With thousands of cruise-ship passengers arriving at Nawiliwili Harbor on a regular basis, and each of them spending around $100 for every day ashore, it’s a no-brainer that the industry is good for the economy. The 2004 schedule of arrivals
With thousands of cruise-ship passengers arriving at Nawiliwili Harbor on a regular basis, and each of them spending around $100 for every day ashore, it’s a no-brainer that the industry is good for the economy.
The 2004 schedule of arrivals at Nawiliwili numbers around 180, but that includes a Norwegian Cruise Line ship under construction that was supposed to do three- and four-day interisland itineraries this year.
Those short cruises may have been canceled because of a storm, damage the storm did to the ship, and the attending delay in its completion.
While a published report indicates that due to the damage and delay in completion of the under-construction Pride of America, the three- and four-day cruises have been canceled, Nawiliwili Harbormaster Bob Crowell said yesterday the cruise line is still officially holding space at Nawiliwili for those shorter cruises.
“Right now, these vessels are holding dates,” Crowell said.
Norwegian Cruise Line officials could not be reached for comment yesterday. The Pride of America itinerary page on Norwegian Cruise Line’s Web site is under construction.
Even if the Pride of America shorter cruises are eventually officially canceled, the cruise-ship activity at Nawiliwili has been good for area businesses.
“The more that we have, the better,” said Greg Allen, owner of Harbor Mall in Nawiliwili. “It’s still more than we ever had before, so bring it on.”
If those shorter cruises do end up being canceled, impacts on local businesses should be fairly minimal, said one tourism official.
For those who had business connections with Norwegian for those three- and four-day interisland cruises, the decision not to sail those cruises will hurt, said Sue Kanoho, executive director of the Kaua‘i Visitors Bureau and chair of the island’s cruise ship committee.
“For the rest of us, the added ship will be good when it gets here,” she said.
What is known is that the Pride of Aloha, with an American flag and American crew, will begin overnighting at Nawiliwili in late June, bringing another 2,000 passengers and 1,000 crew here once a week.
The Pride of Aloha, formerly the Norwegian Sky, will first call on Nawiliwili on Wednesday, June 30, remaining overnight before leaving for Honolulu and Fourth of July fund-raising cruises before starting its regular itinerary that sees it overnight in Nawiliwili most Mondays beginning Monday, July 5.
It is scheduled to arrive Mondays at 7 a.m., and leave Tuesdays at 1 p.m. bound for Hilo on the Big Island.
The Pride of Aloha offers seven-day Hawai‘i cruises beginning at $799 per person, according to the Norwegian Cruise Line Web site, www.ncl.com.
The Norwegian Star, which calls on Nawiliwili each Saturday for the day, will be repositioned away from Hawai‘i after next month, to be replaced by the Norwegian Wind, which will offer 10- and 11-day Hawai‘i cruises with a stop at Fanning Island in between.
That Fanning stop is necessary because the Wind is not a U.S.-flagged vessel, and foreign vessels are prohibited by federal law from sailing exclusively between U.S. ports.
A Norwegian Cruise Line official announced last week that, due to damage to the vessel, the Norwegian Star has dropped the Fanning Island stop out of its Hawai‘i itinerary for the remainder of April.
It will still stop in Nawiliwili on Saturday, arriving at 8 a.m. and leaving at 6 p.m. It will enter dry-dock for repairs after its Sunday, May 2 arrival in Honolulu.
Nawiliwili Harbor can handle the number of scheduled cruise-ship arrivals this year, Crowell said. “Right now, as scheduled,” the harbor’s Pier 2, dedicated almost exclusively to cruise-ship traffic, can handle the activity, he said.
Primarily because of pier improvements accomplished over the last 10 years, Pier 2 is capable of accommodating even the 180 scheduled arrivals this year, he said.
Fuel barges and the sugar ship are the only vessels other than cruise ships to use Pier 2, and those other vessels are either loaded or unloaded at night, or are able to be handled around the cruise-ship sailings, he noted.
There have been inquiries from representatives of other cruise-ship companies wishing to come into Nawiliwili, but for the most part they understand that because Norwegian Cruise Line has booked most of the available pier time, there aren’t too many open dates available.
“We haven’t had to turn too many people away,” Crowell said.
Associate Editor Paul C. Curtis may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net.
