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.
Steven Scharf wrote: “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.”
Yes, you’re correct and your comments are consistent with mine.
NCL originally had or planned to have three US flagged ships. There are reports (which I’ve not been able to confirm) that NCL planned on advertising these to US unions in an attempt to corner the cruise market for union members. Didn’t work out due to having to pay union scale. Also reports of quality of service.
However, the Hawaiian Islands are a unique situation. If you wanted to sail to Hawaii it would involve maybe five sea days. By being US flagged Pride can offer Hawaiian cruises without the sea days.