Trip Review - Hawaii
Ohana East
Our trip to Honolulu was fantastic! We really enjoyed our stay at the Ohana East ane would definately stay there again. We upgraded to an ocean view room on the 14th floor for $10.00 a night; beautiful view of the ocean from our balcany. There was a lot to see and do and the weather was great!
Aloha!
February 2010
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Hawaii Cruise - Norwegian Pride of America - and Stay
We really enjoyed our vacation. I will not hesitate to go back any time. I find the cruise personnel very efficient and orderly, from the time we embarked up to the time of disembarkment. The whole crew is very friendly. Maui's water was a little bit rough so on the way to Maui the ship was swaying more than usual which made me a bit dizzy. I was talking to a lady with an outside cabin and she said she got sick. I guess it 's not just me. Our time on the islands was very limited so we were not able to see that much so maybe next time we'll just stay in one. Waikiki was very busy but Oahu itself is beautiful. We went to a luau in Kauai, the show was fantastic, though the food was a bit of a disappointment. The roast pork was just like Arby's and poi tasted bland. When we were in Oahu one of the tour guides commented that the poi they eat is very different than the one they serve at the luau because luau's poi was watered down. I would recommend to anyone staying in Honolulu to go to the Grand Circle tour. This is the only way, aside from renting a car and doing it yourself, to see most of the island.
When we want to go back to Hawaii once again.
February 2010
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Aston Ka'anapali Shores, Maui and Aqua Bamboo, Honolulu
Aqua Bamboo was a nice small hotel with a lovely courtyard where breakfast was served. Staff was very helpful and friendly.
The Ka'anapali Aston Shores was a beautiful resort. The beach was nice, although it could have fairly high waves at times and there was a strong undertow further out. I was able to swim all but one day and there was usually kids in the water staying close to shore. Hawaii was fantastic-good weather, lots to do and beautiful scenery.
December 2009
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Sheraton Princess Kaiulani - Westjet Vacations
Hawaii was absolutely wonderful!!! My family and I had the most wonderful trip. Airline connections were great and the Hotel was very nice. Older but clean. The people were all great. I would go again at the drop of a hat. We did lots of great things, saw great and beautiful scenery, ate lots of good food, shopped some (doesn't take long to run up the Visa). Took lots of good tours and I even parasailed!!!! For my 60th Birthday, thought I should do something worth remembering!!!
All was great.
October 2009
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Sugar Beach, Maui
Really enjoyed our trip, we had great weather everyday except one and normal temperature was 82/83 light cloud, sunny sky and the wind seems to always be blowing. Hotels were good, we especially enjoyed the Ocean Front Unit at Sugar Beach on Maui, with that said we did run into what we felt was a major problem with the complex. They closed the common area, (pool, hot tub and sauna) for five days from March 23, 2009 through March 27, 2009; of course we were really disappointed as we could have booked a different complex had we all known in advance. The managing company offered a room in two other units they manage, we spent half a day driving around looking and finally told them they were not acceptable. They stated that they would reimburse us 25% for each day (5) to compensate for the reduced amenities that we had purchased. We were dealing with the Condominium Rentals Hawaii.
April 2009
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Hawaii
The Miramar was great. We were on the 21st floor and had a good view of both the ocean and downtown. We arrived in time on the 8th to watch the sun set.
It was spectacular. We were very busy for the 4 nights we were in Oahu. Went to Hanauma Bay, climbed Diamond Head, snorkeled with the sharks and kayaked looking for Sea Turtles. Also managed to get in a fair amount of shopping while in Waikiki, both at the International Market Square and some of the name brand stores!!
Then we were off to Maui for the remaining 10 nights. Maui was spectacular as well and we had an equal balance of busy times and R&R times. Weather was great the entire time we were there (anywhere between 79 and 85 F). Whales were spectacular to watch in Maui. Also went to the Old Lahaina luau, traveled the infamous road to Hana, snorkeled Molikini crater, and drove to the top of the Haleakala crater.
Flights were perfect. We had no problems whatsoever. I was concerned about the half hour connection in LA, but we arrived in LA from Maui half hour early and the gates were 2 apart so it was a breeze.
