Hawaii questions..prices/hotels

[sunshineRN48]

Hi everyone, planning a trip in the spring with my daughter on the POA, and will arrive a few days before the cruise, and stay a few days after. I have some general questions about cost so I can plan my budget.

I've heard food prices are really high there, so wanted to know generally how much to budget for lunch off the ship at the ports, meals while in Honolulu, and rental cars, both at the ports and Honolulu.

Also, overwhelmed with looking for a decent hotel near alot of fun things, that won't break my budget. Of course, I would love a beachfront one, but may have to stay a block or two away from the beach, as long as there is a public beach we can go to close by.

Thanks for the help!

[Middleager]

Suggest you read through the first few pages of threads here. A lot of those (same) questions are answered in the first page.

 

All public beaches in Hawaii are public. Prices in general aren't that high, although gas and beef prices are higher.

 

For rental car, check discounthawaiicarrental.com

 

For hotels check discounthawaiihotels.com

[agabbymama]

Not sure of your budget, but these are three hotels I like to look at first, whenever I go to Hawaii. Keep in mind, with a rental car, you are going to pay dearly to park anywhere in Waikiki.

 

http://www.astonhotels.com/resort/overview/aston-waikiki-beach-hotel

 

http://www.waikikibeachcomberresort.com/

 

http://www.outriggerwaikikihotel.com/

 

You might want to look at vrbo dot com and rent a house or condo for a few days. We did that our last visit and actually stayed on the North East side of the island (Kailua), not right in Waikiki. The house we had was about 2 blocks form the beach.

 

Food is more expensive over there, as most everything is shipped in (even sugar and pineapple) ha ha ha. By having the house with a kitchen, we hit the grocery store and cooked some of our meals ourselves. We did eat out a few times too, but it was nice to return to the house and know we could eat there too.

 

Have fun planning, then taking your trip to Hawaii.

[smitty3000]

Try Priceline. I got a price of $155 per night plus taxes for the Sheraton Waikkaki (spelling?) 4* hotel for three nights after our cruise on Sept 30th. It normally is $279 per night so I thought that was an awesome deal. In Vancouver I booked three nights precruise and got another Sheraton for $100 per night plus taxes. It is normally about $179.00 per night. If you go to a website call better bidding . com they can give you some ideas on what to bid. Good Luck!

[sunshineRN48]

How much should I budget per day per person for dining typically? We will probably want fast food, or something similiar for breakfast and lunch, and then splurge on some nice dinners. Also, at the ports, any idea how much to budget for lunch off the ship each day?

 

Thanks everyone for the help!

[agabbymama]

How much should I budget per day per person for dining typically? We will probably want fast food, or something similiar for breakfast and lunch, and then splurge on some nice dinners. Also, at the ports, any idea how much to budget for lunch off the ship each day?

 

Thanks everyone for the help!

 

McDonalds, Pizza Hut (etc) ran about 1.50 more for the meals in October last year.

 

I would say $20-40 depending on where you eat. We did McDonald's most mornings for breakfast. Then we found a golf course that had a nice lunch for $10. Then splurged for dinners (luau was $59) another day at a Hula Bar was about $20. These costs are all pp. But then we did Panda Express one night for around $5 pp. There was even a great buffet at the USS Missouri for around $10 pp.

 

So if you have a car, and are driving around, it will be possible to find bargains, you just have to look. The days you splurge will be more, but you can offset them on the other days.

[Kartgv]

If you really want 'fast food', prices won't be much different from what you get anywhere else in the US. You'll find them all in every port - McDonald's, TacoBell, Subway, plus sit-down places like Denny's If you want to try something a little more "Hawaiian" look for small places that are very easy to find in every port selling things like 'plate lunches', 'loco moco', etc. - they're usually very reasonable. L&L Hawaiian BBQ is pretty much everywhere, and is another reasonably priced local chain, where you can probably eat lunch or dinner for under $10/pp.

[FunCruiser56]

I would suggest buying Oahu Revealed at the book store or on Amazon. There is so much info in this book. Lots of hints for saving $$. Hotel info, resturants, activities and many maps also.

there is also a website attached to the book that will show you the actual location of each hotel so you can see what might or not block your beach view.

If you rent a car take into consideration that parking rates are high, maybe use the BUS for local sightseeing and just rent a car if you want to take a tour for the day.

Planning is half the fun of the trip!!

 

Bev

[Pokeraddict]

With regards to your before and after stay try to find a hotel that has a mini frig and micro.

Pack a six pack size cooler bag and pack a small knife for cutting up fruit and veggies to pack a lunch. Often the frigs will have a mini ice tray to make ice and take some small zip lock bags to put them in.

Buy subs from popular sub place and have them cut it in two and wrap separate.

You will find ABS stores at every second doorway, they sell everything from fresh fruit to beer/wine /liquor and there reasonably priced.

Places like Cheescake Factory serve huge portions and they expect to be asked for the leftovers to be packaged, take advantage of places like that and use the food the next day. Trust me, an example is their meat loaf dinner is enough to serve an army.

 

Whole pineapples will run you close to $10 yes your reading that right ten bucks even though they grow them there its no longer there main export anymore. A quart of milk can cost you $5 to $6, you have to remember that everything is imported into the islands.

The number one selling food item in Hawaii is SPAM even Mc Donalds sells it.

Bottom line is Hawaii is not a cheap vacation!

 

Here is a link to hotels and their ratings, srcoll down to you start seeing the price point that fits your budget and go from there along with any suggestions from here.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g60982-Honolulu_Oahu_Hawaii-Hotels.html

 

If you stay in Waikiki which we always do make sure you secure a room high up to avoid street noise.

Have a look and the "Aqua" chain, particularly the Wave and the Palms both have 4 out of 5 star ratings.

Remember that Hawaii is part of the US so they'll have all your chain restaurants Denny's etc and same for hotels.

[sunshineRN48]

thank you all for the wonderful advice. Definitely helps with planning.