NCL AMERICA!!!

I THINK NCL SHOULD HAVE ONLY STARTED THEIR NCL AMERICA DIVISION WITH TWO
OF THEIR SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. THEY SHOULD HAVE PUT THE NCL DREAM AND NCL
WIND IN HAWAII. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SMALLER AND THEY COULD HAVE CHARGED
HIGHER CRUISE PRICES. NCL SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE PRIDE OF HAWAII, PRIDE OF
AMERICA, AND PRIDE OF ALOHA UNDER THEIR NCL DIVISION AND STARTED WITH
THE SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. ALSO, THEY COULD HAVE WENT REALLY SMALL WITH
THE NCL CROWN AND NCL MAJESTY. WHAT DO YOU THINK??

"PETE" wrote in message
...
I THINK NCL SHOULD HAVE ONLY STARTED THEIR NCL AMERICA DIVISION WITH TWO
OF THEIR SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. THEY SHOULD HAVE PUT THE NCL DREAM AND NCL
WIND IN HAWAII. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SMALLER AND THEY COULD HAVE CHARGED
HIGHER CRUISE PRICES. NCL SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE PRIDE OF HAWAII, PRIDE OF
AMERICA, AND PRIDE OF ALOHA UNDER THEIR NCL DIVISION AND STARTED WITH
THE SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. ALSO, THEY COULD HAVE WENT REALLY SMALL WITH
THE NCL CROWN AND NCL MAJESTY. WHAT DO YOU THINK??


In order for NCL to get a legal monopoly on the Hawaii trade, they had to
use ships that were "made in the USA" with American crews in order to comply
with an outdated, obsolete law called the Passenger Services Act which I
think was ratified in 1066 by William the Conqueror and adopted as part of
the Mayflower Compact. Dream and Wind didn't fit the bill. NCL bought a
partially built hull here in the US (that the US government helped pay for),
floated it to Europe to have it finished, paid off a Senator or two and
voila, they were in business.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

"PETE" wrote in message
...
I THINK NCL SHOULD HAVE ONLY STARTED THEIR NCL AMERICA DIVISION WITH TWO
OF THEIR SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. THEY SHOULD HAVE PUT THE NCL DREAM AND NCL
WIND IN HAWAII. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SMALLER AND THEY COULD HAVE CHARGED
HIGHER CRUISE PRICES. NCL SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE PRIDE OF HAWAII, PRIDE OF
AMERICA, AND PRIDE OF ALOHA UNDER THEIR NCL DIVISION AND STARTED WITH
THE SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. ALSO, THEY COULD HAVE WENT REALLY SMALL WITH
THE NCL CROWN AND NCL MAJESTY. WHAT DO YOU THINK??


I believe you shouldn't yell. Is the Caps key stuck on your computer's
keyboard?

"PETE" wrote in message
...
I THINK NCL SHOULD HAVE ONLY STARTED THEIR NCL AMERICA DIVISION WITH TWO
OF THEIR SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. more upper case snipped

Don't shout.
--

JohnT

"Neal Eckhardt" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 07:17:58 -0600, "George Leppla"
wrote:

NCL bought a
partially built hull here in the US (that the US government helped pay
for),
floated it to Europe to have it finished, paid off a Senator or two and
voila, they were in business.

WOW! I had no idea that it was that simple to start a cruise line.

It is easy when the Gub'mint helps.

Once upon a time there was a company called "American Classic Voyages" who
got about $50 bazillion US taxpayer dollars to build a cruise ship here in
the US. They also got a couple more bazillions from the State of Florida to
move their headquarters to Florida.

Of course, with all that gub'mint help, bankruptcy was almost guaranteed and
the taxpayers were left with an empty cruise ship hull. Along come that
Red, White and Blue American company Norwegian Cruise line (owned by Star
Cruises, Singapore) and they offer to buy the hull in exchange for favorable
legislation so they can haul the ship to Europe and finish construction over
there.... and still sail it in Hawaii as an "American Manufactured, American
Crewed" cruise ship. The good Senator from Hawaii agreed that this was a
deal of national importance and great Patriotic Significance... so deals
were made, votes exchanged and the pork barrel rolled all over the PSA...
all for a good cause.

So there NCL was with an "American" ship and a monopoly on the Hawaiian
itinerary so they built another US Manufactured Cruise ship in that good old
USA location called Europe... and again votes were exchanged and special
dispensation was given so this ship could operate in Hawaii also.

