for those that went to HAWAII

little j Posted: Aug 29, 2011 10:37 AM

for those that went to HAWAII

what do you recommend? did you island hop? did you rent a car? did you go to a particular place that was THE BEST EVER?

or maybe you took a cruise around the hawaiian islands instead?

DH and I are thinking about hawaii, and we are talking about a cruise, since it may be easier (and more affordable). but i wonder if thats the best idea

this is NOT a honeymoon, so we cant spend $$$$$$$$$$$$. but we would like a nice vacay.

recommendations please.....!

AwaitingAugust Posted: Aug 29, 2011 11:20 AM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

we did a Carnival cruise from Vancouver Canada to all the hawaiian islands (12 days long) ... it was much cheaper than hotels & food.

Pros:
-- get to see each of the islands without flying
-- cheaper than hotels & restaurants

Cons:
-- only get a little amount of time on each island (but it was enough for us)
-- get 'stuck' being by the ports while places farther away may be much nicer

still, we have flying so much that it was def the best option for us and we're happy we did it.

There's a NCL cruise that is just the hawaiian islands but we're not really fans of NCL

chliekm Posted: Aug 29, 2011 12:47 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

We are doing a week on Oahu and then the NCL 7 day cruise around the islands because I want to see the islands and don't want to pack and fly everywhere.

NCL is on the lower end of my cruise company ratings, however the times and islands are perfect and I've heard some good things about the boat and the itinerary..and from other fellow brides on this site too. We are planning on renting cars (very cheap!!) and driving to all the good spots on the islands.

HTH!

LMaccone16 Posted: Aug 29, 2011 03:27 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

We went to Hawaii on our HM... we flew there (straight flight = 10 hrs!) and island hopped- 2 days at Oahu, 5 at Kauai and 5 at Maui....we rented a car and it was the best time ever...stayed at Hyatt Regency in both Maui and Kauai..
I have a bunch of places and activities to recommend if you change your mind about cruising, so FM me for more details!!

Soon2BMIL Posted: Aug 29, 2011 03:39 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

We also did NCL. The Pride of America
This has an all American crew. NCL made arrangements with Hawaii - they can only hire American workers.

The ship is beautiful. Full of American history. The
main level of ths ship has the Presidental Seal. It is absolutely beautiful!

We ate in some of the specialty restaurants We loved the Asian restaurant - three restaurants in one - Chinese, Japanese and Sushi

We enjoyed going to all the islands - I felt that we were able to see the islands without having to fly from island to island. We did our own thing on each island, We rented a car on 5 islands.

We had a balcony room. we were able to see the active volcano and whales from our room.

My travel agent told us about Alaska Airlines - they have a visa signature credit card that offers a companion fare for $99 plus miles. You fly to Seattle and stay overnight and then continue the next morning onto Honolulu. This saved us alot of money - especially since we flew first class.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

barbeik005 Posted: Aug 30, 2011 07:42 AM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

FH and I went there last week. We island hopped. Although if you're going on your honeymoon, I'd say try not to go to too many islands because it's your honeymoon and you should relax more! We spent 5 nights in Maui, 2 in Oahu, 4 in Kauai. Also took a day trip from Maui to Lanai.

I can recommend a lot of things to do on the different islands for sure. I'd say a car is definitely good to have on Kauai and Mauai. On Lanai, renting a jeep was the best thing we could have done. If you want some more information about the particular islands and my recommendations, just FM

olganfreddy Posted: Aug 31, 2011 03:34 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

We just did a 2 week vacay in Hawaii and I think this is an AMAZING destination. Depending on where you're coming from, you can fly into Honolulu or you can do a layover in Cali or we did our layover in phoenix and flew to Maui from tehre. We did 1 week in Maui and 6 days in Kauai. I dont think you can rush a hawaiian vacay especially if you're coming from NY....its just such a long flight you need time to relax. We stayed at the Westin on Kannapali Beach (beach is amazinggggggggggggggg, hotel is ok).....and then we flew over to Kauai and stayed at the St. Regis Princeville in the North. I think this was my favorite beach vacay EVERRRRRRRR........I just loved it there. Hawaii is expensive, but you can def try to find deals. You need a car 100%!!!!!!! distances are huge and you need to get around to see all the beautiful places.....We had a car on both islands and it was necessary 100%. Hope this helps.

little j Posted: Aug 31, 2011 03:43 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

does anyone mind sharing approx how much a trip like these mentioned cost per person. for our HM we splurged, but now we have a budget. haha

AwaitingAugust Posted: Aug 31, 2011 04:08 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

Posted by little j

does anyone mind sharing approx how much a trip like these mentioned cost per person. for our HM we splurged, but now we have a budget. haha

it was our HM so we got the balcony room, not to mention some extra exursions and whatnot (plus our cruise was 2 weeks long) and we spent about $5 or 6k, i believe (including excursions).

The NCL cruises are not that expensive - i think they're about $800 per person for the week ... flight prices depend on whether you want direct or with a layover (direct leaves from NJ only)

then it depends on you and your spending habits for excursions and alcohol

jassy119 Posted: Aug 31, 2011 05:32 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

Posted by little j

does anyone mind sharing approx how much a trip like these mentioned cost per person. for our HM we splurged, but now we have a budget. haha

Im curious to know this also. Hawaii is on the top of the list for HM destinations for FH and I.

For those that didnt dO the cruise and instead island hopped would u mind sharing how much u spent? TIA!

barbeik005 Posted: Aug 31, 2011 05:55 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

I think we spent around 6k. I don't remember exactly though since it was a random vacation. We had an ocean view room in Oahu, just some sort of standard room in Kauai, and a partial ocean in Maui.

jassy119 Posted: Aug 31, 2011 09:38 PM

Re: for those that went to HAWAII

Posted by barbeik005

I think we spent around 6k. I don't remember exactly though since it was a random vacation. We had an ocean view room in Oahu, just some sort of standard room in Kauai, and a partial ocean in Maui.

Thanks!