Author Topic: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017  (Read 9285 times)

Offline stmark

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Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« on: January 28, 2017, 09:54:52 PM »
Booked vacation for wife and I for yeshiva break. This is my first time Posting a tr so I apologize if the wording isn't write or my points were not used to the best of their ability. However, they were my points and I used them how my wife and I wanted to used them so I don't really care if you don't approve or think there were better redemptions out there- my trip my points my experiences. (That being said feel free to post how you think I could have done something better and I will definitely take it into account for the future and I hope others booking a similar trip will as well.) I will try to post pictures over the next day or two.

Used 200k chase ur points (total not per person) to fly delta first class JFK-hnl.
Boarding the plane was a disaster. People just rushed the delta agent. Like I have never seen before. Is this a yeshiva break norm? 
 The seats were nice, fully lay flat  not the newest but clean. Kosher food was Borenstein wasn't terrible but wasn't good either - saffron chicken for first meal at 11am and pre landing was deli platter.
Service was great on board.
Flight back overnight was much nicer- better Borenstein food- roasted chicken for dinner just after takeoff  and cheese omelet and potatoes for breakfast before landing. (Not sure about time between meals but I wait 3hrs so I was for sure clear. Some people in first class were trying to figure out the math)

Used 20k spg points for the Sheraton Waikiki-
Got upgraded to a suite for SPG gold - beautiful room and view. Chabad delivered our food for most of  the week.
Left the next day for Maui

Used 24k united points (total) for interisland round trip flights on Hawaiian air to/from ogg/hnl.
Short flight- not crowded- flight felt more like a subway ride took 22 minutes from wheels up to touch down.

Used 90k SPG points for Westin Maui ocean view room for 5 nights.
Got upgraded to premium room at checkin (seemed like a stretch for the "premium" title) - room was ok- bathroom was fine and view was good but had a parking lot directly below the room.

Used 25k SPG points for 1 night at moana surfrider in Waikiki.
The guy at checkin upgraded us to a suite. This was the nicest room, with the nicest views that I have ever seen or stayed in. We could see the turtles swimming in the ocean from our balcony. I highly recommend this hotel. Service, amenities and location were fantastic.

Food: ordered from chabad Oahu- great food- highly recommend the burger, sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, spaghetti and meatballs and any of their sandwiches. The breads were fantastic and great for day trips. The hotels heated and stored our food and were great giving us options to eat in our room, by the pool, beach or in the hotel restaurant. Fet a bit weird eating out of an aluminum tin with plastic cutlery and paper plates in a nice restaurant.we went to the Hyatt luau and got the kosher steak and fish meals. Fish was good - steak smelt great but was as chewey as a flip flop.

Paid oop for car rentals, food, taxes on hotels and airfare and activities. (And gifts for people)

Activities:
Maui:
Hyatt Maui luau - was enjoyable-  try to sit in the middle of the audience facing the ocean for best views.
Whale watching boat- saw a lot of whales breaching, swimming and splashing- was really cool.
Road to Hana- was nice- very trafficy - left the hotel at 7am- get the cd at the shell station in piea before the drive (buy it online before the trip to save a few shekels)
Snorkeling - in hanaloa bay and off of black rock by the Sheraton- black rock was nicer and calmer waters.
Went beach touring- so many to see and such nice views.
Warren and annabelles- comedy show- Warren was there- was hilarious and amazing!! Highly highly recommend.

Honolulu:
Walk around Waikiki at night it's an experience
Pesrl harbor- did all 4 sites and it was moving. Felt very patriotic. Was an exhausting long day.
Beach touring- a lot of very nice views- north shore specifically nice.
Dole plantation- more like dull plantation. Don't waste your time here. unless you want clean bathrooms on the drive from Waikiki to the north shore. Bought a pineapple for shabbos at home and it was delicious.

