Aloha Hawaiian Vacations — Local services in Honolulu

I did the Oahu 8 day all inclusive vacation! I booked my own flight and AirBnb, so it was just the dining and activities package. They mail you the vouchers about 2-3 weeks before your trip. The staff at Aloha Hawaiian Vacations were so accommodating, and took care of switching the days of activities so I could fit a helicopter ride into my schedule! At first I was a bit dubious, but I really just showed up to the place I was supposed to, showed a voucher, and boom! Start the activity. Or my name was already on the list. Super easy, NO PLANNING STRESS! Lol I had more stress trying to choose which activities I wanted to do hahaha.

The breakfast buffet and dinners at Duke's Waikiki and Hula Grill were super good! I have discovered a new love for papaya seed salad dressing lol. It's great already having a reservation there because I saw a lot of people having to be put on a waitlist while I just walked up and was served. The Japanese teppanyaki was a fun experience too!

The Grand Island circle tour (hosted by royal star) was super fun! Our tour guide Kalani was great and had interesting stories. I wish the Sandbar/snorkel adventure was on a different day than the Grand Island circle tour, because the Grand Island circle tour was too good to pass up. In the end I actually booked Captain Bob's sandbar picnic and snorkel adventure myself on a free day, and it was definitely worth it!

I was booked for Germaine's Luau, the regular seat, and it was very informative, and all you could eat for food! Lol I'm still iffy on poi though, but the kalua pork and other food was great! comes with 2 drink tickets included. The fire dance was very cool! It's a must when you go to Hawaii. Germaine's Luau is one of the original 3 big luaus in Hawaii, as I understand it there are now a lot more, but this one still does the pig underground. I would have no idea this existed or chosen it if not for AHV, so I'm glad I got the most authentic experience! (other than the polynesian cultural center)

The sunset dinner cruise was a HIGHLIGHT of everything! The food was AMAZING, crab legs, super tender steak, maitai, and so much more food. The sunset was amazing, and the show was just as good as the luau (minus the fire dancing of course). Also, that singer/host who was on the 1st floor that day totally deserves a raise. He was so good! He knew a song about almost every US state the people at the show came from. He even sang a japanese song too. XD

Also got the reservations for pearl harbor memorial, I felt so bad for the people in the standby line. Super hot day, super long line. That I got to cut lol.

Aloha Hawaiian vacations really chose some of the best of the best activities! Would recommend! I would recommend staying at the outrigger waikiki resort, or somewhere close to there as that is where Duke's and Hula Grill are located, so you can just go downstairs in the morning. I stayed at the Waikiki Grand Hotel AirBNB right across from the zoo- it's a GREAT VIEW of diamond head in the morning with a sundeck to see the sunset in the evening, but it was a 10 minute walk to...

Overman Aloha Hawaiian Vacations should not be mixed up with Aloha Hawaii Tours or Hawaii Aloha Travel. Overman AHV is a legitimate company, and we booked the 11-day four island package, as I do not have time to do all the research for 11 days and spend hours booking interisland flights. This is also a bucket list destination, so we wanted to see as much as possible in one trip, and this package did just that, as well as exceeded my expectations. I have never used a travel agency before. From start to finish this was easy. Our whole trip was flawlessly arranged. You pick your hotel and excursions, based on how much you want to do and spend. We did everything on the itinerary, and it was very busy, but every single day was awesome. This package has you stay on the island of Oahu in Waikiki and the interisland trips are to Maui, Kauai, and the Big Island. Inter island flights do leave early and return flights are at 9pm so you can get the most out of a one day visit. You are inside your rental Jeep by 9:10am and AHV gives you a list of recommended sights to see. This was the only research I did, but we found their suggestions to be what everyone on the internet raves about. Yes, you will wish you had more time on each island, but we did not want to pack up our stuff every few days and change hotels. The other pro is their excursions included snorkeling, light hiking, rainforest, volcano, and lots of learning about Hawaii and her beautiful people and culture. We recommend the hotel Outrigger Reef with the Voyager 47 Club pass for light breakfast and late afternoon beverages and small bites. Their food is delicious. The club ocean front rooms are literally right on the ocean with an outdoor shower. The gym is fabulous! There's a reef so you may want to wear water shoes when swimming and you can buy snorkel gear right across the street in a kit. We saw fish, rays, seals, turtles, sea cucumbers and urchins. At high tide, the waves lap the hotel’s exterior and there’s a beach at low tide. We loved taking long beach walks here! For the tours, we enjoyed the 5-course dinner cruise, as the luau dinner show had dancers right next to you and the lobster and steak dinner were delicious. Definitely go to the luau buffet dinner on the 2nd day as it was right on the water by the tower and you watch the sunset while enjoying a great show. Pearl Harbor is a one day tour, but you may want to purchase another day to really spend time here to pay homage. Definitely do the morning snorkel, but I recommend reserving a wetsuit to be able to swim longer based on where you come from. Hanauma Bay is beautiful and has a nice beach. The Honolulu island tour, Diamond Head, and the rainforest waterfall tours were beautiful ways to spend the day. The agency gives you great advice on each voucher for all the tours and dining reservations. We had a fabulous experience! The team had everything arranged for the perfect island hop! Thank you for such a great...

We are just coming back from our all-inclusive Big Island package and … wow. What a massive, terrible disappointment.

The good news is that the excursions were nice, although exhausting. The volcano tour was good, but it was truly a WHOLE day, and all in all we would rate it as “decent,” with not enough volcano time. The “stargazing” was literally standing in the dark and shivering while the tour guide had us look up — no telescope, no expert guidance.

The ziplining was a real highlight, though waking up at 6 a.m. to drive two hours after arriving back at midnight wasn’t our favorite way to do this.

The sunset dinner cruise was very good, too — we can’t fault the third-party vendors used.

But the hotel? The hotel was … how can I say this nicely? It stunk. It was terrible. The only saving grace was the view, which was fabulous.

The room, like the hotel itself, was old and rundown. It was like a budget motel room, really, with gross carpeting, ratty bedding, a terrible shower, and just the worst possible vibe of late-80s renovation. The cost was EXORBITANT for this room! We could barely get any sleep the first night because light just flooded into our “deluxe” room from the hallway. After, we had to place extra towels and a blanket around the door as best we could.

Around the hotel, sad and empty areas were everywhere. This hotel doesn’t need TLC — it needs a complete, massive overhaul. It should NOT be commanding these prices.

The luau was iffy. The food was bad, and though our voucher was labeled “VIP,” we got no special treatment.

The service overall at the hotel was pretty lousy. A staff member named May (or Mae) was just lovely and the massage from Dale was excellent. Both deserve to be called out for exemplary work. But everyone else treated us as second-class citizens as soon as we showed a voucher. We felt like we were persona non grata there, to be honest.

We were so disappointed after spending a LOT of money on this vacation. Even though we had done our best to temper our expectations, the trip experience left A LOT to be desired. We are very, very...