ASSOCIATED PRESS Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America ship, seen here in Bremerhaven, Germany, will begin interisland cruises next month.

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With new ship,
Norwegian looks to
avoid familiar shoals

When Pride of America starts
Hawaii cruises, the problems
of last year will be top of mind

A month before it doubles its Hawaii capacity, Norwegian Cruise Line is working to keep its newest ship, Pride of America, from the choppy waters that buffeted its entry to interisland cruises last year.

New ship< » Pride of America will visit all four main islands in one weeklong itinerary. » Passengers will spend up to 100 hours in port, more than any other cruise line sailing the islands. » The seven-day cruises from Honolulu, which begin July 23, will feature a day in Hilo, Hawaii; two days in Kahului, Maui; a day in Kona, Hawaii; and two days in Nawiliwili, Kauai.

Norwegian launched Pride of Aloha as a U.S.-flagged vessel capable of interisland cruises without the necessity of visiting a foreign port. The entry generated ample publicity, but the ship was immediately beset with complaints about service and high staff turnover.

A class-action lawsuit accused Norwegian's Hawaii staff of reusing fruit garnishes, suggesting passengers cut up bath towels to make hand towels and using unlined garbage cans for ice in drinks.

A year's worth of mistakes and lessons learned should keep start-up difficulties to a minimum this time, Norwegian said.

"We're pretty confident that the introduction of this ship is going to go well," said Robert Kritzman, executive vice president and managing director of Hawaii operations for Norwegian subsidiary NCL America.

In preparation for Pride of America's launch, NCL America has stepped up recruitment and training and has filled one-third of the new vessel with employees who already have worked aboard Pride of Aloha, Kritzman said.

And, just to hedge its bets, the company has overstaffed the new ship, he said.

"The annualized turnover rate for Pride of Aloha was more than 50 percent during the first couple of months," Kritzman said. The turnover rate now hovers between 30 and 40 percent, he said.

The company launched Pride of Aloha with about 850 crew members but now has 2,200 employees split between the two cruise ships, he said.

While the extra preparation has sent labor costs soaring, Norwegian's revenues are beating expectations, he said.

"We think once we have multiple ships in place that we'll have more of an opportunity to streamline and cut costs," he said.

The company plans to add a third ship, Pride of Hawaii, to its interisland itinerary in 2007.

Complaints about Norwegian's Hawaii cruises have dwindled, said Danny Ching, president of Non-Stop Travel, Norwegian Cruise Line's largest cruise agent in Hawaii.

"Customer satisfaction from October until now has been very good to excellent," Ching said.

Ching, who just returned from an overnight trip on Pride of America in Germany, said he has high expectations for the ship.

"I'm not worried about recommending Pride of Aloha or Pride of America," Ching said. "The quality and service level seems to be on par with other cruise ships."

While bookings on Pride of America got off to a slow start, due to fears the vessel might be plagued with the kinds of problems that surfaced in Pride of Aloha's early days, reservations have picked up, Kritzman said.

"We are pleased to see that demand and revenues have stayed strong with the introduction of a second ship," Kritzman said, adding Pride of America will make her first run at full capacity.

Heli USA Airways in Kauai expects the arrival of the second ship to boost business by 60 percent, said Erv Contrades, operations manager for the 50-person company, which flies four helicopters.

The helicopter tour company expects to add an additional craft in the next two weeks due to the higher passenger volume.

"We're expecting to fly between 500 and 600 NCL passengers a week once Pride of America starts up," Contrades said. "With Pride of America, our NCL contract is worth $2 million on an annualized basis."

When Pride of Aloha entered the Hawaii market last year, business doubled, Contrades said.

Richard Jasper, owner of JJ's Broiler and the Anchor Cove Shopping Center on Kauai, said business increased on Mondays and Tuesdays as a result of Pride of Aloha's presence into Nawiliwili. Now that Pride of America is scheduled to come into port on Thursdays and Fridays, he expects business will grow again.

"On cruise ship days we already have about 25 to 40 percent more business at the restaurant and about 40 to 50 percent more business at the shopping center," Jasper said. He said he's created 12 new positions at JJ's to handle cruise ship customers and sees Anchor Cove tenants expanding as well.

"We don't have a Lahaina on Kauai, but on cruise ship days it sure looks like one," he said.

The additional port stops Pride of America will bring to Kauai and other ports of call will make it easier for business owners to schedule staff and increase profits, Jasper said.

"Now we'll have cruise ships in port four or five days out of every week," he said. "That's much better for planning."