Hawaii/ Tahiti Cruise or just plain Hawaii?

[Ladyhawke10]

I'm planning our summer vacation (me 36 and ds 6) and I was thinking of doing something a little more exotic. My son and I usually go to WDW once a year and then Hawaii for our second vacation....well, this year I was thinking of going to Hawaii and then stopping in Japan, but it seems I'm the only one of us who's excited about Japan (despite Disney Tokyo). My son doesn't want to do the long flight to Japan and thinks he's too little. And I'm wondering if he's going to be interested in the kind of tours of the surrounding areas in Japan that I'd like to see...so now I'm reconsidering.

I thought about stopping in Hawaii and then taking a cruise to the Tahitian islands. We've done the Disney cruise but this would be with another line of course--to the South Pacific.

Anyone have any opinions on Tahiti or on cruising in general with young kids?

My third option is to simply stay in Hawaii--which is wonderful of course, but we've done this many times and have already been to every island at least once, a few of them twice or more. I'm ready to mix things up a bit. Is the Tahiti/ Hawaii trip too adventurous for a twosome? Am I trying to do too much? I don't want to be seasick with a bored six year old thinking that I could be at the Hyatt in Maui bliss instead--but yet, the pictures of Tahiti look amazing and cruising is pretty lovely in itself.

Any thoughts? Maybe someone thinks we ought to stick with Tokyo Disney and its surrounds? With precious vacation time and money at stake, it becomes a big decision!

 

[mommytotwo]

I don't think 6 is to young to take a trip to Japan. I was 5 when I had first gone there. It is a totally different experience with the language, culture, food.... and you will be able to do alot of different things.
Is your son into anime-ex. Dragonball Z? If so, you could show him things regarding that, start teaching him about the culture and language.... it would be neat for him to be able to say that when he was six, he had gone to Japan.
As for the flight over, yes it is long. How about occupying him with a portable dvd player. Depending on what airline and seating you go with, they may already have a built-in headrest. If you go on Japan airline, you could request for a child's lunch. They will serve him child friendly entrees in a cute presentable way and usually it will come with a treat/snack, and sometimes a toy.

 

[bekkiz]

Is the cruise round trip from hawaii? If so, I say go for it! However, the flight home from Tahiti is as long (maybe longer) than Japan, so that's also something to think about!

 

[nwdisgal]

I would strongly recommend Tahiti. The islands are absolutely breathtaking. I'm not sure that I would cruise there, rather I'd pick an island(s) that you like and fly in and I'd skip Hawaii altogether on that trip and focus on seeing French Polynesia. As I recall the flight from LAX to Tahiti was about 8 hours.

 

[Aurora63]

I would strongly recommend Tahiti. The islands are absolutely breathtaking. I'm not sure that I would cruise there, rather I'd pick an island(s) that you like and fly in and I'd skip Hawaii altogether on that trip and focus on seeing French Polynesia. As I recall the flight from LAX to Tahiti was about 8 hours.

I think I'd do this too, especially since you've already been to Hawaii.

 

[nwdisgal]

I think I'd do this too, especially since you've already been to Hawaii.

I agree, and no offense to Hawaii, but Tahiti is truly a unique and special place.

 

[Ladyhawke10]

Wow, thanks for the tips!

As far as Hawaii goes--the reason I was trying to work it in somehow is because 1) stopping there first breaks up the trips to Japan or Tahiti and 2) We have flight credits from a special we did last year where Starwood sent us 35% off future flights to Hawaii. The coupons are non-transferrable and I'd hate to waste them. The cruise goes out of Honolulu, so we'd fly back to either LA or Honolulu after the cruise (one way) to Tahiti--depending on the costs and dates.


Is Tahiti relatively child friendly like Hawaii? We went to the Carribbean islands on the Disney cruise, and the islands were nice but not super kid friendly like the Hawaiian islands.

Before this thread, I was leaning toward just returning to Hawaii again, and now it sounds like Japan and Tahiti are really must-sees...

Has anyone here done a Tahitian cruise with an only child?

 

[Ladyhawke10]

I would strongly recommend Tahiti. The islands are absolutely breathtaking. I'm not sure that I would cruise there, rather I'd pick an island(s) that you like and fly in and I'd skip Hawaii altogether on that trip and focus on seeing French Polynesia. As I recall the flight from LAX to Tahiti was about 8 hours.

Okay, after your response and seeing a bunch of pics, I'm seriously thinking we're going w/ Tahiti...especially since my son is sold on those over the water bungalows that you can add on to your trip.

So Tahiti is awesome, huh?