Maui resident Lolita Baybayan made a passenger bed yesterday on board the Pride of Aloha, which arrived at Pier 10 in Honolulu yesterday morning.
Cruise workers ready
for launch
Workers on the Pride of Aloha, Norwegian Cruise Line's first U.S.-flagged cruise ship, weren't on Hawaiian time yesterday as they unpacked boxes, polished the ship and got ready for the ship's christening and inaugural cruise tomorrow.
The hum of a vacuum cleaner and the crisp-popping sound of freshly laundered linens being tossed in the air to smooth wrinkles provided the background music for NCL's unofficial entry into Honolulu Harbor yesterday morning.
Minutes after passengers disembarked from Pride of Aloha's Hawaii repositioning cruise, employees began moving faster than a hula dancer's hips.
Worker Lolita Baybayan scurried to change vibrantly-colored bed linens on the ship's Viking deck. Chris Rosse and Nelly Calamayan of Hilo polished glasses and unpacked beverage boxes in the main kitchen.
Despite working long hours that stretch from sun-up to sun-down, James Deering, the ship's hotel director, strode into its gaily-decorated lobby ready to meet the challenge ahead. As one of the cruise ship's most senior officers, Deering must help pioneer NCL's efforts to expand its foreign-flagged cruise business in Hawaii into a U.S.-flagged operation.
The venture is challenging because hiring an all-American crew requires increased labor costs and more training, Deering said. Since international cruise lines don't hire Americans, there's a steep learning curve for the many Pride of Aloha employees who have never worked at sea, he said.
"Everybody's watching, especially our competition, to see if it will work," Deering said. "All of the past companies who tried this went bankrupt, and they're hoping the same thing will happen to us."
But none of the other companies -- including Deering's former employer American Classic Voyages Inc., which tried unsuccessfully to make a U.S.-flagged operation work in Hawaii -- have brought to the table the resources NCL can offer, Deering said.
"NCL is the third largest cruise line in the world," Deering said. "They have the right equipment, the resources and backing to make this work."
Pride of Aloha is the first new ocean-going ship in nearly 50 years to sail under the American flag. Following her christening tomorrow, Pride of Aloha will begin offering seven-night interisland cruises round trip from Honolulu. The ship will sail to Hilo and Kona, with overnight stays in Nawiliwili, Kauai, and in Kahului, Maui.
Pride of Aloha is the first of the three ships planned for NCL America's U.S.-flagged operation. NCL announced yesterday that the second ship, Pride of America, will be delivered next June. Dates for its inaugural deployment and its regular seven-day-interisland schedule will be announced next week, said spokeswoman Susan Robison.
Pride of America was supposed to be NCL's first U.S.-flagged cruise ship, but work was halted after the ship took on water in a January storm and sank at the German shipyard finishing the vessel.
Pride of Aloha crew members earn between $2,000 and $3,200 a month, in addition to free room and board. They typically work four months on, one month off, said Robert Kritzman, executive vice president and managing director of NCL America.
"We've got great people on board and I've been very pleased with their attitudes," Kritzman said, although he added the vessel has experienced about 25 percent staff turnover.
"It's quite daunting changing from a big international cruise ship to a big, American cruise ship," Deering said. "The last day off I had was Christmas, and I won't get another vacation until October. But I love this job."
