaii (a ship that's on the way); the six-day Honolulu to Maui cruise on NCL's Pride of America; or the 10- or 11-day roundtrip cruise from Hawaii on Norwegian Wind. The latter NCL ship is a non-U.S. registered vessel that stops also visits Fanning Island, Republic of Kiribati.
It was only last weekend that the first passengers to take advantage of the new service boarded the Pride of Aloha. Isn't it time for you to do the same? Call Cruise Network to start planning your Hawaiian cruise. (Remember, if you want to see the whales from Alaska, which only come between December and May, you need to book your cruise now.)
