My wife and I are retired and live in Connecticut. We have never cruised before and going to Hawaii was a lifelong dream for me.
We flew to L.A. and stayed with my wife's cousin and husband for three days before flying to Honolulu. We flew Hawaiian Airlines because their prices were better, they were the only airline flying double aisle planes both ways, they have the best on-time record of airlines flying to Hawaii, a very young fleet, and a great safety record. The only problem going or coming was the flight to Honolulu left an hour late. Otherwise, the flights were great.
We went from the Honolulu airport right to the ship. We booked the transfer through Norwegian Cruise Lines and I'm glad we did. We were met at the gate by a woman who walked us to our luggage and then to the van and waited with us until the van came.
We were in cabin 8634 on the port side of Pride of America. It was called a mid-ship balcony, but was about two-thirds of the way back. Other than the fact that the cabin was small, we liked it fine. I had hesitated about spending the extra money for a baclcony, but I'm glad we did. The cabin was modern and nicely appointed..