Hawaii - Day 1-2 (Oahu)

Planned Seniorhood Visits Hawaii - Day 1-2 (Oahu)

“That peaceful land, that beautiful land, that far-off home of profound repose, and soft indolence, and dreamy solitude, where life is one long slumberous Sabbath, the climate one long delicious summer day, and the good that die experience no change, for they but fall asleep in one heaven and wake up in another.” Mark Twain on Hawaii

After years of accumulating frequent flier miles and with affordable accommodations made through RCI and Priceline bookings, my husband, my mother, and I headed off for the trip of our lifetime to visit the Hawaiian islands of Oahu and Kauai. On the eve of my mother’s 81st birthday, after a week of soaking up beauty amidst colors my descriptive palette cannot begin to specify, the three of us concluded our stay in paradise with a traditional, and might I add spectacular, Hawaiian luau. It was ten days none of us will ever forget.

For the benefit of those readers considering traveling or even retiring to the islands of Hawaii, here are some of the details of our trip along with a perspective of three travelers in varying stages of seniorhood. It is the intent of this posting to provide an informative review of our experiences during our stay and to address some of the things one might possibly expect when traveling as a senior.

Airline Tickets to Oahu: All of us were able to use frequent flier miles to obtain our airline tickets. Scheduling flights were surprisingly easy, although each of us had different arriving times. My mother and I arrived in Honolulu in the early afternoon within an hour of each other, and my husband arrived later on that evening. On the return flight, I paid a $25 same-day booking fee to return on the same flight as my husband. Very convenient.

Ground Transportation in Honolulu: Since my husband was arriving later in the day and navigating in Honolulu traffic wasn’t something I cared to tackle, my mother and I chose to take the Roberts Hawaii airport shuttle to our hotel. The cost of this shuttle is currently $9 one way or $15 round-trip to any of the Honolulu/Waikiki hotels, far less than using a taxi or limo. Visit the web site link provided above to view possible additional charges for certain excess carry-ons, such as golf clubs or car seats. We had neither.

The bus was comfortable, and the driver quite friendly. These buses drop off passengers at a large number of hotels on a scheduled route, so depending on where your hotel is located will determine the length of time it will take to get you to your final destination. For that reason, it might be smart to go to the bathroom and get a drink of water before leaving the airport and getting on the bus. Then be patient. The driver will get you there as soon as he can. Your stay in paradise is now just minutes away.

Just a note to frugal travelers, this ride will be one of the best values you’ll find in Hawaii, trust me, so please dig out a buck or two and tip the driver. He is probably your first encounter with one of the many charming people of Hawaii; and his friendly, welcoming “Alohas,” struggle to methodically arrange your heavily-over-packed suitcases, and his daunting courage and professionalism exhibited while braving the Honolulu traffic should warrant him a warm “Mahalo” AND a tip.

Hotel: This was my very first Priceline hotel booking, and for $125 a night, we got a room at the Hyatt Regency Waikiki. Ever a pessimist regarding getting what you pay for, this was an absolute gift, and I now consider Priceline a dear friend. The Hyatt Regency Waikiki hotel consists of two octagonal towers of rooms separated by a multi-story open lobby with exclusive gift shops, cafes, fountains, exotic flora, caged parrots, and a deck on the second floor with a pool and rocking chairs overlooking the infamous Waikiki Beach. Yes, rockers both young and old can enjoy the comfortable chairs while gazing out at the spectacular mishmash of vacationers enjoying various island activities against a backdrop of turquoise-colored waters and the metronomic sound of a pounding surf whose journey began at some other beach far, far away.

The pool at this particular Hyatt is rather small, but cool enough for a brief escape from the penetrating Hawaiian sun. Surprisingly, the hot tub sitting next to the pool stayed rather busy. On the same floor as the pool was a work-out room, which looked to have a nice representation of quality equipment in excellent condition. If one chose not to venture out and tirelessly explore the streets of Honolulu or immerse themselves in the various water-sports available at Waikiki Beach, the work-out room was certainly there for one’s exercising pleasure. And many were there.

