January is a good month to warm up. My wife and I enjoyed our seven day tour of the Hawaiian Islands on Pride of America. For comparison purposes our previous cruise was a family affair in Mar 2014 aboard the Disney Line. I compliment both lines for their attentiveness to cleanliness and hand sanitation during buffet dining as well as specialty dining. The buffet and food was ok on the Pride but whereas the soft drinks were included on Disney; they were not on the Pride. One thing we did discover on the Pride at breakfast was a separate, less crowded single buffet/cook omelet line that opened slightly later than the main buffet. It provided more direct access to the Aloha outdoor deck. Only critique was that it did not have muesli on its buffet line and was a little walk to the main buffet line.

On board evening shows on the Pride were ok. Magician was good; exceptional on Disney. Hawaiian culture/history/dance show on Pride was colorful, entertaining and enjoyable; definitely got us in the mood for Hawaiian cruise early part of week.

We were going to plan on excursions every day but thought the costs were high. We did participate in two; one was horseback trail, part of which was along the shore; SPECTACULAR part of our whole trip. We elected to rent car in Kauai on day one of two day port call. Loved the freedom of seeing the island on our own; included a drive to the Canyon; much cheaper. Access from port to airport car rental was free and very convenient. Looking back I think I would have tried renting cars more often on longer stays and saving a few bucks and giving us more freedom to see things at our own pace. I will mention we discovered local bus service in Maui at the mall and went to the acquarium at half the excursion cost; ask for AAA and military discounts at the acquarium! Read more