Bankrupt - NCL America Cruises 

Hi Jake, I've been an avid viewer of yours since 7th grade, and now as a college freshman, I can proudly say that because of your videos I've developed a fascination for business failures/crises, and I am now a PR major focusing in crisis communication. Thank you for continuing to educate and inspire me!!

I am surprised they started with 3 ships, instead of just using one and seeing how it went.

I sailed on the Pride of Hawaii in summer of 2007, I guess within that short period it was in service in Hawaii under that name. One thing I never understood was why there was a huge model of the SS America and basically a whole room dedicated to it near the bridge. Thanks to this video, I get it now.

This is such a full circle moment for me. BSF has been one of my absolute favorite channels for years.. to see a whole video on a ship I worked on for years?! So wild.

I work on the Pride of America. I was a waiter and I was on it Germany when it half sunk, I was on it when we sailed to New York and picked up Regis and Kelly and they had their show on it, I was on it when we went to the Panama Canal, and when we first got to Hawaii. I worked on the ship for 2 1/2 years.

Sick new intro I love it

We sailed during our honeymoon in 2014... and recommended it to my parents who later went in 2016... nothing beats this itinerary! The cruise is your hotel, interisland transportation and your restaurant. It harbours overnight and stays late... making car rental excursions easy, cheap and worth doing! the afternoon it spends along the Napali coast is absolutely breathtaking. Highly recommend if you want to see the main 4 islands.

I got hired by NCL America back around 2004 as a chef. I ended up not going because of life circumstances, but I now regret not having had that chance as I think it would have been a fun temporary job.

I used to work on the Pride of America for it's maiden voyage. I worked as a cook on the ship for 3 contracts (each contract was for 5 months) I enjoyed my time on that ship and I also was on the Pride of Hawaii. I was apart of the crew that brought the America from Germany to Hawaii. It was an adventure I will never forget. If they were talking wages at the time I was only making $8.65/hr with 10 years of experience under my belt when I joined, the only way to move up was to be friends who could help you get a promotion.

Hi Jake...Love your videos. I actually sailed onboard the Pride of Hawaii as a member of the crew (Engineering Cadet) and was onboard the vessel when the company announced they were taking the ship out of US service and reflagging her. One major point that stood out to me (other than the lack of a casino which is a major revenue generator) was how American customers were much more willing to book excursions using companies other than NCL. Since it was a US ship operating in the US, many outside vendors set up shop selling directly to passengers, thus taking business from the cruise line. Basically, onboard spending by US passengers was significantly less than compared to similar ships because those passengers were much more willing to spend their money exploring a US State on their own as opposed to being in a foreign country and relying on the Cruise Line. The crew onboard at the time of the reflag was actually pretty good, and many were loyal to NCL (at least the non-licensed crew) and although the pay wasn't great compared to other US Flagged merchant ships, it offered several other perks to the crew. Anyway, it's always fun watching your videos and especially awesome seeing something that I have some personal experience in. This was really great and good job. Keep it up!

More proof so many Americans aren’t playing with a full deck. In 2000, I was seeking federal aid to purchase a 2-truck trucking business with proven income that I could comfortably payoff the $30k within 3 years. A federal business consultant told me to forget about my plans, & to write a plan that included purchasing all new equipment & ask for a loan of three million. Lil ol’ me owing someone $3M? No thank you!

Just wanna say Jake, your videos honestly are some of the best, and well done content I've seen on RU-vid. Keep up the good work!

I have been sailing NCL for many years, and have been saving to go on NCL America, the title of this video nearly gave me a heart attack 😂

I was a crew member on the maiden voyage of the Pride of America and if those walls could talk. So many great memories onboard and it's pretty crazy that she's still sailing to this day. Thanks for the video, it brought back a lot of memories!

