Maui Trip Report
Jul 7th, 2004, 12:07 PM
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Maui Trip Report
I received so many tips from this message board that I wanted to let others know of our experience. I divided my report up by categories, instead of days. Hope it helps someone. Our trip was awesome. Only wish we had a time machine to get there. That plane flight is a long one!
Accommodations:
Sheraton Maui: Reserved a garden view room using points for 6 days, 1 day free. Used 35% off special for 3 more days @ $239, each day, Mountain View. Called 5 days ahead and asked to upgrade view, using points and was told hotel was sold out and there were no upgrades. A couple days later, I noticed on my online reservation with Starwood that we had been upgraded to ocean view! When I checked in upon arrival we had been upgraded to deluxe oceanfront! I used the points I had saved for upgrade to get another day free! Yippee! Room was building 6, on Black Rock, with a sunset view over the ocean. Saw turtles each day. Room had a micro and fridge. Housekeeping was amazing?don?t know how they do it with all the sand and water! Resort was beautiful and staff was friendly and helpful. Pool was great, but the best was being able to snorkel right on our own beach. No trouble getting pool chairs. Have to rent them for the beach. Be careful of the sun. Use Bullfrog sunscreen. We all have beautiful tans now. Jennifer Love Hewitt was a guest at the Sheraton while we were there!
Car Rental:
Checked constantly for good deals on cars, reserved, and cancelled so many times I could hardly keep track. We ended up with a Sebring convertible, from Alamo, for 4 adults @ $311 for 10 days. Cancelled a full size with National @ $198 for 10 days. Wished I had kept the full size. Too hot for a convertible and too much trouble with the luggage for 4 adults. Also, it rained the day we went to Hana. Use the rental codes on rentalcodes.com and try to use a code in all three boxes. I used 6T with two of the other codes for the $311 convertible. Just keep plugging them in and see what you get.
Activities:
Sunrise at Haleakala - Amazing?.went the first morning there, getting up at 2:30am. Left Sheraton at 3 and were able to park at the summit. Be sure there are clouds that day, as I understand they ?make? the view. I should have taken a stocking cap and gloves. Very cold(and I had sweats on).
Road to Hana: - Lovely, but rained part of the time. In and out of the car all day, but worth it. A must see.
Golf at The Plantation of Kapalua: Hubby and son say this was worth it. Views were spectacular. They went on a Sat. afternoon and the wind was not bad, but the course is a challenge. They were glad they chose it. Afternoon rate was $90. (1pm)
Surfing: Two college aged kids and mom(50 something) took a surfing lesson at Goofy Foot and loved it. Mom got up on a wave the third try. Kids got up after that. Yea mom! What an experience. Have a new respect for surfers! Not easy. Try to be in shape before you try it!
Snorkeling: Snorkeled Black Rock, which was good every day. The best was Hanalua Bay, which is a marine preserve, and down a steep cliff, but had steps.(just past Kapalua) Stunning. Tried Napili Bay and saw next to nothing and parking was next to impossible. Went to Molokini and Lanai, which were ok, but crowded, and waves were rough at Molokini. Used extra flotation.
Pacific Whale Foundation:
We chose PWF because 2 of us wanted the snorkeling at Molokini and 2 wanted to see dolphins at Lanai and PWF offers one trip to both places. Already mentioned snorkeling above, but on the way back from snorkeling PWF looks for dolphins and boy did we find them. There were over 200 dolphins swimming and jumping around our boat! It was a real highlight of our trip. You can join the PWF for $50, which will get you VIP seating onboard. (first to choose seats) There was plenty of food, the staff was knowledgeable and courteous, and we had a great day. So glad we did this. I had called Trilogy first and got an arrogant person on the phone that told me (after I asked if they found dolphins on the Lanai trip) ?we don?t train the dolphins, so I can?t promise you will see them!? The PWF person was very nice and the cost was cheaper and well worth it.
Restaurants:
Mama?s Fish House ? True what everyone says. Order the stuffed fish. Amazing.
