April 2006 Archives

Senator Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) will serve as godfather to Norwegian Cruise Line America’s newest ship, the Pride of Hawaii.

NCL said the senator will give the keynote address and officially name the ship at its May 20 christening in Los Angeles.

The Pride of Hawaii is the third in a series of U.S.-flagged cruise ships that NCL America is sailing under the “Hawaii Cruise Ship Initiative” legislation, which was sponsored by Senator Inouye and passed by Congress in February 2003.

NCL CEO Colin Veitch called Inouye “the father of this project and its most steadfast supporter,” in a release.

“There can be no one more fitting than he to name our newest U.S.-flagged ship,” Veitch added.

“I have always believed in the potential of Hawaii as a major cruise destination and I am very pleased that, thanks to NCL, at last this has happened,” Inouye said in a release. “It will be my great pleasure to salute their efforts and to name this wonderful ship.”

Book your cruise now at Travel-Hawaii.

THE HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE Beach Resort & Spa in Waikiki has introduced airline check-in at hotel kiosks. With the new service, guests are able to print boarding passes for flights on 18 airlines. The program was introduced, system-wide on March 28.

Book a room at the village at Travel-Hawaii.

THE HILTON WAIKOLOA RESORT will host the Dolphin Days Summer fest from June 22 to 25. Events and activities include a focus on creative island cuisine (33 chefs are participating), dolphin encounters (the resort is home to the Dolphin Quest program), golf and tennis tournaments.

Reserve your room now at Travel-Hawaii.

Germany’s Meyer Werft shipyard delivered NCL America’s Pride of Hawaii today at a ceremony in the Dutch port of Eemshaven.

Colin Veitch, NCL president and CEO; Tan Sri Lim Kok Thay, Star Cruises chairman; and Bernard Meyer, managing partner of Meyer Werft, attended the ceremony.

NCL said in a statement that the ship would arrive in Baltimore by the end of this month, and after a series of inaugural events in San Francisco and Los Angeles in May, will begin sailing out of Hawaii June 5.

Meyer Werft said in a statement that it had changed the bearings in the ship’s pod system “as a measure of precaution.”

The Pride of Hawaii is the largest and most expensive U.S.-flagged passenger ship ever built, NCL said. The 2,400-passenger, 93,500-ton ship cost more than $500 million and will employ 1,000 crewmembers.

Two other NCL ships are currently under construction at the Meyer Werft yard. The Norwegian Pearl and the Norwegian Gem will be delivered end of 2006 and fall 2007, respectively.

By Allan Seiden

With Hawaii’s two long-established interisland airlines, Hawaiian and Aloha, having recently exited bankruptcy, their efforts at financial recovery are being made more challenging by a combination of circumstances playing out in the Hawaii marketplace.

High fuel costs have already eaten the savings generated by bankruptcy-generated employee concessions at a time when the interisland market continues to shrink, as direct flights link a growing number of mainland cities with individual islands, eliminating an interisland connection through Honolulu for many visitors.

For example, US Airways will operate daily service between Phoenix and Kauai, May 1 through Sept. 6.

Although Aloha and Hawaiian each have played a role in growing that market, recapturing some of their lost interisland passengers in the process, they now face additional competition from two sources: the established Island Air and a newcomer.

The newcomer is fast-growing and profitable, Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group, a potential low-cost spoiler in an interisland market that has long had a hard time proving profitable for just two carriers.

Over the years, other startups, such as Mahalo, Discovery and Mid-Pacific, have tried and failed, ultimately undone by the high cost of operating short flights and by fare wars that put market share above profitability.

Mesa’s new carrier is scheduled for a June 9 inaugural under the name Go. A full flight schedule of 31 daily roundtrips, aboard 50-passenger CRJ-200 jets, between Honolulu and Kona, Hilo, Lihue, and Kahului is planned by the end of the month.

Make your flight arrangements at Travel-Hawaii.

Work has begun on the Pacific Aviation Museum on Ford Island in Pearl Harbor. Hangar 37, which is being restored to its 1941 condition, will be the first part of the museum to be completed. While the museum will focus on the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941, during World War II, other Pacific conflicts will be covered. Displays on the museum’s 16-acre site will include vintage aircraft, with 17 already in the museum collection.

Visit Travel-Hawaii for your travel arrangements.

HILTON HAWAIIAN VILLAGE has officially opened its $6 million Ocean Crystal Chapel, which seats 70 people. Situated in a lush garden setting amidst cascading waterfalls and a lagoon, will provide an enchanting wedding experience. It can seat up to 70 guests and offers panoramic views through floor-to-ceiling glass windows from the second level. The first level will offer an inviting observatory-like glass entrance that leads into the wedding boutique where future brides and grooms will be able to meet privately with their wedding coordinator. Fronting the chapel and situated in a shallow lagoon is the wedding gazebo that can serve as an additional ceremony option or the picture-perfect location for photos.

Hilton Hawaiian Village