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cruise Hawaii or hotel Hawaii?

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Took the family for our first trip to Hawaii just this past summer. Family of four with two daughters (4 and 8). Spent a week on the Big Island. This was the first big trip with the girls so we planned it to make things easy on them as well as us.

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Waikoloa is about 30 minutes north of Kona. Decided on a resort rather than a basic hotel so we could have all the amenities available (restaurants, pools, lagoon/beach, etc.). We ended up spending two days in Kona (Dinner cruise and submarine excursion), one day in VNP, and a day exploring the rain-forests/waterfalls up in the northwestern side of the island. We tried to spend a day in between each outing at the resort just relaxing and swimming.

We ate a couple of meals at the overpriced resort restaurants but found little local spots for a majority. We also hit the Target in Kona to get drinks, ice chest and snacks. This allowed us to take lunches with us on some of our outings to help keep costs down. Overall I think we did alright on what we spent. Hotel (breakfast included for my wife and I), flight, and car rental were purchased as a bundle for $5000 including insurance. Spent another $2000 for cruises, luau, admissions, and food.

We all had a great time. The little one keeps asking about when we are going to go back. Hit me up if you have any questions.
 
It's the only one I have not visited 😀
OP, I too vote for not cruising. it is not relaxing.
I have been to the big island about 10 times, so I am a little biased. I think it is great. Second favorite is Kauai. Oahu is just too populous these days, too much like an extended city with a few refuges of calm.
We stayed at a timeshare on the Kona Coast as stated above by others, and we also booked a B&B in Hilo a few times. It breaks up the drive around the island nicely, and Hilo merits more than just a passing attention. That's all you can afford there if you are on the traditional drive around the island.
We stayed at the Hale Kai.
http://www.halekaihawaii.com/
It has a fabulous sunrise view, especially from the corner suite to the left as you face the ocean. Those cruise ships come ghosting in and seem to be about eye level from your perch on the 80' high bluff.
To your right, the locals will be out surfing in the river break in the mornings it is good, and you can hear them down below having a good time. Oh to go surfing before work 🙂
We took my auntie on a quad trip on the rim of the Waipio Valley; we have ridden horseback there and also a wagon trip in the valley.
They have a side by side for the less adventurous or younger guests.
http://www.ridetherim.com/

The cross island highway, route 200, used to be taboo for rental cars. Now it is nicely paved and provides great access to the observatory areas.
We could not go to the top with auntie but we had a great time at the Maunakea Visitor's Information Station at the lower level. It is a casual stop and would be a good one for kids.
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/info/vis/

Because route 200 is so nice now, you can split up trips across the island and they are a bit more manageable.
If there is anything else or you do plan on staying on Hawaii, I'd be happy to fill in any other details.
 
Crotulus said:
Took the family for our first trip to Hawaii just this past summer. Family of four with two daughters (4 and 8). Spent a week on the Big Island. This was the first big trip with the girls so we planned it to make things easy on them as well as us.

We stayed at the Hilton Waikoloa Village. Waikoloa is about 30 minutes north of Kona. Decided on a resort rather than a basic hotel so we could have all the amenities available (restaurants, pools, lagoon/beach, etc.). We ended up spending two days in Kona (Dinner cruise and submarine excursion), one day in VNP, and a day exploring the rain-forests/waterfalls up in the northwestern side of the island. We tried to spend a day in between each outing at the resort just relaxing and swimming.

We ate a couple of meals at the overpriced resort restaurants but found little local spots for a majority. We also hit the Target in Kona to get drinks, ice chest and snacks. This allowed us to take lunches with us on some of our outings to help keep costs down. Overall I think we did alright on what we spent. Hotel (breakfast included for my wife and I), flight, and car rental were purchased as a bundle for $5000 including insurance. Spent another $2000 for cruises, luau, admissions, and food.

We all had a great time. The little one keeps asking about when we are going to go back. Hit me up if you have any questions.
Click to expand...

We're actually leaning toward doing the hotel now vs cruise. Will probably do Big Island and Kauai or Big Island and Oahu depending on the schedule. Definitely thinking Hilton Waikoloa Village for at least a few days as I have status with Hilton.
 
I've been to Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island over the past three years (one each year). I think for your purposes I would recommend the Big Island of those three; so many things to do, but also many kid friendly things (I assume because I saw them around and had to avoid stepping on them). Kauai is a little too rural for what it seems you need and while I liked Maui enough, I found the Big Island to be a lot more enjoyable; the balance between cool beaches, places to explore, and big(ish)city amenities worked really well. We stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou Bay and thought it was good enough for the price and pretty central for what we wanted to do. Enjoy your trip!

#nevercruise

KT
 
Just booked to/from flight. Flying Delta lie flat seats from Atlanta to Honolulu and back (regular first class seats from Lauderdale to ATL). 10 nights there.

Now I just need to figure out inter island flights and where we want to stay/how long.

