Help with Itinerary please :-)

[Dopeyrunr48.6]

First timer to Hawaii and booking resorts/plans for next summer- There will be just 2 of us celebrating my husband's 50th birthday. We are teachers and love spending the summer traveling/relaxing!

I hope to run our plan past someone who has been to Hawaii before! Originally, I hadn't thought about being able to make a stay at Aulani work for us. I had already made a non-refundable reservation elsewhere on Oahu in conjunction with our cruise. I was thrilled to be able to add Aulani to our trip but had limited dates to work with.

Here's what I have booked so far for June/July 2019:

4 night stay at Aulani- with pool/garden view studio - currently thinking we will just spend these days at the resort/do things within walking distance? We do have a reservation for a rental car, but would like to cancel; was thinking speedi shuttle for transfer? Also wondering if anyone has done the Aulani excursions or if it is advisable to just do the excursions on your own-maybe cheaper that way and just as accesible? We will have a rental car during the following week for sightseeing.

6 night stay at a Oahu resort in the North Shore area with a rental car reserved for sightseeing (non-refundable)

Pride of America Cruise

7 night stay on Kauai with a rental car reserved for sightseeing (deposit non-refundable but can change length of stay) Wondering if this is too long on Kauai or a good length of time?

The Kauai stay ends on a Saturday- read that Saturday is the worst day to fly back to mainland. Considering staying 2-3 more nights at Aulani after Kauai before returning home or if that would be too much Aluani?

Thank you so much for any advise and taking time to read this long post!

 

[kyton]

Would you not spend some time in Waikiki? It is a beautiful area and easier to access some sites - Diamondhead, Haunama Bay, Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, Shangri La - as well as restaurants.

You are pretty much doing a relaxed area (Ko Olina) followed by a relaxed area (North Shore - assuming you mean Turtle Bay as that’s the only “resort” on the North Shore) then visiting Kauai which is another more relaxed area. Aulani and North Shore are both fairly remote - so restaurants are going to be limited to where you can walk to, ie resorts and strip mall (Ko Olina).

Personally I would do either Aulani or North Shore but I adore Waikiki and every one of our twice yearly visits are split between Ko Olina and Waikiki.

 

[Dopeyrunr48.6]

Would you not spend some time in Waikiki? It is a beautiful area and easier to access some sites - Diamondhead, Haunama Bay, Iolani Palace, Bishop Museum, Shangri La - as well as restaurants.

You are pretty much doing a relaxed area (Ko Olina) followed by a relaxed area (North Shore - assuming you mean Turtle Bay as that’s the only “resort” on the North Shore) then visiting Kauai which is another more relaxed area. Aulani and North Shore are both fairly remote - so restaurants are going to be limited to where you can walk to, ie resorts and strip mall (Ko Olina).

Personally I would do either Aulani or North Shore but I adore Waikiki and every one of our twice yearly visits are split between Ko Olina and Waikiki.

Thanks for the help. We had booked Ke Iki Beach Bungalows (not really a resort I guess)for our entire Oahu trip, and just were thinking we would just make the hour or so drive to Waikiki to sightsee from there, but maybe that is a terrible idea. :-( We do realize that we'd have to leave super early in the morning for that. We weren't planning to do Aulani at that time, and just added it this week as an after thought. The North Shore hotel was just so much more affordable and right on the beach. At this point, we are locked into the Aulauni reservation and we paid a non-refundable $300 deposit for the Bungalow, so in some aspects we are kind of stuck. I guess I am wondering if maybe I should email to shorten the North Shore hotel so our stay in Oahu isn't as long. We've also had people recommending that we cancel the Pride of America cruise and stay a week on Maui instead before we head to Kauai.

 

[alohamom]

I have been to Hawaii many times over the years and I really like your itinerary.

I am not a big fan of cruising so if this trip was for me I wouldnt be doing the cruise but if you like to cruise then it is a different way to see snapshots of all the islands and they are pretty lovely from out in the water.

I would not change your stay on the North Shore, it is VERY easy to spend a day or two in Waikiki or the places around it and come back to the North Shore in the evening if that is what you choose. You might have to get up a little earlier but the beauty of the North Shore compared to the busy concrete laden Waikiki makes it very worthwhile to do so imho. The traffic is heavy in and around Waikiki and along the highway headed west towards Aulani.