I sailed on the Independence. They failed to tell us at booking that the entire ship except for us 3 young people were in wheelchairs. AARP had booked nearly every cabin for a convention. No casino, no disco, no night club no night entertainment what so ever not even a single bar was open after 9pm. We were board out of our minds. Had to entertain ourselves wich got us into trouble that I won't go into here. Except for that it was a great cruise on one of the few ocean liners left sailing. Please remember the Indy and the Cony we're not cruise ships. They were in fact ocean liners built to cross the Atlantic ocean in all kinds of weather.

Pride of America was my first NCL cruise. It is such an awkward ship that you can’t not laugh and enjoy it. NCL has some great stories underlying their ships. Like the Star and Epic.

We were on the pride of America and was one of the best experience I’ve ever had on a cruise. There were 10 of us on this trip and it was a fantastic trip as we got to experience the Hawaiian islands and history with the ships excursion packages

Jake! I used to be a sailor on the Pride of America! I love your videos and when this one came up, it was like two areas of my life having a crossover episode! I can't lie, I got really nervous seeing the video title. I love this ship, and although I agree with it being one of the ugliest cruise ships out there, it was my home, right there on forward deck 2, starboard side.

I sailed on The Pride of Aloha in April of 2005 and had a wonderful experience. All the crew members were terrific and very accommodating. I always recommend it to other people. Such a shame to hear that it did not go well. I noticed that these cruises are still available today though and I would definitely go again.

My family will take a cruise by Pride of America before this Christmas. It’s much more expensive than the other cruise. Now I know why and thank you for sharing this video. We’ll see how our experience compares with others.

I had a co-worker at a Saratoga Springs hotel who worked on this cruise ship :) The mistake made by NCL was going too big into Hawaiian cruises, if they had just gone with the Pride of America (uh, with the Pride of Aloha name and interior decor) then the venture would have been seen as a modest success, as the one-ship operation has proven to be many years later.

I used to be a dive contractor for NCL. I loved working on the pride of America. We'd board the ship on Oahu and then dive on Maui and the big island. It was weird being on the pride though, since it was an American crew. Very different atmosphere on board than the rest of the NCL boats.

A couple of glaring errors in this video: The Jones Act only pertains to cargo (the PSVA is the passenger counterpart). While all three major cruise lines are headquartered in the US, Carnival is a dual incorporated company in Panama and the UK, Royal Caribbean is incorporated in Liberia, and Norwegian Cruise Line is incorporated in Bermuda. At the time this all went down, Norwegian was a subsidiary of the Asian cruise conglomerate Star Cruises (Malaysia). Personal opinion: I think the Hawaii cruise market is overly ripe for a ~200 passenger US flagged true 5 star cruise line/ship. That size is still buildable in the US and you need less crew to run your operations. It also means you can pick, choose, and properly train your crew members to offer a real 5 star cruise even using US crew.

This was a really cool explanation of maritime laws/why ships stop in foreign ports, not just between US ports!

I’ve lived in Hawaii all my life, and I see Pride of America basically all the time. (saw it yesterday actually) but never gave it any thought at all. Really interesting video!

So glad we got a travel review channel. Glad you took my comment to heart about asking for a review for your concierge trip on the fantasy!

I just got off the Pride of America on October 8th. This was my second time on this itinerary. The ship was about half full and the service was not up to what we had experienced the first time. Still a great way to see the islands.

I was supposed to go one of these NCL ships around Hawaii for my honeymoon summer 2008. We had already paid deposits and picked out shore excursions. So it was really strange when we were notified that our cruise was cancelled and the ship was not going to be used for these cruises anymore. It is interesting to see the backstory and hear what lead to this change.

I’m sick and just woke up from a nap while listening to a James Willems (from Funhaus) compilation. This is the next video I picked, and hearing “Jake Williams” literally made me think I was dreaming and try to wake up again. Love the content and production on all of your videos, really amazing all around.

My family was on a NCL America Hawaiian cruise in 2005. We were on the Pride of Aloha ship I think and a few days into our trip half of the crew had walked off the ship. Our cabin steward had told us all the issues that were going on in the company. We are big cruisers so the standards we were used to just weren’t there. We had a nice vacation but there were a lot of things that were lacking.

