Just got back from Hawaii...added photos finally!

[SHAMIL10]

My husband & I just celebrated our 10th anniversary on Oahu in October!! I agree it is absoultely fabulous. This was my 2nd time, his first and I can't wait to go back

 

[Disney Ella]

Went once
found idol
bad luck ever since

So Monkeyboy is really Greg Brady, just as I suspected!

 

[luvflorida]

I love the North Shore of Oahu - did you make it there?

We did the Island-hopping cruise this past summer and liked it - but I had scheduled us for too many full-day tours - a lot of getting off/on busses. We also didn't do "activities" - I think if we would have had more fun if we had scheduled some snorkling.

Yes, we went to the North Shore and it was beautiful! It has a different, wilder, more primitive feel to it than Waikiki Beach, and of course the surf is much larger in December than at Waikiki Beach.

 

[Hermosa11]

I would love to see your photos and read your TR! Glad you had a wonderful time! I am counting the days before I get to go Jan 31! 3 weeks with daughter and SIL (he is in Army). Will be staying with them. No big hotel for me (darn, haha) but I will have computer access all the time and will post updates if anyone is interested.

I got to visit Hawaii three times: 1979 with girlfriend; 1982 and 1983 with husband.

 

[marybet]

I love the North Shore of Oahu - did you make it there?

We did the Island-hopping cruise this past summer and liked it - but I had scheduled us for too many full-day tours - a lot of getting off/on busses. We also didn't do "activities" - I think if we would have had more fun if we had scheduled some snorkling.

What ship did you cruise on? Did you do any extra days before or after the cruise? Were there a lot of kids onboard?

 

[Kitty 34]

Welcome back!! Glad you had a nice trip.

 

[Laz]

We had our third trip to the islands this past June. It is truely paradise. Once you go, you always want to go back!

 

[Skatermom23]

We had our third trip to the islands this past June. It is truely paradise. Once you go, you always want to go back!

Tell me about it! We lived there for 9 years and when we left I swore up and down that I would never go back! I had Island fever bad!! Here we are now planning a trip in July to go back to Oahu because we miss it!!

 

[luvflorida]

Trip report- Day one- pictures are coming

DAY ONE- Husband, DD15, and I flew out of Boston at 6:30am and met up with DS25, DD21, and her fiance23, at the Phoenix airport. All of us flew from Phoenix to Honolulu arriving around 3:30pm Hawaiian time. The flight from Boston to Phoenix was about five and a half hours and the flight from Phoenix to Honolulu was about six hours. Fortunately, everything went smoothly and we had no delays. We hit a bit of turbulence over the Pacific Ocean a couple of hours from landing in Oahu. That was not fun! Everyone's suitcases arrived except mine. Mine did not make it on the plane and we had no idea when, or if, it would show up, so later that night we had to make a stop at Walmart, (not exactly one of the first places we wanted to visit in Hawaii), to get some essentials for me.

When we walked out of the airport, we were thrilled to be in warm weather! We took a limo to the hotel, checked in, unpacked, (those of us who had suitcases), and went to dinner. We stayed at the Hilton Hawaiian Village and it was fabulous! We had two rooms, both in the Ali'i Tower. The Ali'i Tower is right on the beach and has its own check-in, concierge service, private pool overlooking the beach, fitness room, and complimentary snacks in the evening poolside. The rooms even have small color tvs in the bathrooms. We were on the second floor and had a huge lanai. The rooms on the upper floors had smaller balconies but I imagine they had fabulous views. I can't say enough nice things about the HHV. The place is the largest resort on Oahu and it always seemed to be hopping with activities and things to do. If you're looking for a small, quiet resort, HHV is NOT it. It is beautifully landscaped and there are penquins, flamingos, fish, turtles, tropical birds, waterfalls, flowers and plants on the property. The resort is directly on a beautiful stretch of Waikiki Beach. It's on the widest part of the beach at the western end, away from the hubbub of central Waikiki Beach.

After unpacking and checking out the penquins, we took a taxi to the Hard Rock Cafe for dinner. Food and service was very good. I especially liked it because we ate outside and could enjoy the gorgeous evening weather. In fact, almost every meal we ate while on Oahu was outside. In Maine, we just don't get enough good weather to eat outside very much so it was a real treat! After dinner we made our stop at Walmart, which was actually quite nice looking. It was in a building that didn't look like your typical Walmart. From there we went back to the hotel to get some much needed sleep. By the time we got to bed it was 11pm, but for those of us who flew from Boston, it was really 4am according to our tired bodies.

When we got back to the hotel, there was a message on our phone telling us that my suitcase had arrived and was waiting for us in the lobby. So, we could have done without the trip to Walmart. Oh well, it was stuff I'll use eventually.

I woke up around five o'clock in the morning. I don't know if I was just overly excited to start the day, but I ended up going out on the lanai and lying down on a lounge chair. I just couldn't get enough of the warm weather! I fell asleep out there and woke up a couple of hours later. The sun was coming up, the birds were chirping and I was in paradise!

