PenguinTraveller

13 hours ago, scottca075 said:

If you want to eat like a local, the food trucks mostly are not it. The "Plate Lunch" is a uniquely Hawaiian thing, it is  the Hawaiian equivalent of Street Food. Look at places like Helena's Hawaiian Food, Haili's Hawaiian Food, Young's Fishmarket, Sugoi Bento, St. Louis Deli, Ethel’s Grill and others. Typically a plate lunch comes with one or two mains, two scoops of rice and a scoop of macaroni.

 

A couple of other uniquely Hawaiian eats are saimin, which a Hawaiian version of ramen and manapua, which is a Hawaiian sized version of the Chinese char sui bao. Good old school saimin in Honolulu is found at Shiro’s Saimin or Palace Saimin. Hamura Saimin in Lihue, Kauai is legendary. Good manapua on Oahu is found at Royal Kitchen and Chun Wah Kam Noodle Factory.

 

Another uniquely Hawaiian eatery is the okazuya, a Japanese deli with Hawaiian sensibilities. Fukuya Delicatessen, Gulick Delicatessen, Nu’uanu Okazuya and Masa & Joyce Okazuya are some of the notable ones.

 

You will get a better feel for Hawaii, its people and food at places like these rather than standing in line with other tourists for 90 minutes for garlic shrimp that is no better than your local Italian restaurant's scampi.

 

 

 

Hi scottca075,

I love trying new foods while travelling, so I will be taking note of your suggestions.  Being of Chinese descent, I love char sui baos so I will be on the lookout for manapua now!  I've noticed you have provided lots of tips and recommendations on various questions posted on this Hawaii board.  You are a wealth of information which is greatly appreciated as we get closer to our September cruise to Hawaii.  Take care and thanks again!  

Shari

58 minutes ago, nikel said:

 

I just checked it out.  It sure does look appealing for the price.  The only drawback for us would be there is no balcony.

Hi nikel,

Oh right, I forgot to mention the lack of balcony/lanai.  We did think about whether we wanted a balcony or not before finally deciding to book.   The least expensive rooms offered a mountain or city view so we went with that since there are no balconies.  If we miss having a balcony, then we'll know for the next time we visit Waikiki.  

16 hours ago, scottca075 said:

 

Curious out of all the hotels in Waikiki, how you zoomed in on the Vive? It isn't a hotel that is talked about a lot on the TripAdvisor Oahu Forums. There are a lot of hotels with many good reviews on TA, how did Vive stand out for you?

Hi scottca075,

I admit we were getting overwhelmed with the number of hotels to look at and we decided to narrow our search by looking at boutique hotels.  VIVE was mentioned on a few "best boutique hotels in Waikiki" lists and the price was more affordable than others that were mentioned.  We liked what the VIVE offered with the exception of not having a pool.  Since the VIVE is a short walk to the beach we decided a pool wasn't a necessary feature for us.  I can't explain it, but even after checking out other hotels, we kept getting drawn back to the VIVE (maybe their website designer should get a bonus, LOL).  I wouldn't be surprised if once we are in Waikiki we'll see many hotels we may want to check out if/when we return (such as the Park Shore Waikiki that you mentioned in an earlier post).  

Hello, 

Fellow Canadians here, so we feel your pain when it comes to the exchange rate! 

For our post-cruise hotel in Waikiki, we booked the VIVE Hotel Waikiki.  We have not stayed there before, but there were many good reviews on TripAdvisor.  The few negative comments had to do with noise from the street (depending on location of your room) and the rooms being on the smaller size (no big deal for us after spending 11 nights in a small cabin, LOL).  VIVE is a boutique hotel that is a short walk to the beach (per their website), offers a deluxe continental breakfast and free use of beach amenities such as towels, mats, chairs and umbrella.  The daily resort fee is waived if you book directly through the hotel.  Obviously, the rates are charged in US $, but the website allows you to choose Cdn $ to give you a better idea of the cost. There are various price options, including an AAA/CAA discount.  

https://www.vivehotelwaikiki.com/

Hi,

I was on Allure's September 25th sailing (staying ahead of Hurricane Matthew!).

As mentioned earlier, lobster is available as part of the Fisherman's Plate, along with garlic shrimp and seasonal vegetables. This was on the second formal night (Day 6 for us) and from the "Jasmine" menu.

Lobster is also available broiled, grilled or steamed every night under "Celebrate Cravings" but for an additional charge of $29.95. So wait for the second formal night! :)

Shari

I bet you love it! We were on Oasis a year ago for the first time on an Oasis class ship and we will be on Allure the week after you!

Hi, you were right, we absolutely LOVED the Allure! Not only was this our first time on the Allure, but my boyfriend's first cruise ever. He is now hooked on cruising, yay! We hope to do another cruise on the Allure so we can see and do all those things that we missed on this cruise. I can see why people do back-to-back cruises now, a week just isn't long enough!

You mention being on the Allure the week after us - which is right now -hopefully the weather holds out for you. After our first port of Nassau, we were advised that St Thomas and Saint Maarten would be replaced by Labadee and Jamaica due to what was Tropical Storm Matthew. I think Matthew turned into a Hurricane when we left Jamaica. We were disappointed in missing out on our planned shore excursions, but better safe than sorry, right? Also, I ended up seeing 2 new ports instead of just 1 (Nassau and St Thomas visited on previous cruise). Enjoy!

Shari

Hi Nick,

I am going on the Allure for the very first time in only 5 days! My excitement level has tripled thanks to your great photos and review!

Shari