Going to Honolulu, and then on a 7-night cruise, advice please

your going to want to book a day or two to go to pearl harbor or the Polynesian cultural center.
its very easy and cheaper to rent a car on each island and see everything without taking the pricy cruise excursions

I would honestly recommend rethinking the cruise and just staying on the islands. You will not really get to experience the islands being on a boat and coming to show for a few hours.

These are great things to do in Honolulu:

Scubadive at Hanauma Bay
Hike Diamond Head
Visit Pearl Harbor
Visit Polynesian Cultural Center
Body surf at Sandy Beach
Hang out on the sandy stretch on Waikiki Beach

You should spend at least 3 days in Honolulu before you get on your cruise. Also rent a car... it's almost cheaper than taking the bus/taxi if you have more than 3 people with you.

Quote from rejoyce : Planning to go to Hawaii this fall. Trying to decide whether to go in October or November. Which month is better? Or does it matter? Must be Oct/Nov b/c of Hawaiian airline deals about $350 round trip only those 2 months. Plan to fly into Honolulu and then get on a cruise. Does anyone have advice on whether to fly in a day or two earlier and hang out/do the tourist thing first before getting on the cruise? Anyone been to Hawaii and can give me some advice on what to do, what excursions to slurge on, and what not to bother with? thanks so much! DH and i both have never been and would really like to go. thanks!!! pm's ok too, thank you!

I second the notion of the poster who recommends not going to Hawaii on a cruise. You will see the islands MUCH better on land than from the boat. Also, you won't experience the warm Hawaiian culture from the water. Get on land and go to Oahu for 3-4 days and then relax on Kauai for a week.

Thank you all for your advice and help. For my first time to Hawaii, the reason I'm leaning toward a cruise is only b/c it allows me to island hop without breaking a budget and I hear food is expensive in Hawaii and the cruise feeds well for the included price But I see what y'all mean about being on land is better. Maybe for a second trip to Hawaii, I'd know which one is my fav island (every one says Maui is it?) and stay there the whole time. Thank you for the list of activities in Honolulu. Logistics (airfare rates) is making it so that we have to go 1 day early and stay 2 days beyond the cruise so it will be 3 days but not 3 days in a row.

thanks again!

BTW, I'd rep y'all but I'm out of reps still.

I'm thinking about going to Hawaii in October as well (for my honeymoon)! Haven't even begun to research, but I will look into some of these ideas!

Quote from rejoyce : Thank you all for your advice and help. For my first time to Hawaii, the reason I'm leaning toward a cruise is only b/c it allows me to island hop without breaking a budget and I hear food is expensive in Hawaii and the cruise feeds well for the included price But I see what y'all mean about being on land is better. Maybe for a second trip to Hawaii, I'd know which one is my fav island (every one says Maui is it?) and stay there the whole time. Thank you for the list of activities in Honolulu. Logistics (airfare rates) is making it so that we have to go 1 day early and stay 2 days beyond the cruise so it will be 3 days but not 3 days in a row. thanks again!

The food isn't all that more expensive than San Diego. What shocks people is that they are eating out more while vacationing and somehow they relate that to being more expensive than where they are from. There are certain items that are definitely more expensive in grocery stores like milk. Gas is about 50 cents higher than San Diego.

Sure you can island hop on a cruise but island hopping and actually visiting an island are two different things. I would recommend visiting just Oahu this trip and perhaps Maui on your next trip. Also the cruise line that services the islands...doesn't get the greatest reviews. I frequent the forums on tripadvisor for Hawaii (I'm also a Destination Expert for San Diego) and we get quite a few postings about how the service really lacks.

Quote from rejoyce : Thank you all for your advice and help. For my first time to Hawaii, the reason I'm leaning toward a cruise is only b/c it allows me to island hop without breaking a budget and I hear food is expensive in Hawaii and the cruise feeds well for the included price But I see what y'all mean about being on land is better. Maybe for a second trip to Hawaii, I'd know which one is my fav island (every one says Maui is it?) and stay there the whole time. Thank you for the list of activities in Honolulu. Logistics (airfare rates) is making it so that we have to go 1 day early and stay 2 days beyond the cruise so it will be 3 days but not 3 days in a row. thanks again!

