Best Guidebook for NCL cruise - Revelead series X4?!?

[mikeerdas]

Seems like the "Revealed" series of books on Hawaii from Wizard Publications are the best out there on the Hawaiian islands. Problem is that to cover all the islands on a week-long NCL Hawaii, one would have to purchase four separate guidebooks - Big Island, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai.

 

Anyone have any suggestions for a good, up-to-date all-islands guidebook? I may spend a few nights on Oahu on my own, so I figure purchasing the Oahu Revealed book may be worthwhile. But purchasing all of them seems excessive.

 

Thanks

[Spikesgirl]

Go to your local library and see if they have the Revealed series. Some libraries have extended loan policies. Ours even offered to extend our batch the entire month through our cruise. I just made notes and returned them as I didn't want to extra weight. To be frank, all guide books cost too much to my way of thinking, but that doesn't stop me from buying them as I seem them as insurance beforehand and fond memories afterwards. With more than a dozen Hawai'i guidebooks in my possession, it's the 'Revealed' series that I refer to again and again.

 

Charlie

[hncg57c]

I used the "Revealed" books for our recent Hawaii cruise as well. I looked at a few other guidebooks, but still thought the Revealed ones were the best. Like the previous poster did, I just went to the library and borrowed them instead of buying them.

[mikeerdas]

Thanks for the ideas. If I wanted to purchase the guidebooks and could only have two, which ones are best? Is it more critical to have guidebooks on some islands vs. others? I'll be renting a car and seeing things on my own rather than paying for (seemingly overpriced) excursions. I never have liked canned tours, where you are stuck with a particular itinerary, are forced to eat where the tour wants you to eat, etc. No freedom.

[spleen93]

Pick which 2 islands interest you the most and buy those Revealed books. No one Revealed book is better than the other - it's all very different. I too would recommend buying all 4 though, especially if you're planning on exploring on your own and not using ship excursions. Compared to the cost of the cruise, the cost of the guidebooks is really minimal. Buy them online (Amazon for instance) to save some money - they'll sometimes give discounts for buying them together.

 

Spleen

[lambs2]

I used the "Revealed" books for our recent Hawaii cruise as well. I looked at a few other guidebooks, but still thought the Revealed ones were the best. Like the previous poster did, I just went to the library and borrowed them instead of buying them.

 

 

 

 

I did the same as above. If they don't have all the Revealed books, the Frommer's guides are good too.

[MISWANS]

I purchased all four Revealed books through Amazon and I think they are wonderful. I also purchased Pauline Frommers latest book on how to see Hawaii without breaking the bank. Her book just isn't in depth enough. The Revealed books really helped me to narrow down what it was I wanted to see and then I could go look for more information on the web or here at cruise critic or at my local library.

I won't be in Hawaii until November; but I think these books really helped so far.

Marie

[Suebee]

I do not have the Maui one, but I find that the Big Island one was the one we used the most, followed by oahu and Kauai.

I would decide where you are spending the most time and have the most freedom (i.e. you are not scheduled for tours already) and get the books for those locations. The books are great when you are self navagating.

 

Check them out of the library and see which one is most useful for your needs....and just photocopy or take notes from the others.

[jkcruiser]

Buy the Frommers Hawaii book - it's thick, like 700+ pages and covers ALL the islands. I just returned from two weeks in HI and this book was awesome, I took it everywhere! Best $20 I've ever spent!

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

I found them on EBAY but it seems there are so many different ones. Is Andrew Doughty the author on all of the revealed series? Are those the ones to purchase?

[Suebee]

There should be only Oahu, Kauai, Maui and the Big Island.....they are all by Doughty but you might want to check the editions....that's why youre probably seeing so many.

[SomewhereBeyondTheSea]

Thanks Suebee. Great those are the ones that I found. I wanted to make sure that is the publisher that is so highly recommended.

[cmjaffe]

FYI...

Kauaii is now on Edition 6 (just being shipped to sellers)

That island seems to be revised almost every year.

[SQUAREROOT]

Do you think they have the revealed book in the ship's Library? :)

[hncg57c]

Squareroot,

 

On the Pride of Hawaii, they did have it in the ship's library. I think there were 2 or 3 Revealed books, but I don't remember which ones they had. In addition there were a lot of other Hawaii guidebooks.

[mikeerdas]

This is a while back, but I used the "Revealed" guides for my cruise to Hawaii and loved them. Sold them to a used book store for store credit, so I recovered some of my investment. I wouldn't hesitate buying upgraded editions of the books if I ever go back to Hawaii.

[Addictedtwo]

Seems like the "Revealed" series of books on Hawaii from Wizard Publications are the best out there on the Hawaiian islands. Problem is that to cover all the islands on a week-long NCL Hawaii, one would have to purchase four separate guidebooks - Big Island, Maui, Oahu, and Kauai.

 

Anyone have any suggestions for a good, up-to-date all-islands guidebook? I may spend a few nights on Oahu on my own, so I figure purchasing the Oahu Revealed book may be worthwhile. But purchasing all of them seems excessive.

 

Thanks

 

Hawaii by Cruise Ship by Anne Vipond. We use all her books, Alaska, Caribbean, Hawaii .

 

All hawaiian islands are covered in 1 high gloss book, easy to read maps and pictures, 320 pages. We swear by them!

Go to amazon.com and type in her name.

[whale-watcher]

Hawaii by Cruise Ship by Anne Vipond. We use all her books, Alaska, Caribbean, Hawaii .

 

All hawaiian islands are covered in 1 high gloss book, easy to read maps and pictures, 320 pages. We swear by them!

Go to amazon.com and type in her name.

We also like her book, but for Hawaii really liked the Moon Handbook...we found a bit more thorough than the Vipond book and easier to use than the revealed books.

[blyle]

We stayed on Maui for a week and used our book everyday especially for Hana and the area south of Wailea. We purchased the others when the ship docked in Kahului. Their is a borders book store in the mall! We used the big Island and Kaui books. We too will sell them and then buy new ones if need be.