NCL America[SM] Freestyle Cruising[SM]: U.S.-flag brand marks first anniversary with a brand-new ship

Cruise Travel, July-August, 2005 by M.T. Schwartzman

NCL America has always struck a patriotic note: On July 4, 2004, the line inaugurated its first-ever cruises--seven-day inter-island sailings of Hawaii. Now it looks forward to introducing the 88,000-gross-register-ton/ 2,114-passenger Pride of America, roughly in time to mark the brand's first anniversary.

Getting there wasn't easy though. NCL America rose from the ashes of Project America, a plan by American Classic Voyages (former owners of American Hawaii Cruises and the Delta Queen Steamboat Company) to build the first U.S.-flag cruise ships in 50 years. Two vessels were envisioned for Project America. Both would be built at the Ingalls Shipyard in Mississippi. However, after the events of 9/11, that plan collapsed in bankruptcy.

Like a knight in shining armor, Norwegian Cruise Line swooped in to save the project: In August 2002 it purchased the partially completed hull of the first Project America ship plus all the materials and equipment for the second vessel. Everything was towed to Lloyd Werft shipyard of Bremerhaven, Germany, for completion.

Having acquired the ships for its U.S.-flag operation, NCL announced in May 2003 that the vessels would sail under a new brand, NCL America. This move gave the parent company, Singapore-based Star Cruises, three brands to market in the U.S. In addition to NCL America, it owned the foreign-flag ships of Norwegian Cruise Line proper and the 850-passenger Marco Polo of sister-company Orient Lines. Furthermore, the creation of NCL America firmly established Star Cruises as one of the top three international cruise companies, with U.S. offices in Miami and Honolulu.

Meanwhile back in Germany, construction was delayed yet again. In January 2004 the nearly completed Project America 1 ship (now named Pride of America) took on substantial amounts of water during a storm and sank up to deck three. The hull was subsequently salvaged and repaired, but as they say, the damage was done: NCL was forced to postpone the introduction of the Pride of America and speed up the timetable for its second ship, the Pride of Aloha.

In May of 2004, the 1999-built Norwegian Sky entered a drydock in San Francisco. Under the terms of the Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2003, NCL was allowed to re-flag one existing cruise liner for inter-island Hawaii service. Otherwise, the Norwegian Sky would not have qualified for American registry, which among other things requires that such a ship must have been built in the United States.

A complete refit readied the Norwegian Sky/Pride of Aloha for deployment in the 50th state, and on June 7, 2004, the ship raised the Stars & Stripes and set sail as the first modern American cruise liner in five decades--reviving a U.S.-flag passenger shipping industry that had been dormant since 2001. Inside and out, the cruise liner said, "Welcome to the Aloha State." The hull was festooned with a multi-colored lei in hues of yellow, pink, and green. Within, an island ambiance was intended to evoke "a vibrant and colorful world of flora, fauna, and water-inspired details," according to the ship's designers. Hawaiian culture was on display throughout, especially in the ship's Kumu Cultural Center, a combination business center, gathering place, and minimuseum.

However, not all was smooth sailing, as the 77,000-grt/2,000-pax Pride of Aloha experienced serious growing pains during her inaugural season. Launching U.S.-flag, inter-island Hawaii service was much more complicated than most new deployments. Operating under the U.S.-flag brought certain benefits--such as the right to sail solely within U.S. waters and spend up to 96 hours in port--and certain obligations--like the requirement that NCL employ an American crew.

Finding and retaining qualified people presented an unusual challenge, concedes NCL America president and CEO Colin Veitch. Inaugural sailings of the Pride of Aloha were besieged by passenger complaints about the crew, he acknowledges, as the shake-down lasted longer than usual. "It was clear from the beginning we had an enthusiastic crew that was learning as they went along," he says. "On top of that, we had a lot of turnover--people who tried it for a few weeks and then quit on us."

In the year that's past, however, NCL America has turned a negative into a positive, Veitch reports. "The situation is 180 degrees different than when we kicked off in July of last year. The highest passenger satisfaction ratings we get are for the hospitality and friendliness of our crew." Unlike last year, when the company started from scratch to man its first ship, staffing should be easier going forward, Veitch adds. "We now have a pool to draw from--on Pride of America we'll take about a third of the crew from Pride of Aloha. Having a crew of several hundred people who have experience will make all the difference. So we'll take the most experienced and the best people and create a new crew, as we do on the rest of the [NCL] fleet," he says.

A cranky crew wasn't the only problem facing the start-up operation: A mandatory, unadjustable $10 per-person/per-day service charge also rankled many passengers. "There was contusion," Veitch candidly admits, "and it was a bit self-inflicted." Due to the outcry, NCL America offered refunds, and for a time temporarily suspended the service charge. "We didn't feel it was appropriate to charge a service charge when there was negative feedback," Veitch explains. Since then, the company has instituted an adjustable autoposting system for tips, similar to what's found on most other ships.