Awesome idea, I think! Once or twice a week I see the cruise ships docked downtown. I know there are a lot of loungers who are serious cruise addicts and swear by it. As a "local" on Oahu, I think it may actually be a terrific thing to try. You may not get immersed in the culture or local flavor but it's a cool way to dip your toe in it.

I was reading in the Star-Advertiser a couple of weeks ago about an upcoming convention coming to town that was booking things up quickly. I made a mental note of the month because I thought it might come up in this forum,then I promptly forgot it. Sorry. I suppose it wouldn't effect lodging for you but it might make dining etc a bit difficult.

If at all possible, I recommend going to Pearl Harbor VERY EARLY on a Wednesday. There is a "flea market" held at adjacent Aloha stadium that is held on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays. Of course, during football season the weekend hours are subject to change since this is where the UH Warriors play their games. But I digress....the flea market is absolutely the best place to get an SD on your souveniers. They have nearly everything and it's not your grandma's used books type of flea market. It's all new stuff. So if you go to Pearl Harbor early, then you'll have plenty of time to check out the flea market. Also, I would not recommend taking more than a fanny pack and a small camera. Our island is low on violent crime but there are thieves aplenty and they love to target cars at Pearl. So please don't leave any valuables in your car.

One of my simplest pleasures on Oahu is just a drive up H-3. Our interstate system is very simple. Three highways:

H-1 (from the windward aka the east to the leeward (or west) side of the island),
H-2 branches off H-1 and heads mauka (towards the mountains) for the Army base, Schofield
H-3 also brances off H-1 and heads mauka for the Marine Corps base, Kaneohe. Be careful about getting on H-3! If you do it on accident, well, you're pretty much committed to the trip. I don't recall any turnaround points. But once you climb that mountain (in your car) and go through the tunnel, the scenery on the other side is breathtaking. The start of H-3 is near the stadium as well and might be a nice relaxing drive after stomping around the stadium a bit.

Try not to get caught up in our traffic congestion though. H-1 traffic is very bad in the afternoons when trying to head leeward.

We love going to Cheesecake Factory downtown but I would recommend some local restaurants for you. The Shorebird in the Outrigger has a yummy breakfast. They also serve lunch and dinner. You can call ahead for a dinner reservation. The dinner menu is small but that's because you cook your own food! I would say definitely Duke's for dinner one night (they take reservations, too). And the Hawaiian Hilton has fireworks every Friday night. So it might be fun to dine at their Tropics Bar & Grill (beachfront, for a great view of the fireworks) if you're there on a Friday.

I tried to include some of our everyday words we use here for your benefit. The first time I asked for directions and was told to take a right just past the hibiscus I laughed so hard nearly peed my pants. I had no idea what a hibiscus was.

Be glad to answer any other questions you might have.

Quote from rejoyce : Thank you all for your advice and help. For my first time to Hawaii, the reason I'm leaning toward a cruise is only b/c it allows me to island hop without breaking a budget and I hear food is expensive in Hawaii and the cruise feeds well for the included price But I see what y'all mean about being on land is better. Maybe for a second trip to Hawaii, I'd know which one is my fav island (every one says Maui is it?) and stay there the whole time. Thank you for the list of activities in Honolulu. Logistics (airfare rates) is making it so that we have to go 1 day early and stay 2 days beyond the cruise so it will be 3 days but not 3 days in a row. thanks again!

I kind of have to agree with the others. Cruising around Hawaii isn't really a great way to see the islands. Sure you'll hit up a variety of ports but how long do they stay at each? From the time you disembark and then head back you don't have a lot of time to do non package related things or hire a taxi to take you all over. I was on the Big Island last year and we ran in to a couple that was doing exactly that and they said it sucked. The cruises from what I have seen are typically very expensive (atleast 2x the normal caribbean/mexico cruises) as cruises go and they only got a few hours (less than 10-12) on each port. When you don't have a car that isn't a whole lot. Have you actually priced staying on land vs a cruise to see what is more affordable? I always saw them about $1,300 per person (including taxes) for a week. You could get the Starwood AMEX card and it's 25,000 bonus points and stay in the Sheraton Kauai for 6 nights for 24,000 pts and $240.

