Hawaii Entertainment Book

[MaxKare]

My wife and I will be sailing on the Pride of Aloha Oct 10,2004. We will also be staying in Honolulu 2 days prior and also 2 days after our cruise. Thanks to the wonderful advice I received on this board, I ordered and just got the Hawaii Entertainment Book. Now the question is (for those who have used it in the past), which of the fine dining restaurants listed are the best to visit. Nicks Fishmarket looks good and was said to be the top Seafood Restaurant by Zagat. Any comments and other suggestions would be appreciated.

[SweetEmi]

We used ours to go to Neptune's Garden at the Pacific Beach Hotel and it was the best meal we had all week (after we got off the ship). I would suggest DO NOT use the one at HHV that is Royal Steak and Seafood or Lobster something like that. Bambam and we both had terrible experiences there.

Have a wonderful time!
Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005!

[MaxKare]

Thanks. I forgot to mention that we are staying pre-cruise at the Sheraton Moana and there is a discount for the Ship's Tavern. Has anyone eaten here? Is it your typical over-priced, bland hotel food fare, or is it worth trying?

[spleen93]

Nick's is worth going to. I haven't been there in a while but is a good restaurant. There ARE better restaurants but none that are in the Entertainment book. Other interesting restaurants in the book are Meritage Restaurant (in Restaurant Row) and Hakone (in the Hawaii Prince) which has a fantastic sushi buffet (but not sure if the Entertainment book discount will work for that buffet). The Hau Tree Lanai has a nice Sunday buffet as well - right on the beach. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_smile.gif[/img]

Spleen

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[SweetEmi]

Next time I'm on Oahu for awhile with my Entertainment book, remind me to ask you Spleen and Suebee where to use my coupons. It is so overwhelming when you don't know the restaurants or even where they are exactly.

Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005!

[spleen93]

Any time, Emi. [img]http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif[/img]

Spleen

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Carnival Conquest - W. Caribbean - 10/03, Celebrity Infinity - Alaska - 6/03, Ocean Princess - Alaska - 7/02

[Aloha_Jackie]

Aloha Spleen - I got my new 2007 Entertainment book for Hawaii the other day and thought that I would mention that Nicks is in it again this year....I might have to give it a whirl this time....I always run out of time to use it! Have you been recently? Canoes is in the book, as well as Hau Tree Lani - any info you can share would be appreciated, mahalo nui loa!

[spleen93]

Hi Jackie! I haven't been to them recently though I do remember Nick's and Hau Tree Lanai fondly. Never been to Canoes though - is that the one in the Ilikai?

Spleen

[Kiera99]

I heard that Tonaka's Steak House is good. I couldn't get the group to eat there in August.

[Suebee]

Tanaka of Tokyo is one of my favorite (and my kids') places!
Its more for the show and service than great steak....but I hope youre not coming to Hawaii for the steak! ;)
Actually, when dining out here, I get the fish. I know I am moving soon and I want to get all of the mahi, opah and ono that I can before I cant get it anymore!
And oh, the SUSHI....I am going to mourn the loss of the good sushi bar.....

[spleen93]

Suebee - did your husband get reassigned?

Spleen

[Aloha_Jackie]

Aloha Sue and Spleen - been a while since we chatted....missed you guys. We are headed over for Christmas and New Years, wont get to Oahu till after a few weeks in Kauai, one week in Princeville and 6 days in Poipu then heading to Waikiki on the 28th staying at the Ilikai, of all places. I booked it on a corporate rate for a measley $128 per night for ten nights over a year ago when the property was under the Marriott umbrella - then upgraded to an oceanview later. We wanted to watch fireworks over Waikiki. We got the Entertainment book again and they always have that coupon - guess we will finally get to try it - I appreciate your comments and opinions on the venues :)

Sue!!!! Are you actually leaving!!??? :eek: :confused:

Spleen - Canoes is in Ilikai...I might have to try it for lunch a few days :)

[Suebee]

Aloha Jackie - Glad to see youre coming back! Just FYI in the news, Go! airlines is offering $19 fares for a limited time which might be worth checking out. Hawaiian and Aloha matched them, but they are NOT happy about Go! constantly doing this. I think the tickets are onsale for that price for this coming week only.

And yes, friends, we are moving in 3 months. We were supposed to move this past summer but the date was changed. We get reassigned every 3 or 4 years. I'll tell you more about where when we are closer! :)

[Aloha_Jackie]

Aloha to Emi too - I forgot to type your name in there too - sorry.

Sue, CAN THAT BE RIGHT???? :eek: $19?!?!!? I have to take a peek

[spleen93]

Jackie - just so you know, the big fireworks display at New Years is actually not in Waikiki (unlike Fourth of July) - it's at Aloha Tower (the cruise ship dock). But your rate at the Ilikai is cheap! Especially considering it's over the major holidays!

