Anyone have any ideas on how to do Hawaii on a strict budget?

[vhoffman]

No, actually we didn't have trip insurance. Good point to remember for future trips!

 

[LeslieG]

What about a cruise? I understand that's a cost effective way to see the islands.

 

[vhoffman]

I considered a cruise but the ones I looked at didn't spend enough time at each island. Typically they went to 3-4 islands and tried to do it all in 7 days. The advantage is that your room travels with you--no packing and unpacking, which really gets tiring! However, If I had only 7 days to spend, I'd rather not spend half of it on a boat! Perhaps there are some that are more "land intensive" I didn't really research it very well. However, one great thing with a cruise is that you see some spectacular scenery from the boat that you couldn't possibly see driving around. To each their own............

 

[DMRick]

DMRick,
Driving aroung is quite congested and confusing. I really wouldn't recommend renting a car for a day trying to see the sights. .

Thank you, but on the cruise boards (thanks to whoever posted that..it's been great!), everyone who has rented a car on HI islands, is advising it, and most of them have a rental car in each of the ports (we have no days at sea, so we'll get to see a lot). We drive in NYC, Boston and DC, so maybe it depends on what you are used to. So far, on the boards, they are saying how easy it is to get around in a car. What problems did you have while renting? We would be sticking to the tourist areas, in the daytime, but I would be interested in the crime areas, since that's not come up on any of the boards.
This will be a much more frugal trip for us, than it sounds like yours was, and there isn't $300 a day for touring each island. As for the cruise not giving us enough time on each island, we can always come back. We'll only have a total of 10 days there, so this is the best option for us, rather than wasting time getting to each island, packing, etc.
Thank you for your suggestions..just won't work for us this time around.

 

[my3kids]

DMRICK: I'm just back from Kauai and driving there was absolutely fine and easy. There is a main road that circles about 3/4 of the island. The other area is inaccessible by car. The roads off of that to other reas are pretty well marked and if you have a map you'll have no trouble at all. We met some folks from one of the ships at Kipu Falls. They were on their own, not as part of a tour by renting a car. We saw a lot of amazing things. If you have any questions about what to see for a day in Kauai, just let me know.

 

[willoughbyclan]

My husband and I are going to Maui in September of this year for our 15th wedding anniversary. We are spending 1 night in Hana and the remaining nights in Wailea at the Renaissance. We plan to fly over early in the morning after spending a few nights in Oahu and start the road trip to Hana, spend the night there and then return to Wailea for the remainder of our trip. My question is this: What do we do with our luggage while on our road trip? We have reserved a Jeep Wrangler so we can't lock it in the trunk and I have read that breakins are fairly common. We only wanted to have an overnight bag with us on the trip to Hana. Any suggestions?

P.S.

I didn't want to break up our resort stay with the road trip and I didn't want the road trip to be our last day before departing so I can't really change the date of the road trip.
__________________

 

[rparmfamily]

We rented a midsize thru Alamo back in May. We stayed on O'ahu in Waikiki. (Hale Koa, next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village). If you are a good driver and not easy confused by lots of traffic, I'd certainly rent a car. Just have a map and a plan to get out of Waikiki, that seemed to be where most of the traffic was. (well, Waikiki and Honolulu area.) Once you are out on the H-interstates (funny, they aren't connected to anyother states LOL) driving is a breeze and we found most things were signed great. We headed up to the North Shore, ate at shrimp shacks (the yellow one is what we liked the best, can't remember the name) and also had a yummy lunch at Killer Tacos too. We did the Dole Pineapple Plantation and just followeded the interstate around the island (as far as you can go.)

Have a great time!

 

[my3kids]

willoughbyclan: I don't know what to tell you. Even a truck isn't safe. All the rentals I saw had big signs not to leave anything in the trunk. We didn't have a problem on kauai which is supposed to have a fair number of car break-ins but I was nervous the whole time even though we didn't leave anything in the car.

If you are visiting busier places you might be safer than out of the way, park on the side of the road and walk to a secret spot, kind of places.

Do you have trip insurance? Worst case scenario that will cover your loss if you do have a problem. Chances are you won't, but it is smart to try to be a protected as you can be.

 

[NotUrsula]

If the Renaissance isn't all that far from the airport, why don't you drive over there and ask them to store the rest of your luggage until you check in? I'm sure they would do it if you have a confirmed ressie a couple of days later.

 

[willoughbyclan]

NOTURSULA:

That's an excellent idea. I went ahead and called the hotel and spoke with the bell hop, Nathan. He said it wasn't a problem at all. They are 30 mins from the airport, which isn't great, but what the heck, we've got ALL day and I'd rather feel good about our luggage than worry ALL day.

Can't say how much I appreciate all the tips on the thread, keep them coming.....

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

We are headed off to the Hale Koa (for the first time) on Thursday. We can't wait!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

My ticker has gone below 3 months YEAH!

And my sister is booked, my brother is booked, my aunt is booked--we're just waiting on the guest of honor MY MOTHER to book her ticket.