Didn't really care a whole lot for Oahu. I mean it's nice but it's a big city and it comes with it's set of problems as a result. North Shore was more my style but not an affordable place to stay up there that I could find back in the day. Maui is a lot more relaxed and pretty darn nice. The Big Island was cool, it's just that it is actually quite big and there aren't a whole lot of beaches and a lot of it is extremely desolate. Not what I was picturing but I did like it more than Oahu. Going to Maui and first time to Kauai in a few months. I hear Kauai is even more relaxed and less crowded than Maui so looking forward to it.

You can also fly inter-island for pretty cheap. You may not get a chance to see all of the islands if you stay just on land but you will see far more of the 1 or 2 that you could hit up. The food isn't really that expensive. I mean it is more than it is here but you don't always have to eat at a fancy restaurant and whenever we go we hit up Costco for some sashimi, poke, and the other usual vacation food. It's very comparably priced to what is on the mainland although you don't get someone bringing it to you at your table arleady made that way.

Quote from LivninSC : I kind of have to agree with the others. Cruising around Hawaii isn't really a great way to see the islands. Sure you'll hit up a variety of ports but how long do they stay at each? From the time you disembark and then head back you don't have a lot of time to do non package related things or hire a taxi to take you all over. I was on the Big Island last year and we ran in to a couple that was doing exactly that and they said it sucked. The cruises from what I have seen are typically very expensive (atleast 2x the normal caribbean/mexico cruises) as cruises go and they only got a few hours (less than 10-12) on each port. When you don't have a car that isn't a whole lot. Have you actually priced staying on land vs a cruise to see what is more affordable? I always saw them about $1,300 per person (including taxes) for a week. You could get the Starwood AMEX card and it's 25,000 bonus points and stay in the Sheraton Kauai for 6 nights for 24,000 pts and $240. Didn't really care a whole lot for Oahu. I mean it's nice but it's a big city and it comes with it's set of problems as a result. North Shore was more my style but not an affordable place to stay up there that I could find back in the day. Maui is a lot more relaxed and pretty darn nice. The Big Island was cool, it's just that it is actually quite big and there aren't a whole lot of beaches and a lot of it is extremely desolate. Not what I was picturing but I did like it more than Oahu. Going to Maui and first time to Kauai in a few months. I hear Kauai is even more relaxed and less crowded than Maui so looking forward to it. You can also fly inter-island for pretty cheap. You may not get a chance to see all of the islands if you stay just on land but you will see far more of the 1 or 2 that you could hit up. The food isn't really that expensive. I mean it is more than it is here but you don't always have to eat at a fancy restaurant and whenever we go we hit up Costco for some sashimi, poke, and the other usual vacation food. It's very comparably priced to what is on the mainland although you don't get someone bringing it to you at your table arleady made that way.

You need to hit up Foodland for Poke. $6.99 for 2/3lb of 2 different types of Poke and rice...SOOOO GOOD. $4.99 if you only want 1/3lb.

Quote from PiratesSayARRR : You need to hit up Foodland for Poke. $6.99 for 2/3lb of 2 different types of Poke and rice...SOOOO GOOD. $4.99 if you only want 1/3lb.

I have heard that actually. And some lomi lomi salmon Who knew Foodland actually beats Costco on something! When I was on the Big Island some tiny grocery store down in Ocean View (??) had 12 packs of Corona for like $8 so we picked up a few. It does happen I suppose

Quote from hawaiiandawn : Awesome idea, I think! Once or twice a week I see the cruise ships docked downtown. I know there are a lot of loungers who are serious cruise addicts and swear by it. As a "local" on Oahu, I think it may actually be a terrific thing to try. You may not get immersed in the culture or local flavor but it's a cool way to dip your toe in it.</p>

Thanks so much HawaiianDawn for your insights. I'll have to remember your tips. I have had to postpone my trip for now due to some other things coming up, but I'll keep everyone's advice in mind for when I do go. Thanks again to all!