They stand in long queues at the buffet on deck eleven. They have thick piles of spaghetti piled on the plate and sit, smiling to a whirlpool. They drink water, juice and iced tea and are happy - the American Midwest has gathered for a week-long fast-food feast on the high seas.

A little bit, it looks as though Hieronymus Bosch's fountain of youth as an all-inclusive package marketed cleverly.

But here the gentle mockery of the elderly guests should be already too late. Because sending the idea to people with little money on a nice cruise, is in truth quite pretty.

The cruise company Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) wants to take the Freestyle Cruising concept of this mode of travel, the Exalted. People should dress how they want. Only at mealtimes in the six top restaurants they want to please wear long pants.

And the prejudice that only rich people could afford this kind of sublime movement, should also be abolished at last. A weeklong cruise on the Pride of Aloha can be booked from $ 900.

Over sand to the beach

Deck eleven, sun deck, meeting place for all who love life and the sea. In the heavy air of the South Seas mixes the scent of barbecue. Some of the travelers will not leave the ship because they are good enough supplies here. All day they have plates in their hands.

In the evenings they are tables in an order of the six restaurants on board, or the Crossings Hukilau Café with hot and recommend the exclusive European-Asian cuisine. They will eat chicken breasts, sometimes cooked French, another Italian time. And they will believe that there is a difference.

It will all go well this time. Unlike that trip recently, are the three old men in the same restaurant died in quick succession. The excitement, the heat, the new - probably because it came all together.

The first island to the port the ship is Kauai. And since you have to say: The primary impression is not very Hawaiian. A gray-container conglomerate is the port, cloudy little green and the sky.

But for a car rental is waiting in the parking lot. A better way to explore the island, there is not, than driving yourself.

Above all, anxious to beat the advice of the Rent-a-car people in the rain-rich winds. The man is a bit concerned about his jeep. Therefore, he advises, better not to curve to the coast of mana, because of the way there might be a bit rough.

But that is what you want but if you are already so lends a safari-cart: the red volcanic dirt tracks stutter, show the Jeep leave, how he copes with deep potholes, and at the end you come to a beautiful beach, Barking Sands called, the drive apparently only a few locals.