I used this website for months in preparation for our trip to Hawaii, and it was incredibly helpful. I would like to provide a few tips to help others.

Overall, my husband, 9 year old son and 6 year old daughter had an amazing vacation. Since we had never been to Hawaii, we thought cruising would be a good option so we could see as much as possible. We definitely made a good decision.

Stayed at the Marriott for two nights prior to our 8/25 cruise. Rented a car through Thrifty...becoming blue chip members was a good tip. It helped a lot throughout the week. We rented at the airport and returned it at the Waikiki location - worked out perfectly! Brought a GPS which was also a "must have". In Oahu, we swam at Waikiki Beach, got up early on Friday and went to Pearl Harbor, Dole Plantation and then onto the North Shore. Ate at Dukes Friday night, which was great. (make reservation earlier in the week). We found the traffic to be a hassle, but getting up and out early was helpful. We were at Pearl Harbor by 6:45 am and were in the 2nd group to tour. Climbed Diamond Head the 2nd day. We all enjoyed it, but I would recommend NOT showering before heading out. We all needed to freshen up before heading over to the ship. Transportation to the ship was smooth, although we completely missed that we needed to have our luggage packed in our room at 8:00am (probably because they told us after we had travelled for 20 hours and were not really awake). No big deal though...we were able to catch the hotel bellman and he brought it down to the truck. Tip - read all documentation, even though it is a hassle! Read more