Hawaii Cruise: NCL vs Patriot vs INdependence?
 

Would like opinions on the differences between these. NOticed NCL star is heavily booked,even sold out,but not the others.

This was posted on cruisemates and some other sites. Not sure if Patriot or Independence is part of this line - I thought it was but could be wrong. <BR> <BR>If it was me - I would stick with Princess, RCCL, NCL&lt; Celebrity, Carnival, etc. . These lines appear more financial set. <BR> <BR>From Cruisemates: <BR> <BR>10-9-01 <BR>American Classic Voyages: Troubled Waters? <BR>There are signs that American Classic Voyages, parent company of American Hawaii Cruises, United States Lines, Delta Queen Steamboat Company and Delta Queen Coastal Voyages, may be having financial problems. <BR> <BR>On Friday, Oct. 5, two large travel insurance companies, Travel Guard and TravelEx, both reported that they will no longer insure passengers on bookings made after Oct. 3 for any of these cruise lines. On October 9 Access America announced that it won't insure cruisers sailing on AMVC vessels. <BR> <BR>The stock price for American Classic Voyages (Nasdaq: AMCV) fell 37% on extremely heavy volume and closed at $.78/share on Friday. While that may be partially attributed to a proposed takeover of the company slated to build AMC's new ships (Northrop Grumman by Newport News), the indication is that someone with a large interest in American Classic Voyages' stock decided to get out of their position as quickly as possible. <BR> <BR>In light of these developments, CruiseMates is urging its readers to exercise due diligence before booking a cruise with any of American Classic Voyages' subsidiary companies. A spokesperson for the company has stated that AMCV is working to resolve the insurance situation with Travel Guard to continue to provide insurance coverage in case of default. <BR> <BR>Stay tuned to CruiseMates for further developments.

From all the talk and discussion about the NCL Star I would head for the Star.. it will be extremely innovative and will be actually the "star" of the line. I also agree that the other smaller lines are having problems so I would stay away.

Apparently after tomorrow there won't be a decision to make between the two lines. Too bad as we were on Patriot and even though the ship is very old the cruise was wonderful. If your main desire is to see a LOT of Hawaii then that would have been the best choice. The Star is a beautiful ship and offers so much on board so that is a great choice too. Have fun!

Hi, <BR>I was on the Independence a year ago Easter and loved it. I would love to go again, but, it looks like American Classic Voyages (the owner) is filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection on Friday AM (10/19). They are still probably going to restructure so as to still run the Delta Steamships but the Patriot will probably go back to the Carnival Corp. (It was a former HAL ship) Very sad.

I have just viewed pics of the NCL Star under construction and she is so beautiful! If you want to see Hawaii stay with the big main stream lines in these uncertain financial times and for goodness sake take out 3rd party insurance. If the insurance company refuses to insure a particular line then take that as a big warning to go elsewhere to book your cruise. I am an accountant and I do not like seeing any company file for chapter 11 but in the case of American Classic Voyages (parent company of) American Hawaii's "Independence" and United States Lines "Patriot" I am not at all surprised. I was on a failed sailing of the Patriot and after more than 3 months of telephone calls and letters to American Classic Voyages I came to the conclusion that the management or lack there of was going to run this company into the ground. I just did'nt think that it would happen so soon.

I heard that the Star is a nice ship but their Hawaii itinerary wasn't good at all. 3 days between sailing to Fanning Island and there is nothing to do there and only 5 hours in Maui.<BR>

A friend is going to Fanning Island next year and I hadn't heard of it and researched it....go to...http://www.cruisenewsdaily.com/fanning.html It sounds like the most exciting and unspoiled island or destination that a cruise ship could possibly go into, that is unless your idea of a port is St. Martin, St. Thomas or one of those commercial islands.. It reminds me somewhat of the San blas islands 15 years ago...which was and still remains as a highlight of our cruising experience. If after reading this article if you aren't excited about visiting this unspoiled island...well your idea of cruising and my idea are so much different..

Fanning Island may sound like a neat place but is it worth travelling three days of your seven day cruise just to spend six or seven hours there? No!

We just returned from a 2 wk trip to Hawaii. One week in Waikiki and one week onboard the Star. <BR><BR>The Ship was huge, but had great service. <BR><BR>The cruise was very enjoyable...and it's only a day and a half to Fanning Island...(mind you, the waves were 7.5 - 12 feet high). Fanning Island was interesting to see...there is very little to do there, but it's something we'll likely never see again. Natives living their simple lives, yet so friendly and pleasant. Their handy-crafts are out of this world...(from a craft point of view). Their smiles were everywhere - I've never seen so many people so happy, yet having so little. <BR><BR>Yes, it is a long way to go...to do nothing..but walk around the island and meet the locals...but experiencing a way of like - like they have is something we'll not likely have the opportunity to do again. <BR><BR>The entertainment onboard was excellent...and the food was very good. <BR><BR>The only negative comment I have - which isn't really that bad, was the immigration that the entire ship's passengers had to go through again just outside of Maui, (took almost half the morning)...and the disembarkation process back in Honolulu (it was very disorganized). <BR><BR>Other than that...it was a great cruise - very enjoyable...even the days at sea (and mind you - we had non-stop crappy weather the entire time out at sea!). However...we made the most of it and enjoyed the cruise and the ship. <BR><BR>Highly recommend it.

Just to clarify - yes, a day and a half to get there - but another day and a half to get back = 3 days.