Cruise Ship Changes Ports on Big Island

Norwegian Cruise Line has changed the Big Island port for its weekly Norwegian Star cruises in Hawaii from Kona to Hilo, and last week it was considering whether to switch its Maui port from Lahaina to Kahului.

The problem in both cases is that the original ports require sometimes lengthy tendering of passengers to shore, said Andrew Stuart, NCL senior vice president of marketing and sales. The alternative ports have docking facilities for the 2,244-passenger ship.

Stuart also confirmed that the Star could not put passengers ashore on Fanning Island in Kiribati, 500 miles south of Hawaii, for two of the ship’s six sailings this season because of bad weather.

Under U.S. law, as a foreign-flagged vessel, the Star must include a foreign port on its itinerary.

Hawaiian Sen. Daniel Inouye last month said he might consider backing legislation to exempt Hawaii from the law, called the Jones Act, if foreign-flagged ships employ U.S. citizens as crews and follow other U.S. laws.

Norwegian is the only cruise line with weekly sailings in Hawaii since American Classic Voyages filed for Chapter 11 reorganization last year.