Pili Kahane couldn't make up her mind: Get a massage in the spa? Soak in the hot tub by the pool? Check out the shops? Join her friends in one of the 12 bars? "I want to do everything and there's just not that much time!" the Waimanalo woman lamented.

It was charity cruise night last Sunday aboard the Pride of Hawai'i, and Kahane was among hundreds of Islanders who took an overnight cruise to nowhere aboard the new Norwegian Cruise Line ship, the largest U.S.-flagged passenger ship ever built. Four Hawai'i nonprofit agencies benefited from the event, in a tradition that NCL has followed in three previous ship launches.

Kahane had been on two charity nights before — aboard Pride of Aloha and Pride of America — and said that, at least based on a couple of hours of wandering around the ship, there's not a lot of difference among the three. "The Hawaiian cultural center is bigger on the Aloha; here, it's just some pictures in a hallway," she said. "The America is all themed to American history, but both Aloha and Hawai'i are supposed to represent the Islands."

And do they? Ken Robello of Kailua, also a charity cruise veteran, isn't sure. "It's kind of ... , " he pauses, considering the Aloha Atrium's glass or plastic ceiling fixture of blue butterflies, purple dendrobiums, red hibiscus and other flowers, "kind of bright." Too bright? "Yeah, I wish they'd used more natural colors. But it's pretty nice. Our room is real nice."

The cabin Robello shared with his wife was an ocean-view mini-suite with balcony, a queen-size bed, floor-to-ceiling windows, cherrywood furniture and full tub.

"It's small compared to a hotel room on land, but it's got everything — even interactive TV," he said. "I could definitely do a week here." (This class of cabin sells for about $1,500-$2,500 per person for the week, depending on location and special sales.)

BOLD COLOR SCHEME

Pride of Hawai'i joins Aloha and America in offering seven-day interisland cruises with lots of opportunities to experience the Islands from a different perspective — something that's particularly attractive to locals. "The thing I like is seeing what O'ahu looks like from the sea. On the way out, I saw a side of Diamond Head I never saw before, and I've lived on the island all my life," said Kepi Martin of Honolulu, who was cruising with her college-age granddaughter. "We had some friends who did a cruise, and they said seeing the Na Pali Coast and the volcano (on the Big Island) was the best part. I think for us (locals), we don't care about going on shore or doing activities. For us, it's just a different way to see our Islands and to relax."

Several members of the Kagiwara family of Honolulu were checking out Pride of Hawai'i with an eye to taking a cruise together to celebrate an upcoming 50th anniversary. "We've been on all the ships, and we think this one has the nicest cabins," said Ellie Kagiwara late Sunday evening as she made her way back to hers. "It's the biggest and newest. The theater is huge — we went to see Barefoot Natives (the duo of Willie K. and Eric Gilliom) and it was really plush. I think we're going to go on this one."

On a whirlwind tour of the ship early Sunday afternoon, the spaces and amenities looked familiar to those who had toured the other NCL ships.

There is the same range of colors that, as one Australian travel writer commented, "go the rainbow one better." There are, for example, the popular plush chairs in the Spinnaker Lounge, round overstuffed seats of bright chartreuse fitted with purple flaps like flower petals. They've been called "Venus flytraps," but the colors are pure Barney. Odd as they may look, they were extremely comfortable.

There is the same preponderance of unnatural materials — almost everything that appears to be wood or stone turns out to be plastic, and all the flowers are plastic or silk, too.

The ship does include many touches of old Hawaiiana, including reproductions of period travel posters and artwork and a wall of molded Hawaiian quilt designs.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT

NCL's trademark Freestyle Cruising, which allows you to choose when and where you dine, is, of course, in effect on Pride of Hawai'i. There are 10 restaurants aboard, of which about half are specialty restaurants that charge a fee — $10 to $15 per person. Teppanyaki grills are particularly popular on NCL ships, and this ship has a 32-seat teppan bar inside the Jasmine Garden, the Asian restaurant. Throughout the ship are LCD screens that display the status of restaurants — whether they're open or closed, whether seats are available, how long the wait is likely to be. Though these are helpful, they're not always accurate. If diners linger, the wait estimate can be off.

Different on this ship: