[ 10-22-2007: Message edited by: Jamaica Jeff ]

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Originally posted by Jamaica Jeff:
With all the talk of its demise, why does NCLA not mix up its cruises and base a ship out of L.A. or San Diego and do longer cruises like the ones Princess offers? And could they not send the ships to Alaska in the summer?

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Alaska, the Caribbean and any U.S. Coastwise trade are expressly prohibited.

Unfortunately, that means that NCLA is pretty much locked into the Hawaiian Island trades and this is the reason they wanted the SS US as she COULD undertake any of the other routes.

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Originally posted by Jamaica Jeff:
OK so Alaska is out, but can,t they do Hawaii from Southern Cal, or S.F.? Still Hawaii and still U.S. ports.

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
Anyhow, why would someone choose one of these for, say, an LA-Hawaii cruise? Just to avoid the short "technical stop" in Ensenada? I imagine most people would rather take a "regular" ship.

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They would be able to do a one-way rather than the required round trip. Useful for those living in Hawaii for vacations to the US and for those wishing to maybe spend time on the islands without having to fly.

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
Unfortunately, that means that NCLA is pretty much locked into the Hawaiian Island trades and this is the reason they wanted the SS US as she COULD undertake any of the other routes.

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You have confused me now Tim. Can't regular NCL ships cruise from LA to Hawaii as Princess etc. do? What coulkd the SS United States do they NCLA ships could not?

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Originally posted by dougnewman:

I'm sure Tim knows better but I don't think the ships are allowed to call at any ports outside Hawaii, and certainly not to start and end cruises there.

Anyhow, why would someone choose one of these for, say, an LA-Hawaii cruise? Just to avoid the short "technical stop" in Ensenada? I imagine most people would rather take a "regular" ship.

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Doug,

IIRC, I did the math once and each ship could do @ one round-trip Hawaii-Cali sailing each quarter without violating the exemptions.

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

You have confused me now Tim. Can't regular NCL ships cruise from LA to Hawaii as Princess etc. do? What coulkd the SS United States do they NCLA ships could not?

So is the NCLA 'dream' nearly over?

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Malcolm,

yes they can, but those Hawaii voyages from the west coast are expensive to operate because of the vast amount of fuel required as the ships spend 10 out of 15 days cruising at close to maximum speed.

With the cost of fuel approaching $500/metric ton, I think you'll see the offering of those voyages by the likes of Princess, HAL and Celebrity being scaled back.

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
With the cost of fuel approaching $500/metric ton, I think you'll see the offering of those voyages by the likes of Princess, HAL and Celebrity being scaled back.

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..which reduces NCLA's competition, would it not.

Tim, I'm still not clear what the SS United States role might have been.

For a Brit, taking a long haul to LA, then another expensive flight to Hawaii for an NCLA cruise, would cost more than the cruise itself. I like the idea of cruing from the US mainland.

So is NCLA on it's last legs?

[ 10-23-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:

..which reduces NCLA's competition, would it not.

Tim, I'm still not clear what the SS United States role might have been.

For a Brit, taking a long haul to LA, then another expensive flight to Hawaii for an NCLA cruise, would cost more than the cruise itself. I like the idea of cruing from the US mainland.

So is NCLA on it's last legs?

[ 10-23-2007: Message edited by: Malcolm @ cruisepage ]

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Malcom,

As I understand it the current NCLA ships in Hawaii are required to stay there however the SSUS and Indy are not bound by that in the exemption they recieved. Here is a link if you want to read the exemption

http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d04421.pdf

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Originally posted by PamM:
They would be able to do a one-way rather than the required round trip. Useful for those living in Hawaii for vacations to the US and for those wishing to maybe spend time on the islands without having to fly.

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(Rather a pity, though, that nobody does a passenger-cargo service to Hawaii, don't you think? What with all the container traffic that goes between the US and Hawaii, it's too bad the ships don't carry passengers. At least as far as I know none do, anyway.)

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
Can't regular NCL ships cruise from LA to Hawaii as Princess etc. do?

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
What coulkd the SS United States do they NCLA ships could not?

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Originally posted by Malcolm @ cruisepage:
So is the NCLA 'dream' nearly over?

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Originally posted by Tim in 'Lauderdale:
IIRC, I did the math once and each ship could do @ one round-trip Hawaii-Cali sailing each quarter without violating the exemptions.

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
(Rather a pity, though, that nobody does a passenger-cargo service to Hawaii, don't you think? What with all the container traffic that goes between the US and Hawaii, it's too bad the ships don't carry passengers. At least as far as I know none do, anyway.)

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Since they are of US registry if they did have a few passenger cabins onboard I assume they could transport passengers between point A and B.

I am only a novice, but why doesn't NCL just position a ship at Hawaii year round and do their 10 night/11 night Hawaiian island cruises which include Kiribati? We have done this cruise twice and it is a great cruise. Not only do you see all the islands but you also have 4 days at sea and don't forget Kiribati - a beautiful unspoilt island that will probably disappear because of global warming.

Pam

[ 10-23-2007: Message edited by: PamM ]

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Originally posted by PamM:
Some people moaned and groaned endlessly about the required side trip to Fanning Island, with the 'boring' sea days

Pam

[ 10-23-2007: Message edited by: PamM ]

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Originally posted by timb:
[QB]Here is a link if you want to read the exemption

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Originally posted by mike sa:
I recall that PO America will continue to do the 7 day round trip next year after PO Hawaii is moved to Europe, PO Aloha will then do 10 and 11 day sialings including the trip out to Kirimbati.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
I wonder if NCLA will be down to one ship as America-Hawaii was after the retirement of Constitution back in 1995?

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
I wonder if NCLA will be down to one ship as America-Hawaii was after the retirement of Constitution back in 1995?

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I recall that many of us cruise-talkers were surprised that NCLA could fill three reasonably large ships week in week out. Obviously they can't now.