Are there ever cruise liners that are registered in the U.S.? It seems that they are all registered in the bahamas or some other tiny country somewhere to skirt some U.S. law – is that the case?
Rarely. If fact, I don’t remember seeing any at all, except the little ‘cruise to nowhere’ 6-hour gambling jaunts that have proliferated in Florida over the last several years.
Main reason (from what I have been told by current ad former employees) is that foreign registry means they can skirt a lot of the US employment laws (working hours, cruddy staff accomodations) and still employ a lot of non-US workers without having to get US working permits.
So I have been told. Any corrections?
American Hawaii is the only line with domestic registry, as far as I know, and they STILL employed lotsa internationals and worked the crew like dogs…my.02