Today, we have a great guest post written by Rachael Garrison. She and her husband Eric have a website with cool Hawaii honeymoon planning ideas at My Hawaii Honeymoon.
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It was one year before our wedding date, and we had all the basic wedding plans laid out: the dress, the ceremony, the caterer, the flowers…the list goes on and on as, I’m sure you are quite familiar! Once we had the wedding budget squared away, we realized, hey! Isn’t there usually a honeymoon involved with this whole thing? And so began the search for the perfect honeymoon vacation….
My husband started doing research, LOTS of research, since he’s definitely the one in the relationship who likes to spend heaps of time making sure that every purchase is well worth it (and the honeymoon certainly meets the criteria of a “purchase”).
Originally, Hawaii was not at the top of our list… I mean, it seems like that’s what everyone does for their honeymoon. We prefer to do things a little differently when permissible, and the honeymoon would be no exception!
We went over a few different trips that involved seeing as much of the surrounding area as possible. Honeymoons are supposed to be romantic and the idea of a long flight coupled with hopping from hotel to hotel sounded stressful; great for a random adventure… not so great for a romantic honeymoon vacation.
Ultimately, we sat down and discussed exactly what we wanted out of our honeymoon. The key word we kept coming back to was relaxation. We envisioned ourselves being pampered, enjoying decadent food, luxurious hotel suites… the wedding planning was stressful enough, so why add any sort of worry to a vacation immediately following such a busy (albeit special) day?
We then went back to Hawaii as just the word itself brings thoughts of paradise, palm trees and…the kicker…relaxation! It was difficult to choose which island, though! We learned that each is vastly different from one another in seemingly inconspicuous ways, but enough to change the vibe of an entire vacation. Did we want diverse Oahu, with its crowded Waikiki beaches? That was certainly the least expensive option. What about Maui, with its rich white sandy beaches? Or Kauai, where it’s ‘oh so quiet’? And we couldn’t forget our wish to see where the lava smolders into the sea on the Big Island.
That’s when we heard about Hawaiian cruises that actually take you to each of those four islands, with a full day spent at each location plus ten days at sea. Even better, the cost of a cruise was well within our budget! We chose Princess Cruise Lines as they are known for cruises catered to couples of all ages (meaning, less kids!). Princess is a fantastic cruise line that offered every amenity we could dream of.
Cruising to Hawaii was absolutely the best decision we could have ever made regarding our Hawaii honeymoon. We were pampered more than we had ever been in our lives. Each day on the islands was utterly amazing, as we had energy built up from being at sea for five days to expend doing and seeing as much as possible. We rented a car on each island and just explored. We even drove a complete circle around the Big Island, which allowed us to see both the Kona and Hilo regions.
Now that we’ve gotten a taste of what Hawaii has to offer, we can’t wait to go back. On which island would we choose to stay? Surprisingly, Oahu!
If you’re having any hesitation choosing Hawaii for your honeymoon, don’t! You will not regret the decision. An overwhelming number of honeymooners choose Hawaii for a reason, whether it be romance, natural beauty, or isolated decadence. Discuss with your partner what you want out of this vacation, and you may arrive at the same thing we did: a Hawaii honeymoon spent in ultimate relaxation.
Enjoy your time in Hawaii, and of course, enjoy each other!
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Great Post gang!
We got so excited reading your post!... Shawn and I did a princess cruise around the Hawaii islands too for our honeymoon, except we did what's called a repositioning cruise from Vancouver (which is where we were living) to Hawaii across the ocean for 5 days and then did all the islands, like you, it was so romantic and we would recommend it in a heart beat!
Thanks for the reminder!
Nancy & Shawn