COURTESY NCL CORP. The Pride of Hawaii pulled into Kauai's Nawiliwili Harbor early yesterday to dock in Hawaii for the first time. The 2,400-passenger ship is the third in a series of U.S.-flagged cruise ships sailing under the NCL America brand for the rapidly growing interisland market. It joins the Pride of Aloha and Pride of America in NCL's fleet.

Pride arrives

Hula dancers welcome 1,200 passengers sailing from California

LIHUE » Hawaii's newest cruise ship docked in the islands for the first time early yesterday after completing a five-week journey from the German port where it was built.

Several hundred of Pride of Hawaii's 1,200 passengers watched from the deck as the 93,500-ton ship pulled into Kauai's Nawiliwili Harbor. Two Coast Guard boats and a Coast Guard helicopter provided escort.

Hula dancers welcomed the passengers as they disembarked at the terminal.

"We are delighted the ship is finally here," said Robert Kritzman, Norwegian Cruise Lines executive vice president and managing director for Hawaii operations.

The passengers -- about half the ship's full capacity of 2,400 -- boarded the vessel in Los Angeles and San Francisco for the trans-Pacific voyage to Hawaii.

These passengers will be on board as the ship heads from Lihue to Hilo, Kona and Kahului before pulling into Honolulu on Saturday.

The new vessel will begin a regular schedule of loading passengers in Honolulu for week-long interisland tours next Monday, joining two other NCL U.S.-flagged ships that already offer the same service.

The three vessels are expected to carry a total of some 7,000 passengers between the islands each week. Each passenger is forecast to spend an average of $373 per day during the cruise, making the vessels significant contributors to the islands' tourism industry.

Passengers who boarded the ship in California said they were happy to be on the inaugural voyage.

"It's so exciting to be the first passengers on a ship like this. It won't happen again in my lifetime," said Carmen Tamayo, who lives in an Orange County, Calif., retirement community. "I've been saying all along that I'm the first one to sleep in this bed, the first one to use these linens. It's been such a treat."

Theme parties, a live band and deejays have quickly made Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 13 a popular hangout with vacationing couples and honeymooners.

Large TV screens near the elevators list the ship's 10 restaurants. The Medusa Nightclub -- decorated in purple, orange and blue -- offers three rooms for private karaoke parties.

When fully staffed, the Pride of Hawaii will have more than 1,000 crew members, all of whom spent at least three weeks at a training center in Piney Point, Md., to earn their merchant marine documents.

The course included intensive firefighting, water safety, first aid training, as well as classes on customer service and Hawaiian culture.