6/11/2023 0 Comments The surge 2 steam![]() Cruise ship passengers represented only 1.7% of the 9.2 million Hawaii visitor arrivals in 2022, down from 2.6% in 2019.īy visitors arriving by cruise ship in 2022 accounted for only 0.2% of the $19.3 billion in total visitor spending,Īccording to DBEDT data. In its Hawaii cruise update at the Hawaii Tourism Conference in December, HTA forecast 357,422 cruise passengers calling at Honolulu Harbor by the end of the year, and 300,081 in 2024, with fourth-quarter bookings still being placed.ĭespite the promising outlook, cruise travel remains a small segment of Hawaii tourism. The vessels range from Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Quantum of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas, both with capacity for 4,905 passengers, to French luxury brand Ponant’s 230-passenger Le Boreal. In October alone, a peak month for Hawaii cruising, the schedule shows 17 different ships calling at the Honolulu port. Over the next year, Hawaii will see several new and returning cruise lines, including luxury line Viking Cruises, which made itsįirst-ever port call in the islands in January and is due back for multiple visits in the fall and winter, according to, a website that tracks port schedules. NCL did not respond to a Honolulu Star-Advertiser request for an interview. “As for the Pride of America, she slowly ramped up capacity in 2022 to ensure consistent service” whileĮxperiencing workforce shortages similar to what other industries have faced, according to McKee. NCL resumed Hawaii cruising in April 2022. 9, 2022, when Princess Cruise Lines’ Grand Princess sailed into Honolulu Harbor from Los Angeles with 2,138 passengers and crew members aboard. Hawaii welcomed its first cruise ship in nearly two years on Jan. We usually get several different brands calling at least on their world cruises every year, and those have not happened, but they are coming back.” “What we have not seen up until this point in time is the international brands. They love Hawaii the demand for Hawaii is there,” McKee said. brands were quick to recover and have come straight back to Hawaii. “Cruises have returned strong,” said Shannon McKee, president of Access Cruise Inc., a Miami-based marketing consultant group contracted by the Hawaii Tourism Authority to represent Hawaii The first-quarter total of 73,671 cruise visitors surpassed the 70,513 passengers for the same period in pre-pandemic 2019, the data show, and spending by visitors who arrived by ship in the first quarter hit $19.6 million, up 52% from the same period in 2019. The surge in global cruise travel is evident in Hawaii, where 45,320 visitors arrived aboard 20 out-of-state cruise ships in the first quarter of 2023, and another 28,351 visitors flew in for Pride of America’s weekly sailing around the islands, according to preliminary data from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. They love the fact that there’s a pool on a boat and they get to eat ice cream whenever they want. Weeklong cruise include snorkeling and a luau, but so far the ship itself has been the highlight. “Her one bucket list that she wanted to do was go on a Hawaiian cruise with her grandkids, so we’re all here,” she said. Relaxing back on the ship was the kids’ grandmother, Tamme Cooper, 60, who has late-stage brain cancer and only a few months to live, according to Christina. The Cooper clan is sailing with a family group of 16 on their first cruise and their first visit to Hawaii. ![]() Shortly after pulling into the Maui port Sunday morning, Pride of America passengers Bradley and Christina Cooper, both 35, of Denver were enjoying the beach at Kahului Harbor with their four children. Results and record bookings, and Royal Caribbean Cruises saw its shares soar after raising its full-year profit forecast, according to Bloomberg News Service. Last week Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, whose Hawaii-based, 2,300-passenger Pride of America accounts for roughly 40% of cruise capacity in the islands, reported better-than-expected quarterly One reason is that cruise lines book itineraries one to three years in advance.Ĭruise lines are now reporting significantly higher booking volumes in the first three months of the year than at the start of 2019. In 2022 from pre-pandemic 2019 numbers, while overall visitorĪrrivals recovered almost 90%. With the easing of pandemic restrictions, cruise visitors to Hawaii rebounded only 57.5% Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “no sail” order in March 2020 shut down the cruise industry following COVID-19 outbreaks aboard ships. Tourists were still able to travel by air to Hawaii in 20 under state-mandated vaccination, testing and quarantine rules, but the U.S. The winds are shifting for Hawaii’s cruise ship trade as bookings catch up with pent-up demand for travel after the state went almost two years without a single sailing. ![]()
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