The hotel room itself was nice and clean, but not extravagant. Our room had two full-sized beds, a desk, small sitting area, VERY small deck, armoire with television, a standard bath, and a minibar/fridge that you dared not bump for fear of a pricey room charge. Considering the price we paid for the room and what we saw of some of the other hotels around town (pictures can be deceiving), we were extremely happy to have stayed at this hotel. The location was fabulous, the staff friendly and helpful, the room comfortable and clean, and the atmosphere quite pleasant. Would we stay there again? Absolutely!!

There is a very large Oriental clientele at this hotel, and it’s not unusual to see many things written in Japanese alongside the English. The Japanese guests seemed reserved yet quite friendly despite the language barrier.

Something we found quite humorous when we first arrived, is that for some reason certain floors require that a key be inserted into a card slot in the elevator, else the elevator would not stop on the requested floor. Only certain floors. When my mother and I first tried to use the elevator, we thought something was wrong, so we went to another elevator. After a few more attempts, we then thought something was wrong with us. Country come to paradise. Everyone else was just pressing their floor number, and the elevator would stop as requested, including floors directly above and below us. Finally, some nice guest in full surfer attire suggested using the room key. It worked.

Upon check-in, I mentioned to the concierge that my mother would be celebrating her 81st birthday on the island of Kauai the following Saturday, and later that evening the concierge sent my mother a beautiful fruit basket. We knew this was a thoughtful gesture and were quite appreciative; and when we later went grocery shopping, we also understood it was an expensive gesture.

For women traveling alone, there is a dedicated floor at this hotel that is reserved for women only. That floor also requires key access in the elevator. This, we were told, was begun for the benefit of women traveling alone on business trips wanting to feel more secure. For added peace of mind, a Waikiki police annex is right across the street adjacent to Waikiki Beach. It is a quiet annex, and we didn’t even recognize that it was there until a few hours before we left. Considering Honolulu is a highly-populated, bustling city, some may consider this another plus.

DAY 2: On the second day in Waikiki, we got up really early and walked two short blocks to a Denny’s for breakfast. There are lots of places to get a reasonably-priced breakfast nearby. Considering the price of buying groceries or dining at other times during the day, it is a good idea to take advantage of the breakfast specials.

After breakfast, we then decided to rent a car and see about exploring the east and north side of the island. From the Honolulu/Waikiki area, we drove east beyond Diamond Head toward the Hanauma Bay Preserve. This may sound easy, but the streets in Waikiki are a little confusing and many are one-way, so maneuvering from Point A to Point B wasn’t as easy as it’ll probably sound. Get a good map.

At Hanauma Bay, we stopped and walked around and there is a picnic area. Entry into the Bay area is only $1 for the parking fee. For only an additional $5 per person charge, you can gain access to a lovely beach area, where there is supposed to be spectacular snorkeling among a live coral reef. With a busy agenda for the day, we decided to just look around Hanauma Bay, take some pictures, and move on. During our short stay at Hanauma Bay, we were entertained with the sight of several mongoose roaming through the thick tropical brush. At least that’s what we believed them to be.

Driving north, the mountain views became just gorgeous. Amazing ocean front to the right, majestic mountains to the left. Ah! Heavenly!! We eventually made it around to Makapu’u Head, which offered a distant view of the lighthouse located on a mountain top. You could walk 1.3 miles up a fairly steep incline to the top of Makapu’u Head to view the lighthouse and what I can only imagine to be a fabulous view of the ocean and mountains; but again, we were somewhat limited on time and dared reserve our strength, so we decided to move on.

We continued north, enjoying the scenery and stopped at a quaint little restaurant for an afternoon lunch. The food was only mediocre. Since I don’t recall the name of the place, I’ll have to leave that one out. It is, however, the place where most of the Polynesian Center buses stop for lunch. So if you take that tour, you may dine there, anyway.

By the time we got to the Polynesian Center, we were tired. Traveling this far had been quite exhausting, and the thought of heading back after the late evening show, in the dark, which was our original plan, was not something any of then us wanted to do. We decided to forego the Polynesian Center. Next time.

