Background Information: I am 25, and my husband is 27. This was our second cruise, the first was with carnival in an inside cabin. He traveled to Hawaii as a child, and it was my first time there. We had the revealed books for each of the 4 islands.

Travel to Port of Embarkation: Using frequent flier miles we were blessed with flying on Continental first class to Hawaii. We flew from FL and connected in Newark. It was a very pleasant experience. We got to HNL on May 18th, two days before the cruise. We rented a car while on Oahu, and to get to the pier we took a cab from the airport (after returning the car). After getting to the pier, there was a short line for security (10 minutes) and there was virtually no line for VIP check in.

Hotel Info: Pre cruise: we stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki, we used bidding website to get this. We were happy with our accommodations, and we got upgraded to a partial ocean view! Post cruise: we stayed for one night at the Marriott Waikiki, we again used a bidding website. Once again we got upgraded, this time to ocean view accommodations! Read more