June 28, 2009 | Cruise,Hawaii
Susan & Douglas on Diamond Head, Oahu. More Hawaii pictures.
About four years ago, we went to Hawaii for two weeks. After much research, we decided to do Norwegian Cruise Lines’ week-long cruise of the Islands, bracketed by a few days in Waikiki at the beginning of the trip, and after the cruise, a few days on the western side of Oahu at Marriott’s Ko Olina resort.
Why the cruise?
We did both hotel stays on points, and probably could have exchanged a timeshare week for a week on one of the islands, but since we’d never been to Hawaii, we really wanted to see as much as we could. We are generally sightseeing vacationers; we like to go to places where there are lots of historical, cultural, nature and amusement options. An occasional morning or afternoon at the pool or sitting on the beach is fine, but we like to keep moving.
The cruise turned out to be the most cost efficient way to see all that Hawaii had to offer. We unpacked once, and every day, were able to explore a different aspect of the Islands. The cost of Island hopping by air would have been much more in the end, and if we moved the bags as well, a nuisance. Especially with a five-year old.
We booked well in advance, and that made the costs even more manageable as we were able to book one of NCL’s family cabins with balcony. As far as I can tell, the Hawaii cruise is the only one that offers this particular option, and it was a great deal. There aren’t many on the ship, so you do have to book well ahead, but you only pay full price for the first two guests. Everyone else pays a cabin-share supplement, so Dave and I were effectively full price, and we paid the supplement for my mom and Douglas. We had plenty of room and an awesome balcony, which effectively doubled the cabin living space.
One thing that is really nice about the cruise option, apart from not having to un- and re-pack multiple times, is that it offers something for both sightseers/adventure seekers, and destination tourists – those folks happy to land in one place, find a beach or deck chair and relax for the week.
If you are thinking about your first trip to Hawaii, I urge you to consider the cruise option.
Bonus Tip: The airline lounge may be worth the cost of membership.
If you’re making the long trek to Hawaii from the East Coast, or Europe from the West, you’ll probably have a stop-over on the alternate US coast before your final flight. When we went to Hawaii, I had enough air miles for us to all travel in first (and was also still a member of the American airport lounge), so we were able to relax in the lounge between flights. This came in particularly handy on the return when our Los Angeles to Boston flight was delayed by a few hours. It’s a whole lot easier dealing with a five-year old in an airport lounge than out in the public areas, especially in a big airport like LAX. If you aren’t a member, you can purchase a day pass for most lounges. It’s a bit pricey on a day basis and depending on the size of your party (and how strict the lounge is), you may need more than one, but if you have a long layover, it really pays off.
For the upcoming trip to Africa, I am considering joining Priority Pass, a service that allows entry into more than 600 airport lounges. I haven’t really dug into it yet to be sure that all three of us (my mom, brother and I) will be able to use their lounges on one membership or if they are even convenient to the airlines we are travelling, but we’ve got some long waits on the way home, and it will be far more comfortable in a lounge than hanging round the airport terminal. It may make more sense to use miles to join United’s Club, as it has reciprocal privileges with South African Airways, and our international flight is a codeshare. I would definitely appreciate any feedback from readers on the best way to go on this, especially if you’ve used Priority Pass and its lounges at JFK in New York or OR Tambo in Johannesburg.
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