If you are interested in going to the Polynesian Center, and many people mention it as a suggested place to visit on Oahu, my suggestion is to either take one of the chartered buses and let the driver worry about the navigating, or make an exploratory trip first as we did and then return on a different day once you are more familiar with the roads. Mistakes on these mountainous roads are not forgiving, and for older drivers or younger ones that do not feel comfortable in unknown areas, you may just want to take the charter bus.

After viewing other beaches along the northern shore, we then took the highway that runs through the middle of the island all the way back to Honolulu. That highway is a straight shot back to Honolulu, and if you are interested, the Dole Plantation is on that route. It took the bulk of the day to do and see all that we did, and since we were leaving the next day and the rental car needed to be returned in the morning, we decided to return the car that evening.

For our last evening on Oahu we walked around downtown Waikiki, enjoying the tropical Hawaiian breeze and sounds of the nearby surf, while being entertained by some of the locals dressed in their colorful nighttime garb, some performing interesting sidewalk acts. Some of the performances were rather good, including this very young boy that did an awesome tap routine. Again, a hearty “Mahalo” AND a tip.

On Sunday morning, with our flight to Kauai not scheduled until 7pm that evening, we decided to have a nice breakfast, take a leisurely walk, and then spend a couple of hours relaxing in the hotel before check-out time. Once we checked out, we had our baggage held and took a city bus over to the Ala Moana mall area and the Waikiki marina.

The Hilton and the hotels located near the marina looked very nice, but still we were very pleased to have been able to stay at the Hyatt. Being sailors, my husband and I were very interested in visiting the Waikiki marina. The marina is fairly large and seems to be well kept, and we were interested in learning a little about sailing in the area as well as slip fee costs. We were able to look around the marina, but oddly enough Sunday is the one day of the week that the marina office is closed.

Thinking Sunday would have been a day of bustling activity at the marina, we found the office being closed a little disappointing. After wandering around the docks a bit, envying those who get to sail with daily tradewinds, we walked over to the Ala Moana shopping mall.

The Ala Moana mall has an open middle court with lots of typical stores, such as a Macy’s. Shopping at a mall, we decided, is something you can do anywhere, so we agreed to have a wonderful lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen and then returned to the hotel to pick up our baggage and head on to the airport in hopes of catching an earlier flight to Kauai, which we did. Our waiter at the California Pizza Kitchen was fabulous and shared that his mother was currently happily living in an active-adult community in Florida. Small world.

Slight changes we’d make if given the chance to return to Oahu:

• Arrange for a car rental beforehand to be picked up at the airport and then brave the drive to the hotel, especially if staying longer than a couple of days. You really need a car to see all that there is to see on the island. Arranging for a car beforehand is much less expensive.

Since returning, I have had to deal with the Oahu car rental agency for extra charges that we did not incur. Oddly enough, the night we returned the car, the computer was down and no receipt could be printed. We returned for that receipt promptly the next morning, but perhaps we didn’t thoroughly inspect it. Still there were unwarranted charges that showed up on my credit card. Caveat Emptor — save your receipt and check your credit card bill when it arrives.

• If staying there for several days, we’d spend one or two days in Waikiki at the Hyatt and then stay the remainder on the west side of the island where we’ve been told it is quite beautiful and more secluded. There are supposed to be several really nice resorts and beaches on the west side.
• For tours, I would consider taking the Polynesian Center tour and the Circle Island tour. Let the charter company set the agenda and do the driving just a couple of times, so you can relax and thoroughly enjoy the experience.

That concludes our two-day stay in Oahu. Kauai portion of the trip to follow.

Problem encountered flying as a senior: When an older person makes a distant flight requiring a plane change, that person may want to request to have a wheelchair and escort waiting for what may be a long trek from one unfamiliar terminal to another. Oftentimes there isn’t much time to hustle from one terminal to the next, and surely airlines by now should be sensitive to this potential problem, especially for older or handicapped travelers.

This particular airline, whose name will go unmentioned for now, has previously neglected to have requested assistance waiting for my mother to escort her from one terminal to the other for closely-scheduled connecting flights. Strike two. Suffice it to say, there is room for improvement here among certain airlines. Expecting that our elderly loved ones are properly cared for during what may already be a grueling and stressful flight is not too much to ask.