Norwegian will need about 1,000 employees for each of the cruise ships. Unlike other large cruise vessels, the two Norwegian ships will be staffed by U.S. employees only.

Norwegian's booth at the Workforce 2003 job fair yesterday at the Neal Blaisdell Center attracted lots of job seekers — a positive sign, said Andy Stuart, Norwegian's senior vice president of marketing and sales.

"This is the very first step in the hiring process," Stuart said.

Norwegian is collecting résumés and information from job candidates; interviewing will start in the next few monthsCruise ship jobs differ from onshore jobs in hospitality. All crew members live and work on the ship and must have "physical strength, stamina and the ability to get along with others," according to Norwegian's Web site, www.ncl.com.

Most of the jobs are contracted positions, with varying months on board and time off. Norwegian must follow U.S. labor laws to crew the ships. Pay and hours for the jobs have not yet been determined, Stuart said.

The requirement that the entire crew be from the United States is part of legislation adopted this year. The law allows Norwegian to fly U.S. flags on three foreign-built ships and will not have to stop at a foreign port. But in negotiations with Norwegian on the measure, Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawai'i, said he insisted on the requirement for U.S. crews.

Norwegian has not yet said when its third ship will be completed and ready to sail.

The first ship, Pride of America, will begin sailing July 4, 2004, on seven-night interisland cruises from Honolulu.

The foreign-flag Norwegian Sky will be reflagged into the U.S. registry as the Pride of Aloha and will begin three- and four-day cruises in October 2004.

The three-day cruises will depart Friday evening, stop at Nawiliwili on Saturday and Kahului on Sunday, then arrive back in Honolulu on Monday morning. The four-day cruises will leave Monday evening, stop at Hilo, Kahului and Nawiliwili, returning to Honolulu on Friday morning.

Cruise passengers are often Mainland vacationers, but Norwegian is targeting a broader range of customers for the shorter cruises, including residents, Japanese tourists and corporate meeting and incentive program participants.

Stuart said there is a broad range of job candidates in Hawai'i who have worked in hotels and for American Classic Voyages, whose U.S.-flagged ships plied Hawai'i's waters until the company went bankrupt and shut down after the 9-11 attacks.

"We're very keen to hire as many people from Hawai'i as we possibly can," Stuart said. If the company can't find enough employees here, it will seek more on the Mainland.

Training for the jobs may involve short-term contracts aboard Norwegian's foreign flag ships. They include the Norwegian Star, which will sail in Hawai'i until April before it is sent to Seattle for Alaskan cruises, and the Norwegian Wind, which in May will be used for 10- and 11-day cruises stopping at Fanning Island in the Republic of Kiribati.

Training is also likely to involve local colleges and universities, Stuart said.

Norwegian may use employees aboard the two U.S.-flag ships in Hawai'i to help launch new U.S. crews aboard other U.S.-flag ships.

Norwegian announced earlier this year its purchase of two U.S.-built ships. Initial plans were to use them as U.S. flag ships for Mainland cruises that can stay within U.S. ports. However, Stuart said there are no fixed plans at the moment for the two ships.

Norwegian officials are also in town this week to meet with representatives from hotels, visitor attractions and other tourism businesses to coordinate vacation package sales and land excursions.

Officials from Norwegian also are working with local artists and arts and culture organizations such as Bishop Museum to plan the interior design and decor of the ships.