cruise or "islands on my own"?

[time11130]

If Oct. weather is good then I would actually feel better waiting until then because our son is going away to college mid August and that would give us/him more time getting things settled down at home. I was hoping to find a cruise leaving from Los Angeles, Texas, Florida, etc. someplace easy for us to fly or drive into and go from there. My husband is not good on long flights. Thanks for your advice. Lisa

[volleymasha]

We are going to Hawaii for the first time later this month (cruising on PoAm) and addressed the long flight issue by flying to LAX the first night, then taking a morning flight to HNL. This was cost-effective for us as well as giving us an opportunity to have flight segments that were more manageable for us coming from Nashville. I know many will disagree as it does extend the travel time and requires extra hotel stays that aren't in Hawaii, but you might want to keep this strategy in mind. We love cruising but aren't keen on spending so many days of our vacation at sea (I love having 1, 2 is OK...) Again, I realize that it's purely personal preference.

 

Michelle

[glworldtraveler63]

We have cruised extensively, but we use it as a tool to find places we want to explore further in the future.

Cruising is a good way to get an idea of places that you would want to visit again.

We have traveled the world, but the more remote islands of Hawaii is far superior to any place we have visited.

There is no place on earth that compares to Hawaii, and you will not understand that until you visit the less popular area's islands.

Get a taste of what you like cruising, and then plan an extended visit to those that call to you.

[vbmom87]

We have cruised extensively, but we use it as a tool to find places we want to explore further in the future.

Cruising is a good way to get an idea of places that you would want to visit again.

We have traveled the world, but the more remote islands of Hawaii is far superior to any place we have visited.

There is no place on earth that compares to Hawaii, and you will not understand that until you visit the less popular area's islands.

Get a taste of what you like cruising, and then plan an extended visit to those that call to you.

 

Which areas of which islands do you recommend?

[debster818]

This is our question too. We have never been to Hawaii and our friends have. They want to meet us for our 2nd week on Kauai. Which is find with us, but we want to see other things our first week. How expensive is it to fly from island to island? How about hotel rooms? Is it more economical to cruise for a week island to island or fly into Honolulu, spend a few days there and go to the other islands? I figure you can't really think about food.....except breakfast I guess. Lunch and Dinner most times would be on the island I assume.

[vbmom87]

This is our question too. We have never been to Hawaii and our friends have. They want to meet us for our 2nd week on Kauai. Which is find with us, but we want to see other things our first week. How expensive is it to fly from island to island? How about hotel rooms? Is it more economical to cruise for a week island to island or fly into Honolulu, spend a few days there and go to the other islands? I figure you can't really think about food.....except breakfast I guess. Lunch and Dinner most times would be on the island I assume.

 

I haven't tried to figure it out myself, but I have read posts that say it is cheaper to cruise for the week than to pay for hotels, food, car and air service between islands.

[karen327]

I haven't tried to figure it out myself, but I have read posts that say it is cheaper to cruise for the week than to pay for hotels, food, car and air service between islands.

 

I think the answer to this depends on a lot of things, what type of cruise cabin you chose, do you do expensive ship excursions, buy a lot of overprice beverages, etc. along with the type of land accomendations you choose, where you eat, etc. Many people rent cars for the day when on a cruise. Air service between islands is inexpensive, about $49 pp each way, but it will take up at least 4 hours of your day each time.

 

We will be doing one week land vacation on big island and honolulu and one week on POA. Have an inside cabin on POA, and staying in moderate hotels on land. Priced out about the same per day.

[fendbass]

We have taken 1 Hawaii Cruise, and 2 land trips, Kauai and Big Island the first time, and Maui, Kauai and Big Island the 2nd time.

 

I think our last trip was a little too ambitious, spent way too much time in airports. We'll probably go for a week in Maui, and a week on Oahu the next time, in 2010.

 

One thing we do do save some money is to rent condos, as opposed to hotels. Some have been better than others (Wailua Bay Condos on Kauai is outstanding), but we can usually get away for about $120 -> $150/night. We buy some simple items for breakfast, and will buy some steaks or chicken to cook on the grill once or twice instead of going out each night. Hawaii Magazine usually has a lot of rentals, but, if you 'google' Hawaii Condo rentals, you will be overwhelmed. Maybe RedWeek,com for people trying to rent their timeshares.

 

We rent our cars using Hot Wire, and this has turned out very well

 

The cruise was a 'get acquainted' type of trip, to give us a taste of the islands. It did its job well, because now, we are hooked.

 

On Oahu and Maui, the Entertainment Book can save you a lot of money