February 2009
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Ohana East Hotel, Hawaii
The vacation and weather were great.The Ohana East Hotel was very nice and the location could not have been better. The ocean view from our 10th floor balconey(Rm # 1011) was between the Hyatt Regency towers (photo) and no tall buildings immediately in front in front of our room (2nd photo). I would recommend this hotel for price and location especially from the 10th floor and up.
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What we did on O'ahu:
-Pearl Harbor / city bus tour = OK
-Grand circle Island bus tour = good
-Polynesia Cultura Centre (PCC) at Laie - it was great but not enough time, I would do it again on my own, great supper at the Ambassador Restaurant.
-Germaine's Luau at Barber's Point - do not do it if you do the PCC.
-Magic of Polynesia Show at the Beachcomber Hotel - good show but do NOT order drinks or food: $12 for one glass of coke and one beer.
Waikiki was busy, the beach was not that crowded, shopping good especially the upscale stores, it was a good experience.
February 2009
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Maui Sheraton, Maui Hawaii
I would not recommend the Sheraton to anyone however. We found the facility to be very tired and in need of some renovations. The service we got I would rate as very poor for that caliber of hotel. For example the room wasn't the cleanest, the elevator in our wing was inoperable most of our visit, the pool water was not heated and really too cold for swimming, and their on site restaurants were poor and extremely expensive. My daughter was crawling in the grass beside the pool and she crawled through a fire ant nest, in about 15 seconds she got 30 or 40 bites in her bare legs. Her legs looked like she got the measles.
Then to top it all off, we asked for a late check out and they refused, they wanted $50 per hour for every hour past noon. This was totally ridiculous considering the hotel was at least half empty and they certainly did not need to put anyone in our crappy room that same day.
Anyway, not real happy with the Sheraton.
February 2009
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Honolulu, Hawaii
Fantastic trip should have bought the travel health insurance one trip to emergency dept will cost me dearly had an infection in my knee that laid me up fr a few days but all in all absolutely awesome trip. No problems with the flights at all great connections and very relaxing….will be going back next year…..thx
February 2009
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Aqua Park Shore, Hawaii
Hawaii was great expect for the fact that it was over way too fast. We had a few days of cloud but mostly sun. We did lots….rented a car and went to north shore one day, laid on the beach, ate, drank, visited with friends, hiked diamond head…..etc. I was back at work last Wednesday and felt very unproductive. The hotel was in a great location, right across from the beach. Room was small and not as upgraded as the other Aquas. I would sell it as a great location with a great view (if you book ocean) but definitely a two star due to the fact that it hasn’t been upgraded (hallways and room carpet, walls, bathroom all show there ware).
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Waikiki, Kauia, Maui, Hawaii
Hotel in Honolulu - Aqua Waikiki Wave, Superior Wave Room
Hotel in Kauai - RQ Aloha Beach, Garden view hotel room
Hotel in Maui - Castle Kamaole Sands, One Bedroom/2 bathroom
We found Waikiki quite busy and noted that the Waikiki Wave was noisy at night from the bars around it. The physical location, however, was quite good. One the hotel workers gave us a tip to visit Duke's on the ocean front for some action and good food. We enjoyed it so much that we went twice!!! Our arrangements that we had made to go to the Sony Open were also very enjoyable.
Kauia was so beautiful, and very quiet in comparison to Oahu. We had expected that. We toured almost all the beaches and were very impressed, noting a monk seal stretched out on one of them!!! I wouldn't recommend the fern grotto boat ride. We found Kauia more reasonably priced and were particularly impressed that our hotel was right next door to the Wailua Golf Course. This is a municipal course, very reasonably priced, and very beautiful----right on the ocean. Recommend this to any golfers, but tell them to check into the golf course right away to get tee times---they are booked up a week in advance. Twilight times are available, however, and we managed to play 12 holes. Supper at Dukes in Lihue was also worth it.
Maui's accommodation was superb. Thank you. Stores and car rental extra charges were more expensive. Golfers should check out Waihu Golf Course. Reasonable and gorgeous!!!! If a person wants a splurge on lunch, Mama's Fish House was worth the trip. (Sea turtles at Makena Landing if you snorkel!!! And we did!!!)
