The Death of West Coast Cruises?

While the market for cruises in places like Australia, Europe, the United Arab Emirates, and Asia is rapidly expanding, there is an area very close to home for many North American cruisers that has seen a substantial decline in rapid years: West Coast cruises, be they to Alaska, Hawaii, or the Mexican Riviera.

Alaska's problems started back in 2006 when the state announced an initiative to introduce a Passenger Head Tax to the tune of $50 per passenger, per ship.  The state also stipulated that a licensed environmental officer, picked by the State of Alaska, should sail onboard each vessel to monitor environmental issues and waste management (no waste water, regardless of treatment, can be pumped overboard while in state waters.)

The environmental concerns were laudable.  What was less palatable to the cruise lines, however, was the tax itself - which would have to be passed on to the customer - as well as the requirement that a certain portion of revenue from onboard casinos be turned over to the state.  All the major lines heavily protested this tax, which nonetheless was passed into law, to almost overwhelming public support.  Alaska remains unique as a cruise destination in that a majority of citizens don't really want - or even like - the average cruise passenger. 

Once 2007 rolled around, state lawmakers and citizens patted themselves on the back: all ships present for the 2006 season would return for the summer 2007 season.  What they failed to realize is that itineraries and fleet deployments are planned years in advance.  In 2009, the first of the cuts were announced:  Royal Caribbean would pull Serenade of the Seas from Vancouver, deploying her year-round in the Caribbean instead.  Then NCL pulled Norwegian Sun out, moving her to Dover to do Baltic cruises for 2010-2011.  Princess eliminated one ship.  Carnival repositioned one ship. 

Even as recently as last spring, lawmakers and public supporters dug their heels in: no way were they giving in.  This time, though, public support was not as strong after revealing that the head tax was used not to expand port-related infrastructure, but to build a new zoo instead.

Hawaii has had it even worse.  Many cruise ships used to swing by Hawaii several times either on their way to or from Alaska, and at one time no less than three lines continually offered roundtrip cruises from Los Angeles or San Diego to Hawaii.

That all changed in 2004 with the launch of NCLA.  An off-shoot of Norwegian Cruise Line, NCLA received special support from both the Hawaiian and United States Governments to operate cruises roundtrip from Honolulu, including re-registering Norwegian Sky in the United States and renaming her Pride of Aloha.

Roundtrip Honolulu cruises have been rarely done because of an obscure little law called the Jones Act.  Passed in 1920, at what could be termed the height of the transatlantic and transpacific trades, the act was designed to limit the influence foreign vessels had over United States vessels operating in US waters.  The law also stipulated that, unless a ship was built in the United States, it could not sail from one US port to another without stopping in a 'distant foreign port.'

This is why Alaska cruises departing from Seattle stop for about five hours in Victoria, BC - to clear the Jones Act, which is still enforced today.  Bypassing that requirement nets cruise lines - and potentially passengers - a hefty fine.

The only way to do a roundtrip Honolulu cruise with a foreign-flagged ship (of which all cruise ships are) is to stop at distant Fanning Island - something NCL did with the Norwegian Wind prior to 2004, but which was unpredictable at best and increased the length of the cruise to 10 days.

So most lines relegated themselves to sailing LA to Hawaii, and calling - very, very briefly - in Ensenada, Mexico on the way back.

When NCLA received special support to re-flag one of their ships, the other lines cried foul.  And why not?  They weren't just allowed to re-flag a ship registered in the Bahamas and built in Europe, so how could NCL?

NCLA responded by turning the screws on their political connections, who came down hard on the lines: not only were they not allowed to compete in the same market directly, the US Government announced it would be reviewing the 'service calls' being made to Ensenada, Mexico.  Several Senators made motions to pass laws requiring the lines to not only spend time in a foreign port, but a full twenty-four hours.  This would make a 14-day Hawaiian cruise almost impossible.

What the United States may not have fully grasped at the time was that this would decimate the Seattle-to-Alaska runs by requiring ships to overnight for 24 hours in Victoria, and would severely impact Canada/New England cruises operating out of Boston and New York.  Still, in 2007 and 2008, they stuck to their guns.

And it worked.

Most lines realized they couldn't compete with NCLA's back-door approach, and despite the fact NCLA was suffering from monstrously negative reviews regarding service (or lack thereof) from the all-American crew, the other lines pulled out. 

Today, only Princess and Holland America operate regular roundtrip cruises from LA and San Diego to Hawaii.  A host of other lines do between one and two cruises per year - and some not at all - between Hawaii and Vancouver, or Hawaii and Ensenada, but the latter is relatively unpopular due to the hassle of getting from the nearest airport - San Diego - to Ensenada, about two hours away.

NCLA's strategy, ironically, may have worked too well - the market in Hawaii wasn't enough to sustain three full-time ships dedicated to basically the same itinerary.  In 2008, NCL pulled Pride of Hawaii out of service, renamed her Norwegian Jade, and repositioned her to the more lucrative Mediterranean.
Pride of Aloha was also pulled and reverted back to her previous name, Norwegian Sky.  She currently operates three and four day Bahamas runs from Miami.

Currently, Pride of America is the only ship NCLA has doing the Hawaiian run from Honolulu.

Which brings us to the Mexican Riviera.  The decline here has been slower, and has seen some boosts, like Royal Caribbean repositioning Mariner of the Seas to LA to operate year-round trips to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta - marking the first time a Voyager-class ship had even been to the West Coast, let alone operate from there.

Celebrity used to deploy one ship to the Mexican Riviera, which stopped after the 2006 season.  NCL, which used to operate longer runs on the Norwegian Star before reverting to the standard 7-day run in 2009, has announced that in 2011 it will move Norwegian Star to the Caribbean, where she will do cruises out of Tampa.

Curiously missing from the announcement is which ship will replace the Star on the West Coast.  In this omission can be found the answer.

Is West Coast cruising dead?  Not yet, but the options are far more few and far between than they were even five years ago.  For now, the majority of West Coast passengers who want to do something more than Alaska or Mexico will have to fly farther and longer to be able to do so.