NCL, changing course again, unveiled plans to base the Norwegian Sky at the Port of Miami, offering three and four-day Bahamas cruises beginning July 14.

In February, when Miami-based NCL announced it was removing the ship from the inter-island Hawaiian market, it said the vessel -- formerly named the Pride of Aloha -- would join Star Cruises' fleet and sail in Asia this summer.

Hong Kong-based Star Cruises currently owns a 50-percent stake in NCL after recently selling a 50-percent interest in NCL to New York-based private-equity firm Apollo Management, which also obtained control of the board.

''Star was in the process of looking to sell the ship to third parties, so we stepped in and said if you're not going to use it in your fleet, we'll plan to use it for NCL,'' said Colin Veitch, NCL's chief executive officer. Under a revised agreement between the shareholders, NCL is ''hanging on to the ship and will be paying for it, but not today,'' he added.

Veitch said the Bahamian cruises are ''fuel-efficient and fairly low-cost'' and should appeal to consumers looking for a quick, inexpensive getaway, particularly given the current economic downturn.

In a bid to attract passengers for the Norwegian Sky on such short notice for summer sailings, NCL is offering fares from $229 per person for an inside cabin and from $329 per person for a balcony.

It's also offering a ''kids-sail-free'' special for families, covering children ages six months to 17, for reservations made by May 31 for sailings by Sept. 26.

The 2,002-passenger Norwegian Sky, reflagged as a foreign ship, is going into wet dock in Miami to have a casino added. The ship will also be upgraded so it can accommodate NCL's ''Freestyle 2.0'' cruising product, which focuses on flexibility in dining and other options.

NCL withdrew the ship -- and another one, the Pride of Hawaii -- from the Hawaiian market this year in a bid to stanch protracted losses on the novel venture, which was built around the concept of deploying U.S.-flagged ships and U.S. crews.

The idea was to avoid having to stop at an international port, as is required of foreign-flagged ships. But the higher operating costs and glut of capacity in Hawaii hurt the effort, as did early customer-service woes.

NCL still has a ship -- the Pride of America -- left for its Hawaii-only cruises. ''Pride of America is looking strong. We're very encouraged,'' said Veitch. ``We have a good one-ship business in Hawaii.''

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