This is one of the most economical ways to visit four of the major Hawaiian islands. We sailed on the Pride of America cruise in 2010 and this was a return cruise for us. With two days docked in Maui, two days docked in Kauai and stops at Hilo and Kona on the big island of Hawaii, the ship serves as a virtual floating hotel. With the exception of Kona, the air ports at Hilo, Kauai, and Maui are nearly adjacent to the ports and an easy free shuttle to pick up rental vehicles. Kona is the only ferry port with no docking facility while the other ports all have docks with easy access on and off the ship.

All of our tours were arranged through Viator prior to sailing which saved us approximately 30% over ship sponsored tours. On Maui we did the Road to Hana tour on the first day when we had the most time in port. On the second day we picked up a rental jeep and visited a Lilac Farm on the side of Kilauea Volcano and then visited the National Park at the summit. The road to Lahaina was very congested (normal situation) so we didn't have time to reach Lahaina and return to the ship before sailing on the second day.

On the third day we rented a vehicle in Hilo and had a private 5 hour tour of Volcano National Park in our vehicle and on foot with Erik Storm of Kilauea EcoGuides. This was our third time visiting the park and this was by far our best tour of this park. At night the ship drifted near where volcanic lava flows reached the ocean with some spectacular light shows. Read more