Honolulu Pre & Post Cruise Hotel Advise Needed!!

[Caribbean Obsession]

My husband and I will be going on our first Hawaiian cruise this November and are trying to decide whether to stay a couple of nights both before and after the cruise in Honolulu. Does anybody have any advise on a great hotel near the cruise ship terminal and/or beach, but not extremely pricey (say, around $150 per night max)?

 

What about shore excursions? We are fans of the Caribbean snorkeling/open bar excursions, and are wondering if there will be similar fun open bar snorkel tours in Hawaii as well.

[TXRED10]

I highly suggest you stay a night before your cruise and a couple nights after. You gotta explore the rest of Oahu and go to Pearl Harbor.

Hotels are very high. We did get a decent one after the cruise for about the price range you are looking at that was on the beach. It was an Outrigger Hotel.

What I suggest is going on price line and bidding on a 4 star hotel for the area you want. (Waikiki beach) I have had the best luck for fabulous hotels on priceline. I wish we had done that in 2006 when we went on the Pride of America.

Just do alot of research. And when you do get a price, just remember you get what you pay for! We stayed the night before the cruise at the Queen Kapiolani that is just a block or so from Waikiki beach. Only paid around $80 but it was a dump!!! I just laughed it off and glad we were so jet lagged (tired) and had cocktails not to let it bother me! But I will not ever do that again.....it is worth it to spend another $100 to stay somewhere nice!

Good Luck! I say splerge or do priceline....after all, it's Hawaii!!!

[S&S Cruisers 1983]

My husband and I will be going on our first Hawaiian cruise this November and are trying to decide whether to stay a couple of nights both before and after the cruise in Honolulu. Does anybody have any advise on a great hotel near the cruise ship terminal and/or beach, but not extremely pricey (say, around $150 per night max)?

 

What about shore excursions? We are fans of the Caribbean snorkeling/open bar excursions, and are wondering if there will be similar fun open bar snorkel tours in Hawaii as well.

 

We stayed at the Marriott on Waikiki Beach. We loved it. We had a great view of Diamond Head from our room and could walk to a lot of great places. My brother stayed at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach and enjoyed it also. It did take a while to get to the terminal but we took the Tour of Oahu excursion and it took us from hotel to terminal. We saw a lot of famous and beautiful places.

[CruisinMK]

I've never stayed at it myself, but a forum favorite in the value category over on the hawaii board of this forum is the "aqua palms". Make sure to check out the hawaii forum here.

 

You're ahead of a lot of other cruisers who don't have pre-post stays at all.

 

The reviews of cruisers who don't stay in a hotel are predictably more grumpy on average than those who do stay. :)

[wahine56]

We also stayed at the Marriott, and booked thru NCL which was expensive, but they provided a bus to the terminal. We stayed 3 nights before, next time I might split time before and after. ResortQuest is right behind the Marriott, we met a couple who stayed there, they said it was nice and half the price.

 

Pat

[CruisinMK]

Oh yeah a bunch of people have had success using priceline, they often get the Prince hotel, very good one for the price they get. Check biddingfortravel forum to research it beforehand

[14ersco]

Have you been staying at any hotel chains and earning points? Do know you can transfer some airline miles into Hilton Honors to get a free room.

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites on Waikiki Beach using Hilton Honor Points. If you are coming from the east coast come in a couple nights early to get over the jet lag. We rented at Thrifty at the airport and on the day of the cruise took the car back to the airport and Thrifty shuttled use back to pier. The airport Thrifty also picked us up at pier at the end of our cruise for a few more days. Go to the Hawaii section under the Ports of Call for more on hotels and rental cars.

 

The nice part of the Embassy Suites was the free food and drinks. The rum went down fast and smooth after facing Honolulu traffic. Also snack foods and music in the evening. In the morning was an amazing all you can eat breakfast buffet with made to order omelets. :p

[hawaiiboy]

Being a Hawaii-born local, I would choose between the Marriott, Sheraton and the Prince-all are nice properties in good proximity to Waikiki shopping and beaches. If I were you, I'd check out the Sheraton and Marriott websites for their best deals- I know Priceline and Hotwire offer great deals, but you really won't know which property you're booked in until after you pay online. Unless you rent a car, a taxi will take you from the Aloha Tower (where the cruise ships dock,) to Waikiki for around $15. Another property worth checking into is the Hilton Hawaiian Village, which is a destination in itself. Great shops, interesting tropical grounds and near all the action of Waikiki! There are many vendors offering snorkel sails; as mentioned in other replies, do your homework and look for the best deals. Have a great time on Oahu!