We are teachers and love spending the summer traveling/relaxing!

I think your plans suite your travel style that you described above.


As far as just being at Aulani for the first few days, I really would not get rid of the rental car. If it was one or two nights, then maybe but I think by day 3 you may want to head out a bit to explore.

If you are coming from anywhere that will have a time change, you might take advantage of that for the first couple of mornings and head out early so if you dont have the car you wouldnt be able to do that.
Plus getting over to the close town of Kapolei is much easier with a car.

However, there is a lovely beach walk that runs the length of the Ko Olina lagoons, there is a tiny bit of shopping and dining across the street and there is a fun cove just past the Four Seasons that you can explore all from the home base of Aulani without leaving the general area by car. If you were considering a doing the onsite Disney luau or the Paradise Cove one, this first four days might be a good time to do that too.

The time in Kauai is perfect, you could maybe shorten it to 5 nights but I wouldnt. There isnt as much commercial type stuff to do there but it is a gorgeous island that is kind of segmented into very distinct regions. So much hiking, snorkelling, sightseeing, kayaking and overall relaxing on very nice beaches.

I think if it was me, I would tack on the last few nights at Aulani rather than more in Kauai. That way if there is anything you did on Oahu or missed doing or even places you ate or saw that you want to return to you can and you can do it from a beautiful home base.

 

[Dopeyrunr48.6]

I have been to Hawaii many times over the years and I really like your itinerary.

I am not a big fan of cruising so if this trip was for me I wouldnt be doing the cruise but if you like to cruise then it is a different way to see snapshots of all the islands and they are pretty lovely from out in the water.

I would not change your stay on the North Shore, it is VERY easy to spend a day or two in Waikiki or the places around it and come back to the North Shore in the evening if that is what you choose. You might have to get up a little earlier but the beauty of the North Shore compared to the busy concrete laden Waikiki makes it very worthwhile to do so imho. The traffic is heavy in and around Waikiki and along the highway headed west towards Aulani.



I think your plans suite your travel style that you described above.


As far as just being at Aulani for the first few days, I really would not get rid of the rental car. If it was one or two nights, then maybe but I think by day 3 you may want to head out a bit to explore.

If you are coming from anywhere that will have a time change, you might take advantage of that for the first couple of mornings and head out early so if you dont have the car you wouldnt be able to do that.
Plus getting over to the close town of Kapolei is much easier with a car.

However, there is a lovely beach walk that runs the length of the Ko Olina lagoons, there is a tiny bit of shopping and dining across the street and there is a fun cove just past the Four Seasons that you can explore all from the home base of Aulani without leaving the general area by car. If you were considering a doing the onsite Disney luau or the Paradise Cove one, this first four days might be a good time to do that too.

The time in Kauai is perfect, you could maybe shorten it to 5 nights but I wouldnt. There isnt as much commercial type stuff to do there but it is a gorgeous island that is kind of segmented into very distinct regions. So much hiking, snorkelling, sightseeing, kayaking and overall relaxing on very nice beaches.

I think if it was me, I would tack on the last few nights at Aulani rather than more in Kauai. That way if there is anything you did on Oahu or missed doing or even places you ate or saw that you want to return to you can and you can do it from a beautiful home base.

Thank you so much! I appreciate your comments/reply. We will keep the Oahu stay as is. As for the cruise, based on some replies from other posters on Trip Advisor and also from reading, we are thinking of replacing it with a week in Maui instead. Do you agree this is a better idea? Then, also, we are considering spending the last 4 extra days seeing the Big Island rather than returning to Aulani- 2 in Waipi'o Valley possibly and then 2 in Hilo? Maybe though this would be best saved for a return trip and returning to Oahu to relax before coming home would be better? I appreciate the input!

 

[alohamom]

Well, I would replace the cruise with Maui but again I am not a fan of cruises.

Big Island is incredible and I would replace those 4 days in heart beat. We go there a lot and it is honestly the most unique of all the islands.

I am running out the door but I will respond with a second more detailed post later

 

[85glht]

Since you are staying at Oahu for 10 days 4 at Aulani and 6 at the other place... keep the car at the other place and drive around from there... enjoy Aulani (sans car) while there. ( or rent a car at the airport for the whole trip to alleviate using 3rd party transfers.)
Do all your excursions on your own with the car. The island is small and you can cover a lot on your own...