Aulani - Live Report!!

[JERME81]

I'm sure that island is beautiful but if you ever get a chance you should take a trip to Maui, it's the most beautiful place I have ever been to, cannot recommend it enough.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

Whew...busy couple of days here.

Resort tours, meetings, meals, more meetings - busy but loads of fun.

Today we took the team on an island tour ala Kevin and John. We also had a special TA ship inspection of the NCL ship Pride of America. It is a roundtrip sailing out of Honolulu and it visits multiple islands (including staying overnight in Maui).

I fully expected to hate this ship, especially compared to Disney, but I was really surprised an how much I liked it!!

What an incredible option for folks who want to visit mutiple islands but not have to get in a plane and island hop. We even had a chance to have lunch on the ship with the embarking guests. Food was suprisingly good.

The staterooms are smaller than DCL but very nice and well designed. The common areas, restaurants and ammenities blew me away.

Expect a full report on the show.

 

[dpic]

Ok...knock on really beautiful Hawaiian Koa wood....the sciatica pain seems to be much less today. Maybe it's going away. Please go away!

Had dinner with our entire group last night at Ama Ama. This is the signature restaurant at Aulani.

The setting of the resturant is beautiful, but you know it's not good when the nice thing I have to say is that it's a pretty place.

The service was adequate. Another bad sign......

The menu is beyond pretentious and the food mediocre at best....downright dreadful at worst. How do you screw up tomato and mozzarella salad? They found a way, bless their hearts.

And the prices are even ore pretentious than the food.

So far, eating at Aulani has proven to be ridiculously over priced....which is bad enough....but add to that the fact that the food isn't great and you have a bad combinations.

It also seems that the waitstaff in each dining establishment are surprised that there are actually people in the restaurants.

More to come.

Oh, I can't wait for a classic snarky restaurant review by Kevin. It's right up there with Pete's rants.

 

[Puffpatty]

My mom took that cruise three years ago and loved it. She didn't get to do everything, but no one ever does...it gave her a taste of all the islands.

We've never done it, but we've spent at least five days on each island (except Lanai) Even that amount isn't enough to see it all and fit in some relaxation time.

The Dole plantation gift shop sold an audio tour of Oahu that you could play while navigating the island. It provided great information and the freedom to cruise as you pleased, circling all of Oahu. We picked up similar CDs for the Big Island and the road to Hana...all gave history and turn by turn directions to some great hidden sights mainlanders wouldn't normally be able to find.

Years ago Maui had a business where you can rent a "local". A Hawaiian would basically give you a personal tour throughout the day driving your rental car. My dad hired one for our trip to Hana.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

One of the things we did do yesterday was a stop at the Dole Plantation. It was very easy to get to and surprisingly fun.

We didn't do much of the activities since we were on a tight schedule but we got to shop and poke around. Many tried the pineapple ice cream and compared it to a dole whip.

The last thing we did was drive out to the north shore - simply stunning (pic below).

Today is Aloha Stadium for the swap meet (thanks Corey and Julie for telling us about this) and then another day of exploring.

 

[dkostel]

I did the Pride of Am cruise a few years back. I don't think I'd want to do this on a Disney ship, because it was more of a floating hotel than a cruise. Most time on the ship was spent sleeping. It was a great way to see 4 islands in 1 week, I highly recommend for a first trip to HI. I wish Aulani was around then as we spent time in Oahu before the cruise.

 

[starwood]

John - If you get a chance, try the Pineapple wine from Tedeshi vineyard. It's called Maui blanc. It sounds disgusting but it's really good.

 

[zendisney]

Lovely. Post more. I think we wanna do this sometime soon. I wonder if Lakyn would like Hawaii. Do you think it is kid friendly?

 

[Cyrano]

Just caught up with your report.

Sorry to hear about Kevin's back but hopefully it is getting better by the day.

Hawaii would be on our bucket list, though doubtful of getting there so I will live vicariously though your report

 

[WebmasterJohn]

Hot Tub incident aside (see Kevin's other thread) we had another great day!!

Went to breakfast at our favorite spot - Anna Millers - then went to the swap meet at the Aloha Stadium. This wasn't what we expected but still had fun.

We then dropped part of our party off at Pearl Harbor for the tour. Some of us drove around a bit and found an incredible over-look by Diamond Head (pics below).

We picked up our PH folks and found a scary but OK Chinese restaurant on the way back to Aulani. Spent an hour in the hot before rude people tried boiling their kids (again see Kevin's post for details) and now we are off to a great little italian place we found nearby.

 

[cannp123165]

Sounds like you are having a good time!

 

[sayhello]

Gorgeous!!! Sounds like you guys are having a great time. Glad the "incident" didn't spoil your fun!

Sayhello

 

[OKW Lover]

Love the pictures!
Has Corey been giving you lessons?

 

[DisneyKevin]

Believe it or not.... those photos were taken with an iPhone.

 

[mikelan6]

Believe it or not.... those photos were taken with an iPhone.

I believe it. I'm flying to California as I type this (love inflight Internet) and I'm not taking my camera. I'm gonna just use the iPhone.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

....without a hot tub incident

Today Kevin and I took a drive out to Kailua. I think we have both decided this is one of our most favorite places on earth!!!

Cute little town, great places to eat and shop and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It started out as a cloudy day but quickly turned nice. Some pics are below.

We ended the day with a soak in the hot tub - incident free. And off to try a little Mexican restaurant across the street from Aulani for dinner.

 

[thelittlestmermaid]

The pictures are absolutely stunning! Glad to hear you both had a good day.

 

[WebmasterJohn]

View from our balcony at sunset (sorry - a little blurry).

 

[Cotillard]

I love all the photos
Is the resort very crowded?
Have fun exploring

 

[KimStaR]

John and Kevin,

I have been following this live trip report (and also read about the DREADFUL hot tub experience, ugh!). So glad you guys are having such a nice time. I am super jealous. Your pictures thus far have been great, ESPECIALLY that last picture of Kailua. I will most definitely have to go there whenever I make it out to Oahu. Have a wonderful rest of your trip. Enjoy!
<3 Kim