Looking for your thoughts on our planned itinerary

[hondagirl26]

Let me start by saying this trip is to celebarte my husband's 50th birthday at the end of February. We are travelling with our daughter who is 25 and her other half.

 

We are spending 3 days pre-cruise in Oahu and staying at the Ilikai Hotel which in the keeping with the Hawaii "5-0" theme of this trip for hubby's birthday. The opening credits for the original series showed Jack Lord on one of the Penthouse balconies. We have rented a car for these 3 days, we have also booked a tour through Oahu Nature Tours http://www.oahunaturetours.com/ we chose the Natural Highlight tour for Thursday afternoon, their prices seem reasonable and they have great reviews on trip advisor. We are planning on visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center on Friday and have yet to decide what to don on embarkation day but we might do a custom Birding tour.

 

While in Maui we have rented a car and will be Whale watching with http://www.ultimatewhalewatch.com/ on the Sunday which is hubby's birthday and that is what he wants to do, I suspect we will wander around Lahaina afterwords. We have not yet decided what to on Monday and there are so many choices.

 

In Hilo we have booked a tour with http://hawaii.volcanodiscovery.com/ and are thinking of doing the Lava Proximity Hike

 

In Kona we are planning on doing the South Kona Expedition (snorkelling tour) with http://www.seaquesthawaii.com/ which I discovered through the wonderful trip review done by Kwbound.

 

Finally in Kauai we are currently scheduled to do a tour with Karen Tilley of Kauai Eden Tours on the first day and have a helicopter flight with Blue Hawaiian Helicopters for the morning of March 4th. My daughter brought home a video from a flight her boss took when he was there. Now that I have seen the video, I am not sure that I still need to spend the money to do it myself. I have done a helicopter tour to the Grand Canyon before so I know what it's like although this scenery would be different

 

After having done all kinds of research and visited so many different web pages, I still find I am not 100% decided on some of planned activities while some others are set in stone. :) All I can say for sure is it will most definately be a full trip and we will need another vacation when we get home. LOL

[bronxite]

Sounds wonderful; we will be taking a tour with Karen Tilley as well when we sail to Hawaii in April; have a wonderful trip and Happy Birthday to your husband.

[Raison]

Sounds good to me too. We will be staying at the Ilikai as well.

 

I recently emailed Karen Tilley about a day tour with her, but we thought $440 for the 2 of us for one day was a bit overpriced, certainly it is out of our budget! However her tours sound like good days out.

[hondagirl26]

Sounds good to me too. We will be staying at the Ilikai as well.

 

I recently emailed Karen Tilley about a day tour with her, but we thought $440 for the 2 of us for one day was a bit overpriced, certainly it is out of our budget! However her tours sound like good days out.

 

 

When are you travelling? I think our tour with Karen is working out to $163.00 p.p. including tax as there are 4 of us

[Raison]

When are you travelling? I think our tour with Karen is working out to $163.00 p.p. including tax as there are 4 of us

 

We are on POA for March 26 departure and April 2 departure.

[cleobella]

I think your plans sound really good-not too overloaded. I would definitely stick with the helicopter tour in Kauai-we took this tour in Dec and it is absolutely awesome! We did a North Shore tour on Oahu, which may be like your natural highlights tour. It was another high point for us with stops at Turtle Beach, lots of birds and beautiful scenic places and waves. Bon Voyage!

[sceptic]

One thing I like about your itinerary is you didn't overload. A lot of people try and squeeze many things (RTH, Iao Vally, Lahaina, Luau) into a single day. You have One Big Thing each day, and this will give you time to satisfy a little wanderlust as the travel muse inspires you. Nice job!

[hondagirl26]

Thank you all for the votes of confidence. I am really looking forward to this trip and so is the rest of the family. I will do my best to write a review when we get back.

[cruiseman40]

Looks great and enjoy your trip!

[Sunny AZ Girl]

It looks like a fun vacation. We are like you, we like tours but we also do not want to be so tightly scheduled that we have no flexibility or down time. I look forward to your review!

[beachchick]

One thing I like about your itinerary is you didn't overload. A lot of people try and squeeze many things (RTH, Iao Vally, Lahaina, Luau) into a single day. You have One Big Thing each day, and this will give you time to satisfy a little wanderlust as the travel muse inspires you. Nice job!

 

I absolutely agree. No surprise there I suppose, considering how (in)famous I am for my "take time to stop and smell the plumeria" advice (aka lecture).

 

beachchick

[snowfree]

We just got back from NCL . In Maui we booked privately the Four Winds II Afternoon Adventure with www.allmauitours.com . A taxi to Maalaea Harbour cost $32 each way but was still cheaper than the NCL packages. Great day, well run, saw 40-50 whales and snorkelled at Molokini.

Kauai: highly recommend Karen Tilley at www.KauaiEdenTours.com . Private hiking or drive (your choice) for any length of time, any degree of difficulty, geared to your interests. Enjoyed Karen very much, personable and knowledgeable. Only takes 4 people and much cheaper per person with 4 than with 2. Pick up and returned to dock.

Also, on Kauai, booked privately with Safari Helicopters, the Deluxe Waterfall Tour. www.safarihelicopters.com . They were very efficient, on time, pier pickup and return. $183.20 pp instead of NCL's $249. Also operate in Hilo on the Big Island. Would go with them again. Ordered the video but quality was poor at times when flying into the sun.

Hope this helps.

[kwbound]

In Kona we are planning on doing the South Kona Expedition (snorkelling tour) with http://www.seaquesthawaii.com/ which I discovered through the wonderful trip review done by Kwbound.

 

I'm glad my review was a help to you. I'm sure you will enjoy the SeaQuest excursion. Make sure you eat some of the Maui Style potato chips they serve with lunch...delish! That excursion and the Blue Hawaiian helicopter tour in Kauai were highlights for us. My only suggestion would be to try and get in a luau one evening if you can. We were actually surprised by how much we enjoyed the Smith Family Luau in Kauai.

 

I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip. Looking forward to your review.

 

Donna

[gskline]

We just got back from NCL . In Maui we booked privately the Four Winds II Afternoon Adventure with www.allmauitours.com . A taxi to Maalaea Harbour cost $32 each way but was still cheaper than the NCL packages. Great day, well run, saw 40-50 whales and snorkelled at Molokini.

Kauai: highly recommend Karen Tilley at www.KauaiEdenTours.com . Private hiking or drive (your choice) for any length of time, any degree of difficulty, geared to your interests. Enjoyed Karen very much, personable and knowledgeable. Only takes 4 people and much cheaper per person with 4 than with 2. Pick up and returned to dock.

Also, on Kauai, booked privately with Safari Helicopters, the Deluxe Waterfall Tour. www.safarihelicopters.com . They were very efficient, on time, pier pickup and return. $183.20 pp instead of NCL's $249. Also operate in Hilo on the Big Island. Would go with them again. Ordered the video but quality was poor at times when flying into the sun.

Hope this helps.

 

 

Thank you for this info. I've been trying to find out the cab fare to Ma'alaea Harbor. We want to do a Whale Watching tour from there. Now I just have to figure out of it's cheaper to go with the NCL Excursion:confused:. The last time we were on Maui, it wasn't whale season. So we're really looking forward to our Feb '12 trip!

Hondagirl I think your plans are great. Some people try to do and see SO much, that their vacation is actually stressful:eek:.