New York-Hudson Valley

HAWAII

So FH and I are thinking of going to Hawaii for our honeymoon. IDK what to do or where to start though! What do you recommend? staying in hawaii for a couple of days, then doing a cruise? or just staying in hawaii for 2 weeks? I have no idea where to stay or how much anything costs. Anyone plan a trip there and have any info??

Sorry I didnt put this in honeymoon section b/c that just says where are you going on your honeymoon..figured asking specifically might be better.

Re: HAWAII

  • edited December 2011
    Hawaii sounds beautiful!

    Jaimie posted sticky re: honeymoons at the top of this board. That's where everyone talks about where they are going. There is also a honeymoon board as well. Click on the knot community and there it will show you a ton of different boards. (But the Hudson valley one is the best!)

    Anyway, I don't know anything about Hawaii, but I do know that my sisters friend went there on her honeymoon and took a cruise. She got to check all the islands out and paid cruise rates for lodging!

    Something to check out.
  • edited December 2011
    i know nothing about hawaii BUT i will say the honeymoon board is great even if you just want to lurk through previous posts i bet you'll find something on hawaii.

    we went to st lucia
  • edited December 2011
    thanks girls! i will post there. btw st lucia looks amazing!!! i looked at  the sandals resorts, they are super expensive though..but all inclusive so i guess thats good. did you venture off the resort property at all??
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-hudson-valley_hawaii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:113Discussion:06d826f5-b9b1-456d-b8ec-37dfe01a47b4Post:db5dd7c4-5f67-43bb-bc39-a627c030487e">Re: HAWAII</a>:
    [QUOTE]thanks girls! i will post there. btw st lucia looks amazing!!! i looked at  the sandals resorts, they are super expensive though..but all inclusive so i guess thats good. did you venture off the resort property at all??
    Posted by forever718[/QUOTE]

    we stayed at the Sandals Grande and it was fabulous and really nice to be all inclusive. We got a middle of the road room so it wans't too bad price wise.  We did do one day of an all day excurision that was land and sea. which was pretty cool.  Its a beautiful place!
  • probablykateprobablykate member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    You may want to talk to a travel agent about Hawaii to get some ideas of what you can do there and what the pricing is like.  My co-worker originally wanted to go there for her honeymoon but when they started talking with a travel agent it got pricey fast!  I think they decided on one of the all-inclusive resorts in St Lucia instead. 

    It depends on your budget and what your preferences (are you happy staying in one spot, would you want to see multiple islands, etc).
    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • lawyer707lawyer707 member
    First Anniversary First Comment
    edited December 2011
    we did hawaii and tahiti on Princess Cruise Line... the cruise itself actually was pretty reasonably priced, but staying in hawaii is really expensive. The flights are also pretty hefty too.... I'd recommend a cruise for hawaii b/c you can go to a variety of places and see lots of different islands... they even have a cruise that leaves from CA that's 14 days if you are looking to do it inexpensively since the flights would be pretty inexpensive to Cali vs. Hawaii.

    If you do plan on staying in Hawaii and not doing a cruise, I'd recommend Maui and maybe Kauai if you like to do activities. Honolulu (we stayed there for 2 nights before our cruise since it left from there) was too much of a city for me. I was not that impressed since I wanted deserted beaches for my hm. GL and let me know if you have more questions.
    Lilypie First Birthday tickers
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-hudson-valley_hawaii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:113Discussion:06d826f5-b9b1-456d-b8ec-37dfe01a47b4Post:b1973a02-c07d-4003-aeaf-46949a1b7ab9">Re: HAWAII</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: HAWAII : we stayed at the Sandals Grande and it was fabulous and really nice to be all inclusive. We got a middle of the road room so it wans't too bad price wise.  We did do one day of an all day excurision that was land and sea. which was pretty cool.  Its a beautiful place!
    Posted by chrisnjay05212010[/QUOTE]
  • edited December 2011
    sorry.. im so bad at this! I was trying to respond to each of you individually but screwed that up.. anyway.. chrisnjay -- im glad you liked st. lucia i have heard its beautiful and i have to look into it more. I was looking into the "honeymoon suites" so it did get very pricey..but we'll see. I cant make up my mind of where to go! We are going back and forth-- i keep saying but its our honeymoon its gotta be grand! lol ..

    kate--thanks for the advice, i am definitely going to speak with a travel agent. I can only google so much on my own before my head starts spinning!

    lawyer707- omg i was looking at that exact cruise!! i also like the idea that you go sort of like island hopping. Each day you are somewhere else, so you get to see a whole lot more, rather than just stayin at one island.

    Thank you all so much..i am going to discuss everything with my FH this weekend and hopefully get to speaking with a travel agent. My mom said i've gotta pick 3 places to go and give her the list by sunday so i dont have much time!!
  • edited December 2011
    chrisnjay--one more question sorry..how long did you stay in st. lucia? and did you have to take 2 planes.. i've heard that you can take one plane from nyc to st lucia. but then the sandals resorts are so far from it that you have to take another plane? how did that work?  sorry that was more than 1 question!
  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-hudson-valley_hawaii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:113Discussion:06d826f5-b9b1-456d-b8ec-37dfe01a47b4Post:4ad0c012-95b5-4c93-8e26-3669ce326921">Re: HAWAII</a>:
    [QUOTE]chrisnjay--one more question sorry..how long did you stay in st. lucia? and did you have to take 2 planes.. i've heard that you can take one plane from nyc to st lucia. but then the sandals resorts are so far from it that you have to take another plane? how did that work?  sorry that was more than 1 question!
    Posted by forever718[/QUOTE]

    hey hey no worries thats what we are here for.