[Fishbait17]

The one nice thing about Priceline is being able to put in your minimum "stars" requirement. You will not be booked in a hotel that doesn't meet your requirement. It can get tricky, though, if you end up with a hotel outside of Waikiki (Turtle Bay and the Ko'olina come to mind) so be very careful that you specify Waikiki as the area. November is low season for the most part, unless you are looking specifically Thanksgiving week, so you should get pretty good prices. I spend a lot of time on Oahu, but haven't cruised there yet, so can't help you with the "near the port" location. We usually stay in our house on the North Shore, but in Waikiki stay at the Moana Surfrider because we use SPG points, but I don't think I would pay their listed prices if I had to. I would highly recommend the Outrigger Waikiki or the Outrigger Reef in your price range; great locations and decent hotels (I have stayed on both). The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani is a decent hotel across the street from the beach that has prices listed at around $150 during November. Look for specials there and on the Hilton, Starwood, Hyatt, and Marriott websites; there should be plenty of good deals for November. For Starwood (Sheraton, Westin, W, Le Meridien, etc) in particular; join Starwood Preferred Guest and call them to see if there are any better deals available; you can do the same with any of the other chain's frequent stay programs. Have fun and enjoy Oahu, my favorite island!

 

Robin

[Caribbean Obsession]

Thanks for the info! I agree it is worth it to splurge, especially given that this will be for our 5 year wedding anniversary and our very first trip to Hawaii-- it's the airfare that kills you on cruises-- by the time you pay to get there, the funds are slim for nice hotels! Dang, I need to move to a port City....:D

 

I highly suggest you stay a night before your cruise and a couple nights after. You gotta explore the rest of Oahu and go to Pearl Harbor.

Hotels are very high. We did get a decent one after the cruise for about the price range you are looking at that was on the beach. It was an Outrigger Hotel.

What I suggest is going on price line and bidding on a 4 star hotel for the area you want. (Waikiki beach) I have had the best luck for fabulous hotels on priceline. I wish we had done that in 2006 when we went on the Pride of America.

Just do alot of research. And when you do get a price, just remember you get what you pay for! We stayed the night before the cruise at the Queen Kapiolani that is just a block or so from Waikiki beach. Only paid around $80 but it was a dump!!! I just laughed it off and glad we were so jet lagged (tired) and had cocktails not to let it bother me! But I will not ever do that again.....it is worth it to spend another $100 to stay somewhere nice!

Good Luck! I say splerge or do priceline....after all, it's Hawaii!!!

[Caribbean Obsession]

I hear so much from people who use their "points" for hotels, flights, etc., but I am very unfamiliar with these types of programs. I am definitely going to have to start looking into it as so many people are able to find such great deals!

 

Thanks for your advise on Embassy Suites-- we stayed at the one in San Diego and received the same service (great breakfast buffet and nightly "happy hour") you speak of. Sounds like it could be the way to go!

 

Also, great advise on the rental car! Good to know! :D

 

Have you been staying at any hotel chains and earning points? Do know you can transfer some airline miles into Hilton Honors to get a free room.

 

We stayed at the Embassy Suites on Waikiki Beach using Hilton Honor Points. If you are coming from the east coast come in a couple nights early to get over the jet lag. We rented at Thrifty at the airport and on the day of the cruise took the car back to the airport and Thrifty shuttled use back to pier. The airport Thrifty also picked us up at pier at the end of our cruise for a few more days. Go to the Hawaii section under the Ports of Call for more on hotels and rental cars.

 

The nice part of the Embassy Suites was the free food and drinks. The rum went down fast and smooth after facing Honolulu traffic. Also snack foods and music in the evening. In the morning was an amazing all you can eat breakfast buffet with made to order omelets. :p