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Hawaii for honeymoon

carlaspeedcarlaspeed member
First Anniversary First Comment
in New Jersey
One more thing that has to get done soon :-) for oct 3, anyone have ever been to hawaii? honolulu? what island/area should I look for? hotel recs? things to do? tips? Travel agent or traveling website? I usually use expedia or orbitz. I have no clue about Hawaii.... Thanks sooooooooo much!
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Re: Hawaii for honeymoon

  • sgdc2011sgdc2011 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    If you have no clue, I suggest using a knowledgable travel agent.  We are using Mindy with Myvacationlady.com. She is great.  She does hawaii honeymoons all the time.  Our pricing isn't out yet, it should be out in October or November but your pricing is definitely out.  She does a honeymoon consultation to help narrow down what you want and where would be best for you to go.  Good Luck
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  • reese511reese511
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    edited December 2011
    also...the honeymoon and the Hawaii message boards have been helpful for me. 

    i have found out that the island you go to really depends on what you want to get out of it.  kauai is really secluded...and oahu is really touristy.  maui is a mix of both. 
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  • Reilly626Reilly626 member
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    edited December 2011
    Kaui is the most beautiful isle... do Kaui, Maui, and Hawaii.....
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  • rutgersgirl82rutgersgirl82
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    edited December 2011
    we're going at the end of october and we're doing 6 nights in oahu and 6 nights in maui, and planning to take a day trip from oahu to the big island..... we can't wait!!! :-) 
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  • uppereastgirluppereastgirl member
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    edited December 2011
    We went to Maui and Kauai.  

    We knew we wanted to go to Maui because we liked the combination of relaxation and luxury.  But we wanted to go to another island too.  We heard that Oahu is very built up and kind of urban, so we wanted to avoid that.  A friend who went to Lanai said it was a waste.  That pretty much left the Big Island or Kauai.  We picked Kauai because we heard it was really pretty and relaxing.  

    In retrospect, I would have maybe picked the Big Island instead.  We weren't super impressed with our hotel on Kauai (the Hyatt, which at the time was probably the nicest hotel on the island -- what is now the St. Regis may be the better choice now), and we were already plenty relaxed from Maui so it was maybe a little too sleepy (particularly because we didn't like our hotel).  And it would have been cool to see the active volcano on the Big Island.  But you live and learn.  We loved Hawaii, so we'll definitely be back and we can do the Big Island then :)

    I would at the very least look at Tripadvisor.com when deciding.  Expedia and Travelocity are trying to sell you trips, so they'll tell you that everywhere is great (and they don't have much info either).  Tripadvisor.com is more for doing research.  I always like concierge.com and travelandleisure.com too for trip planning.
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  • reese511reese511
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    edited December 2011
    uppereast - totally makes sense.  i think i'm going to do Kauai first...and get all relaxed...then do either Maui or Oahu....still trying to decide....hmmmmmm
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  • uppereastgirluppereastgirl member
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    edited December 2011
    Reese, we definitely would have switched the order too in retrospect, so that sounds like a good idea!
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  • ahhndreaahhndrea
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    edited December 2011


    My FI and I have done 2 trips to Hawaii -

    The first time we did 5 nights on the Big Island and the second we did 6 nights on Kauai.

    When we were on the Big island we stayed in a resort in Kona and it was ok - Hawaii is really pricey (they need to ship/fly everything in basically) and the resorts really rip you off. The island was great and we enjoyed the volcanoes (although you cant get anywhere near the lava).

    When we did Kauai, we rented a condo and a car and it was the best decision we made. Our place was right on the water (unlike the super expensive resorts that are actually set back from the sea) and we had our own kitchen, laundry,big screen tv,  high speed internet and snorkel gear all there for us(we got one week in the condo for the price of 2 nights in the Hyatt). We would eat breakfast there and then head out for the day. Kauai isn't really that isolated anymore,  it has a wal-mart and a costco near the airport where you can stock up. There is no nightlife but that is what we wanted. We would run into people during the day, but nothing was really packed and we definetly had times when we were the only person at an isolated beach. We would go back there in an instant. (We almost got hitched there)

    We only spent a day on Oahu and that was more than enough, it is just packed with tourists..I get enough of that walking to/from my office each day in the city.



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  • DandT1206DandT1206 member
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    edited December 2011
    we went to the 4 main island - Oahu, Big Island, Maui and Kauai.  If I were to go back I would got to the Big Island and Maui again.  We looooved the Big Island.  We were really into Volcano National Park.  We hiked through a crater, walked through lava tubes, watched the live lave flow, drove around the island, saw green sand, black sand, red sand beaches.  Plus, we enjoyed the Kona Brewery.
    Maui is beautiful as well.  It has a lot of things to do, plus a lot of relaxation.
    Oahu was a little busy for us.  Honolulu is more city-like and has TONS of tourists, especially from Japan (at least thats how it was when went at the begining of November).  We enjoyed hiking up Diamond Head, seeing Pearl Harbor, and driving to the North Shore to watch the surfers.
    Kauai was very quiet.  It was the last stop of the islands, so it was nice to relax a little more than on the other islands. We did the helicopter ride over the Napali Coast.

    and we stayed at the Hyatt on each island except the Big Island (stayed at the Hilton instead).  They were all wonderful resorts.  Not one complaint!
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  • carlaspeedcarlaspeed member
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    edited December 2011
    OMG THANKS SO MUCH LADIES :-)
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  • misschristinecmisschristinec
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    edited December 2011
    We are booking our hawaii honeymoon now..  We had a $5k budget - um that's a joke!  First we want to fly first class from EWR to Maui - We bought tickets and used points to upgrade.

    We really wanted to do 1 resort place and 1 condo-type rental.  I desperately wanted to stay at the Grand Hyatt in Kauai, but it is just wayyyy to expensive.  Plus the resort fee and parking fee daily. 

    We are staying at the Outrigger (newest hotel on the island- 2 yrs old) in Kauai ($1506 includes tax) for 6 nights and 7 nights at the Westin in Maui ($2297- includes tax).  - Both places have partial ocean views

    check out http://www.vrbo.com for vacation condo rentals by owner

    We are going in January (Jan 17th, the Monday after our Saturday wedding) and it happens to be high season in Hawaii! 
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  • sparkles2010sparkles2010
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    We are going this August to the Big Island and Kauai.  We cannot wait!  We are going to the Big Island first, and plan on going to the active volcano.  At Kauai, we plan on hiking the Canyon, doing some kayaking, and other outdoor activities.  We are big hikers, and we've hiked more than 30 miles in Yellowstone (and camped outside). If you are up to "roughing" it a little, it may be more fun (not necessarily cheaper tho).  The only thing i'm a little nervous about is the plane ride in between the two islands since its such a small plane.  Not sure how much we can bring in our suitcases!
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  • DandT1206DandT1206 member
    First Comment
    edited December 2011
    the small planes were fine.  my husband was a little nervous too, but it's not too bad.  we took the small planes 3 times on our trip! 
    For a 14 day trip, we had 2 large suitcases each, a carryon each, and a personal item each!  I would def. recommend packing lighter!  My husband was worse than me!  You won't need any long pants.  Maybe bring 1 or 2.  I think my husband took too many b/c he thought nice restaurants wouldn't appreciate shorts.
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  • sparkles2010sparkles2010
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    edited December 2011

    thank you DandT1206 for the info!  I will definitely try to pack lighter and its good to know FI doesn't need too many pants. 

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