Yo-Yo wrote: “How many tourist ports of call can handle a ship this size? Or will this just be an ‘out and back’ cruise ship where you just chug around the ocean for a week gambling in international waters?”
Out and back cruises are against the law. A cruise ship leaving a port in the US must stop at least one foreign port before returning to a US port.
Isn't this only for foreign-flagged vessels? And the same applies to foreign flagged cargo ships, as I recall.
I would imagine that this cruise ship is foreign flagged so you would be correct.
I remember in my youth growing up in the Detroit area that the Boblo Island ferries were Canadian flagged, and had to make a stop in Windsor, Ontario, between their stops in Detroit and Boblo Island. (Boblo was a huge amusement park, now gone.)
There's also a 'cruise casino' in New Port Richey, FL, that just goes out into the Gulf into international waters, floats around for a few hours, then returns to New Port Richey. It must be American flagged, however.
Out and back cruises are against the law. A cruise ship leaving a port in the US must stop at least one foreign port before returning to a US port.
Cruise ships built outside the US have to stop at a foreign port. But there are no cruise ships built in the US.
Except this one was partially built in Louisiana
MS Pride of America is a cruise ship operated by NCL America, a division of Norwegian Cruise Lines, to sail itineraries in the Hawaiian Islands.
A special exemption on the part of the U.S. government allowed the modified vessel and the mostly German-built Pride of Hawaii to attain U.S. registry since they had parts that were built in the United States (Pride of Aloha was also given an exemption, despite being completely built in Germany). Since Pride of America is registered in the U.S., she is subject to U.S. labor laws and is staffed by a mostly U.S. crew. This is in contrast to most other cruise ships, which are registered in flag of convenience countries and have mainly foreign crews. In addition, Pride of America has no casino onboard, because she never leaves U.S. waters. The U.S. registry allows the ship to travel solely between U.S. ports, unlike all other foreign flagged cruise ships that must abide by the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886.