It's only been a week since I reported that NCL America's Hawaii fleet had officially shrunk to two ships. So, imagine my surprise when a late-in-the-day press release arrived in my email box yesterday announcing that one of the two remaining fleetmates--Pride of Aloha--is also withdrawing from the line's Hawaiian island service on May 11, 2008.
Yesterday's press release emphasizes NCL's major fleet-wide Freestyle 2.0 initiative, featuring significant product and hardware upgrades to its modern fleet, including Pride of America--the only NCL America ship set to remain in Hawaii service. The release also calls the transfer of Pride of Hawaii to NCL’s European deployment a "temporary" move. While I have no insight into how temporary it will be, it took an act of Congress to flag the three foreign-built vessels under the US flag in order to offer Hawaii inter-island cruises. Any attempt to return the newly re-named Norwegian Jade under the stars and stripes could encounter some pretty steep obstacles.
For passengers booked on Pride of Aloha from May 11, 2008 and beyond, NCL is holding space and will offer the same cruise fare as they currently have paid on their Pride of Aloha cruise if they would like to transfer to the same week on Pride of America, departing one day earlier. For additional details, read the entire press release at Cruise Diva's Cruise News.
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