Then, they were having so much fun that they built a THIRD US Manufactured
Cruise Ship in the same good old USA location... Europe. Now they had three
ships... ....

But the story turns. Seems they couldn't find enough American Crew to keep
these ships staffed. At one point, they flew office workers from NCL
headquarters in Miami to work on the ships... but then they got in trouble
because those people didn't have Seamen's cards.

Now - NCL is moving one ship out of Hawaii and putting it in Europe. In
another legal maneuver, they got a exemption to the Passenger Services Act
passed (thanks to some good Congressional Help) and now they can have up to
25% of the crew be non-Americans.... on a "American" ship, built in Europe
and owned by Norwegian Cruise line which is owned by a company in Singapore.
Who says American's can't compete with foreign companies!

In spite of that NCL Hawaii continues to have problems and reviews from
passengers are not good. I understand that they are still short-staffed and
that in some Hawaiian ports, they are bringing local day-workers onto the
ship to help with house-keeping and maintenance.

It isn't a pretty story and I don't see it getting any better any time soon.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

On Nov 6, 11:33 am, "George Leppla" wrote:
now they can have up to
25% of the crew be non-Americans.... on a "American" ship, built in Europe
and owned by Norwegian Cruise line which is owned by a company in Singapore.

Half owned. The other half is now owned by Apollo Management, an
investment firm based in New York:

http://www.bloggingbuyouts.com/apollo-management

http://investing.businessweek.com/bu...rivcapId=18833

George Leppla wrote:
(that the US government helped pay for),
floated it to Europe to have it finished, paid off a Senator or two and
voila, they were in business.

George, do you have any idea about the current cost of buying a Senator
or Representative nowadays? They used to be pretty cheap- around
$50,000 for a simple vote or $100k for a vote that was a "sell out" of
their constituents. My recollection was that if a hooker was thrown
into the deal, that the price came down considerably.

From what I hear, the Senators got together several years back and
agreed to up the price of votes by around 20%, but I've never heard if
they implemented it or if some of the 'rogues'- primarily from the upper
NE area- broke ranks and stayed relatively cheap.

Here in NV, the 'action' seems to be in our city and county government,
with inflationary prices for zoning and construction inspections.
Personally, I use the price of a vote as my gauge for what consumer
prices will be doing over the next year or so.

--
---Nonnymus---
No matter how large your boat,
the person you are talking with will
have a close friend with a larger one.
---Observation by my son

"George Leppla" wrote in message
...

"Neal Eckhardt" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 07:17:58 -0600, "George Leppla"
wrote:

NCL bought a
partially built hull here in the US (that the US government helped pay
for),
floated it to Europe to have it finished, paid off a Senator or two and
voila, they were in business.

WOW! I had no idea that it was that simple to start a cruise line.

It is easy when the Gub'mint helps.

Once upon a time there was a company called "American Classic Voyages" who
got about $50 bazillion US taxpayer dollars to build a cruise ship here in
the US. They also got a couple more bazillions from the State of Florida
to move their headquarters to Florida.

Of course, with all that gub'mint help, bankruptcy was almost guaranteed
and the taxpayers were left with an empty cruise ship hull. Along come
that Red, White and Blue American company Norwegian Cruise line (owned by
Star Cruises, Singapore) and they offer to buy the hull in exchange for
favorable legislation so they can haul the ship to Europe and finish
construction over there.... and still sail it in Hawaii as an "American
Manufactured, American Crewed" cruise ship. The good Senator from Hawaii
agreed that this was a deal of national importance and great Patriotic
Significance... so deals were made, votes exchanged and the pork barrel
rolled all over the PSA... all for a good cause.

So there NCL was with an "American" ship and a monopoly on the Hawaiian
itinerary so they built another US Manufactured Cruise ship in that good
old USA location called Europe... and again votes were exchanged and
special dispensation was given so this ship could operate in Hawaii also.

Then, they were having so much fun that they built a THIRD US Manufactured
Cruise Ship in the same good old USA location... Europe. Now they had
three ships... ....

But the story turns. Seems they couldn't find enough American Crew to
keep these ships staffed. At one point, they flew office workers from NCL
headquarters in Miami to work on the ships... but then they got in trouble
because those people didn't have Seamen's cards.