@Cheyenne, went to a NCL employee interview in San Pedro, CA. Surprised it was sparsely attended and some who came left after talking to a recruiter before the presentation and found out why. For me, it was when I found out that 4 people had to share one cabin and left then but it was difficult for them to find a crew because most Americans are wealthier than the more common workers who are people who are from poor Asian or East European countries, who normally work on a cruise ship in housekeeping and food service. I think I read somewhere and an act was passed that although this ship flagged as a US one they now can hire NON-Americans.

I would definitely love to see a review on the Pride Of America.

As a supply chain management graduate and now working in finance, I love your bankrupt and abandoned videos. So fascinating. Also kinda helps when making career choices and see foreshadowing in business decisions and direction they aim for. Keep it up, Jake. Thanks for the videos

Have been waiting to see a video on this for a long time! Excellent video Jake! Loved the new intro for Bankrupt!

I used to live in Hawaii between 2014 and 2017, every week like clock work you would see the ship in Honolulu (the day of the week is escaping me). I knew a local who took it when he had his kids and grand kids visit. I remember it was very expensive, and he was more or less meh on it when he got back to Honolulu. The Jones Act in general is still a bit controversial as it means there is Matson and PASHA for cargo ships, and Young Brothers for inter island freight, that's it. When Matson was wanting to build new ships, they said having it built in America was twice as expensive as it would be in Asia. There was some talk about rewriting the law in the late 2010's but nothing came of it.

I was a galley worker on the transitioning from Norwegian Sky to Pride of Aloha while sailing in the Caribbean. NCL America treated the American workers badly, lied about wages until you board the ship, 3,000 miles away from home. You had no choice but to sign it and get to work. 7 days a week, 12 hour days for $500 a month. Smh

I’ve sailed the Pride of America. Nice little ship. Honestly would sail again even tho it’s a little dated

When NCL tried to restart the Pride after covid it had to start with restricted passenger numbers due to the inability to hire enough US based crew members. People who had paid their money to go on Pride had to reschedule when their cruises were canceled even though the ship went on the cruise. It seems to me that the United States laws regarding cruise ships are actively working against the cruise ships and the way the cruise ships were treated by the United States during covid seem to be that they were working against the cruise ships as well. I went on ncl's Jade right before the covid shut down in January 2020 and most noted the gray interior of the ship as being a bit odd. I plan to go back to the Jade in 2023 to go from South Africa to Dubai and then from there on to Athens Greece. When it comes to sailing Hawaii on an NCL ship I find the best value to be the Hawaii to French Polynesian trips and I'm planning to go on one of those this year. I was told by a former general manager of the pride that she was very successful during the 2008 economic turn down. Another thing to note about NCL whereas all of the other cruise lines are going with bigger and bigger ships that can hold more and more people NCL is now building a large ship that holds less people and the hopes of providing them with a more quality experience. I personally prefer to stick with the ships that are no larger than what can fit through the old locks of the Panama Canal. I did find your history presentation very interesting and thank you for putting this together.

I almost worked on the price of America but they basically ghosted a bunch of people during the hiring process and by the time they reached back out, everyone has already taken different jobs so this was so fascinating!!

I live in hawaii and most of the time when I go into downtown where the port is located, I would see the pride of america

Mentioned in this video was that NCL America brought NCL parent closest to bankruptcy as ever. Would like to see how that compares to current times. Also, your quality and detail of work is amazing. Would like to see you do a video on the current situation of cruise lines, al of running unprofitability and just clicking away time until they all go bankrupt.

I always get excited when another video gets posted to this channel

Great vid. Had no idea at the history of NCL POA and its sister ships. We sailed on POA in 2018. You are right ... very old in design, but the NCL 'free style' way of cruising is perfectly suited to it. One thing, many of the POA Hawaiian cruises will have some issue and miss at least one port. We missed Kona due to issues on being unable to dock due to wave heights.

Though I never sailed on it, I have lived on Maui for the past 12 years and this one of a kind ship, has been a commen sight.

I was just on the NCL Pride of America last week. Interesting timing.

