Aulani - One Day Trip Report!

[Goldeelox9]

Pete and I had a cruise booked to Canada from NYC for the summer of 2012. We were excited to have a vacation in the summer, we always travel off season. We were also excited to be traveling from the east coast on a cruise we could drive to. Then things got turned around.....On September 23, 2011 Disney released a 2nd Hawaii Sailing. This cruise would be leaving out of Los Angeles on October 14, 2012. I emailed Pete when I got to work and asked him if he wanted to go...he answered like he always does with "Sure". So I called DCL and transferred our Canadian cruise to this Hawaii sailing. The cost was only about $1000 more and we would get an additional 7 nights! SCORE!

This report is going to be about the one day during the cruise that we went to visit Aulani. It was Day 8 of the Cruise and Day 10 of the vacation overall.

My Past Trip Reports

My DCL Wedding Trip Report & AKL Honeymoon TR

Vanessa's Wedding Weekend Trip Report 12/12~12/14!

February 2007 - Pop Century, Pete's first Visit.

November 2009 - All Star Movies, Treehouse Villas & Disney Wonder - 1st Anniversary.

January 2011 - Port Orleans French Quarter, BLT, DIsney Magic - Part One & Part Two

September 2011 - Disney Dream Back 2 Back

January 2012 - Disney's Boardwalk Villas - Alyssa's 4th Birthday Trip

Cast of Characters:

Me: Lisa
DH: Pete

 

[Goldeelox9]

October 21, 2012 - Vacation Day 10, Cruise Day 8 - Ohau, Aulani


Yay! Today is the day I was looking forward to the most out of all of the days! AULANI! I had a client on the cruise with us, TerriLynn and her family. We each booked a one night stay at Aulani with a discount and arranges a transportation service to pick us up at the ship and drive us to Aulani and then after our day was over pick us up at Aulani and drive us back to the ship. We used Royal Hawaiian Tour. They gave us the best price.

Again we got up early (like 6am) and headed to the deck to take pictures. Before long we heard that the ship was clear around 7am and we took off. We wanted to get the most time at the resort since we needed to be back by 4:30pm.

Once in the terminal we found TerriLynn and we headed out side to find our car. We all boarded into the Mini Van for the drive. It was about 30-40 minutes away from the port.

We arrived at Aulani and were greeted at the door. The resort was amazing from the second we stepped in the lobby.

We went to check in and that was fast! The men were given Kukui Nut necklaces and the ladies leis. The children received a Menehune Necklace.

According to Hawaiian legend, the little Menehune (men-neh-HOO-nay) are shy folk who come out mostly at night. They are said to be gifted, possibly magical, craftspeople and if you come across a work-in-progress bridge or canoe (as you just might, when visiting Aulani), chances are its the work of the Menehune.

You may not spot them right away, but the Menehune will be there, represented by carvings concealed throughout the resort under tables, in the forest and hidden in corners where they are most likely to be discovered by kids. The Menehune have a hand, unseen, in the construction of Menehune Bridge, the childrens interactive water and slide play area at the resort.

We went to check out the Pau Hana room and to send our video Post cards. CLICK HERE This is the link to watch ours! It's so funny!

At this point we split up and TerriLynn and family went to do their own thing. We slowly made our way down to get a chair with an Ocean View.

We found the perfect seats. Look at the view.

We took a few pictures before we got comfy and settled in to start our relaxing.

 

[Goldeelox9]

October 21, 2012 - Vacation Day 10, Cruise Day 8 - Ohau, Aulani, Part 2

We laid and looked at the Ocean for all of about 10 minutes before we decided to head to the infinity edge hot tub. The crowds were still so light since it was only about 8:30am.

We had to get pool bracelets and towels by showing our room card. They we were set for the day. This is something you have to do each day when staying here. Aulani only lets hotel guests use the pools.

We just sat there and talked about how great it was to be here and how much we want to come back here with our families. I know my sister's kids would totally love it here!

It is just the very prettiest place I have ever been to! I have only booked 2 or 3 clients Aulani stays but every single one of them come back and send emails to our agency talking about what a great time they have had. While it is not a cheap vacation by any means it is surely worth every single penny!

I was dying to try the Lazy River so we headed there next.

Again the crowds were nice and low the first time we went around. It took us about an hour. The second time the crowds were getting heavier. We saw the tour group from the ship and waved from the pool. I was so glad we booked a day there instead of just doing the DVC tour offered by the ship.

There were all kinds of fountains and falls through out the lazy river. There was also A LOT of shade and that is a good thing for this fair skinned girl!

After being hit one too many times by a group of kids all trying to hold on to each other we decided it was lunch time.

We checked out the quick service options, but I wanted a tropical drink so we went to Off the Hook. We had no trouble getting a table and we ordered drinks right away.

They were playing the football games on TV and our..ok ok my Ravens didn't do so well!

SUCH a good drink. I wanted like 5 of them. But since lunch was like $38 I only had one.

We both had Burger and fries for lunch. They were pretty good.

We decided to go snorkeling in the Snorkel tank but first I needed a picture with my Main Mouse in Paradise.

 

[carissa1970]

This totally makes me want to go back there now!

Did you pay for a room but not actually stay in it?

 

[Goldeelox9]

We did pay for a room and not sleep in it. We were going to use DVC points but then I got a discounted room that made it more affordable. You must be a resort guest to use the amenities so we had to book one. There was an excursion on the ship but it was $400 for up to 4 people and DCL did not provide transportation. They also offered a free DVC tour that DCL did provide transportation to. I needed to swim and relax so that is why we rented the room.

 

[Goofy442]

Love the pictures, my DS wants to go. We thought about a cruise, but not sure what we want to do. We went 27 years ago for our honeymoon and would love to go back for our 30th.

 

[wiigirl]

Great pics!

 

[luvs2cruise]

Thanks for sharing, Goldeelox! Your pictures are beautiful! Looks amazing. We will be there in 6 weeks. Can't wait!