    We stayed 7 days, but after we got there we totally wish we did 10 days. But we couldn't afford to do it with our work schedules.  I HIGHLY recommend 10 days.  We took a direct flight out of JFK.   It is true that the resorts are located far (hour and half) from the main airport in St Lucia.  You have two options- take the van shuttle (no extra charge) or take a helicopter ride.

    The van shuttle is what we did because I found out about the helicopter ride thing late and it was another $300 I didnt feel like spending.  We enjoyed the drive, you really got to see the island.  I will say however though if you get motion sickness easily TAKE THE HELICOPTER.   The roads are extremely windy/curvy and they drive fast. Friends that we met took the helicopter and said it was really neat as well, so that just depends on your preference. 

    Also we stayed in a "swim up room".  Its where your rooms deck leads right into a pool, its not a private pool but a smaller pool that only the swim up rooms have access to. It was nice, my DH wanted it.  But I dont think it was really necessary.  I used it twice but my DH was in it all the time.  Their rooms basically look all the same. 

    I will say however, if you can afford it, choose a room that offers the conceirge service.  That was AMAZING.  They do everything for you when it comes to booking your meals at special restaurants, showing you around the resort, special hikes and helping you PLAN  YOUR stay once you get there, meaning your excurisions and activites, even spa appointments.  I could call them for anything.  It was really great.

    Good luck with your search.  I would have loved to do Hawaii but we couldn't do the money or the extended time off from work
  • edited December 2011

    Your are so helpful, thank you! I was looking this afternoon at the conceirge rooms, and i did see the swim up lagoon rooms. They look really cool, but we'll see pricewise which is better for us. I like that you can call the conceirge for anything, and all the planning once your there. That seems like it will be very helpful! So now I think we're narrowing it down..to st lucia and a 14 day southern cruise out of san juan on princess.. of course FH has been working so much lately we have no time to talk about it!! either way im sure it will be great. let you know what we decide! thanks again! how's married life anyway? im so jealous cant wait =)

  • edited December 2011
    In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_new-york-hudson-valley_hawaii?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:113Discussion:06d826f5-b9b1-456d-b8ec-37dfe01a47b4Post:1d7b8b7b-ecb4-428e-8305-e5dfc6bc5477">Re: HAWAII</a>:
    [QUOTE]Your are so helpful, thank you! I was looking this afternoon at the conceirge rooms, and i did see the swim up lagoon rooms. They look really cool, but we'll see pricewise which is better for us. I like that you can call the conceirge for anything, and all the planning once your there. That seems like it will be very helpful! So now I think we're narrowing it down..to st lucia and a 14 day southern cruise out of san juan on princess.. of course FH has been working so much lately we have no time to talk about it!! either way im sure it will be great. let you know what we decide! thanks again! how's married life anyway? im so jealous cant wait =)
    Posted by forever718[/QUOTE]

    your welcome!  my DH and I looked at a cruise too, but we wouldn't have had enough time between the wedding, flying to FL and making the cruise. Either way IT WILL BE GREAT!!!!!!!   Def let us know what you decide.

    Married life is good :) Takes some adjusting as well.  <img src="http://cdn.cl9.vanillaforums.com/downloaded/ver1.0/content/scripts/tinymce/plugins/emotions/images/smiley-wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" title="Wink" />
  • edited December 2011
    My husband and I went on our honeymoon to Hawaii for 2 weeks. We went to Maui, the Big Island, and Oahu. We had a wonderful time, but if I was to do it again I woudl eliminate on island. It was just too much, especially for a honeymoon.
    We liked the Big Island the best. It was the perfect balance between civilization and not being touristy. There is everything there that all the other islands have plus more (flowing lava).
    Maui is beautiful, but it's very touristy and overpriced. It didn't really offer anything that the Big Island didn't. The "best" snorkeling spot was underwhelming and the best beaches were beautiful, but there was just as beautiful of beaches on the Big Island.
    We didn't like Honolulu at all! It could be any tropical city like Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, So. Cal. Waikiki beach was body to body and the water was kinda icky because of all the people in it. The North Shore area is totally different. I would definately go back to Oahu again, but go straight out of Honolulu.
  • edited December 2011
    We went to Hawaii on our Honeymoon and LOVED it!  We spent 4 nights in Waikiki (Oahu) and then 6 nights on Maui.  I would recommend less time in Waikiki.  On Oahu we went to Pearl Harbor, the Dole Pineapple Plantation, drove around the North Shore and went to Waikiki Beach.  Maui was amazing-so beautiful and relaxing.  We went ziplining, did the Road to Hana, went to the old volcano, DH played golf one day, got massages on the beach, and just relaxed.  My ILs all went on a cruise of Hawaii and enjoyed it but you don't get to experience as much because you're not in any of the ports that long and the islands have so much to offer.  I would recommend a minimum of 1 week because the flight is long.  It is not a cheap vacation, but it was a really amazing trip.
  • akardasakardas member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We went on a cruise around Hawaii! I love to cruise, and Hawaii was a new place for us so that is why we chose it.  We loved every minute of it! I definitely recommend a helicopter ride! It was amazing!! We pre-booked it through Blue Hawaii helicopter tours. We just watched our helicopter video a few weeks ago! :) 
    image
    176imageInvited; 118imageYes!; 58imagehave other plans;
  • edited December 2011
    Hey! If you decide on Hawaii, feel free to PM me! My fiancee and I used to live on Oahu (he was stationed at Pearl Harbour). I can help you out with things to do! Cheers!
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