Honeymoon Help

[KLJ98]

Hi All,

 

I'm in the early stages of planning a honeymoon :D on the POA next July and I'm looking for some suggestions on what to do. We've already decided we want to do Tubing the Ditch and ziplining on Kauai (loved the links to the You Tube videos; they convinced us!), along with Pearl Harbor and VNP.

 

Those are already a couple of tours and we don't want to spend our entire honeymoon on tour buses or in large tour groups; we would like to do some things off by ourselves. Specifically, what would be some nice things to do as newlyweds? Are there beaches that would be quieter than others? We will probably be renting a car for Maui and Kona if that helps any. I'm also considering one for Hilo, depending on if we want to do VNP as a tour or on our own. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

[hazeleyez3]

Well, we've got a car lined up in Hilo, Maui, and Kona for the same reason you mentioned - as newlyweds we don't always want to be around a lot of people. We also figure that we can take as little time or as much time as we want in areas or choose to go back to the ship early.

 

We aren't doing it, but you may want to check out the honeymoon package NCL offers. You might also want to do a luau seperate from the one NCL offers. There are a lot on Maui.

[CC Help Michell]

Hi All,

 

I'm in the early stages of planning a honeymoon :D on the POA next July and I'm looking for some suggestions on what to do. We've already decided we want to do Tubing the Ditch and ziplining on Kauai (loved the links to the You Tube videos; they convinced us!), along with Pearl Harbor and VNP.

 

Those are already a couple of tours and we don't want to spend our entire honeymoon on tour buses or in large tour groups; we would like to do some things off by ourselves. Specifically, what would be some nice things to do as newlyweds? Are there beaches that would be quieter than others? We will probably be renting a car for Maui and Kona if that helps any. I'm also considering one for Hilo, depending on if we want to do VNP as a tour or on our own. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

For our Hawaiian vacation, we enjoyed doing a tour of the Road to Hana on Maui, because our guide furnished a lot of great information, local color, etc. I'm definitely in the "rent a car" camp for Volcanoes National Park at Hilo, however. Most tours don't do the entire park (Chain of Craters Road, etc.) and there are some very nice short hikes you can take if you don't have a time limit to be back on a bus. You can obtain excellent information about the park through the website we taxpayers pay for -- http://www.nps.gov/havo/, and if you stop at the visitor's center you can talk to the rangers about conditions in the park on the day of your visit.

 

The most romantic time on our anniversary trip was sunrise at the top of Haleakala on Maui -- it requires getting up very, very early, however, and it's cold up there -- we took sweatpants and hoodies with us for that excursion. We did it as part of a combination tour with a bicycle ride down the volcano after sunrise. If you are interested in the biking part, definitely do a tour -- I wouldn't recommend trying it unguided. We used www.adventuremaui.com to book ours through Mountain Riders. If you don't want to bike but the sunrise part seems interesting, you could drive your rental car yourselves, then visit Paia and Makawao afterwards.

 

On Kauai, are your days filled with the excursions you've already booked? I ask because on day one there we rented a car and took a leisurely drive up the east coast to the north side, and there are many beautiful beaches along the way. Lydgate State Park is a very nice, sheltered swimming beach (sandy bottom, not a snorkel place); Haena State Park and Tunnels Beach (Tunnels has excellent snorkeling); Queen's Bath (mentioned in the Revealed Kauai book -- a really neat volcanic swimming hole); and Hideaways Beach all might let you find some nice, quiet, alone time in Paradise.

 

Not an excursion, but I'd also recommend NCL's "romance package" if their honeymoon version is too spendy for your budget (I think the full enchilada honeymoon one includes massages, etc). The romance/anniversary package is $79 and includes chocolate covered strawberries and champagne at sailaway, a champagne and cake party, dinner for 2 with wine at Le Bistro, canapes delivered to your cabin on one night, and a photo credit you can use for a 5x7 or can apply to an 8x10.

 

I would also consider a luau, even though that's not going to be a private, romantic, retreat. We enjoyed ours (Paradise Cove on Oahu) but there are others that my research seems to show would be an equally fun experience.

 

Hope that helps get you started! There are photos, and some videos, of our trip at the links below, along with our (very detailed) review. Congratulations on your marriage!

[RachieLnnn]

Congrats on your honeymoon, we're going to Hawaii too, and I can't wait!

 

I think the most important thing is to make sure to leave time to just relax. We are renting a car in Hilo to do VNP. In Kona we have no plans except to wander around the town and maybe enjoy the ship's pool/hot tubs/spa in the afternoon. In Maui we will be renting a car, and visiting Lahaina and some beaches (perhaps also the crater but we are NOT getting up early! ;) ). In Kauai we have 2 excursions planned (helicopter tour and the mudbug excursion. One excursion per day - afterwards we plan on relaxing around the ship/cabin yet again. We don't want to be forced to get up to an alarm (except for the day we have excursions).

