Aulani Questions

[tigergrad]

I am planning a trip to Hawaii. I can go just about any time after May of this year. It will just be me and my husband. (32nd anniversary trip). Our plan is to stay at Aulani for 4 or 5 nights and take a 7 night cruise either before or after the Aulani stay. I need help deciding when to go, what type of room to reserve, etc... I'd really like to avoid September, October and most of November (big college football fan with season tickets to Clemson Tigers football games). Of course I'll be trying to reserve within the 7 month window. This will most likely be the only time we ever go to Hawaii so we want to experience as much as we can on this trip. Any advice is welcome and appreciated.

 

[luvs2cruise]

Hi Tigergrad. I see that you are a Clemson grad. I too live in SC and two of my kids attended Clemson. We sure love our Tigers!

As far as Aulani help, I'm not sure I can give you much advice but I will try. My dh and I celebrated visited Oahu in Sep 2013 and stayed at Aulani for 3 nights. We rented directly from the hotel and paid rack rates. We now know that we should have rented DVC points from an owner and have done so for our upcoming trip in June of this year.

As far as time of year to visit, we loved September but I know you don't want to miss seeing your Tigers play. I think most any time of the year is good to visit Hawaii as far as weather, etc. I have heard that Christmas and summer are the busiest seasons for HI.

Hope this helps a bit and "Go Tigers!"

 

[tigergrad]

I see there is a Disney cruise in September to Hawaii. It's a 10 day cruise. This might be an option. I'll have to compare it to Norwegian.

 

[luv2sleep]

I see there is a Disney cruise in September to Hawaii. It's a 10 day cruise. This might be an option. I'll have to compare it to Norwegian.

I went on the 2 week DCL Hawaii cruise in 2012 and it was an amazingly awesome trip! In regards to Aulani, I'd check the points charts and try to go during Adventure Season. Those are their least busiest times. Also less points which is a plus! The weather only varies by 10 degrees year round. 70s to 80s. There's a rainy season and I think December is the wettest month but you can double check on that. We were just there 1/3-1/10 and it was awesome. No rain. Weather mid to high 70s. With the humidity it feels warmer. We were at the pool or beach every day. Went on an excursion to the north shore. For the room it depends on what you want. We had a pool view. Noisy but nice. I don't need an ocean view room because I sat in front of the ocean ever day outside. I'm thinking of booking island view next time to save points and it might be quieter. For the room size that depends on you too. Do you need a kitchen? If not just book a studio. We had one and ate all breakfasts and some lunches and dinner in the room. The fridge is large enough. There's a toaster, microwave, and coffee maker. You can grill meat downstairs and toss a salad or order or pick up soup. It was enough for us. We also ate at the quick service a lot. We are across the street twice and in the buffet twice. Aulani is wonderful. Definitely going back next year.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Early December is a very slow season for hawaii. And kind of interesting to have the christmas season music playing under the palm trees.

 

[CocosMeme]

We did the Norwegian Cruise the end of October and stayed at Aulani for a week after the cruise. It was perfect. It was our 40th anniversary trip. We were so glad we did it in that order. The cruise was wonderful. You have to take excursions at each port, because the places they dock are not very "scenic". Remember everything in Hawaii has to be shipped in so there are lots of cargo ship in port. But the excursions on each island were WONDERFUL. We had so much fun and saw a lot. We were exhausted by the time the cruise was over! It was nice to get to Aulani and relax. We spent the 1st day just relaxing at the resort. We rented a car so we took our own excursions every other day while there. The weather was great both weeks. We did Pearl Harbor, a trip up the west side of the island (went up to Turtle Bay Resort for lunch) to see the north Shore, a trip to the east side and Waikiki and Diamondhead, and the Luau at the Paradise place near the resort. Happy planning!

 

[gonzalj1]

We did the Norwegian cruise in August 2013 and had a great time. The cruise rated above average for my family.

We thought the cruise was a great way to see the other islands. Waking up every day on a different island was nice. The overnight on Maui allowed us to rent a car and do the Road to Hana on the first day with no worries about timing our return so we didn't miss the boat. Highly recommended.

Our downsides to the cruise had to be the quality of the food and the lack of any sea days. My kids (11 and 9 at the time) love to spend a lazy day by the pool and exploring the ship. This was not an option. Ask my youngest how the food was and he'll tell you it was terrible. I think the food was serviceable but certainly not what we've come to expect from Norwegian.

Our total trip was for two weeks as well. However, we split our Aulani stay around the cruise. This allowed us to take advantage of mid-week airfare to save a few $$. We spent three nights in a pool/garden view studio followed by the week on the cruise then finished with 4 nights in an Ocean View 1 BR. Honestly, my fear of heights limited the value of the OV for me but the rest of the family loved it! Being as frugal with my points as I am I would be just as happy in a lower view. After all, the ocean view is always just steps away at Aulani!

We were at Aulani pre-expansion so the new pool and hot tubs were not available. Chairs at the pool were a hot commodity. Get there early if you want a good one in the shade. We had a blast at Aulani but did most things on our own. The kids rarely used Auntie's and when they did they were underwhelmed.

We did have a car for the Aulani portion of the trip which allowed us to go to the North Shore for surfing and shrimp trucks, the Dole Plantation for Dole Whips, Pearl Harbor to pay our respects and do some aimless wandering around the island for sightseeing. Honestly, our aimless meandering was the best part of the trip for me. Every corner held an amazing view and you really get the feeling that this place is paradise. I recommend checking mousesavers for discount codes. We also used DiscountHawaiiCarRentals (google it) for some good deals. We had a convertable Mustang for most of our trip and felt we paid a decent rate. One thing, the Budget car rental at the airport was a time consuming process. They always seemed busy and never had enough agents available. They also try to upsell every customer which adds to the time in line. Be prepared if you use them. I would say each time we went there it took at least an hour to get our car. The car rentals on the other islands were much more efficient.

The food at Aulani leaves a little to be desired. We did have a wonderful meal at Ama Ama for DWs birthday (24 again! LOL) which included a stunning sunset view. But the rest of the food was underwhelming. The buffet (forgot the name) looked better than it tasted. Although the crab legs here were some of the sweetest I have ever had. But they were really the only thing edible at the buffet. We also ventured to Paradise Cove for the luau. Again, the food was underwhelming. But the show was a ton of fun and the kiddos enjoyed the activities before the show. They also enjoyed that Dad got picked to try the poi in front of the whole crowd during the ceremony to unwrap the pig! Not my favorite thing to eat I must say.

I don't want you to get the idea that we are food snobs. Far from it. We enjoy a good meal and frequent places like TGI Friday's, Applebees etc so I consider us regular folks. But for some reason, the food on this trip was a let down.

Hope you have a great time. Feel free to ask any addtional questions and I will do my best to answer quickly.

 

[nkereina]

We're planning our honeymoon to Hawaii for October 2016. Our plan WAS to do NCL's Pride of American for a week and then spend the following week at Aulani, hopefully on rented points. I've been checking rates at various times of year on NCL's POA and the rates have dramatically increased. It was noticed on another forum I frequent specific to cruises, and has been discussed. Rates are exorbitant, with no idea whether they'll go down the closer you get to sailing.

With that in mind, I've begun researching just flying between islands and staying at resorts. I priced out, for two people, 3 nights in Waikiki, a flight to Maui with two nights in Lahaina, and a flight to Kauai with 2 nights in a hotel, followed by a flight back to Oahu, and it came out about $1000 cheaper than the NCL cruise for two people. Granted, it does not include food but we are not foodies and can surely eat for less than $1000.