Hawaii trip help?!

[Disneyhenry]

I have never been to Hawaii but we are planning a trip for the January or Febuary 2012 DH, DS (age 3) and me! I am torn on these 4 options......
1) Wait and see if DCL really sets sail to Hawaii or in Hawaii and go then
2) Stay at Disney's new resort in Hawaii, even thought it is pretty spendy, Disney just does things so perfect it's worth the extra money
3) Set sail on Holland America for 14 nights hitting almost all of Hawaii's Islands R/T out of San Diego
4) Just go and stay at something like a Hilton do 5 nights Kaui and 8 nights Maui
This will be a birthday trip for our ds and our 5th anniversary
~Thanks~

 

[Green Tea]

There are so many amazing things to discover on an island. A 6 hour port stop can not give a good representation of all that the island offers. It is an amazing place. Just fly out and stay.

 

[Mrs.Toad]

I voted for #4. Too much to see and do in Hawaii. No way would I spend 8 days at sea to get to and from, then spend only 4 port days on the islands.

Disney's Aulani resort would be great, too, but I'd rather spend more time there on Maui and Kauai, personally.

 

[Gigi22]

I picked the HAL cruise to Hawaii. DH and I have sailed to Hawaii twice on HAL so far. It is a really nice cruise, but you do spend most of your cruise time at sea, not in a port. If this is an issue, you may prefer to fly to Hawaii and stay for a week or so on two of the islands--you won't see everything, but it will still be worthwhile.

Hawaii is wonderful. You will enjoy it no matter which option you pick--you definitely should not wait for Disney to go to Hawaii!!!

 

[undertheradar]

Everything in Hawaii is expensive. We stayed on Oahu at the Marriott time share and the cost of groceries on the island is an eye opener. We enjoyed having the added space of the time share unit and the amenities that the resort provided.

 

[ems_mom]

#4

There is so much to see and experience in Hawaii. You need to spend your time there, not at sea. Although personally, I would switch to 8 days on Kauai and 5 on Maui!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

If you are going to Hawaii don't waste your time on a cruise. I would want to spend every minute exploring, touring, etc.

 

[epcotprincess]

I'm not sure if it's possible, so you'd have to check into it, but I think you can rent DVC points to use at Aulani. I did a point calculator and it appeared that the nightly room rate would be half as much versus paying OOP.

Like I said, doing the point calculator was as far as I've gotten so I'm not sure if there are restrictions or if this is 100% possible, but there are a few point rental stores with people who can help you if you decide to look into it.

For me, I'd be really interested in staying at a brand new Disney resort in Hawaii, but then again I've never been. You'll have fun either way, I'm sure-- it's paradise!

 

[soccerchick]

I'm sure the new Disney resort is/will be very nice. But, you are paying for Hawaii (already expensive) AND you will be paying for Disney. Not worth it IMHO for Hawaii. You can also cruise anytime, any place. It is not the best option for Hawaii; you miss so much!

There are tons of nice/beautiful places to stay in Hawaii w/o doing and paying for, a Disney resort.

Go to Maui and/or Kauai. Oahu has very nice parts, but the traffic is insane!

On Kauai, stay at the Sheraton in Poipu or stay at the Marriot in Lihue. Or if you have a big budget, stay at the St.Regis in Princeville.

 

[Pakey]

We just returned from our 5th Hawaiian vacation. I vote for Maui and Kaui, no cruise, no Disney resort.

 

[GDUL]

If you wanted to cruise, I'd check out NCL's "Pride of America." My wife and I did this a year ago. The POA sails out of Honolulu so you don't spend days crossing the Pacific. We flew into Honolulu 3 days early and toured the island. On the cruise, the POA then stopped at Maui (overnight), Hilo, Kona, Kauai (overnight), and back to Honolulu. It was a wonderful trip and we'd do it again in a heartbeat!

 

[golfgal]

My Dad and Step-mom just got back from Hawaii. They spent 10 days on the Big Island and said that they were able to see most of what they wanted to see there. They are planning their next trip back to go to other islands but are planning on spending a MONTH doing that.

I vote for #4 too.

 

[Sugardimples]

We went to hawaii last year and took the NCL 7-day cruise of the islands. While I really like cruising, I don't even fel like I've been to Hawaii. The posts are mostly in industrial type areas so you need to find transportation to go anywhere. (The only exception on this cruise was Kona.) We did a number of excursions and they were OK but we felt like we were on busses way more than we wanted to be.

At the end of the cruise we spent 3 days on Oahu and I enjoyed that much better. I wish those 3 days had been on Kauai, but I liked being in one place better than the cruising around.

 

[mom2travel]

definitely #4!

imo a cruise will just barely give you a taste of Hawaii. You really need to spend some real time on the islands. There is so much to see and do there.

We have been to Oahu, Kauai & Maui - Kauai is our favorite, but we had a great time on Oahu and on Maui as well

Enjoy!