Sunday August 31st, 2003: We arrived at Aloha Tower Pier at 1:30 P.M. after flying into Honolulu around 11:30 P.M. from the west coast. Which I highly recommend if you can swing it. Passengers were allowed on board at 1 P.M. and at that time, it is far less crowded than what we saw from being on board later on that afternoon. We were also very happy to find that due to Hurricane Jimena that was out in the Pacific near the Big Island, we would not be going to Fanning Island. They had re-done our itinerary to add Lahaina and have one of our 2 days at sea, the next day, so we could enjoy a lazy day right away and unwind from all the traveling. We would have gotten off the ship at Fanning Island to see it, but none of us were broken hearted we weren't going there.

Our check-in was very efficient and friendly. Plenty of security to give you the impression all is safe and to keep you moving to avoid any lag in the line. Before we knew it we had our cabin card, which doubles for your on board credit card, complete with picture, and we were on our way up the looong escalator to have our arrival pictures taken. You can of course buy them later if you wish. Once on board, our ID's were checked in the computer, greeted by some members of the crew and handed off to a concierge, to take us to our Mini Suite.

Once in our cabin we were dazzled. As I have said before, I knew in order to make my "Better Half" enjoy this cruise, who historically does not like cruises. I had to do this up right. And what better way to do it ... an outside cabin with a balcony, but not just an outside cabin but a mini suite. He likes lots or room and the Norwegian Star does not disappoint when it comes to that. The cabin is laid out for optimum comfort and leg room. And just as a side note, when we would leave our cabin in the morning, we would see the inside cabins across from us being made up and while I did not go in any of them, I was nosey enough to lQQk into them, they also appeared to be very spacious for inside cabins. So I would say that the Norwegian Star gets a 10 rating for roomy state rooms.

We also had champagne delivered to our room, $25.00 for a rather poor example of sparkling wine. We had also done some reading at the various message boards about people and their ingenious ways of smuggling booze on board. If they catch you with it upon check in, they confiscate it, (!! no they do not ban you from the ship !!) so we decided not to do it. 20 years ago we may have tried, but now, finances allow us to have bad champagne delivered to our room, so we opted for that.

Our cabin was roomy, well appointed and really very comfy. The bathroom was amazingly BIG and as we found from using it thru out the cruise, far better than we ever could have hoped for. The cabin had a queen size bed, a closet complete with drawers and an ironing board but no iron. There was also a separate dresser and 2 night stands. In the sitting area there was a day bed, desk complete with a safe for your valuables, a small fridge, TV and small coffee maker. There was also a coffee table, altho I found that to be unnecessary with all the other spaces provided, it was just in the way. All in all we really could not have been happier with our accommodations for the next seven nights.

We have heard all the arguments about reserving better level of rooms or cabins and I will say this, if you can afford an outside cabin with a lanai (balcony), I highly recommend it, being able to sit out on that lanai watching those wonderful sunsets and beautiful mountains sail by, and leaving the door open at night to hear those waves crashing and feel that warm pacific wind, for us it was money very well spent.

Once we settled in, unpacked, enjoyed the beautiful skyline of downtown Honolulu for a time :::sigh::: talked to all our friends from our lanais, we all decided to meet on deck 12, The Pool Deck, at the Topsiders Bar and find a table for a party of 8 and get some lunch. Thank goodness I was starved by then!! We found the perfect table, got some libations and enjoyed some really great burgers, hot dogs, polish sausage and salads from The Grill, a buffet style restaurant which really had great food the whole cruise. Everyday it was hamburgers, hot dogs and Polish or Brats, but the food was fresh, hot and salads were different each day and very tasty!

We spent a few hours just sitting, at a table we would come to know over the entire cruise as "Our Table", catching up with our friends and enjoying the steady flow of people as more and more passengers arrived and we anxiously awaited our departure. We lQQked over the "Freestyle Daily" publication to see what was available to us on board our first evening and we all decided were just going to relax until the "Mandatory Emergency Lifeboat Drill" was called.

I do recommend you participate in this, it takes such a short time away from your first few hours on board that there really is not any valid excuse not to. But as usual, and you have them in any crowd, 2 young woman I overheard, said they had "skipped it". Luckily nothing happened on our cruise that would have proved that choice to be very stupid.

The Poolside Sailaway Party began at 5:30 P.M., complete with live music, a B B Q and a chance to meet and chat with some of the crew and staff members of the ship. So we met back at "Our Table" at 6:30 P.M. and proceeded to eat, drink and enjoy a great party.

Finally at 8:00 P.M. The Norwegian Star slowly begins to pull away from Aloha Tower Pier, as hula dancers bid us Aloha Oe'. The lights of Honolulu Harbor make a brilliant back drop as we sailed off into the black night with the moon high up in the sky watching our every move. We made our way up to the Bier Garten on Deck 14 to get a better lQQk at our departure of Honolulu and one last drink. The Bier Garten is a smaller bar above the Oasis Pool that is a great place to sit out and enjoy drinks and pretzels. It has a canopy over most of the seating area, so during the day it is not a great place to try and catch rays but it is a nice place to sit, grab a beer out of the sun and maybe read a book or people watch and in the evening to enjoy the wonderful Pacific air.

It had been a long day for all of us by 10 P.M. so we all decided to turn in. We lQQked forward to our first day on the ship, while at sea and to further investigate this great ship. We walked back to our cabins said "Good Night" to all and I believe we all fell into a deep restful sleep with visions of what tomorrow would bring.

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