We are now making jokes about what we will do for her birthday party should she not show--do you think she'd mind participating by cell phone?

KIDDING!

They are all staying at Hale Koa and we are at the Hilton (FREEEEE!!!!) and then an Outrigger Condo across the park from Hale Koa.

I know all the luau's on Oahu aren't as good as others--but aside from the Poly Cultural Center...how would you guys rank these luau's:

Germaine's

or

Paradise Cove

From my research--we could upgrade to table service at Paradise Cove for the birthday girl--but I've also been reading that Germaine's has the better show and does really well with audience interraction (in Oahu revealed). The food all kind of looks the same.

Mom's birthday is on a Thursday--so the Royal Hawaiian is out--though Oahu revealed didn't care too much for their show--their write up just makes me giggle.

 

[Tinkerbelle32]

Haven't been to Germain's but I can tell you that the Paradise Cove luau is beautiful. It's been five years since we've been but the whole atmosphere was awesome! It truly was a breathtaking evening. Good luck deciding!

 

[DMRick]

I just called Ohana Waikiki West (got it for $95 with entertainment book!) and they said after our cruise, we could drop our luggage off and go off for the day and evening..no charge. Then he said..and if we would like a courtesy room (no charge!) before our flight takes off, as long as they have an empty room, it's ours. I've never heard of that. He said that would be true, even if we weren't staying there before the cruise.

 

[vhoffman]

Hi, Lisa!

You're staying at the Hilton freeeeeeee so I assume you're using Hilton Honor points. Our recent stay there was freeeeee too, with HH points. We asked for the Rainbow Tower, which is closest to the beach with the best views. We didn't ask for an upgrade, but got one!!! Perhaps because we're Hilton Gold members? We got a fantastic suite on the 28th floor with ocean view. Even had two bathrooms! For freeee! Doesn't hurt to ask!

However, you'll quickly find that eating at this hotel isn't freeee. The eateries here are all pretty expensive. I don't know if its been mentioned before, but there's a nice, inexpensive 24 hr restaurant right across the street from HHV, called Wailana's. Go through the Rainbow Bazzar until it ends, walk left, cross the street, and you're there. Its kind of like a Denny's, basic atmosphere (but there was music from the bar area).We had breakfast for four (2 adults and 2 kids) for $18, dinner around $30. You'll drop that much for the tip if you try eating at the HHV!

 

[DisneyEG]

We stayed at a nice condo in Kahana, near Kaanapali in Maui for $795 for 7 nights. Ocean View beautiful. If you go to Maui though or Kauai, airfare is not cheap. Rented the condo thru interval.com

 

[my3kids]

Has anyone ever had or heard of a bad experience using vrbo.com? I read about here earlier in the thread. We loved our trip this year so much we are looking at The Big Island for next summer and I found some great things on vrbo. Any opinions?

 

[rparmfamily]

Pooh--
If your family are staying at the Hale Koa and you'll be together a lot, the restaurants at the Hale Koa are very reasonable, and they have a terrific luau too. We prepaid ours before we left, because it does sell out. AND they base when you bought your ticket on where you sit. It was just great, and the host (can't recall his name) is a very good singer, he had some big hits in the early 90's I think as a teen. He's Hawaiian. If your family is military, they do a great tribute to the military and there wasn't a dry eye in the house! It was awesome.

http://halekoa.com/luau.htm

We went down an ate at Duke's while we were there, and walked the beach in Waikiki on the way back. Duke's wasn't cheap but it was our big meal and we had a good time.

We honestly ate at the Hale Koa for most meals because it was so much cheaper! They have a small PX (shopping area) and we picked up snacks and souvineers there. If your family will let you tag along, I'd do that too.

The price of gas was over $1 a gallon more than here in Florida, so filling up the rental car on the way to return it stunk LOL!

We did walk around the Hilton (they had penguins and flamingos) and ate at the pizza place there. The Hilton is HUGE!

Have a great time!!! Make sure to get out of Waikiki if you can! We probably only spent a day or so in Waikiki (there is LOTS of shopping there) and loved the rest of the island.

 

[Hermosa11]

Pooh--
If your family are staying at the Hale Koa and you'll be together a lot, the restaurants at the Hale Koa are very reasonable, and they have a terrific luau too. We prepaid ours before we left, because it does sell out. AND they base when you bought your ticket on where you sit. It was just great, and the host (can't recall his name) is a very good singer, he had some big hits in the early 90's I think as a teen. He's Hawaiian. If your family is military, they do a great tribute to the military and there wasn't a dry eye in the house! It was awesome.

I will pass this on to a fellow DIS'r now living in Okinawa. Her husband recently returned from Iraq and they just moved from Germany to Okinawa. They will be having some R&R in Hawaii in January (me too! so we will be meeting up) and she has been inquiring on luaus...

 

[rparmfamily]

When I looked at airfares yesterday, roundtrip from Atlanta was $287 for this fall. I looked thru Travelocity. They were on NW. That's a great fare!