Quote:
Originally posted by etinca:
With NCL pulling 2 of 3 ships out of Hawaii, do you think any other cruise line may attempt to put a ship over there now? Carnival is a natural fit I would think.
|
For the foreseeable future, after May 11, only the Pride of America will be left doing NCLA's 7 day all Hawaiian itineraries.
Carnival would be a good if they could flag a ship under the USA and sail a 7 day itinerary. But I don't think they will do that.
And that would means a long two week cruise to Hawaii from the West Coast, which isn't what Carnival does. What Carnival does now is a repositioning one-way cruises with one ship each Spring and Fall from California (actually Mexico) to Vancouver via Hawaii, just prior and after the Alaskan cruise season. Mexico to Honolulu, then Honolulu to Vancouver, and the reverse later in the year. That keeps the cruise to less than 14 days.
More likely, HAL, Princess, and Celebrity may schedule more Hawaii cruises, as longer cruises is what they do best.
But I don't think they'll do more soon. They would have to cancel the existing itinearies on ships being booked elsewhere to switch to a new Hawaiian itinerary, and that would make many booked customers angry.
It's also possible NCL will send the Sun to Hawaii, and sail 10-11 day itineraries to Fanning Island again. But the Sun is also committed until April 2009 on other itineraries.
This move will also cause problems for NCL, as that will take the Sun away from it's Alaskan and South American itineraries, with no ship to replace it. The Jade could return in 2009 or later, either as the Jade (with 10-11 day itineraries) or as the Pride of Hawaii (7 day itinerary).
Linear Mode
