Hawaii suggestions/advice

shopping

Unless you are a big Cruiser...........I would avoid the 7 day cruise to get there also.
Thats a Long time on a ship without getting on land.
(OR, are you Flying TO Hawaii, and then Cruising around the islands for a week? I'm confused.)

My favorite little town is Lahaina. How about direct flight to Oahu, and then spend few days
in Waikiki, then few in Lahaina exploring Maui, and maybe hop over to Kauai for a day or 2.
(Kauai is kinda boring for me and sometimes the rain can be TOO much.) Big Island is good too,
especially if you like to Golf. (Ken can fill you in if you're a golfer)

For First timers, I think a pkg. deal, like Pleasant Hawaiian Holidays for 7-10 days, can get you on several islands alittle more cheaply. You get chaparoned alittle better, for your maiden trip.
Since Inter-island flights have gone up alot lately. A Pkg. deal may be better.

One thing packages disallow--not counting freedom--is use of something like vrbo.com to rent a house or condo, and there are some absolutely fundamentally AWESOME deals out there right now on private accomms. I'm talking nice stuff in Princeville for not much more than $100/night, or if traveling with another couple or two, or as a family, beach-side or beach-view multi-bedroom joints for $400 and $500 and $600/night. And even if you go with hotels, in this market, with a good shopper, I'm thinking packages might not win, island-hopping notwithstanding.

C, do you like island hopping that much in such a short trip?

David, I'm not sure where you live, but if on the West Coast most every airport out here serving the islands allows you to fly direct to some or all of the four main portal islands (BI, Kauai, Maui, Oahu), often from multiple airlines so you're not consigned to Hawaiian Air exclusively. That's a boon for those wanting to avoid the Honolulu Bump.

One thing I like about BI golf is that you have the spendy eye-candy creations down on the shore--Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani, Hualalai, Waikaloa--of Kohala, but you can spend a hell of a lot less and have a different type of kick mauka at Waimea, Makalei and BICC. And of course there are options in Kailua-Kona, at Volcano and in Hilo.

I'm torn on my fave golf island. Most players would probably say Maui, and I might agree. Oahu has far more muni plays, which saves coin, but the high-end isn't as notable. Kauai of course has Princeville and Poipu, and there's some great play at affordable rates, too, if not dozens of options. I have yet to play the two stunners on Lana'i.

Thanks for a lot of information. I will have the wife look all this over. We were leaning toward cruise, but after going through all this, looking at other offer from Pleasant Holidays. 3 nights at Oahi, 3 nights at Kauai and 5 nights at Maui. Includes flights, hotels and car rental.

But one question is food. How expensive can it get. I'm happy with peanut butter & jelly, but my misses likes different meals, mainly trying fish or a couple of laui's. She knows I would just love to lay on beach, dip in ocean and suck my tummy in for the young ladies. I'm 61 and have no six pack, maybe a 1/4 keg.

Thanks again for info, I'll be checking back for anymore.

DJH

Like any vacation destination, food quality and prices run the gamut. Resort eats will be spendy; and some are downright outstanding. You'll find a number of familiar chains. Mom and pops are everywhere. There are food trucks and by-the-road pullouts; we love these. Etc.

A couple things stand out about island food: First, it's expensive to ship stuff there, whether good stuff or mundane. The upside is a wonderful slow-food movement/farm-to-table, be it tomatoes or cheese or island beef. Second, the islands are multicultural, and that richness is reflected in the food. Third, the seafood is almost unparalleled in freshness and diversity. I'll go days in the islands eating nothing but fish and shellfish and mollusks. Some would say there's a fourth -- Spam is omnipresent. lol

And we can't forget loco moco: rice, burger patty, brown gravy, fried egg.

Look for "plate lunches." Inexpensive combo plates that could be shoyu chicken or pork or katsu (fried stuff) or beef or fish, and the ubiquitous mac salad and rice, maybe a simple green salad. Ask locals where they eat. Try the trucks and roadside pullouts. There's a culinary style there called "Hawai'i Regional Cuisine," which is nothing more than a recognition of the ethnic diversity and cornucopia of fresh inputs available. In stylized form it's what you see at places by Roy Yamaguchi, Bev Gannon (I love every one of her eateries), Peter Merriman, Sam Choy and other of the progenitors.

Eat poke!!

That's one of the advantages of not staying in a hotel; having a kitchen. Some folks don't want to cook or prepare food on vacation, I know. But brecky for two not expended at some nominal hotel buffet spread, a dinner here and there, all locally bought and fresh, and you're talking the cost of a helicopter excursion, another night, whatever. Just another benefit to what I think is the better way to island stay.

Like Vegas buffets, I'm not exactly a luau fan. But you gotta try one. I think this is where the higher-end resorts are worth checking out (for the meal) instead of the review-like "extravaganzas" that draw in so many tourists; that is, unless you can hook up with a local and they invite you over for barbecue -- imu, the in-ground whole-hog (kalua pig) cooking tradition that is such a staple of family life and celebration.

When you settle on where let us know and we might have specific suggestions.

Invest in a couple guidebooks. You'll be money ahead. I'm a huge fan of the Wizard Publications guides: Wizard Guides And, no, I am not a Wizard writer. And I have "Frommer's Hawaii 2011" sitting on the table beside me as we speak. I see Wizard is now in smartphone app form. Cool.

David, here are links to two articles I wrote last year for the LA Times:

Snuba

Waimea Canyon hike

Davidjay:
"but after going through all this, looking at other offer from Pleasant Holidays. 3 nights at Oahi, 3 nights at Kauai and 5 nights at Maui. Includes flights, hotels and car rental"

Thats exactly the type of trip we took for our First Hawaii trip Long, long time ago..........
Gave us a good mix of islands, and good feel for each island.
2 nites on Kauai would be enuf for me........but otherwise your Line-up sounds pretty good for First time.

One of our FAV first time things, was taking the OUTRIGGER canoe rides on Waikiki Beach.
Loads of fun, without actually surfing, inexpensive, a highlight really.

We also really enjoyed flying in a plane over the volcano......
Helicopter rides are fun & very scenic.
(this stuff was over the course of Many trips........we didn't do it All on first trip! lol )

Golf is great, like Ken can tell ya.

I would avoid the drive up Haleakala..........as it was the scariest drive I've ever done in my life,
and would never do it again. Too high up, and No way to turn around. No guard rails either.

But plenty of fun things to do, or Not do.........lol
YES, Food is expensive. We would go out to eat daily, but certainly enjoyed our fair share
of peanut butter & jelly sandwiches.........or Happy meals.

There is a shrimp truck on Waikiki beach that is owned by an enormous fat man who used to be a sumu wrestler. It is very popular with the local police

Let me guess. That's code for "adult activity."

This ain't my first rodeo!!