Travel Rewards

The Pride of America arrived at port in Hilo, Hawaii at 8:00am on Tuesday.  We would be docked here until 6:00 that evening.  This was our first visit to the big island. We had signed up for the Volcanoes National Park shore excursion. Volcanoes National Park is the home of Hawaii's Goddess of Fire, Madame Pele. They the tour bus drives along the crater's rim as allowed by park rangers; due to activity, parts may be closed. Standing at just over 4,000 feet, Kilauea is not the tallest volcano on the Big Island, but it's certainly the most active.You drive by the Halemaumau Fire Pit and the Kilauea Iki Crater before stopping at the Thurston Lava Tube. There you take  a short walk gives you the opportunity for an up-close view of an extinct lava tube. The tour also visits the Hawaii Volcano Observatory and Jaggar Museum. On your way back to the ship, the bus stops to visit the Big Island Candies where you can sample the tasty treats and take some...

Since NCL's Pride of America departs and ends from an American port without stopping at a foreign port; it is registered under the American Flag and has an American Crew. We flew Hawaiian Airlines from Portland to Honolulu.  We were very happy with the service and food on the flight. ( Yes, I Said Food.)  And the flight was very reasonable. It was only just over $300 per person round trip; so we saved our frequent flyer miles for another vacation.  Truth is we could have flown using our American Airlines miles. Would have flown from Portland to Dallas-Fort Worth and from there to Honolulu. It just did not make a lot of sense. We were now going to spend three nights at the Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club. We had to sacrifice a day, because our cruise was now leaving a day earlier than originally planned. The  Marriott's Ko Olina Beach Club is located on the western shore of Oahu, where waterfalls and fountains welcome your arrival. Only 18 miles...