For whatever reason points needed for Delta flights were about 15k less per ticket tonight so jumped on it.
 
Stayin in Honolulu for a wedding then off to Aulani on Oahu in April.

Don't really like Oahu as much as the other Islands, but the kids will hopefully dig Aulani
 
finally reaping some rewards of my work travels...cashed in some American and Marriott points...booked a trip with the girlfriend over Labor Day weekend..after the points, airfare and 4 nights at the Wakiki Marriot is $480 ($22 to cash American points plus paying taxes and $50/night for the E-cert fee for Marriott - this doesn't include the $30/day resort fee or the $30/day parking fee if we decide to rent a car though)....
 
Jeeebus said:
We're actually leaning toward doing the hotel now vs cruise. Will probably do Big Island and Kauai or Big Island and Oahu depending on the schedule. Definitely thinking Hilton Waikoloa Village for at least a few days as I have status with Hilton.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't expect a ton out of Hilton status in Hawaii in the summer, at least compared to what you might get elsewhere. You might get lucky but there were Golds and fellow Diamonds everywhere when we went in the shoulder season so I would think it there would be even more in the summer.

If you go to Oahu you might want to check out this too
http://www.alohastadiumswapmeet.net/content/home.aspx
 
purbeast0 said:
^^

Holy crap remind me to never go on a vacation with you lol. That looks more stressful than 2 weeks worth of work.
Click to expand...

That was my ex on one of our trips there with some friends. By the second day of that my buddy told her he was done with her itinerary and was going to get some beers and sit on the beach.

Next time I'm going we're doing Kauai. I'm done with the Oahu crowds and Big Island driving. I'm retired Navy and they have some beachfront cabins on the west coast of the island.
 
Jeeebus said:
We're actually leaning toward doing the hotel now vs cruise. Will probably do Big Island and Kauai or Big Island and Oahu depending on the schedule. Definitely thinking Hilton Waikoloa Village for at least a few days as I have status with Hilton.
Click to expand...
Around this time last year the Hilton Waikoloa had a pretty good all inclusive deal for a limited time. I think it was around $150pp for breakfeast, dinner and drinks. Who knows they might do it again this year. I'll see if I could find it.
Found an archived version
https://web.archive.org/web/20160318152639/http://www.hiltonwaikoloavillage.com/2016-Inclusive-Sale
 
Jeeebus said:
Just booked to/from flight. Flying Delta lie flat seats from Atlanta to Honolulu and back (regular first class seats from Lauderdale to ATL). 10 nights there.

Now I just need to figure out inter island flights and where we want to stay/how long.

For whatever reason points needed for Delta flights were about 15k less per ticket tonight so jumped on it.
Click to expand...
If you fly interisland make sure you avoid Island Air. Nice people but their planes are aweful and unreliable. Stick with Hawaiian air.
 
lsd said:
If you fly interisland make sure you avoid Island Air. Nice people but their planes are aweful and unreliable. Stick with Hawaiian air.
Click to expand...

Granted it was only a few flights but I thought the planes were fine for the short flight. They seem to do pretty well with on time stats - better than many of the big mainline airlines (AA 79%, United 82%)
Island Air said today that 85.9 percent of its flights arrived on time in December and that it completed 99.6 percent of its 1,054 flights during the month. There were four cancellations.

For the year, Island Air’s on-time-performance averaged 88 percent, an improvement over 2015 when 82 percent of its flights arrived on time.
Click to expand...
http://www.staradvertiser.com/2017/...-air-punctual-on-85-9-of-flights-in-december/
http://www.flightstats.com/go/FlightRating/flightRatingByFlight.do?airline=WP&flightNumber=429
 
homeaway.com

i was toying around with a Hawiian vacation there are some killer deals on the Vacation home websites. but holy hell the airfare is high, Even island hopping its 200 bucks. And why no ferries between the islands?
 
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goddammit Chase. Booked both flights yesterday. Go to select seats tonight and apparently the flight home never made it to Delta (notwithstanding that I have a receipt from Chase).

Chase now trying to tell me they want to charge an extra $900 for the flights because... reasons. 40 minutes on hold and they hang up on me. WTF Chase?
 
Jeeebus said:
goddammit Chase. Booked both flights yesterday. Go to select seats tonight and apparently the flight home never made it to Delta (notwithstanding that I have a receipt from Chase).

Chase now trying to tell me they want to charge an extra $900 for the flights because... reasons. 40 minutes on hold and they hang up on me. WTF Chase?
Click to expand...

Was it due to the Delta computer outage problem last night? Time to sue.
 
ponyo said:
Was it due to the Delta computer outage problem last night? Time to sue.
Click to expand...

probably. another 40 minutes on the phone but they took care of it. not sure why the first lady thought that my receipt from Chase, confirming the booking/points, was something they could ignore. I'm just glad I decided to go online to book my seats and found out the flight wasn't booked.
 
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