Travel to the Hawaiian Islands was a real adventure in the 1800s and early 1900s. The Islands were wilder; the locals wore less clothing; and the voyage took days instead of hours. Visits typically lasted weeks and months, not days. During this era, schooners and steamships ruled the waves; transoceanic flights were an imaginative fantasy…if anyone thought of them at all.

The dream of making Hawai’i accessible to mainland tourists became reality due largely to one man: Captain William Matson, founder of the Matson Navigation Company. This dashing entrepreneur first sailed his three-masted schooner, the Emma Claudina, from San Francisco to Hilo in 1882. On these earliest voyages, Matson carried no passengers, just cargo (300 tons of food, plantation supplies and general merchandise). But Matson had a grander scheme in mind.

By 1908, Matson had replaced his schooner with the Lurline, a brigantine (a two-masted, square-rigged ship). Besides its cargo hold, this vessel also offered accommodations for 51 passengers. In 1910, the 146-passenger steamship the S.S. Wilhelmina joined the Matson fleet -- and Hawaii’s cruise industry was on its way.

Matson quickly increased his fleet of passenger ships to 14 of the largest, fastest, and most modern vessels in the Pacific. A Matson craft was easy to spot on the open seas thanks to its distinctive red-brown hull and aft-mounted engines. Matson himself died in 1917, but the company continued to grow. Between 1927 and 1930, the Matson fleet grew even larger, adding some of the most lavish ships ever seen on the West Coast including the Malolo, the Mariposa, Monterey, and a new Lurline.

A 1930s brochure painted a glowing verbal picture of the era’s luxury cruise liners. The First Class Dining Saloon was said to be "Charming, informal, with color notes of pastel greens, richly decorated with paintings of tropical birds and ships riding upon painted seas… an unusual setting within which to enjoy unusually satisfying food. Air conditioning is the final thought for your complete pleasure."

The Staterooms and Deluxe Suite were described as follows: "The glance which catches externals...the restful blending of colors, the tropic bamboo motif in luxurious furnishings, the skillful regard for convenience...tells that your stateroom is implicit with every imaginable comfort."

"The de luxe suites tell their story in a rich and regal manner. They are a repository for that trinity of necessities -- beauty, comfort, utility. Decorations and furnishings reflect skill, good taste, and understanding. It would be difficult to create or imagine a more distinctive, beautiful quarters."

With the success of a passenger line business the first “resort” hotels were built on Waikiki Beach starting with The Moana—opened in 1901. In 1932, after having built the premier hotel in Hawaii at that time—The Royal Hawaiian—the Matson Steamship Company purchased the Moana Hotel and operated both hotels as well as the Seaside Bungalows and the Waialae Ranch Company through the Territorial Hotel Company, Ltd.
The Golden Age of Hawaiian cruise lines ended on Dec. 7, 1941 with a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawai`i. During World War II, the U.S. military commandeered Matson’s cruise liners. When peace returned, the fleet required a multi-million dollar reconversion before again being suitable for passenger service.

Now came the Silver Age of the Aloha cruise industry. During this time, Matson also constructed two new hotels—the SurfRider in 1951 and the Princess Kaiulani in 1955. One key to Matson’s postwar success was eliminating the stiff opulence of the 1930s salons in favor of a more modern and comfortable contemporary standard. . Polynesian theming was added to the ships including bamboo, cane, tiki art, and Hawaiian-themed murals.

The Silver Age of Hawaiian cruise lines ended when transpacific passenger flights became routine. Matson ended its passenger service in 1976, selling its passenger ships. The company refocused on building what is now one of the Pacific’s largest container shipping fleets.

Today, a new Golden Age of Hawaiian cruises is underway. Modern luxury liners dwarf the original Matson vessels in scale, speed, and style. But in these beautiful ships -- and in the vibrant cruise and tourism industries that still power Hawaii’s economy -- Captain Matson’s original vision and accomplishment live on, bigger and brighter than ever.