Return of the Cruise Ships

The Grand Princess (shown above) is the first passenger cruise ship to arrive in Hawaii today since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020. The ship arrived at Honolulu harbor shortly after 9:00 a.m. this morning (January 9).  About 2,000 passengers and crew members are onboard, with most taking a day trip around Oahu today. At least 99% of the passengers and crew have to be vaccinated to travel with the rest having a negative COVID test. Hawaii’s Safe Travel rules must also be adhered to.

The Grand Princess is the first of several cruise ships scheduled to arrive in Honolulu and the rest of the islands this year. While the cruise ship schedule is not as robust as it was in past years, a number of ships are scheduled to arrive in the next few months. The Honolulu cruise ship arrival schedule for the next few weeks appears below. The entire cruise ship schedule, which is always subject to adjustment and change appears at the PortCall.com site.

The next cruise ship scheduled to arrive in Honolulu is The World, which is a somewhat unique vessel. It is not a standard cruise ship, but a residential community run like a condominium association. Residents onboard the ship have paid for and own their onboard condominiums. There are 150 to 200 residents on board plus crew members.

NCL’s Pride of America, a cruise ship that does weekly trips around the Hawaiian Islands have yet to resume operations. According to the Port Call cruise schedule, they are not set to sail until January 2023.