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Norwegian to base A foreign-owned cruise line will base a 1,960-passenger luxury liner in Honolulu Harbor late next year, offering seven-day cruises that stop at the Big Island, Maui and Kauai and go on out to Fanning Island.
cruise ship in isles
The 1,960-passenger luxury
liner will begin seven-day
voyages on Dec. 16, 2001By Russ Lynch
Star-BulletinFanning, in the Republic of Kiribati, is about 1,200 miles south of Honolulu.
Norwegian Cruise Line said it will take delivery of the SuperStar Leo in December 2001, from its parent Star Cruises, and begin the first of its seven-day voyages on Dec. 16 next year.
The ship's weekly schedule calls for it to spend Sunday in Honolulu, Monday at Kona, Tuesday at sea, Wednesday at Fanning, Thursday at sea, Friday at Lahaina and Saturday at Nawiliwili, Kauai, a spokeswoman said.
The stop at Fanning is necessary because U.S. law does not permit foreign vessels to carry passengers to U.S. ports unless they are connecting with a foreign port. Miami-based Norwegian Cruise Lines already uses Fanning for that purpose, running 10- and 11-day cruises from Hawaii to Fanning and back to Hawaii, but the ships are not based in Hawaii. They cruise Alaska out of Vancouver, Canada, and then sail without passengers to Honolulu to start the island cruises.
A typical voyage under that system is set to leave Honolulu Oct. 19. The 1,750-passenger Norwegian Wind will go first to the Big Island then spend two days at sea, stop at Fanning for eight hours, spend another two days at sea and return to the Big Island. Then it will stop at Maui and Kauai before returning to Honolulu.
Kiribati, an independent republic since 1979, has been promoting Fanning, south of Palmyra Island, as a cruise destination.
American Classic Voyages Co., which cruises Hawaiian waters under the American Hawaii Cruises brand and plans to base two new 1,900-passenger American-built liners in the islands under its United States Lines, said it has yet to see the planned itinerary for the SuperStar Leo.
"It's good to hear that Norwegian Cruise Lines shares our enthusiasm for Hawaii as a cruise destination," Philip C. Calian, American Classic Voyages chief executive officer, said today.
American Classic, which operates the 1,000-passenger SS Independence in Hawaiian waters, will bring in a refurbished foreign-built ship, the 1,200-passenger ms Patriot, into service in the islands in December of this year, under the United States Lines brand.
The company won a Jones Act exemption to do that because it is spending close to $1 billion on two U.S.-built ships to ply Hawaiian waters. The company expects to take delivery of the first ship in early 2003 and the second in 2004.
Hawaii is an increasingly popular destination for cruise ships and this year had some 50 visits by foreign liners scheduled. In a news statement issued yesterday, Norwegian Cruise Line said the decision to base the 76,800-ton $350 million SuperStar Leo in Hawaii will have "a tremendous impact" on the Hawaii cruise market.
"There is no doubt that Hawaii is one of the most attractive destinations anywhere in the world," said Colin Veitch, president and chief executive officer of Miami-based NCL.
"Yet it is also a market that has not previously had a modern cruise offering available and consequently it has not really developed as a cruise destination," Veitch said.
Star Cruises Group, which has its operating headquarters in Malaysia, runs 11 ships under the Star Cruises brand, seven as Norwegian Cruise Line and two as Orient Line.
SuperStar Leo was launched early last year and has been operating out of Hong Kong.
Star Cruises Group acquired Norwegian Cruise Line earlier this year, making it the fourth-largest ocean cruise operator in the world. The company has three new ships on order and by the end of 2002 will offer a total of about 28,000 berths.