Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America Hawaii relaunched Hawaii itineraries in early April and the sailings have been selling briskly, said NCL President Harry Sommer during a press conference aboard the ship.
Sales, however, are being hindered by a common issue plaguing most industries in the wake of the pandemic: finding staff.
"Our issue with Hawaii isn't one of demand," he said. "Similar to land-based properties within the US, we have problems securing enough staff to get the ship up to full."
Pride of America typically carries between 920 to 940 staff and is currently carrying just under 550.
"We've limited occupancy between 1,100 and 1,200 guests," Sommer said.
"We will not ever lower our guest service standards, so we lowered guest occupancy" to work toward ensuring a healthy guest-crew ratio.
"We're not going to ever compromise the guest experience," he said.
In light of the crew shortage, some of Pride of America's restaurants are closed and will reopen as more employees come online.
"It will ramp up slowly," Sommer said, adding that NCL is doing "everything you can possible image," including raising pay scales and attending job fares, to entice prospective crew.
"As of yesterday, we have every voyage through the end of October on a stop sell, so you can't even book this product before November right now."
Sommer noted that NCL's 16 other ships - which are all in service again - are faring much better on the staffing front and are also experiencing strong demand.
Sommers underscored the fact that travel advisors continue to serve as the line's single-largest source of business.
"They are hugely important to us," he said. "We've been really happy with results from the travel advisors in the last two to three months.
"On an individual basis, they are approaching what they sold in 2019."
And with a 40 percent increase in capacity coming with six new Prima class ships in the next six years, "travel advisors are absolutely critical for us," Sommer said.
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