After a week-long stay with my mother during her surgical recovery, I flew home (Florida) from Maine April 28th, with precisely 30 hours before our departure for Hawaii. During that time, I had to work a full day and it was best if I actually slept two nights. This left approximately 6 hours to unpack, do laundry, re-pack, pick up a few last minute items, and squeeze in a manicure and pedicure. The end result of my schedule challenges is that sleep was compromised.

So we arrived at Orlando International Airport entirely too early in the morning of April 30th, desperately sleep deprived, but filled with excitement. This was only our second time flying with American Airlines. Since we booked coach flights, we would appreciate every millimeter of their touted "more leg room". We managed a few catnaps during our 12-hour flight and enjoyed a couple movies as our anticipation grew. Nearing arrival in Honolulu we wished for a means to slow the clock for the next 12 days.

Embarkation was relatively painless, excluding luggage drop off. We located the pier and drove the area looking for a sign or any indication of porters. Finally I jumped out of the vehicle and asked. I was directed to the porters, but then instructed that we couldn't drive to their location. Huh? So we got as close as we could and proceeded to unload (too much) luggage from the car. The porters were chatting among themselves and not about to be bothered by (of all things) cruise guests. We managed to get their attention and finally passed custody of our bags onto them. We parked in the Aloha Towers parking lot and within 15 minutes, were actually inside our stateroom. (Note: if you park in the Aloha Towers lot during embarkation, stop in one of the stores to get your parking ticket validated prior to leaving the lot. A $5 box of tea saved us $10 in parking). Read more