Nick?s Fishmarket ? Wonderful and great views. Service is like no other place. Both places are pricey. Go to Nick?s at sunset.
The Waterfront at Ma?alaa ? Another wonderful place. My son had salmon that melted in your mouth. Crab cakes were great too. Had a hard time finding this place. It is on a dead end road. I had put the rest. phone numbers in my cell phone before I left.
Old Lahaina Luau ? Girls really enjoyed this, guys thought it was ok. Food good. If you have trouble getting a reservation through one of the activity warehouses, call the OLL directly and get on a wait list. I did it online and didn?t hear anything for a while, so I tried through Activity something and they told me there was no way, it was sold out. Then I got an email from OLL and we had our reservation! I called to check because I wasn?t sure what was going on. We had our reservation number and we were in.
Ruth?s Chris ? Good steak, went here for son who was hungry for red meat!
Bubba Gump?s ? Good shrimp ? had the stuffed shrimp ? yummy. Loud and crowded.
Maui Tacos ? Really good! Hey, if Emeril likes it, it must be good, right? His autographed picture hangs on the wall in the mall at Kahalui.
Cheeseburger in Paradise ? not very good. Greasy. But fries were good. If you have an Aadvantage credit card, this place is on their dining program and gives 5 points for each dollar spent.
BJ?s pizza ? we were not impressed with the pizza, but then we are from the Midwest and consider ourselves connoisseurs of pizza! The recommended pizza place in Maui Revealed (Hot Tomato) is out of business.
Moose McGillicuddy?s ? a bar that serves bad food. Worst meal of the trip. Music and hopping place late at night.
Sheraton?s Breakfast Buffet ? really good. Loved the omelets. Daughter ordered the pineapple pancakes with coconut syrup and raved about them all week.( not on buffet)
Safeway ? Go to counter and get a card (takes 2 min) and prices are cheaper. We got lunch meats, bread, snacks, bottled water, soda, etc. Had some breakfasts and lunches this way. (so we could justify Mama?s and Nick?s)
Accommodations:
Sheraton Maui: Reserved a garden view room using points for 6 days, 1 day free. Used 35% off special for 3 more days @ $239, each day, Mountain View. Called 5 days ahead and asked to upgrade view, using points and was told hotel was sold out and there were no upgrades. A couple days later, I noticed on my online reservation with Starwood that we had been upgraded to ocean view! When I checked in upon arrival we had been upgraded to deluxe oceanfront! I used the points I had saved for upgrade to get another day free! Yippee! Room was building 6, on Black Rock, with a sunset view over the ocean. Saw turtles each day. Room had a micro and fridge. Housekeeping was amazing?don?t know how they do it with all the sand and water! Resort was beautiful and staff was friendly and helpful. Pool was great, but the best was being able to snorkel right on our own beach. No trouble getting pool chairs. Have to rent them for the beach. Be careful of the sun. Use Bullfrog sunscreen. We all have beautiful tans now. Jennifer Love Hewitt was a guest at the Sheraton while we were there!
Car Rental:
Checked constantly for good deals on cars, reserved, and cancelled so many times I could hardly keep track. We ended up with a Sebring convertible, from Alamo, for 4 adults @ $311 for 10 days. Cancelled a full size with National @ $198 for 10 days. Wished I had kept the full size. Too hot for a convertible and too much trouble with the luggage for 4 adults. Also, it rained the day we went to Hana. Use the rental codes on rentalcodes.com and try to use a code in all three boxes. I used 6T with two of the other codes for the $311 convertible. Just keep plugging them in and see what you get.
Activities:
Sunrise at Haleakala - Amazing?.went the first morning there, getting up at 2:30am. Left Sheraton at 3 and were able to park at the summit. Be sure there are clouds that day, as I understand they ?make? the view. I should have taken a stocking cap and gloves. Very cold(and I had sweats on).
Road to Hana: - Lovely, but rained part of the time. In and out of the car all day, but worth it. A must see.