Overall- amazing trip. People don't give the Waikiki beach enough credit for its beauty. Maui is nice and relaxing. Shabbos is tough we just stayed in our room. Had them deactivate the porch ac sensor and we went in and out all day long.

General tips:
Costco Maui is right by the airport go right when you land and save yourself the 30 min drive later on.
We brought a sandwich maker from home and bought water and kosher cheese at Costco and Breads, cereal, snacks and milk at Safeway.

Thank you Dan (and other readers/commenters) for giving tips of the trade to go on such nice and enjoyable trips for minimal out of pocket expenses!



Offline mgoldhammer18

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2017, 11:35:59 AM »
Nice TR.  Will we get to see some pictures?

I agree, your points, your experiences!

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2017, 12:00:17 PM »
Nice concise TR. Thanks!
would you happen to have noticed if moana surfrider is good for shabbos? do the stairwells have lights that stay on?

Offline Dan

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2017, 12:03:06 PM »
Nice concise TR. Thanks!
would you happen to have noticed if moana surfrider is good for shabbos? do the stairwells have lights that stay on?
Stairwells have light sensors there as do many other Waikiki hotels. They are willing to send an employee with you to trip the sensors if that works for you.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2017, 12:19:23 PM »
Stairwells have light sensors there as do many other Waikiki hotels. They are willing to send an employee with you to trip the sensors if that works for you.

Thanks
Last year HR stairwell lights stayed on. I want to stay closer to chabad this year.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #5 on: January 31, 2017, 11:06:34 AM »
How do I post pics? it says my pics are too large a file?

Offline tageed-lee

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #6 on: January 31, 2017, 11:10:53 AM »

Offline davidmal

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #7 on: January 31, 2017, 12:40:00 PM »
How do I post pics? it says my pics are too large a file?
or use tapatalk might be easier
-DMC
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it ~Ferris Bueller"

Offline E-MAN

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #8 on: January 31, 2017, 05:27:25 PM »
Nice TR! Looking forward to some pics

Offline sruliL

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #9 on: January 31, 2017, 06:53:24 PM »
Great TR, detailed yet concise at the same time  :P. Looking forward to some pics of the views.
Life's not about doing things good, its about doing good things.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2017, 09:20:28 AM »
JFK-HNL biz class seat.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2017, 09:21:10 AM »
View from "Premium" ocean view room westin maui

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #12 on: February 03, 2017, 09:22:05 AM »
View of Diamond head from moana surfrider balcony.

View of Waikiki from Moana balcony.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2017, 09:22:34 AM »
North shore beach Oahu.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2017, 09:25:50 AM »
Delta Safron chicken dish - jfk-hnl at 11am.
Interisland seats from HNL-OGG on hawaiian air.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2017, 09:27:16 AM »
Rainbow over kanapalli hotels maui during whale watching trip.
Hyatt luau fire dancing.

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #16 on: February 03, 2017, 09:35:03 AM »
Hyatt lobby penguins
Westin lobby Flamingos

Offline ushdadude

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #17 on: February 03, 2017, 11:08:38 AM »
Cool pictures

Which whale watching company did you use and were you happy with them?

Offline stmark

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #18 on: February 03, 2017, 02:03:44 PM »
Gemini. We had a fantastic time. I highly recommend them. We saw about 15-20 whales breaching and splashing their tails. We also saw a group of male whales chase a female whale.
(also serve beer, mix drinks and soda and non kosher food on the tour.)

You will get wet when getting on and off the boat (up to mid thigh) so plan accordingly with phones, wallets, and cameras. I would recommend bringing a small backpack to keep things in. Or a jacket with pockets.

I dont know of the pricing- we did time share tours for free whale watching tickets and luau tickets.

Offline 12HRS

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Re: Yeshiva break trip to hnl and ogg from jfk Jan 2017
« Reply #19 on: February 03, 2017, 02:07:35 PM »
We also saw a group of male whales chase a female whale.

Sounds like they got a shidduch crisis.