Land tour OR cruise/land combo??

[cruiseman_tx]

Next year is our 35th anniversary, and, after several Caribbean cruises, we are going to Hawaii. Our choices are doing a 4 island 13 day land tour, or doing a cruise and staying in either Maui or Kauai a few extra days.

 

Any input will be appreciated.

 

 

 

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[luv2travel2beaches]

Next month is the 25th anniversary for my dh and I. We have decided to do 5 nights pre-cruise on Kauai, 10 day Wind cruise and then 3 nights post-cruise on Oahu. From everything I have heard This will be the best of both worlds, but when we return I will sure let you know what I think. It is our first cruise and our first trip to Hawaii. The way I figure it, anymore not many couples stay together for many years and we deserve a wonderful anniversary trip.

 

 

Can't wait till 5/19/04 on the Wind

[spleen93]

Congrats on both the 35th and the 25th anniversaries, guys! I would do a cruise and an either a pre-cruise or post-cruise stay on one of the islands. That's just me though.

 

Spleen

 

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[JudyOh]

Eight years ago we sailed on the Independence (7night roundtrip Honolulu), we did a 3 night pre in Oahu and a 4night post in Kauai. We really enjoyed the whole trip. For our 40th this year we had planned on sailing on the Pride of America, but since it's accident they put us on the Pride of Aloha in a much lower class cabin and didn't reduce the price and since we had done our own air with ff miles it would cost us to put them back in the system and NCL refused to pay for it, so we are doing 6nights in Hawaii (1 Hilo, 2 Volcano, 3 Kona) and 6 nights in Maui and 2 in Oahu. Not what we planned but doable.

[tlmlb]

Definitely do Hawaii by land. Its much more in depth. Get condos, however would not do 4 islands way too much. Do 3 islands at the most; 3 Oahu, 7 Maui, 7 Big Island suggested. If you want to do 4 islands add a week and do 3 Oahu, 4 Kauai, 7 Big Island and 7 Maui.

[JudyOh]

Having done the cruise around the islands, I would definetely recommend it. I would do the NCL Pride of America or Aloha, whichever is doing the 7day roundtrip from Honolulu. I would extend it with a pre stay in Oahu for 2 or 3 days and then research which island you would like to go back to and stay a few days. We chose Kauai, and we are really glad we did. Having been on the cruise we realized what a wonderful island Hawaii is and therefore we are going back for a land stay along with Maui since we didn't stay there the first time. We really felt the cruise was the way to go, especially with pre and post stays.

[dawell0]

We are trying to decide the exact same thing. We went to Hawaii 2 years ago on our honeymoon 2 days on Oahu, 2 days on Hawaii, and 6 days on Maui. We really enjoyed the Big Island and seeing the lava flow. We also enjoyed snorkeling off Molokini and the Wailea beach on Maui. All the islands were BEAUTIFUL, but we missed the whales in Maui and Kauai. I am trying to convince my husband to go back to Maui during whale season and spend the rest of our time on Kauai.

 

I have been on Caribbean cruises and I think that you will see more of the island by staying there. These islands are bigger than the areas that I have been in the Caribbean. You could not do justice to spending a few hours on Maui. Of course, you could do a pre/post cruise stay on an island. What do the others think????