Go airlines: [url]http://www.iflygo.com/[/url]

Spleen

[beachchick]

[quote name='SweetEmi']We used ours to go to Neptune's Garden at the Pacific Beach Hotel and it was the best meal we had all week (after we got off the ship). I would suggest[B] DO NOT use the one at HHV that is Royal Steak and Seafood or Lobster something like that[/B]. Bambam and we both had terrible experiences there.

Have a wonderful time!
Emi

NCL Star-08/31/03 in Hawaii!
NCL Star-11/13/04 to Mexico!
Alaska summer 2005![/quote]

Would you mind giving me more information on this? There are two coupons in the book. One is for the Royal Steak and Seafood in the Royal Hawaiian shopping center; the other is for The Village Steak and Seafood at the HHV. Which one is the bad one? or is it both that are bad?

beachchick

[spleen93]

beachchick - I'm pretty sure it was the one in the HHV, if I remember this thread properly. Frankly, almost all the restaurants in the HHV are overpriced, IMHO. And before you ask, dunno about the one in the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. :)

Spleen

[Aloha_Jackie]

[quote name='spleen93']Jackie - just so you know, the big fireworks display at New Years is actually not in Waikiki (unlike Fourth of July) - it's at Aloha Tower (the cruise ship dock). But your rate at the Ilikai is cheap! Especially considering it's over the major holidays!

Go airlines: [URL="http://www.iflygo.com/"]http://www.iflygo.com/[/URL]

Spleen[/quote]Mahalo Spleen - I checked out the go site - they are $19 for interisland - thats a great rate, but I already paid peak prices for my air on Hawaiian - wasnt able to use miles - so we will be forced to come back again:D

Thanks also for the tip on the Aloha Tower Fireworks, I think I read somewhere that they had it on a barge out there, cant remember now. I guess we will have to see if there is a good vantage spot from our hotel (roof?) or something

I wonder if we will even be able to stay awake!!?!? :eek:

[spleen93]

The Hilton does its own fireworks display for New Years but it's much smaller in scope than the Aloha Tower show. :)

Spleen

[Aloha_Jackie]

Mahalo/thanks again Spleen. We have an oceanfront at the Ilikai and I think our view looks out over their lagoon - I hope we'll have a great view of some fireworks from there or perhaps our pool area - we might even be able to see both - otherwise we will have to make a reservation at one of the places near Aloha Tower

[hawaiideb]

We really like the one in the Ilikai. (Did I spell that right???) I know they issue coupons through Hilo Hattie, etc.... but usually it was only buy 1, get 1 half off. The Entertainment book had buy one, get one free. We are moving back to Honolulu in May '07, and buying a Hawaii book as soon as DD's school starts selling them here in a few weeks. We will be on island for a week at Christmas, and plan on using some of them then. What's the consensus for restaurants at HHV?

HawaiiDeb

P.S. Anyone know if the HA $19 sale has any dates near Christmas still left??

[Aloha_Jackie]

sister said HA had some at $19 - but we already had bought our interisland fares - bummer. Hope you can get in on the deal. Dont know about HHV restaurants. Spleen can pronbably help. Congrats on moving back - my day is coming....in about 7 years...hopefully something will happen or I can make somthing happen and we will get there early

I'll bet you are super excited about the move?! Did you live in the islands before?

[spleen93]

HHV restaurants are pricey. Golden Dragon is one of the most expensive Chinese restaurants on the island. But I used to like Bali by the Sea a lot - haven't been back in a while so not sure how it is now.

Spleen

PS: good to see you around again, Deb! I bet you can't wait to move back!

[hawaiideb]

We are really excited. We looked yesterday at interisland fares to the big island on Christmas day. Anyone know if the HVNP is open on Christmas? DD is bummed about moving back to Hawaii, and really bummed about being there this Christmas. We thought a day trip to see the volcano might be fun for her, but wasn't sure it would be open Christmas. I would like to book some today if they are still there, they were late yesterday. Thanks!

Debbie

[Suebee]

Hey Deb
Welcome back to Honolulu....how old is your DD? Mine would be bummed about moving back too. She doesnt like the sun or warm weather at all. But we are moving away in a couple of months ourselves.
Anyway, I looked online at Hawaii's Volcanoes National Park website to see if there were hours [url]http://www.nps.gov/havo[/url]
and it said it was open "year round, 24 hours".
Are you planning on staying at KMC?
[url]http://kmc-volcano.com/[/url]
it might be booked by now, but you just never know. It is always worth a try. It will be relatively cold up there for Christmas...your daughter might like that :) At least you can use jackets and a fireplace.

Oh and a reminder if you dont already know. All schools in Hawaii are on a year-round schedule now. So the kids start around the last week of July, have a week off in October, 3 weeks at Christmas, 2 weeks in march, and finish during the first week of June. So if youre moving in May, you may need to check with your current school to see if she has enough 'days' to withdraw or you will have to put her into school here before the end of the school year. Just FYI if you didnt know.