Hawaii is such a popular tropical holiday destination, it has everything, palm trees beautiful beaches, waves, laid back lifestyle and so much more so what s wrong with the Hawaiian cruise industry and where is it headed? The big news is that NCL have now reported that a second of their 3 ships offering Hawaiian cruises, the pride of aloha will be relocated to the more lucrative driving rental cars to canada European Market by summer 2008.
Possible changes to the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) could force international cruise lines out of Hawaii. We will try and explain all of the latest driving rental cars to canada development in the Hawaiian cruise industry in an easy to understand format. Changes to PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act) US Customs and Border Protection have put forward a proposal to amend the PVSA (Passenger Vessel Services Act), which will have a huge impact International driving rental cars to canada cruise ships operating Hawaiian cruises (which is the majority!). Currently the PVSA forces all foreign-flagged ships taking passengers from one US destination to another to make at least one stop at an international port. Because driving rental cars to canada the Hawaiian Island ports are all part of the US it means that international cruise ships must make a necessary stop an international port, which generally is at Ensenada Mexico. The proposed changes to the PVSA will now force foreign flagged cruise ships to dock at an international port for at least 48 hours and that the time spent at the international port is at least 50 percent of the cruise. This has a huge impact on the Hawaiian cruise industry because the international cruise lines would struggle to take passengers to all the popular Hawaiian Ports. Popular Hawaiian cruise lines such as royal Caribbean cruises, princess cruises and carnival cruises would almost be forced out of the market.
Why don t International Cruise Lines just extend their cruise? Currently the most popular Hawaiian cruises are around 10 days, which is enough time for international cruise ships to make the necessary international stop and see all of the ports in the Hawaiian Islands. With the changes to the PVSA the international ships would need to adopt at least a 14 day cruise to operate a dedicated circle Hawaiian cruise Itinerary and the forced driving rental cars to canada international stop (being at least 50% of the time of the cruise). Now the problem with that is the Hawaiian driving rental cars to canada Cruise market is most popular with short term cruisers looking to take a week or so off. The market for longer cruises in Hawaii is not big enough to warrant the cruise lines to extend their cruises and the extra operating costs would not be worth it.
I hear what you saying; why not take the NCLA 7 day cruise? NCLA are one of the only cruise lines to offer such a short cruise because they are the only US-flagged ship operating a dedicated Hawaiian Cruise and therefore able to travel within the US without the restrictions set upon the foreign flagged ships.The problem is by summer 2008 they will have withdrawn 2 of their 3 ships servicing Hawaiian cruises.
Why is NCLA relocating their ships? Because they operate a US flagged ship, their operating costs are much higher. Firstly they are subject to US labor laws and forced to employ US citizens, which demand a much higher wage then citizens of developing countries. Secondly they are forbidden under US law to operate an onboard casinos and are forced to charge sales taxes for all product sold therefore reducing revenue and profit margins. So really NCLA must work harder to make more. These effects flow on to the consumer either through the price of cruise tickets, goods onboard driving rental cars to canada or through downgraded services and features. You will find that NCL s international ships have many more features, staff and services due to their lower operating costs. NCLA just can t afford to offer everything due to the increased operating costs forced upon them by the US Government. In summary there are more lucrative markets for NCL to operate in, without the US Law restrictions, therefore increasing their profit margins. Operating costs and lack luster bookings are forcing NCL to tap into these other more lucrative markets.
What will we see in the near future? If the changes to the PVSA pass I think in the near future international cruise lines may remove dedicated Hawaiian cruise itineraries from their cruise offerings, instead opting to only pass through Hawaii for 2-3 days on other cruise routes. With NCL only operating one ship in the Hawaiian Islands and international cruise operators possibly removing Hawaii driving rental cars to canada as a dedicated cruise driving rental cars to canada destination it may appear that there is a whole in the market. But I highly doubt that any other cruise lines will be rushing to fill it by operating a US-flagged ship for a Hawaiian Cruise. Operating costs are just too high and US laws very strict. There are just too many other more lucrative markets for the cruise lines at the moment. Many of the international cruise lines would not be willing to downgrade their services driving rental cars to canada to make a Hawaiian Cruise work because they would not want lower their image.
Bookings are down on NCL Hawaiian cruises, because they are unable to provide the upgraded features and services driving rental cars to canada seen on many of its fleet. The Pride of Aloha was recently skipped on the new NCL Freestyle 2.0 upgrade, as it was seen unworthy. Although travelers want to see Hawaii, at the same time, they are going on a cruise as well, and a lot of time is spent at sea. When they see all the other tropical island cruise possibilities in the world and the features on some of the ships out there compared to NCL, other cruises may seem more inviting.
There would need to be some sort of allowance or change in US Laws to re-energize driving rental cars to canada the Hawaiian Cruise Industry, because there are just too many restrictions in place forcing many cruise lines to boycott the area. Hopefully in the future there may be some sort of exceptions for cruises in the Hawaiian region but that s all in the US Governments hands. It seems a shame that such a beautiful part of the world, which is popular with tourists can t have a successful cruise driving rental cars to canada industry.
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