Posted at 12:49 p.m., Monday, April 16, 2007
NCL's Pride of Hawai'i to be renamed 'Norwegian Jade'
Advertiser Staff
It's official: Norwegian Cruise Line's "Pride of Hawai'i" will be renamed "Norwegian Jade" when it leaves the islands next year.Today's announcement from the company also confirms that the company will change the ship from a U.S.-flagged vessel to a foreign flag by registering it in the Bahamas.
The Miami-based company announced last week that it will remove the largest of its three ships homeported in Hawai'i next year in response to company losses that can be traced in large part to the Hawai'i operation.
The 2,466-passenger ship, which began cruising Hawaiian waters in June, will leave in February 2008 to help stem the company's losses here. Norwegian Cruise Line lost $116 million in the fourth quarter.
The growth in the cruise industry has been a bright spot for the tourism industry, which recently saw a dip in arrivals and a decline in hotel occupancy.