Golf at The Plantation of Kapalua: Hubby and son say this was worth it. Views were spectacular. They went on a Sat. afternoon and the wind was not bad, but the course is a challenge. They were glad they chose it. Afternoon rate was $90. (1pm)
Surfing: Two college aged kids and mom(50 something) took a surfing lesson at Goofy Foot and loved it. Mom got up on a wave the third try. Kids got up after that. Yea mom! What an experience. Have a new respect for surfers! Not easy. Try to be in shape before you try it!
Snorkeling: Snorkeled Black Rock, which was good every day. The best was Hanalua Bay, which is a marine preserve, and down a steep cliff, but had steps.(just past Kapalua) Stunning. Tried Napili Bay and saw next to nothing and parking was next to impossible. Went to Molokini and Lanai, which were ok, but crowded, and waves were rough at Molokini. Used extra flotation.
Pacific Whale Foundation:
We chose PWF because 2 of us wanted the snorkeling at Molokini and 2 wanted to see dolphins at Lanai and PWF offers one trip to both places. Already mentioned snorkeling above, but on the way back from snorkeling PWF looks for dolphins and boy did we find them. There were over 200 dolphins swimming and jumping around our boat! It was a real highlight of our trip. You can join the PWF for $50, which will get you VIP seating onboard. (first to choose seats) There was plenty of food, the staff was knowledgeable and courteous, and we had a great day. So glad we did this. I had called Trilogy first and got an arrogant person on the phone that told me (after I asked if they found dolphins on the Lanai trip) ?we don?t train the dolphins, so I can?t promise you will see them!? The PWF person was very nice and the cost was cheaper and well worth it.
Restaurants:
Mama?s Fish House ? True what everyone says. Order the stuffed fish. Amazing.
Nick?s Fishmarket ? Wonderful and great views. Service is like no other place. Both places are pricey. Go to Nick?s at sunset.
The Waterfront at Ma?alaa ? Another wonderful place. My son had salmon that melted in your mouth. Crab cakes were great too. Had a hard time finding this place. It is on a dead end road. I had put the rest. phone numbers in my cell phone before I left.
Old Lahaina Luau ? Girls really enjoyed this, guys thought it was ok. Food good. If you have trouble getting a reservation through one of the activity warehouses, call the OLL directly and get on a wait list. I did it online and didn?t hear anything for a while, so I tried through Activity something and they told me there was no way, it was sold out. Then I got an email from OLL and we had our reservation! I called to check because I wasn?t sure what was going on. We had our reservation number and we were in.
Ruth?s Chris ? Good steak, went here for son who was hungry for red meat!
Bubba Gump?s ? Good shrimp ? had the stuffed shrimp ? yummy. Loud and crowded.
Maui Tacos ? Really good! Hey, if Emeril likes it, it must be good, right? His autographed picture hangs on the wall in the mall at Kahalui.
Cheeseburger in Paradise ? not very good. Greasy. But fries were good. If you have an Aadvantage credit card, this place is on their dining program and gives 5 points for each dollar spent.
BJ?s pizza ? we were not impressed with the pizza, but then we are from the Midwest and consider ourselves connoisseurs of pizza! The recommended pizza place in Maui Revealed (Hot Tomato) is out of business.
Moose McGillicuddy?s ? a bar that serves bad food. Worst meal of the trip. Music and hopping place late at night.
Sheraton?s Breakfast Buffet ? really good. Loved the omelets. Daughter ordered the pineapple pancakes with coconut syrup and raved about them all week.( not on buffet)
Safeway ? Go to counter and get a card (takes 2 min) and prices are cheaper. We got lunch meats, bread, snacks, bottled water, soda, etc. Had some breakfasts and lunches this way. (so we could justify Mama?s and Nick?s)
Jul 7th, 2004, 12:38 PM
#5
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Great, will take it along with me in a few weeks. The snorkle details are especially helpful, but I'm still not convinced I'll get up in the middle of the night to go up the volcano. Passed on that earlier this year, and a few did it, and liked it. So, may reconsider. Great report!!
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MrsJenn
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Jan 14th, 2008 08:30 AM