That is an absolutely AMAZING intro! Feels like I’m watching a 101% serious and informational documentary!

Love your videos. I worked on the SS Constitution for almost a year and sailed on her sister, the SS Indy, a couple of times with AHC. I loved both ships dearly and have quite a bit of memorabilia and pictures. I left in 1986, but was excited to hear about the formation of NCLA (especially the acquisition of the SS United States). But, the effects of 9/11 were far reaching. At least the POA is still out there, but yeah, she needs a re-do for sure!! The lack of a casino on a US ship was always a big issue with the passengers (and a revenue killer).

We sailed on Pride of Aloha 7 day inter island cruise in April, 2005. The all American cruise crew (waiters, cabin stewards) were dismal compared to international crews normally on cruise ships. The itinerary was wonderful, but the college kids serving us were awful.

Hey Bright Sun! I've been watching your content for a long time and I love it. Could you do a bankrupt episode on Escada America?

What happened was they misunderstood the market. They envisioned three huge ships when they were replacing two much smaller ships (SS Independence and Constitution). Their view of the market was so so wrong. As It is a single Jewel Class cruise ship could carry the same number of passengers as the two ships it replaced. Thus, NCL showed up with a product that had 3x the max needed capacity, and they wonder why it didn’t work….

I have a recommendation for you, you should do abandoned Grossinger’s Resort in Liberty NY USA and do commentary about it and how financial troubles sunk in and that stuff

I sailed on this ship a little while ago, and while it was small it has been newly refurbished and in my opinion was a really nice cruise around the islands, though it is an old ship I had a great time on the boat

I was on the POA in 2017. I would love to do this cruise around Hawaii again however I'm not spending 12 hours flying to Hawaii all cramped up. Nice video Jake.

The Pride of America was my very first cruise. Went for our honeymoon in 2009 and it was amazing. I didn’t notice any drop in service (but I didn’t have anything to compare it to). IMO it’s the only way to cruise in Hawaii. Otherwise you loose so much vacation time (4 days at sea!) sailing to caribody(sp?) and back. At the time the price really wasn’t that bad either. Especially when you factor in how much a hotel and inter island transportation would cost. It was super easy to rent a car right from the port too and explore. Or you can book a tour. It’s the absolute best and most efficient way to see all four major islands in a week. I paired it with 5 days of self exploration in Maui before our cruise and it really was the ultimate Hawaiian vacation. So you have to think about the Pride of America different then any other cruises. The ship isn’t the highlight of your trip. You’re not going to be spending much time on board when she’s docked at port. But it was incredible waking up at a different island almost every night and having a nice comfy home base for all our adventures that we didn’t have to unpack and repack and travel to another hotel. HIGHLY recommend it.

I worked aboard the Pride of America. Excited to watch this.

I gotta say Jake, I've watched every single one of your videos, and they're just better every single time, but still very much interesting. Thank you for taking the time to make such great content! Btw I love the new intro.

I used to work for Norwegian Cruise Lines of America for two years. I was working on the pride of America, which was my first ship. Then, I transferred to the Pride of Hawai'i (Jade) later on. I saw the writing on the wall in 2007 once the housing bubble collapsed. I worked with in NCLA from 2005-2007. Yes, you're right, the NCLA had a high turnover rate.

You just keep crushing it. One of the best.

Fascinating. Love these niche historical reviews. Also love the small details like the materials for the second Project America ship were actually used on the Pride of Hawaii / NCL Jade.

Always look forward to a new video every other Friday. Great way to start the weekend :)

omg Jake. I have been watching your channel for years and years. I cannot believe but can because your vids are amazing YOU have over a million subscribers OMG I was like in the hundreds!! You do so much work for your channel and viewers and I am so proud of you. I finally figured out how to change my name on youtube from my actual name after almost a decade so I feel like I lost some history on beginning channels like yours but hell I am so proud of your growth!! You did it. awesome Jake! congrats. Love from Oregon.