It is hard to get back to reality.
P.S. United Airlines was not the best experience. Loading on tarmack twice, of course the extra charges on luggage, and a need to repack in Maui at the airport. I had to send a portion of my baggage home with [with my companion] on Air Canada.
February 2009
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Hotel Renew, Hawaii
We had a wonderful time in Hawaii and would definitely go back. Hotel Renew was good --probably not as good as we heard or read about though. I found out that Leonor (manager) no longer works there. She was the previous manager and tended to be the one that over the top with service. The hotel was in a good location, kept clean and the staff were very friendly. We tend to enjoy staying at smaller hotels where you don't have to walk forever to get anywhere. If you are looking for a big hotel with restaurants & shops, then this wouldn't be the place to stay. They only thing Paul missed having was a business centre where he could have checked e-mail etc. In the room they provide free wireless, but we didn't bring a laptop with us. The décor of the hotel was funky and modern. Apparently it was decorated by a designer from San Francisco. We would stay at this hotel again.
August 2008
Mirama Hotel, Honolulu, Hawaii
The trip was really good - managed to do some of the tourist things as Darrel had never been before. I did opt out of the Pearl Harbour tour as it isn't really my thing and the 6am departure didn't make it any more appealing. Rented a car and did the North Shore including Turtle Bay Resort (we're staying there next time for at least a couple of nights - loved it!) Also did the beach, a million restaurants and of course the shopping as we were there for the grand opening of Nordstroms and I couldn't let that go by!
Accommodation was OK but I guess I had higher expectations. They put at the back of the hotel (mountain side) and it was really noisy. I suppose we could have changed rooms but were really only there to sleep - next time we would know. They also charged us a daily fee for the safe which I didn't expect. Also, Air Canada didn't give us seats together for the return trip which I thought was a bit ridiculous. Managed to change that from Honolulu but in Vancouver we were on our own and the f/a told us to ask someone to switch - not very helpful.
April 2008
Hawaii Cruise and Stay
Thank you for arranging our holiday, after eleven days we did not want to get off the ship, just loved it, including all the excursions at every port of call. The only down side of the trip was our first night staying at the Waikiki Banyan, we felt the room had never been remodeled so being a true Winnipegger we complained, before we went on our voyage they upgraded us and made us happy. We ended up on the thirty fifth floor overlooking Diamond Head, turned out ok in the end and we did not let it spoil our holiday as we were like a couple of kids in a candy shop. Although we took 500 pictures we have selected a few for you to review.
April 2008
Maui Kamaole Sands, Hawaii
We arrived on the 28 at 4:45 pm and the office was closing for the day. They leave the key to the room in a box. Our unit was B106 and it was to put it politely a dump. The place was in need of updating badly. The patio out front was over ridden with plants which made it dark. The yard was unkept so there was leaves and branches on the patio, we didn't use it once. The patio off the bedroom was even worst, dirty and unkept, we kept the curtains closed all the time. I thought you had requested for all of us to be close to each other but they put us all in different pods, we were B, Corinne is in C and Kim is in E. A distance of about one block between units. Corinne's and Kim's units are quite nice and you can tell the owners are taking pride in ownership. It was a good thing that Kim and Dave got the nicest unit as they are there the longest and I doubt they would have been able to move. I called the next morning to the Condo Rental company but they were no help at all. They could not move us at all, no oceanfront, different, closer or bigger we would have paid the difference, we even tried for a few days at a different unit rather than the 6 days. If you are using this company again at Maui Kamole, I would really ensure that you stay away from the A, B and perhaps C units as we thought those were older units. There were three different rental companies at Maui Kamole so you may also want to try one of the other rental companies. My comment sheet was not very flattering to either the owner or rental company
March 2008
Honolulu & the Ohana East
Just got back Thurs. p.m. Airline and Sun Fun connections all went smoothly. Yes, the weather and the views in Hawaii are fantastic every day. We had a great city view at Ohana East that took in the rolling mountain side and a bit of the ocean just between the Hyatt towers-- no complaints there except the "balcony/lanai" was way too small --had to hug the wall! We were also only a bit more than a city block away from Waikiki Beach -- boogy board in the morning and pool in the afternoon --wonderful! The hotel itself is pretty basic but had everything we needed -- a microwave would have been welcome to reheat those enormous American restaurant leftovers! It was however, very noisy at the corner of busy Kohio Avenue. We might look for something off the bus line next time. But as first timers, it was very convenient to get to all the attractions.
