Photo hijacked off of Kim's own Hawaiian honeymoon album.
I can't remember when but I think we had mutually agreed, even before becoming engaged, that we wanted to honeymoon in Hawaii. A small part of me wanted to go to Europe. Italy, mostly, but there are other parts I want to see, Germany and Croatia being at the top of the list. (Where my mom's mom and mom's step-dad are from, respectively.) But because there is family there, I rather save a European trip for when the entire family can go together. So, Hawaii won in the "where do we go on our honeymoon" category. I mean, just look at that picture above!
The wedding is on a Saturday, so we will give ourselves Sunday to rest, recover, do whatever needs to be done, then Monday we'll fly out.
One of the things I read early on in this Hawaii research is, for first timers of the islands, travel advisors don't recommend taking a cruise. I get what they mean - but I felt a cruise would be the most convenient way to see more than just two islands. The cost of flights from island to island, car rental, hotels would be far higher than the convenience of your room, meals and transportation being taken care of by the cruise for one price!
We decided to go with Norwegian Cruise Line's Pride of America. They depart from Honolulu every Saturday. Since it leaves on October 25th, the day of the wedding, we have to wait until the following Saturday, November 1st. So what to do the first week? Explore Oahu by foot of course!
A lot of people had asked us if we were going to honeymoon in Disney World, which we answered with a big fat NO, lol. Disney World is our go-to vacation spot. We wanted the honeymoon to be different! However, since we are passing California to get to and from Hawaii, Jonathan really really liked the idea of stopping in Disneyland for a night. Initially I was trying to make it work so that we could do it on the way back from Hawaii. But, that would make the trip longer than two weeks, and we're trying to be realistic, what with work and everything. The other option would be to not do the cruise at all, but we really like that idea too. I kind of don't like the idea of starting the honeymoon in Disney but it would be really fun to walk around with the bride & groom Mickey and Minnie ears knowing we really did just get married! Maybe if we splurged for one night in the Disneyland Hotel and make it more honeymoon-y, it would help make it feel different than a regular Disney visit. If so, that means one day in California (Monday, the 27th), then the next afternoon fly out to Hawaii and land in Oahu. Spend the week there, at a hotel on Waikiki Beach, then that Saturday, we'd leave Honolulu and head to the other islands via cruise ship. We'd be back in Oahu the following Saturday, November 8th....aka my birthday! Not a bad way to turn 29!
Whatever we end up doing, I'm sure it will be memorable. Jonathan is pretty much leaving me in charge of planning! Can't decide if that's a great thing, or a dangerous thing, lol. In Kauai, there's a shore excursion called Kauai - The Director's Cut. It's a tour that takes you to spots where famous scenes were shot, and you can actually get off the vehicle used during the tour and walk around. The actual description is much more appealing than my own, lol, but that sounds right up our alley. Other things I want to do are the Road to Hana in Maui, which is about the journey, not the destination itself. I've heard mixed reviews about the tour so maybe we'll do that one on our own, if Jonathan is up for that kind of drive! Zip lining, kayaking, snorkeling....sooo many options over there.
My dad said when we're ready to book the cruise, to let him know and he'd call for us. My parents cruise every year (in fact, they're away on one as I type!) and they were bumped up to a suite for free. My dad was thinking he could get us the same deal. Uh, let me think about that one...
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