My husband (40) and myself (40) and our teenage son (14) embarked from Kahului, Maui, to begin our vacation. We had been wanting to visit Hawaii for a long time, and thought this approach had the most to offer. My husband has cruised before, this was my first one. I had read countless reviews in preparation for the trip and they helped a great deal. Hopefully, this will help answer some questions you may have.

Friday to Maui - Traveling and Embarkation

We traveled from Phoenix, so our internal clocks were not screwed up that badly. I can't imagine having to travel from the east coast U.S. If I were doing that I would definitely stay an extra night before embarking the ship to catch up on some sleep. Booked our airfare through the cruise. We flew United, everything was On-Time and the flight was great. Embarkation was very smooth. As soon as we arrived in Hawaii (11:26 am), we were taken to the ship. The shuttle process was very quick. We boarded the ship within 30 minutes upon arrival to the ship. We went to the buffet and looked around the ship right away. We didn't get our baggage in our room until about 4:00 pm., so there wasn't much to do until we could unpack. I would suggest packing your bathing suit in your carry on, so that you can change into it and at least enjoy the pool until your baggage gets to your room. Read more