In January, when it’s a bit chilly even for us living in Southern California, we decided to escape for 18 days in the sun on a relaxing cruise aboard the Koningsdam, heading to the Hawaiian Islands.

The Koningsdam set sail on a round-trip journey from our nearby port, San Diego, at 5:05 p.m. on January 28, 2025, carrying 2,503 guests and a crew of 956, with Honolulu as our first port of call.

Six Days at Sea

We watched part of the Super Bowl and ate popcorn in the ship’s theater with several hundred other passengers. We finished watching the last quarter on the TV in our stateroom. A funny moment was when the theater audience got really excited and clapped loudly—it happened when we lost the broadcast signal during the halftime show. Cruise passengers are harsh critics.

Then, as planned, we arrived in Honolulu on February 3 for a two-day stay.

The Pacific crossing was smooth and relaxing, but many passengers were eager to dive into the excursions they had signed up for before the cruise.

And so it was for each of the four islands we visited—Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii (the Big Island). It was a wonderful cruise full of cultural experiences.

Before long, we were heading back to the US mainland, but first one last stop.. Ensenada, México.

Trivia time: Why stop in Mexico?

According to the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, every cruise ship not built or owned in the United States that sails with an international crew and departs from a US port must visit a distant foreign port sometime before returning to a US port.

For international cruise ships sailing to the Hawaiian Islands from the US mainland, such as the Koningsdam, the obligatory foreign port is typically Ensenada, Mexico.

Google says the purpose of the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886 is to protect the US maritime industry by requiring that intra-US sea passengers be carried on US-flagged, US-owned vessels.

The law is both obsolete and burdensome. The last cruise ship built in America was The Pride of America in 2000. However, the company building the ship went bankrupt in 2001.

Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) purchased the “Pride‘s” incomplete hull and had it towed to Germany, where the ship was completed and inaugurated in 2005.

So, the Pride was primarily built in Germany, not America. The last truly American large passenger liner constructed entirely in the US was the SS Argentina in 1958.

We sailed on the Pride of America in 2010. Unlike most cruise ships, the Pride had an all-American cabin and serving staff. Unfortunately, the service was so substandard that we decided not to write about it at the time.

Happy travels!

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© Travels with Wayne and Judy Bayliff

Photos © by Wayne and Judy Bayliff – unless indicated otherwise.