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-   -   Pride of America/Pride of Aloha update (not good) (http://www.travelbanter.com/showthread.php?t=23185)

Thomas Smith January 17th, 2004 09:27 PM

Pride of America/Pride of Aloha update (not good)
 
I found this press release from Norwegian Cruise Line and thought you might
find it interesting. It looks like Pride of America has been significantly
delayed


PRIDE OF AMERICA / PRIDE OF ALOHA UPDATES
Miami, January 16, 2004

Today, Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) announced the early introduction of the
new Pride of Aloha. The ship will take over the Pride of America's published
program of seven-day inter-island Hawai`i cruises, commencing July 4th of
this year.

It is still too early to know the new delivery date of Pride of America
following the January 14th incident at Lloyd Werft in Germany; however,
after two days of investigation it is now clear that there will be a
substantial delay - months rather than weeks.

"This unfortunate event has certainly challenged us and there is a great
deal to be done to ensure our passengers receive the vacation they have
planned in spite of what has happened," said Colin Veitch, president and CEO
of NCL. "While this is certainly a hurdle in the process, we will not be
deterred from launching our U.S. Flag operation this year and ensuring the
continued employment of the 1,000 plus U.S. seafarers who have already been
hired. Reversing the order of the two ships allows us to do this.

"We have been working closely with Senator Inouye since the incident and
have been greatly encouraged by his strong support for this realignment of
our plans. We are also grateful to Congressman Abercrombie for his active
engagement, as well as to the other members of the Hawai`i delegation,
Senator Akaka and Congressman Case. And the statement of support from
Governor Lingle's office reinforces for us the importance to Hawai`i of
introducing our U.S. Flag operations on schedule - albeit with a different
ship than we had first announced," Veitch added

Pride of Aloha, currently sailing as Norwegian Sky, will undergo a
multi-million dollar remodeling in May and be reflagged into the U.S.
registry to assume Pride of America's itinerary. The 2,000-passenger
state-of-the-art ship begins in early June in California and culminates with
an inaugural celebration and ship christening on July 4th in Hawai`i when
she will then begin seven-day inter-island Hawai`i cruises.

Guests booked on Pride of America will be rebooked on Pride of Aloha. Full
details will be announced next week.

The previously published itinerary of Pride of Aloha will be cancelled and
booked passengers will receive an attractive offer to move to the Pride of
Aloha's new schedule. When the new delivery date of Pride of America is
known, NCL will announce the combined deployment of the two NCL America
ships.

Norwegian Sky passengers booked in Alaska will be similarly accommodated
with full details available next week.

Although there is no further information at this time, we have established a
special phone number for inquiries at 1-800-456-3054.


# # #



--
Tom Smith
"The future is whatever you make it, so make it a good one!"




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