Hula dancers, ukulele tunes, and leis welcome passengers aboard the S.S. Independence. Photograph by Maria Stenzel

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Well-traveled Mark Miller, a TRAVELER contributing editor, was pretty sure that cruising wasn’t for him! “Frankly, my notion of cruise ships was one of floating buffets set for 2,000.” Now, after a week on the American liner S.S. Independence, he maintains, “I’d take a deck chair over an airplane seat any day.” Miller does Hawaii with a friend—“as we Los Angeleans like to say, a very close personal friend”—relishing the hassle-free island-hopping as well as the classic ship ambience. They got to sample what Mark Twain called “the loveliest fleet of islands. . .anchored in any ocean.” They hiked, snorkeled, and toured around—without having to submit to puddle-jump flights, rental-car lines, and hotel check-in.

Built in 1951, the former transatlantic liner S.S. Independence offers classic cruise ambience. Photograph by Maria Stenzel

The ship that served as home base was built in 1951 as a transatlantic speed queen. Now she sails the Hawaiian Islands year-round. Join Miller and friend as they sip Pearl Harbors (a mix of vodka, melon liqueur, and pineapple), enjoy healthy doses of island culture, overserve themselves at the buffet, and get to know some fellow cruisers “we’d be happy to have as neighbors.”

Read “Cruising Hawaii” in the November/December 1999 issue of TRAVELER.