Courts Blocked Green Fee For Cruises. This Company Is Still Charging It

(Kevin Fujii/Civil Beat/2024)

By Marcel Honoré for Honolulu Civil Beat

At least one cruise line has started charging its passengers Hawaiʻi’s tax on visitor stays and the new, landmark environmental “green fee” that goes with it, even though a court order currently bars local tax officials from collecting those dollars on cruise stays.

That decision by Norwegian Cruise Lines comes as the cruise industry simultaneously tries to overturn in court the parts of Hawaiʻi’s new green fee law that require ships to pay the same transient accommodations tax as hotel and vacation rental owners. Federal appellate judges issued the injunction against the tax collections on cruise ships on New Year’s Eve, hours before they were to take effect.

Norwegian representatives say the company will refund its passengers if the industry ultimately prevails in court.

Click here to read the full story in the Jan. 16 Honolulu Civil Beat.