There's an interesting story about the flag of Convience and it evolved a small German ship named the "Scantrader." Also great video Jake! I never knew the story of this ship. Interesting the story of cruises going from American ports to American ports. They were a lot in the 50s and 60s.

I went on the Norwegian Jade a few years ago, and the thing I recall most was the VERY phallic staircases

It is insanely funny how I am in a cabin on this very ship about to leave when this video is posted.

Great video. Keep up the good work Jake. Proud to support your work.

I’m here for the new channel Jake, wonderful idea!

I sailed on the pride of American through the Hawaiian islands and it was fabulous. I would love to do it again. It was a bit weird that the decor was so much I like the trip. I wonder why they didn’t just keep the pride of Aloha as their Hawaii ship. I have also cruised on the Sky (which was the pride of aloha). It was a smaller ship. Maybe that’s why.

Excited for the new channel! Great video as always

Loving the new intro! Looks like a legit documentary! (Also really happy that you kept the same audio cuz that was my favorite part)

This is crazy I worked on PoA from 2017-2019. So surprised to see this lol

Wonderfully made episode! very informative- your style and approach to chronicling entities from the conception, rise (or lack thereof) and fall always is engaging :)

WOAH JAKE THE NEW INTRO GOES HARD!!! Never fail to deliver in the quality department

I worked for American Classic Voyages as a Reservation Consultant in Weston, Florida during 2001 following My divorce. I took this position as a second job and enjoyed the people I worked with and the products I was selling. The terrorist attacks of September 11th killed all of that in an instant. AMCV not only had the Hawaii “Project America” Ships under construction as they also sold and operated Steamboat Cruises on the Mississippi and Columbia Rivers. Just days after the terrorist attacks thousands upon thousands of calls from elderly passengers booked on these Steamboat Cruises came into our call center canceling these Cruises out of fear of travel. Just over a month later on October 19th, AMCV was bankrupt and done for. Ironically on that same day that I was informed that My position was gone, I nearly died as My SUV lost control and nearly flipped over while sliding down an embankment on My way to work. Finally after 22 years, I will get to sail on the NCL Pride of America in less than three weeks. I am very excited to visit Hawaii and to also see “what could have been” for United States Lines.

I was on pride of America in 2020 when covid started and they ended all contracts and sent us home. All the things said about flag of convenience was correct

The Jones act has had the side effect of greatly increasing the lifespan of the US Great Lakes merchant marine fleet. There are ships of WW2 vintage that are still working commercially today. Repowers and conversions occur, but the Jones act (and the lack of saltwater corrosion) keeps them from building cheaper, more modern ships overseas (as we're in doing Canada.) I prefer the old US ships personally, even though they're all just bulk freighters... More on topic, the Great Lakes has hosted plenty of passenger/cruise ships. Some unique to the lakes and, more recently, small Viking cruise ships. Very underrated route in my opinion. Then there's the legendary SS Badger herself.

Just want to share, I added this to my watch later on the way to Hawaii (didn't get the memo that this would be so hawaii-specific), in Honolulu, I saw that the NCL ship in the thumbnail was docked and thought "oh weird, I wonder what the bankrupt episode is about", then I went on a whole google about Hawaiian cruises, why I've never thought about them before, ended up doing a deep dive on the pride of America bc holy CRAP that ship is nuts. Gaudy is right. Then, after returning home I am finally watching this. Thank you for all the context! I'm a TA on the side so my search was all about the ship and its itineraries, rather than the history and restraints put on the ship.

Sometimes it's just best to know your place, stay in your lane. I firmly believe that had the cruise line stayed as an aging ship business going round trip from America to Hawaii and back again, could have enjoyed some good profits. Later on, update those aging ships with newer ones. Expand slowly and cautiously. But they took on way too much, far too early. Seriously? How much in Federal loans?? and, who was the "genius" who approved those loans? Clearly, someone who had no business being in charge of tax-payer dollars.

I would be interested in your take on the ferry system that failed in Hawaii. I never rode on it and was always sad I missed my chance. Didn’t expect it to disappear so quickly!

