My fiance and I will be honeymooning anytime from 3/17/05 to about 3/27/05. My total budget for EVERYTHING is around $4500. With that I'm assuming about $3000-3300 for air, hotel, and car.

We were originally thinking about 5 nights Maui and 5 nights Kauai, but our budge was only pulling up economy hotels. Because this is our honeymoon, i'd rather go with a better hotel for fewer days on 1 island instead of cheap hotels for more days on 2 islands. Perhaps 7 nights on Maui at a good hotel? Perhaps over in the Kaanapali area where the beaches look woooonderful.

As much as I'd love to have an ocean view I think we may just choose a non-ocean view for the room affordability, but still have a nice room at a nice hotel. Does this seem reasonable?

Does anyone have any travel agents they can recommend? I'm having an extremely hard time locating any deals. Even with pleasantholidays.com i'm coming up short.

I really want something my fiance will like, but we can only afford so much. I've appreciated all the wonderful advice I've received in previous posts. You guys are wonderful!

We're looking into

you can ignore the last line that says "We're looking into"

I am not endorsing his agency, as I have never used them, but friends of ours were gaga over the service and package they got from
http://www.saveonaloha.com/

First of all, consider renting a condo rather than a hotel room. Instead of paying $250 plus per night for a hotel on Maui, you can rent a place (I recommend vrbo.com) for less than that and also save money by having a kitchen.

Secondly, I haven't spoken to her in several years so I don't know if she's still in the business, but there's a "Maui Kay" who lives there, knows everyone there, and books hotels and trups for tourists. Her e-mail was [email protected]. She's a great person.

Where are you flying from? For $4500, you should be able to get a nice place on two islands. Shop around for your airfare online. It's amazing the different deals you can find if you take your time. The prices change weekly, sometimes daily. Go directly to the airlines or hotels website. For example: Grand Wailea: If you go to Expedia, they show no rooms available for when I am traveling. If I go to Grand Wailea's website, they have a "lousy view" room available for $291. Same sized room that goes for $500 plus with a glimpse of the ocean. Several posters have said they were given a free upgrade at this property. You can find inter island airfare for $150. I'm flying to Oakland, CA and my direct flight to Maui is $370. (Aloha Airlines) I live in the midwest so my total airfare to Maui is under $600 and I get to stay overnight in CA both directions. You should have no problem for $4500 unless you like to eat at the top of the line restaurants. I know a lot of the posters here like the Kaanapali area, but I think the beach there is overrated. The red flags fly daily and there is a lot of coral in the shallow water. I think the Wailea area is nicer

We'll be leaving from San Diego, CA. So about as close to hawaii as you can get!

From SoCal in March you should be able to do well within your budget. Can you fly out of LAX or John Wayne? That will help you quite a bit. Pleasant Holidays always has the best deals from LA or SF.

Check out packages with the Maui Prince. Friends have booked a trip for end of Feb, flying John Wayne, staying a week at the Maui Prince with food and beverage credits and a rental car for under 2K total.

check out alohapualani.com.........great outdoor professional kitchen, gorgeous private pool for only 5 units, no kids.........just a lovely place, and I have been lucky to stay at grand resorts. In the end, I love this place!!

Postal, Kay's still around, at that address or here: http://www.maui.net/~mauikay/

Might try Priceline - go to biddingfortravel.com and check out the resorts you can get thru priceline. Westin and Sheraton in the $140-150 price range, which would work out in your budget.

Are you set on staying in a hotel? What about a bungalow, cabin, or condo situation? Seems like you could easily do Kauai for 10 nights at ~$150/night in that kind of situation (leaving $1500 for plane tickets and car rental).