Now - NCL is moving one ship out of Hawaii and putting it in Europe. In
another legal maneuver, they got a exemption to the Passenger Services Act
passed (thanks to some good Congressional Help) and now they can have up
to 25% of the crew be non-Americans.... on a "American" ship, built in
Europe and owned by Norwegian Cruise line which is owned by a company in
Singapore. Who says American's can't compete with foreign companies!

In spite of that NCL Hawaii continues to have problems and reviews from
passengers are not good. I understand that they are still short-staffed
and that in some Hawaiian ports, they are bringing local day-workers onto
the ship to help with house-keeping and maintenance.

It isn't a pretty story and I don't see it getting any better any time
soon.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm




Actually most of the information in your post is extremely accurate but the
first NCL America ship (Pride of Aloha) was actually a reflagged, as part
of the deal you said happened, NCL ship (Norwegian Sky) and was not
originally built or even started in the US.

The second ship (Pride of America) (the uncompleted hull) was purchased and
the third ship (Pride of Hawaii) was just a bunch of steel in a Louisiana
shipyard. The two unfinished ships were definitely completed in Europe as
you said. As part of the purchase agreement the SS United States is also
included. Nothing has been decided concerning that ship but with the
trouble of NCL America's fleet it looks like the SS US will die in peace in
Pennsylvania.

"Nonnymus" wrote

George, do you have any idea about the current cost of buying a Senator or
Representative nowadays? They used to be pretty cheap- around $50,000 for
a simple vote or $100k for a vote that was a "sell out" of their
constituents. My recollection was that if a hooker was thrown into the
deal, that the price came down considerably.

That's the problem. With so many gub'mint critters getting sex in public
bathrooms or with Congressional pages, the offer of a hooker isn't that much
of a deal. Heck, here in Louisiana we have a Congress-critter whose name
seems to be in every DC Madam's book and no one seems to care one way or the
other. Most people along the bayou seem to be relieved that at least he was
caught with a woman. vbg


Here in NV, the 'action' seems to be in our city and county government,

Here in Louisiana, we have a race for State Representative between Richard
"Richie" Burford and Kenny Ray Cox. (I swear this is true... you can't make
up names like this unless you marry a cousin).

Now Richie Burford is a Bush Republican and is having a free Catfish Dinner
(with two sides and cornbread) and the rumor is he is going to give everyone
who shows up a Popeil Pocket Fisherman and a camouflage poncho.

Kenny Ray Cox is a New Deal Democrat running on a reform platform. His big
fundraiser dinner features deep fried Gator and BBQ's Armadillo but the big
draw should be the Crawfish Gumbo. His 88 year old Mother, Clarisse... is
going to entertain the kids by giving them rides on her new Bass Boat and
everyone will go home with a quart jar of Pickled Okra.

I don't know who I am going to vote for yet but I sure am partial to Gumbo
and Pickled Okra.


--
George Leppla http://www.CruiseMaster.com

January 20, 2008 - GGC2008 - http://cruisemaster.com/adventure.htm
October 26, 2008 Sleazy 5 http://www.cruisemaster.com/sleazy5.htm

"George Leppla" wrote:


"PETE" wrote in message
...
I THINK NCL SHOULD HAVE ONLY STARTED THEIR NCL AMERICA DIVISION WITH TWO
OF THEIR SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. THEY SHOULD HAVE PUT THE NCL DREAM AND NCL
WIND IN HAWAII. THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SMALLER AND THEY COULD HAVE CHARGED
HIGHER CRUISE PRICES. NCL SHOULD HAVE KEPT THE PRIDE OF HAWAII, PRIDE OF
AMERICA, AND PRIDE OF ALOHA UNDER THEIR NCL DIVISION AND STARTED WITH
THE SMALLER OLDER SHIPS. ALSO, THEY COULD HAVE WENT REALLY SMALL WITH
THE NCL CROWN AND NCL MAJESTY. WHAT DO YOU THINK??


In order for NCL to get a legal monopoly on the Hawaii trade, they had to
use ships that were "made in the USA" with American crews in order to comply
with an outdated, obsolete law called the Passenger Services Act which I
think was ratified in 1066 by William the Conqueror and adopted as part of
the Mayflower Compact. Dream and Wind didn't fit the bill. NCL bought a
partially built hull here in the US (that the US government helped pay for),
floated it to Europe to have it finished, paid off a Senator or two and
voila, they were in business.

There's also the old SS Independence, american made. Didn't NCL buy
it to keep anyone else from buying it, and then permanently drydock
it?