In October 2009, my sister suggested taking a family vacation to Hawaii. By December the family decided we'd cruise the islands together, and we all set forth to book our flights hotel and finalize cruise plans.

I live in the DC area and got lucky with cashing in FF miles to fly my daughter with me. I will say I tend to hem and haw and within 4 days the flight costs on United for my ticket increased by $25-$70, so once you've made up your mind to go, book early and quickly. One of my sisters lives in CA, and did much better waiting to book last minute, but her traveling distance was much less than the rest of us. My mother, other sis and BIL booked on Delta out of Charlotte on the same day I did, and they were able to book for less. They paid @ $800 each, by the time I booked on United, I paid $900 (not including taxes).

I should also add that if you want to see Honolulu you need to come early and/or stay later than the cruise. There were some who flew as far as I did that arrived a few hours before the ship departed, then got on the bus to get to the airport to leave the day the ship returned. I love Honolulu and it was great to get around and visit again. My family decided to do rent a car and we did our luau on the west side of the island at Paradise cove (OMG, if I had the money I'd be living in luxury in that community). I really felt I'd be luau'd out by the time the cruise was over so we did that event first. Read more