Norwegian Cruise Occupancy on Hawaii Cruises - Tropical Cyclone One NCL Pearl Bermuda Cruise
Norwegian Limiting Occupancy on Hawaii Cruises Due to Crew Levels
As crew shortages continues to impact cruise industry, Norwegian Cruise Line is limiting occupancy on Pride of America’s Hawaii sailings.
According to a statement issued by the company sent to booked guest, it was necessary to cancel some reservations for the ship’s upcoming voyages due to “current staffing levels” onboard.
“Although our great cruise comeback has been an exciting journey, it has not been an easy feat. Despite unexpected challenges, we have maintained our focus on delivering exceptional guest experiences. As such, due to recent staffing levels onboard Pride of America, we will be operating at a lower guest capacity to ensure we are able to deliver a high-caliber vacation experience,” the company explained in the letter.
Affected guests will automatically receive a full monetary refund to the form of payment provided at the time of reservation, Norwegian added.
In addition to the reimbursement, guests will also receive a Future Cruise Credit valued at 100 percent of the cruise’s original cost.
According to the statement, Norwegian will also cover any airline-imposed cancellation or change fees of up to $500 per person.
As the industry’s only U.S.-flagged large cruise ship, the Pride of America is manned by an all-American team, which, in normal conditions is composed by around 9000 crew members.
Taking advantage of its U.S. flag, the 2,100-guest vessel spends the entire year sailing in Hawaii, offering seven-night, inter-island cruises departing from Honolulu.
After a two-year hiatus, the ship resumed its regular cruise schedule on Apr. 9.
At the time, Norwegian advised passengers that the initial sailings would operate with reduced staff and limited dining facilities.
As a result, a few specialty restaurants were expected to be closed, while the Main Dining Room was set to open only for dinner.
Other cruise lines have also been facing crew shortages in recent months.
More recently, Carnival announced it was limiting dining options onboard its 23-ship fleet due to the “challenge of securing visas for cruise industry employees,” which is impacting the number of crew members on the vessels.
Norwegian Cruise Line modifies Pearl's itinerary due to “Tropical Cyclone One”
Norwegian Cruise Line announced it is modifying the itinerary of Norwegian Pearl and the vessel will spend a day at sea, instead of at Kings Wharf (Bermuda).
NCL is closely monitoring the development/path of the system – referred to as “Tropical Cyclone One” - forecasted to impact Bermuda on Monday, June 6.
The ship’s Captain informed passengers via the PA/public address system that she would depart Bermuda on Sunday, June 5, and depending on the weather situation would return on June 7.
“This is very important information pertaining to our port stay in Bermuda. Due to the forecasted track and timing of the potential tropic cyclone one in relation to Bermuda. Norwegian Pearl will not be able to remain alongside in Bermuda for Monday, June 6. We were advised from the corporate office in Miami to depart from Bermuda, tomorrow June 5th, at 6 pm and to spend a day at sea on June 6.
"We and our corporate office in Miami will be closely monitoring future weather situation to determine if we are able to return safely to the port on June 7, the morning. Ladies and gentlemen safety and security of the guest crew and ship is our ultimate task. Sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for understanding."
Norwegian Pearl departed Boston (Massachusetts) on June 3, and the original itinerary included a Bermuda overnight (June 5 to 7), before sailing back to the USA (Bar Harbor Maine) on June 9, and returning to Boston on June 10.
A tropical storm watch is in effect for the first storm of the year drifting towards the island, currently about 1,000 miles from Bermuda. Bermuda Weather Service put the forecast to be ~127 miles to the north-northwest of the island at noon on June 6, making it a potential threat.
According to the USA's Hurricane Centre, the storm has maximum sustained winds of 40 mph and moves northeast at 18 mph.
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