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

Your trip sounds like so much fun. We're thinking of going to Hawaii and I just can't decide what islands and where to stay. Too many choices...

 

[shy little mouse]

We are taking my parents to Hawaii in October, thanks to HGVC.
We will also be staying at the HHV, although we will be in one of the timeshares. We are also going to Hilton Waikoloa Village and probably spending a few days on Kauai. Tell me more! And bring on the pictures!

 

[cindy21494]

I can't wait to hear more about your trip!! We leave for the Big Island in two months, and hearing about your trip is really making me look forward to ours. We are staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. I hope it is as nice as the HHV.

Can't wait to see pictures.

Cindy

 

[lap3]

Me, too! I can't wait to read more about your trip as well as seeing some pics!

 

[Disney-Kim]

Hilton Hawaiian Village Alii tower is our absolute favorite place in the world, after WDW . We have stayed there 4 times and will be back next fall

 

[luvflorida]

Day two of trip report and link to pictures-finally!

Day two- We walked across the street to the Wailana Coffee House for breakfast. The food was excellent and much cheaper than anything on the Hilton property. After breakfast we walked to the ABC Store at the resort and stocked up on snacks, cereal, soft drinks, etc. to have in our rooms. There are ABC Stores all over Oahu and we found them to be good places to get snacks and toiletry items at a decent price. The day before, when we were putting things away and organizing things, we made the mistake of unlocking the minibar. DD pounced on a Snickers candy bar like she had never seen one before and DS was dying of thirst and had to have a soda. We quickly locked the minibar and told them that we were not paying for ten dollar candy bars and sodas!

Midmorning we walked around the resort checking out the various shops and the beach area. We signed up DD15 for an afternoon surfing lesson, then walked to a nearby mall to do a little shopping. The mall was actually further from the resort than I thought it was. It looked a lot closer on the map. The Ala Moana Shopping Center is a huge shopping complex, a four story open-air mall with a variety of shops, although there seemed to be a lot of very expensive ones. After purchasing a Rash Guard, (35 dollars!), for daughter, (we found out later that she could hae rented one for five dollars before her surf lesson), and a pair of flip flops for husband, we took a taxi back to the HHV instead of walking back.

We met up with the other family members and had lunch at the Tropics Bar and Grill, an outdoor cafe at the Ali'i Tower. We had wonderful views of the beach and ocean. In the afternoon, daughter had her surfing lesson. Lessons are given for a fee right on the beach in front of the HHV. Daughter hada half hour lesson on the sand with a group of seven other people, then she had an hour and half lesson in the water with a private instructor. The surfing instructors were great. They reallt took their time and explained everything in a friendly, fun way. They made the lesson interesting and not the least bit intimidating. I was a little worried at first because I know my daughter can be quite sensitive and she had never surfed before. Within the first few minutes I could see that the instructors knew exactly how to make her feel comfortable and she ended up having a blast. She even got up on the board and caught quite a few waves. The picture of her with the instructors says it all! While she took her lesson, the rest of us went swimming nearby and relaxed on the beach.

For dinner we went back to the Ala Moana Mall and ate at Ruby Tuesday. We watched some Hawaiian dancers at the mall and got to see a small Christmas parade. Most places we went to, all six of us went together, so we always needed to get a taxi minivan, but none seemed to be available, so we took two taxis back to the resort. We always found the taxi drivers to be quite friendly and talkative. On this trip, the driver offered us some of his Hawaiian style peanut brittle. It had a slight pineapple taste to it, not bad. He even put some in a little bag for us to give to the rest of the family.

Back at the hotel we played a round of Apples to Apples and Scene It, then off to bed.

I've put some of our photos on a webshot site. They aren't exactly in order, but it was the best I could do. Hopefully, it will work! Sometimes when viewing it as a slideshow, you have to click the forward button to get it to continue. Here is the site- http://community.webshots.com/user/luvflorida I added more photos and all of them have captions, but I realized too late that I put the captions in the wrong place. They are in small gray print. Sorry about that!

 

[simba928]

I like the pictures! Hawaii looks beautiful! At first glance, I thought those dolphins in that fountain were real. LOL.

 

[luvflorida]

I like the pictures! Hawaii looks beautiful! At first glance, I thought those dolphins in that fountain were real. LOL.

That's funny about the dolphins! I'm glad the link works because I'm new to picture posting and not very computer literate!

 

[noseybuddy]

Love the Pics! Brings back memories from when I was there way back in the early 80's.

 

[ColoradoBuffaloMom]

Great pictures. Makes me want to be there right now...

 

[wvalx]

Thanks for the TR and pics! We'll be going 2/4-2/10 to HGVC @ HHV. I can't wait as it's our first trip to HI. I'm going to sit back and study your TR for ideas.

Two questions:
1.) you didn't have a car rental, but did you wish did rent a car?
2.) If you'd be so kind, can you list your top 5 or 10 tips/must do's.

thanks!

Dave