Nahalia Faurot, age 7, of Makakilo, described the arrival of the Hawai'i Superferry in Honolulu in two words:

"It's spantacular!" she yelled with a broad smile as she threw her arms wide open.

Or, to put it another way, "It's cool!" she said.

"We're going to ride on it."

Nahalia was among the thousands who jockeyed for position from Diamond Head to Waikiki to Downtown Ho-nolulu to lay eyes on the leviathan catamaran Alakai as it passed by en route to Pier 19 at Honolulu Harbor. One day soon, the specially designed vessel will begin to ferry folks to and from O'ahu, Maui and Kaua'i.

The Superferry was the talk of the town even among those who didn't watch it come in.

"Hey, guess what's coming in right now?" April Walker, bartender at Honolulu Hank's on Nu'uanu Avenue, asked the person she was speaking with on the phone. "The Superferry. It's coming in. I'm so excited I can't stand it. I just want to go out on it and spend the day. I don't even want to get off. I just want to ride around on it and party."

Patron Edward Eastman wondered aloud if the ferry would actually carry both people and cars to Neighbor Islands. Exactly correct, he was told.

"Really?" said Eastman, almost in disbelief. "I like that idea."

Eastman wasn't alone. Most everyone who showed up to cheer and wave and snap photos of the 350-foot craft seemed to like the idea.

VROOM FACTOR

Along with more than six dozen other spectators, Ed Moad, 60, a transportation maintenance specialist with Aloha Petroleum, found one of the more desirable viewing positions on the breezy, shady, open-air observation deck between Tower Grill and Bikini Cantina at the Aloha Tower Market Place — complete with coin-operated high-power telescopes.

The second-story observation deck qualified as a ringside seat as the Hawai'i Superferry ship passed close by at eye-level to those present.

"Oh yeah, I'll ride it," Moad said. "People I've talked to are really looking forward to it. And I think it's going to be very beneficial for a lot of folks here in the Islands."

The drawing card: It'll carry cars.

Moad said he expects to save a bundle on car rental for a week-long scuba-diving trip to Maui or Kaua'i with his daughter.

"And I can take my tanks along with me and not have to worry about renting tanks and gear," he said. "We sat down the other night and tried to figure it up. There's no doubt it'll save you money if you're there for a week."

Nearby, Glenn Sasaki of Makiki also gave the Superferry concept a thumbs up.

"I'm raring to go," said Sasaki, a driver education teacher. "Us Honolulu guys, when we go to the Neighbor Islands it costs us so much money to rent a car. I think this will make people travel more. I'm excited to see this get started. I think it will mean more jobs for people."

OF WHALES AND TRAFFIC

However, Sasaki was one of the few people who offered what could be considered a discouraging word.

"I've been working on Maui for the last few weeks, and a lot of people there are not looking forward to this," he said. "Because the traffic problem there is already a mess there as it is, and they're afraid that this Superferry will come in and make things even worse."

The company has faced various obstacles, including some in obtaining more than $200 million in private financing and government loan guarantees, and $53 million in state-funded ferry improvements to Hawai'i harbors.

The company also has had to answer to widespread concern about the ferry's potential environmental impact, including the possibilities of interisland transport of invasive species and of collisions with migratory humpback whales.

Despite all that, John Garibaldi, president and CEO of Hawaii Superferry, is convinced the time is finally right for the ferry service.

"The stars have all come in alignment," as he likes to put it.

INTERISLAND FLOW

Garibaldi said he believes the Superferry operation will succeed where other interisland ferry attempts have not — primarily because the other attempts didn't ferry vehicles along with people.

"This is proven technology that has been successful throughout the world," said Garibaldi as he waited at Pier 19 for the Superferry ship to dock and the private welcoming ceremony to begin. "You look at the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands, New Zealand, the English Channel and the Baltics and it's a common way of life. It's a technology that's really an outgrowth of the Polynesian double-hull canoes.

"When the ship builders came out here, they took very specific wave readings around our channels, and they designed the ship to meet those specifications. With the ride control systems on board, the design of the vessel, we are confident that people are going to have a tremendous experience going between the islands.

"It's a very comfortable ride."

The Hawaii Superferry routes will change life in the Islands for the better, said Terry O'Halloran, the company's director of business development.

"It will give families and sports teams and hula halaus and businesses the ability to bring their products and produce between the islands in a way they've never had before," O'Halloran said.

The Alakai can ferry 866 people and 282 cars. In 2009, an identical sister ship will add Superferry travel to the Big Island, Garibaldi said.

For now, the company is taking reservations for Sept. 5 and beyond for ferry travel from O'ahu to Maui and Kaua'i and back. But Garibaldi is confident the ferry will be ready to go sooner.

"We're hedging our bet," he said. "We think we're going to be out there by the middle of August. We just don't want to disappoint anybody."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.