We had a wonderful carefree escape from this continuing winter--can't be bad!
February 2008
Hawaii Cruise & Stay
We had a wonderful holiday. We were met at the airport by Roberts Hawaii. We had a really nice room at the Ilikai,with a balcony. A quick walk to the Charter House for supper.
The ship was very nice-our rooms were a good size. Our friends who had inside rooms had as much room as us, but no window.
It rained one day at Hilo so we took a tour to see the volcanoes & walked thru a volcano tube. Then to Hilo Hatties & a macadamia nut factory.
At Lahaina we took a submarine ride 135' under the ocean to see the fish & coral. Then went to Bubba Gumps & had shrimp appetizers & bread pudding that was to die for!
The food on the ship was really tasty as well. We ate at the main dining room-The Crossings,every night except one. One night we went to the Asian restaurant-thefood was pretty good but service was slow.
Our waiters at the Crossings were really friendly & accommodating.
The dinner shows were so-so, hard to please everyone.
The maid for our room was wonderful. Her name was Gracie & she always had our room spic & span when we got back. Some of the others on the other side of our deck were not as lucky.
I guess there is going to be a little shake up of that cruiseline. Rumor had it that many of the crew on our ship were going to a ship out of Los Angeles. They said that they were replacing the staff on our ship with Asians. They said there would be only one cruise on the islands,The Pride of Hawaii.
I didn't understand it all but I don't think any major changes will be made till May.
Our stay in Honolulu was great . The Sheraton upgraded us to an ocean view,so breakfast in the mornings on the balcony was breathtaking. We rented a van & drove up the west side of the island. Went to the Dole factory.We had pineapple ice cream & some combination of pineapple bits & white chocolate that I couldn't find anywhere else on the island-I think they were called snowdrops.
The guys went to watch the ladies pro-golf tournament at Turtle Beach resort & we went to relax on the north shore & watch the waves & the surfers.
Went to Germaine's luau. It was about an hour drive out of Waikiki. There were 700 people there but it was nice.
The Sheraton kept our luggage for us on our last day as we had to be out of the room by 11:00am & flight not till 10:30pm. We did get a $30 phone bill as we checked out because I was not aware that we would be charged for local calls. Oh well-will know for next time.
We were able to get an earlier flight out of Vancouver, so we were home in Wpg by 2:00pm instead of 7:20pm.
All in all,we had a great time.We want to thank you for all your help.
Febuary 2008
Ocean Resort Hotel, Hawaii
The Ocean Resort Hotel had a very nice room for us and with a view, surprisingly, of the ocean. The lobby and restaurant were also of very good standard.
I suppose, if I had one criticism, it would be that the street upon which the hotel was located has very heavy truck, bus, motor bike, and car traffic. The decible level of the noise and the fumes are quite unpleasant, and the latter situation causes one to become light-headed due to excessive exhaust. Nobody's fault, of course. It is what it is. Actually, there was a loading dock across the street of another hotel and with large trucks and semis constantly backing in, as you know, they create an annoying beeping sound as a warning to pedestrians.
One change I would make next time in travel arrangements would be to fly directly from Minneapolis to Honolu without a stop in San Francisco. The trip TO Hawaii was much much longer than the return. Coming home, Hawaii to Minniapolis, was only seven and a half hours followed by a short 70-minute flight from Mpls. to Winnipeg which was a lark.
In addition, early seat selection would be a must next time, I believe. Carol and I sat separately, both in middle seats, most of the way TO Hawaii. One of the attendants maintained that we only had seat arrangements from Winnipeg to Mpls. and return. So it was pot luck the rest of the way.
Anyway, the main thing is that the weather was excellent and the two weeks we spent in Hawaii I would rank anywhere from a B-plus to an A.
Janurary 2008
