Hawaii Interval International Suggestions

[Kendallkat2]

We will have some extra points for '08 this year. We have dreamed of going to Hawaii for years. I thought since we will have extra points I should just do it and plan our dream. I was thinking to go Winter or Fall of 09.

What are some of you experts suggestions?

I was thinking about staying in Oahu because we also want to do a 7 day Norweigan cruise around the Islands. The ship leaves from Honolulu. Has anyone stayed in the Marriott resort in Oahu? So it would be 7 days cruise, 7 days at a II resort.

Some advice would be deeply appreciated.

 

[Dean]

Personally I would rather do 2 islands than the cruise, one can cruise anytime any where. You'll miss out on too much with only a day at various islands. If you've never been and are limited to 2 weeks, I'd suggest Maui and Oahu as primary options with Kauai as a backup to give you more chances of matching. IT sounds like you can go off season like Sept, Oct, Nov ex holiday and early Dec; if so you have an excellent chance of success. My suggestions using DVC would be Ko'Olina on Oahu, the Westin Maui (and Kauai if it's added) and the Marriott's. You could also add the former Embassy resorts (KBC for Maui and the Point for Oahu), they are about a half step behind the others. Put your request in now. When you match, put in a second request for the week before and/or after for the options you need.

Another approach would be to get a couple of days in Oahu both directions and spending 2.5 weeks with two other islands. If you have to do FF miles for air, book it at the first opportunity, usually 330 days out, and change your requests to match. If you have to book air first, book to arrive Thursday or Friday and leave Sun or Monday so you have as many timeshare options as possible. If you're set on seeing other islands you can boat to Lanai and Molokai form Maui for the day.

If you will accept a studio, you should get everything for that time, for a 1 BR, you'd still have a very good chance of success. You could always book the cruise as a back up if you don't get what you want with exchanging.

 

[dgaston]

We cruised on NCL's Pride of Hawaii and I thought it was a great introduction to the islands. We spent 3 extra days on Oahu to get more adjusted to the time change and drove around the North Shore, ate from shrimp trucks, toured the Dole plantation, visited the Polynesian Cultural Center and did the Arizona Memorial and the Missouri.

We loved the cruse: visited Volcanos National Park, snorkeled at Kona, did a luau on Maui, got up to see the sunrise on Haleakala, did Tubing the Ditch on Kauai, and a helicopter tour there. It may be nice to spend more time on Maui or Kauai, but this cruise did exactly what we wanted for our first trip to the Islands.