Just Cruises Plus

We had 23 responses to our May 18 trivia contest.  The contest question read as follows:

There are several cruiseships that sail between Mexico and Hawaii or between Canada and Hawaii, but there is just one cruiseship, the Pride of America, whose itinerary begins and ends in the Hawaiian Islands.  Which unique attributes enable the Pride of America to do this itinerary?

The Pride of America can sail this Hawaiian itnerary because it is registered in the United States (i.e., US-flagged).  To obtain this status, the ship needed to be built in the United States and crewed by US citizens/permanent residents.   The Pride of America didn’t quite meet these requirements, because only the hull was built in the United States and therefore it needed a special government exemption in order to gain US registry.

It is the Jones Act, a section of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920, which essentially requires that foreign flag ships carrying US citizens make a stop at a foreign port when sailing between two US ports.  Because The Pride of America is US-flagged, it does not have to stop in a foreign port.

Congratulations to Linda Knowles of West Deptford, NJ, whose name was randomly selected from those who responded correctly.