 

It's hard for me to "restrict" myself so much when there's so much to see. I like to plan plan plan. But I don't want to get burned out, either. This way we can save some things for when we come back for an anniversary, too...guarantees me another visit to Hawaii! :D

 

We are getting the romanace package and FI gave me a spa credit on NCL for my birthday... I've already planned on surprising him with a wine basket for both the volcano sail-by and the Napali Coast. We have a balcony so I forsee us sitting out enjoy the sail-bys, sipping a glass of wine... I can't WAIT (did I mention that yet?)

 

I've also heard of a treatment they offer in the spa where you get your own private room and can use scrubs & mud on each other, followed by a "rain" shower. Now, that sounds fun. ;)

[AlicesAdventures]

On our honey moon cruise, also on the POA, we booked an Air Ventures Flight (866 464 7864) and it was the highlight of our whole cruise. It was such a spectacular tour, amazing views and so romantic. We did not do a lot of other excursions, just relaxed and enjoyed the beauty of Hawaii from the ship!

Congratulations!

Alice

[KLJ98]

Thanks for the wonderful suggestions! I like the sound of some of the beaches on Kauai; I might have to rethink renting a car there. I'll also check into the spa packages and the romance package. I'm becoming more and more convinced as I read that VNP can be done just as well and lot cheaper on our own then with a tour, plus that gives us the ability to set our own time table and sleep in! There's so much to see and do, but I want us to relax and not have to be stressed about getting to certain places at certain times every day. Thank goodness for rental cars! :)

[jerseyjk]

I like the sound of some of the beaches on Kauai;

 

Lots of great beaches on Kauai. We drove all the way up to Ke'e and with a 100 yard walk up the beach we were pretty close to being alone on a beach with some spectacular scenery.

 

VNP can be done just as well and lot cheaper on our own then with a tour, plus that gives us the ability to set our own time table and sleep in!

 

I agree with this 100%. Do it on your own. There is a lot to see and do and it's best done at your own pace.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[swifs]

We did our honeymoon on POH in June. I think the most romantic restaurant on board was the Bistro because it is quieter than Cagneys and you can have a nice table by yourself.

 

Kauai was definitely the most romantic island- on the POH we rented a car the first day and went to Waimea Canyon and clambered around there all day and then went directly to the luau instead of going on the buses from the ship. (We had the NCL tickets but didn't have to go to and from the ship with everyone else)

 

On the second day we took a helicopter tour of the whole island which was the highlight of our cruise- you can see the Jurassic Park and other waterfalls in the interior that are not accessible by car, the Waimea Canyon (in ways you can't see on foot) the NaPali coast from the air! If that is not in your budget, then do drive up to the NaPali coast, go as far as Ke'e Beach, and stop in Hanalei at one of their cute restaurants for lunch and have a cocktail at the terrace of the Princeville Hotel for sunset. This may not be possible on Day 2- you may have to do this on Day 1. But we spent a week on Kauai after the cruise for our "land" honeymoon and the North Shore was the most romantic place on earth.

[umwife11]

Congratulations on your honeymoon!!! DH and I wanted a Hawaiian honeymoon so badly a few years ago, but just couldn't swing it...so we treated our trip there in June as the Honeymoon We Really Wanted and it was beyond perfect...I can't think of a more perfect place to honeymoon :)

 

I would definitely suggest renting a car and doing as many things as possible on your own--the roads are easy to navigate and we had a great time just the two of us. (We even booked the tubing the ditch excursion on our own).

 

I'd definitely also suggest purchasing one of the NCL romance packages...we received one as a gift from my parents and it was incredible...dinner at hte Bistro, the spa treatment, breakfast in our suite one morning...it was simply, simply luxurious!

 

Another suggestion I'd have is if you're spending any time pre or post cruise on Waikiki Beach, have dinner at La Mer at the Halekulani Hotel. We had dinner there our second night in Hawaii and it was amazing...we had a table just overlooking the House WIthout A Key restaurant and were able to enjoy the sunset hula show (think mellow, romantic hula...not the beating drums you'll enjoy at a luau later)...it was one of the most romantic things we did on the entire trip.

 

And whatever you do--don't be afraid to tout your honeymoon status--let them know it's your HM when making dinner reservations or luau reservations. There'll be some perks to enjoy and you guys deserve them :)

 

Have fun!!!