What kinds of differences between American-flagged cruise ship and an internationally-flagged ship?

You will find that cruising on an Americal flagged ship will be crewed exclusively by Americans and is more expensive. Food is generally of the standard on any other cruise ship and the amenities are similar.

American flagged ships are subject to American law, foreign flagged ships are subject to the law of the country where they are registered.

I have attached an extract from an article that explains the differences and the reasons why there are so few American flagged cruise ships.

Anyone who has sailed Hawaii with NCL, knows that you have more time visiting the islands because they fly in and board and disembark in Hawaii. The only cruise line that can offer this because they are American flagged. All other lines have to visit or leave from a foreign port during an Hawaiian cruise.

"Cruise ships are almost exclusively foreign flagged. American flagged cruise ships are clearly subject to U.S. laws, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA") (Deck v. American Hawaii Cruises, Inc., 1999), as are passenger ships traveling exclusively within internal U.S. navigable waters (Symeonides, 2005). In order to be flagged American, the ship's hull must be built domestically, which in effect acts as a deterrent to U.S. registration (Fields, 1998). In general, shipbuilding costs in the United States are twice those in Europe, and compliance with American regulatory laws is expensive, so very few cruise ships fly the American flag. Another deterrent to being American flagged is the potential tax burden. Cruise lines that are registered as foreign corporations and sail foreign-flagged ship pay no federal income tax. Carnival, a Panamanian corporation with headquarters in Miami, earned $2 billion in profits between 1995 and 1998, yet paid less than one percent in income taxes, while Royal Caribbean Cruises reported $657 million over the same period and did not even include a line for income taxes in its financial statements (Frantz, 1999).

On the other hand, an advantage to being American flagged is that the ship may sail from and among American ports, and then return to an American port without first sailing to a foreign port, such as to Canada in the Alaska market. Federal law prohibits ships not built in the United States from sailing between U.S. ports without first calling on a foreign country before returning to a U.S. port (Carothers, 2004); under the Jones Act, only American owned ships may transport goods and people between American ports. An all-American itinerary, however, is particularly attractive in the Hawaiian cruise market, which is why in 1999 American Classic Voyages announced plans for "Project America," a venture designed to build at least two, possibly three, ships in American shipyards. American Hawaiian Cruises, a subsidiary of American Classic Voyages, which had operated 1950s American-built ocean liners in the Hawaiian Islands, planned to sail the newly ordered ships, until the drop in tourism after 9-11 forced the company into bankruptcy. Subsequently, the Omnibus Appropriations Bill passed by Congress in 2003 contained a provision to return the Project America ships to Hawaii for inter-island cruises under an agreement with Norwegian Cruise Lines. NCL purchased the two unfinished Project America hulls, which were built in Mississippi, and completed construction of the ships in Europe. It launched the Pride of America in 2004, the first new ocean-going passenger ship to fly the American flag in nearly fifty years. Then in April 2006, NCL christened the Pride of Hawaii, the largest U.S. flagged passenger ship ever built, and at least for now, the fastest ocean liner ever built as well (NCL America, 2006). As part the agreement, they were permitted to re-flag another ship, previously sailing as the Norwegian Sky, as the Pride of Aloha, providing that all of the ships operate with American crews and be subject to U.S. taxation, environmental, and labor laws, including minimum-wage laws."

American Flagged Cruise Ships

I know of no American flagged cruise ships except for NCL around Hawaii. The main difference is that a foreign flagged cruise ship must stop at a foreign port as part of the trip.

There are hardly any American flagged cruise ships due to the high registration costs and the higher cost of a crew.

₪ ɦəlʞɹɐq ₪

There is only one cruise ships that is American based and it tours only around the Hawaiian islands. All the rest are registered in countries out of the USA. It seems that for whatever reason, the American ships has poor service in comparison the all the rest. The main problem with foreign based cruise ships is they must go to a foreign port while cruising, thus a quick stop in Ensenada or Canada. This is due to the Jones act which requires this.

The only US registered Cruise ship is the one from NCL cruising Hawaii.

The difference for a guest seems to be in the quality of service.

US registry requires a certain number of US employees onboard and they are hard to come by.

Other than that there is no difference for guests, such as food, amenities, cost etc.

since cruise ships are almost always registered in other countries, US labor laws do not have to be followed. This means that the cruise lines can pay lower and have longer work days than most Americans are willing to accept.

usa flaf doesnt go outside of the us to like hawaii and alaska, usually they have the us and the country there going to's flag

royal carribean ive been on 8 have people from everywhere

cost&food is the same-amazing

atleast on the boat its something called duty free

and i know that off the boat some places are cheaper than others