HILO, Hawai'i — This time, NCL America made it look easy.

The new $350 million cruise ship Pride of America eased into Hilo Bay for its first visit to a Hawai'i port yesterday morning, distributing hundreds of mostly cheerful passengers to waiting rows of tour vans and buses.

Pride of America is the largest U.S.-flagged cruise ship ever, and the second ship NCL has dedicated to cruises in the Hawaiian Islands. Company executives were on hand for a blessing and public relations tours for media and local dignitaries to give Hawai'i residents their first look at the ship.

Last year's shakedown cruise for NCL's Hawai'i-based Pride of Aloha featured passengers griping about poor service and long waits for meals, but none of that displeasure was on display yesterday at Pride of America.

Honolulu residents Bill Crockett and Miki Riker, who boarded in San Francisco on July 12, said Pride of America's crossing from the Mainland went well because many crew members were veterans of the business. About a third of the Pride of America crew came from Pride of Aloha.

Jacqueline Travers, group services coordinator for Pride of America, said one measure of success of the five-day cruise from San Francisco was how many passengers decided to stay on board in Hilo.

The crew had expected that after so many days at sea, the passengers would rush ashore to look around. Instead, she said many of the 1,600 passengers stayed back, apparently content to relax in their staterooms.

Diversions on board include eight restaurants, 10 bars, a movie theater and an open-air gyroscope for those who want to experience weightlessness.

Popular entertainment during the crossing included bingo sessions and comedy shows.

The vessel features "anything you want to do," said Kim LaNore, of Amarillo, Texas. There are pools, hot tubs, a fitness center, video arcade — and a golf driving net if you want to work on your swing.

Crockett spent part of each morning walking Deck Six for exercise: Three times around is a mile, he said.

"If you want to stay busy all day long, there's something to do," LaNore said. "Hey, my take on it is, anytime you don't have to be at work, that's a great day."

Chris and Renea Potts, of Tracy, Calif., said they didn't feel quite as pampered as they have on other competing cruises to Mexico and Jamaica, but they had no complaints. They compared the service at meal times to that of "a nice restaurant."

"I think it's pretty full, but there are no crowds at the restaurants or anything like that," LaNore said. "We haven't had to wait on anything."

Pride of America had U.S. Coast Guard vessels circling it before its departure from San Francisco, and was greeted in Hilo by a security escort that included two U.S. Coast Guard boats and a helicopter.

Riker said a security worker in San Francisco explained that the ship's name had prompted extra security. Also, Pride of America is one of only two U.S.-flagged cruise ships, so that accounted for the stepped-up security, said Robert Kritzman, executive vice president for NCL America, a brand of NCL Corp. The company's brands include Norwegian Cruise Line.

An obvious patriotic theme was worked into the decor of Pride of America.

The central reception area on Deck Five is known as the "Capitol Atrium," and bears the Seal of the United States of America on its sparkling floor. Passengers riding the glass elevators between decks zip past a glass mock-up of the Washington Monument.

Deck Five features the Jefferson Bistro, the John Adams Coffee Bar and Deck Six boasts the Liberty Main Restaurant, a dining room done up in so much red, white and blue that it looks ready for a political convention.

There are at least a dozen decorating schemes on the 14 decks of the 81,000-ton ship, with rooms carefully designed in regional U.S. themes. There is a Lazy J Texas Steakhouse to represent the West, and a Skyline Restaurant representing New York.

"The attention to detail is insane," said Travers, the ship's group services coordinator. NCL's architect noticed when a plant was out of place, and had it moved to its proper spot, she said.

Deck Six features the Kumu Cultural Center with a compact display of Waikiki history, and Pink's Champaign Bar. A faux gasoline pump sets the tone for the 1950s-themed Cadillac Diner.

Black-and-white images of famous cruise ships decorate paneled walls in the Shuffles Card Room and the Internet Center, while floral arrangements and abstract paintings decorate the chapel across the hall.

The ship is designed for 2,144 passengers at double occupancy and a crew of about 950, but had about 970 crew members on the trip from San Francisco, including some who are being trained, staff said.

The ship will begin offering seven-day interisland tours from Honolulu on Saturday, and Kritzman said the company is "very pleased" with the pace of bookings so far.

July, August and September are essentially sold out, and bookings for the final three months of the year are very strong, he said. A third U.S.-flagged vessel, the Pride of Hawaii, is scheduled to arrive next year.

A 2003 PriceWaterhouse-Coopers report commissioned by NCL predicted the three ships will add more than 10,000 jobs and $270 million in payroll to the state's economy by 2007, but Kritzman said the company now believes the true economic benefit from the three vessels will be greater.

Reach Kevin Dayton at kdayton@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 935-3916.