Hawaii was great!
Debby is my sister, and she was a bit of a skeptic when it came to looking at a "package" for Hawaii. I'm used to the value and convenience of putting all the reservations under the umbrella of one operator, but I needed to convince her it was a good idea.
She had some ideas of the islands she wanted to see, and some of the resorts she wanted to look at, so I began by researching the best Hawaii tour companies. After some back-and-forth e-mailing on prices and availability, we zeroed in on Pleasant Holidays. They combined 3 different properties on 2 islands (Maui and Kauai), round-trip air from LAX and the inter-island air, and 2 car rentals, all for an excellent price.
Still not sure, Debby wanted to compare the package with making individual reservations, so I took a look. Well, even I was surprised by the results! First, I had saved her $500 compared to the individual components, but most importantly -- I got her into a SOLD OUT resort! That's right -- the brand-new Ritz-Carlton on Maui was completely sold out, but Pleasant Holidays, being one of the top operators in Hawaii, still had a room. So Debby and Mark got in, and it was every bit as spectacular as they hoped it would be!
I think Debby felt really comfortable, too, knowing that someone was looking out for all her reservations -- Pleasant Holidays knew where she was supposed to be and when, and would be there for her if anything went wrong. Of course, nothing did, but peace-of-mind is never too heavy to pack for your vacation! And Pleasant Holidays offered some nice little touches like a lei greeting at the airport (always a fun treat in Hawaii!), an orientation breakfast, some discount coupons, and an upgrade on their Maui car rental.
Along with all that, I set her up with some great excursions with Shore Trips -- snorkeling and whale watching. She made some dinner reservations and set up a tee time for Mark one afternoon -- and they were all set.
Well, she'll tell you all about their experiences in her comment -- so enjoy her story!