I worked on the Jade after it left Hawaii and it was quickly renovated. The interior is completely different than what was showed here.

Okay I love the intro!!!! It had an American Greed vibe

Great video. I used to work for a travel company as the cruise director. The cruise industry is so complex and risky, it's crazy. I'm honestly suprised American Cruiselines is still making a profit. I did cabin allocation for Norwegian Jade, such a trash ship

Hi Jake I worked on the Pride of America in 2007 for a 5 month contract. It was an experience that would not ever happen again. I miss the ship but not the work.

Yah you should book a vacation on the pride of American would make a good video

I was on the Sky in 2017, and it was in excellent shape, great trip and you would have never known the rocky past.

I took one of those NCL Hawaiian interisland cruises, maybe 15 years ago. I can’t remember which ship. It was great. No regrets.

NCL Pride of America is doing just fine right now. the ship is consistently booked full.

I was hired to work on the pride of America as a chef right when the pandemic kicked off. So the brakes were pumped on that. Tried again recently and now after watching this it's like meh I don't really need to have the itch to try again. I GUESS I'll get to Hawai'i sometime before my dirt nap!

"You're towing ME, an AMERICAN ship, to GERMANY?" _SINKS_

I’ve been on pride of American twice, loved both times. 2007 and 2019 good times good times.

Great video! I currently work on POA and it truly is still nothing short of a shit show lol. Turnover rate higher than any job I’ve ever had and we still are grossly understaffed, yet they fire multiple people everyday for various reasons since NCL runs this ship like the military 🤦🏻‍♂️😂 We are underpaid, overworked, mistreated by managers/officers, etc. The Pride of America really is emblematic of America 🇺🇸 😂

I love the new intro Jake. Nice job.

Went through the SIU’s apprenticeship and this ship was notoriously known by the apprentice as a way for the school to get their apprentices sea time. I ended up on maersk ship thankfully so I avoided the Pride of America but everyone was always going on about how NCL had the worst contracts and to avoid the line. NCL would also send their non union employees for the ship to SIU’s school for their water survival, firefighting, and etc certs. Always a weird crowd.

Thanks Jake, now I understand the Jones Act which seems reasonable more than 100yrs later.

This intro is sick! Nice work dude!

Your channel is so underrated! One of teh few channels I actually have notifications on for!

Jake, another great video. I was always puzzled why NCL quickly deployed three ships in a "new" market for them. Why did they not tread gentry and see how the first NCL America ships performed. As for the SS United States, what an INSANE idea, given the difficulty of operating new- ships around Hawaii. (And yes, Pride is the ugliest cruise ship of all).

Great video. One correction: I believe you state NACL owned the SS Constitution, but it sank before they purchased ACV assets. Rather they owned the SS Independence (sister ship). I sailed the islands on the Independence with AHC in the late 90s and appreciated learning about the tie-in with Norwegian :) Cheers

Thank you very much for covering this topic! My grandparents are from Bremerhaven, so I remember the whole construction drama very well, in fact there is still a poster of the almost finished pride of america right above my bed! I remember the hype because Loyd Werft usually doesn't build large cruise ships and the ship was very special for the industry there. I still visit the harbor every time I'm visiting Bremerhaven. Another interesting topic for abandoned could be the Norway (Former "France") which sat there for several years and was once the biggest ocean liner!

i love the new intros, great job jake! love the new content too! thanks for all your hard work!!

My family tried cruising around Hawaii in the Pride of America, which was our first cruise... and probably our last. It didn't exactly make a good impression, since we didn't like the cramped hallways and cabins, plus we had one room for the four of us. Is this common for all cruise lines? I won't doubt that the views of Hawai'i from the deck were breathtaking, though. When I started watching your content and pointed out the Pride of America as exceptionally ugly in one of your videos, I recognized the vessel and could see where you're coming from. My dad and I shared a pretty good laugh about it. For your sake, I can't really recommend you to take a trip on the Pride of America, despite how much it'd be exciting for me personally. The demographics, design and passengers are all very American, which I'm not sure is a good thing.