A number of years ago my husband and I sailed on the P of A and while the boat and staff was just ok, we loved Hawaii. His cousin and husband had never been and wanted to go so we decided to give it another go. What a great decision !! This time the boat was such a better match to the paradise that is Hawaii. We had a truly wonderful cruise.
We landed in Honolulu the night before (the way this winter's been going, you just never know). We stayed at the Hale Koa, which is the hotel owned by the US armed services. The cousin got us all in (and yes, we did salute her at least once...). It was terrific. I left my kindle in our room and it waiting all clean and ready for me when we returned the following Saturday.
So from the army hotel to the Pride of America - USA all the way! Checking in and waiting for the boat to board was easy. They had some entertainers out ther trying to keep us all occupied. Frankly we were all so happy and excited, they could have brought out a cook's 3rd grade flute player and we would have been happy.