DH and I went to Maui on our honeymoon from July 5-12. We used an agent from Altour Travel based on a recommendation from a friend who went to hawaii for her hm last July. PM me for the specific travel agent's info - she seems to really know Hawaii.
We left from Newark, NJ, connected in San Fransisco then flew into Kahului airport in Maui. We didn't have any problems with the air travel, but it was a very long flight (around 9-10 hours total). As much as we loved this trip, we wouldn't do it again for at least 10 years because of how far it is for us.
Our TA offered us a few different resort options. We considered the Hyatt, The Sheraton and the Ritz-Carlton. All were pretty siimilar in price (around 3-3.5k for one week). The Ritz-Carlton offered a $500 resort credit and club-level rooms, which is the closest you'll get to an AI, so we chose that because it seemed to be the best value. If you stay at the Ritz-Carlton, you MUST stay in a club level room. The club level has a lounge with 5 meal presentations, drinks and their own concierge. The five meal presentations include breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea, hors d'oerves and dessert. The only thing not included is dinner, and all of the food is really good. The only thing is that it closes at 8 pm and there isn't food there any time you go - each meal has a 1-2 hour time slot, which takes a little getting used to. The hors d'oerves were my favorite, so to make sure we didn't miss it, we would have our dinner reservations for 8/8:30. Also, in the club lounge you can get drinks (alcholic and non) at any time that they are open (around 7 am to 8 pm). And they have every drink from mai tais to martinis and they are unlimited. You can bring food out of the club lounge but you cannot bring the drinks out. That wasn't so bad though because they had little balconies overlooking the golf course so DH and I would sit on the balcony for an afternoon drink. Overall we were extremely happy with the Ritz-Carlton. The staff was extremely friendly, no where was ever too crowded and it is in a beautiful, private location. We used our resort credit on a couple's massage which was amazing. We spent most of our time at the pool, though the beach was right there too. The beach is small but very nice. We didn't spend a lot of time there though because it was windy. The location of the Ritz-Carlton is a tiny bit further away from attractions/restraurants that the other hotels are. You would need a rental car any where you stay (we had a convertable) and the Rtiz-Carlton is about 10-15 minutes further away from everything than the other major hotels (that are all in one area).
One thing I would highly recommend is getting the book "Maui Revealed." I'm not someone who buys tour guides, ever, so I'm surprised I got it. The author uses a lot of humor and gives very candid reviews on activities and restaurants. They also do a great job on describing "must see" places on the road to hana that are not labeled or listed elsewhere.
One night we did The Old Lahaina Luau, which is supposed to be the best and most authentic luau. Book it as far in advance as you can so you can get really good seats. The show was great as was the food.
One of my bridesmaids bought us a gift certificate for a helicopter ride in West Maui/Molokai. It was really awesome, though if you tend to get motion sickness (like me!!), take dramamine or something first!
We were supposed to go ziplining, and the morning of, we got a phone call saying it was cancelled due to rain/wind. We rescheduled it for the next day, but it was cancelled again due to wind. That was pretty frustrating, and I don't know if it was the area of Maui we were in that was windy or the time of the year (and actually I wouldn't even call it windy, I would say a nice breeze) but had I known the liklihood of cancellation, I wouldn't have booked it. We tried to book other things like horseback riding or bikeriding down the canyon, but it was too late and they were all full.
Road to Hana is a big must-do. The best part was a private water fall described in Maui Revealed. The water fall doesn't have a name or sign, it is just described by a bridge and the milemarker. You have to climb through some rocks but it was so worth it. DH and I were the only ones there and we got to swim alone under the water fall. Very, very cool. On the way back we ate at Mama's Fish House where I had the best meal of my life (Seafood Bouillabaisse). Definite must go if you eat seafood (even if you don't, like DH though, the meat is very good too).
Overall, we were very happy with our honeymoon and if we could change anything the only thing I would have changed was not booking the ziplining and booking something else instead. The weather was absolutely perfect - sunny with a slight breeze and it rained every so often for only a few minutes. Everyone in Maui is extremely friendly. I've heard a lot of people complain about it being expensive, but I didn't really think it was any worse than any other vacation area. On a side note, liquor is a few bucks less in Maui than where I am in PA, so we did buy some alcohol to keep in our room to save some money on drinks.
Let me know if you have any questions!
