Comparing two Hawaii Cruises is like comparing Apples to Oranges

 

NCL Pride of America

Holland America Konigsdam

A common theme comes up in Facebook's NCL Pride of America 7 days in Hawaii group - why does this cruise cost so much and is the cruise worth what is charged for it?  As I see it, you get what you pay for with a Pride of America (POA) cruise.

To compare "apples to apples" as much as possible, I will compare two separate Hawaii cruises which will be cruising the islands at the same time in October 2024. One is a typical POA cruise out of Honolulu, and the other is a typical non-POA cruise from the mainland. However, I have chosen the only cruise from the mainland which includes 6 port days in Hawaii to give as a good comparison as possible.

Example:

10/05/24 - HAL Konigsdam cruise, Vancouver, BC roundtrip. (17 nights) Inside Cabin Fare: $1700/pp (Base) / $2799 /pp ("Have it All")                  Two days each on three islands: 
2- Oahu, 2- Hawaii (1 - Kona & 1 -Hilo), 2-Kauai.
vs.
10/12/24 - NCL Pride of America cruise, Honolulu, HI roundtrip. (7 nights)                  Inside Cabin Fare: $1849/pp (Both Base & "Free at Sea")
                 Two days each on three islands:  2- Oahu, 2- Hawaii (1 - Kona & 1 -Hilo), 2-Kauai.

The HAL cruise has to take an extra 10 days to cruise from the North American mainland over choppy seas to reach Hawaii then return to its home port. This is due to requirements imposed by the US Jones Act and the US Passenger Vessel Services Act. These acts require ships sailing solely between US ports be American built, flagged and staffed. The NCL cruise allows a person to bypass these extra sea days because it meets these requirements and it allows the cruiser to book extra land time in Hawaii - which is what I'd do on Oahu, so I could see sights on Hawaii's most populous island.. Additionally, on POA, one gets to spend 2 days in Maui, an island that the HAL cruise bypasses.

Unlike a foreign flagged ship, all American safety and labor laws apply on this ship. This explains (in part) why a 7-day cruise on POA costs more than a similar 7-day cruise on a foreign flagged ship sailing another route, such as in the Caribbean. Since POA also has to provision itself in Hawaii, all of its food, fuel, and other supplies cost more, as these goods must be shipped from the mainland (on American flagged ships) making them cost more than if they could be provisioned at mainland ports.

POA is an older ship, and is very well maintained for ships built in the mid '00s. It doesn't have a casino to subsidize cruise fares. It's a blessing not to walk through a smoke-filled casino to get to other parts of the ship. POA oozes America through its pores. (I won't go into many of the little details that justify this statement. People who have cruised on POA will understand this.) Unlike the ships coming from the mainland, POA should be treated as a floating hotel (with free meals). It is not a resort that floats from port to port. As such, POA provides good value for money spent. But it is not cheap. One is able to get a more Hawaii-intensive cruise on POA, especially when coupled with 2 or more land days before or after the cruise.

It may be cheaper for people to fly to Vancouver than to fly to Honolulu, but one will need a passport to do so. Even with more expensive airfare, I think two people could still have more Hawaii time for the extra $950/pp difference in the premium rates, if they were to take some of the savings to spend an extra 3 days in Honolulu and see the sights there. (10-Day POA Cruisetour anyone?) Please note that most cruises from mainland ports (San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego) are usually shorter and spend less time in Hawaii. Does it make sense to spend more time at sea than one would spend in Hawaii?

I have been called a very frugal person. Would I choose the POA cruise over one from the mainland? YES! YES! YES! Anyone taking the POA is making a trade-off, exchanging money for more Hawaii. Hopefully, I'll be able to go there again soon, this time with my girlfriend.

How we chose a future cruise (some guidance for new cruisers)

Although this is not the ship I will be cruising on, it is a ship that I would cruise on if it were to sail a route I wanted to be on from New York.  This post should help the novice cruiser in selecting a cruise by illustrating the decisions I would make in that selection process.

- - - - - -

Next year, I will be traveling to Norway with my partner.  This destination is on many peoples' bucket lists, as the Fjords are breathtakingly majestic.  We chose to take the cruise in 2024, as most of the scenic fjords will be off limits to conventionally powered cruise ships after the end of the year.  This left us with a lot of questions to be answered, and choices to be made.

Given that we already knew the main destination, Norway, we needed to prioritize things such as departure ports, ports being visited, cruise length, cruise line and ship  Many ships will be sailing the Fjords next year, so we decided which ports were musts and which ones were nice to visit.  For me, riding on the Flaam railroad was almost a must (I am a railroad junkie).  That limited cruise selection, ruling out a few cruise ships and itineraries.  Then, not having pets to worry about, we chose a 14 day vacation, with 12 days being on the cruise.  We could have sailed out of several European cities, London (Southampton) and Amsterdam being our top 2 choices.  The former was picked, as I have family in London.  This finally limited us to cruising on Princess, and not Holland America.

One might be asking, what other factors did we consider when cruising a cruise line, itinerary, and cabin type?  Well, I've sailed on NCL, Holland America (HAL), and Princess lines in the past, and I consider all of them when picking cruise lines.  MSC has a mixed reputation, especially on European cruises, and I didn't want to risk things on a once in a lifetime cruise opportunity.  Each cruise line (and ship) has unique Norwegian Fjord cruise itineraries, and with much of our time to be spent in the Fjords. a balcony cabin became an essential part of our requirements - we wanted to view things from the comfort of our own cabin.  Since all 3 cruise lines being considered have activities appropriate for seniors, I wasn't as concerned about life onboard ship as if I had been cruising with Carnival, Royal Caribbean,  or MSC.  (Royal tries to do everything on its ships, and I prefer older, smaller ships found on the 3 cruise lines I've sailed on before.)

You'll note that I ruled out MSC because of a lack of experience cruising the line in Europe.  I place a lot of value in the reviews of ships and cruise lines that I've read online.  Why is reading reviews and doing preliminary research so important?  Well, if I chose a cruise on price and cruise length alone, I might have chosen a different cruise.  At the time of  writing, the following were the lowest prices cruises being offered:

16 Days:  Jun 14, 2024 Southampton, England  Caribbean Princess  $1,394 pp
14 Days : Jun 15, 2024 Southampton, England  Sky Princess  $1,667 pp
14 Days:  Jun 29, 2024 Southampton, England  Sky Princess  $1,667 pp
16 Days:  Jun 09, 2024 Southampton, England  P&O / Arcadia  $1,777 pp
14 Days : Jun 17, 2024 Hamburg, Germany MSC Preziosa $1,909 pp
14 Days:  Jun 08, 2024 Rotterdam, Holland  HAL Rotterdam $1,979  pp


On the site where I extracted this list, the Princess and HAL ships were rated as 5 stars, the P&O ship was rated as 4 stars and the MSC ship as 3.5 stars.  The MSC ships often give the best prices, but it caters to a multilingual European audience. Entertainment on their ships is known to be abstract.  The P&O ship oozes British formality, and might feel a little too stuffy for an American cruiser.  That leaves Princess and HAL at the top of my list.  Given that Princess skews to a (slightly) younger demographic than HAL and offered a cruise both at a better price point and reached a port I wanted to visit, the Princess cruise won out.