Trip Report - Maui
 

Just returned from Maui. There for seven days, not long enough! First let me say that we had a good time, but were somewhat dissapointed. Maybe I was expecting too much, while some things were different from what I expected, others were better. We will definately go back, next time with our son. Our first full day we went horseback riding down into the crater with Pony Express. Our guide was Ben and he was great. The experience was fabulous, and let me say that I am a novice rider. The trip lasted approx. 5.5 hours and the views were stunning. Highly recommend. Took the day off to rest the second and third days and to nurse a sore backside! Stayed at the Kea Lani and the pools were beautiful. The room was pretty nice, however the carpet needed cleaning as did the sofa in the living area. As stated previously by many others, the bathroom was really nice and big enough for two to use at the same time. We took the snorkling trip with Trilogy. Couldn't get the activities person at the hotel to exactly recommend a particular group, so I took the advice of other Fodorites and used Trilogy. Really good idea! The boat was great (approx. 45 people), the snorkling at Molokini (sp?) was great/beautiful and my husband went scuba diving for the first time! A member of the crew, Neil, gave lessons and they went on two dives. Great experience for my husband. Food at lunch was wonderful (maybe the sea air??) Trip lasted for approx. 5 hours. Did shopping in Lahania and Kaanapali. Went to the Warren and Annabelle show one night, a great show. Very funny and highly entertaining, well worth the $$ and would recommend to everyone. Disappointed that the Kea Lani could not accommodate us for a late flight our final evening, i.e., the Hospitality Room was being used as a guest room, since they were overbooked. We ended up getting a room at the Renaissance for the day and felt very welcome there. Room was small, but for one day, it was well worth our $$$. Great dinner at Roys in Kiehei (sp?). Dinner at Nicks at the Kea Lani and at Cafe Ciao was disappointing. Would not necessarily recommend either of those. Breakfast at the Kea Lani was really good. Last comment. . . experienced a really unpleasant smell on our way up the volcano. Was told it was the sugar processing plant. Never expected to see smoke stacks and experience unpleasant smells. Maybe it doesn't bother others, but for us, it was a downer. All in all a great trip, but not long enough.

Sherrie.....Did you do the Old Lahaina Luau? And did you rent a car? We are going on a cruise to Hawaii sailing aboard Royal Caribbean's Radiance of the Seas. 10/20 leaving from Vancouver. Celebrating 20 years of Marriage :-)<BR><BR>Cheryl

Cheryl: Yes, we rented a car, if you are staying on the island, it is pretty much necessary to have a car. Because we stayed in Wailea, we didn't do the Old Lahania Luau, as it was a 45 minute drive and we didn't want to have unlimited mai tais and have to drive that far.

Sherrie,<BR><BR>I went to Maui last year and went to the Old Lahina Luau and it was WONDERFUL! The tickets were more than I expected them to be, but was well worth it. Great show, great food! I did go with a vegitarian and they did not have a lot of choices when dinner came, but I enjoyed it. I will be sure to do it again when I return.<BR>enjoy!

Hi,<BR><BR>Sorry to hear about your dinner at Nicks. We were there from 12-20 Sep 02, stayed at the Grand Wailea and ate at Nick's twice we liked it so much. I'm curious as to what you didn't like??? Roy's was great too. Ate there 2x too. Did you try Spago's at the 4-Seasons. I thought our dinner there was excellent also. We had a table outside on the rail. Really nice too. Oval table, so we could sit right next to each other, and we both had great views of the sunset.We had a 9pm flight home, and the GW did allow a free late checkout at 3pm, which was great. And they were about 90% full at the time.<BR>Frank

Frank: We only had four nights to eat out. The first night we arrived late in the afternoon from the east coast (we were bushed) so stayed close to the hotel and had dinner at Cafe Ciao. I guess I expected Nicks to be really over the top in taste. The service was good, but we both got the mahi-mahi, encrusted with potatoes and honestly, it was rather bland. I guess that's my disappointment. Maybe I should have tried something different. On our last evening we went to Longhi's and it was also just so/so. Again, Roys was the best thing going for this trip.