Member name: Dan & Kathy Drinkman

Traveled to: Hawaii

Airfare cost: less than $500 per person

Overall Experience Rating: We plan to go back in two years and take our grandson. Hawaii is a must see for everyone. Thanks, CheapTrips!

Itinerary and trip highlights: This was our first trip together - like the Honeymoon we never had. I have wanted to go to Hawaii for many years, but the money and time were never there for us to go.

We booked our flight through CheapTrips and got a good price. Less than $1000 for the two of us to fly on America West. The planes were clean and the service was excellent!

We flew into Honolulu International Airport on Oahu. We stayed at Celebrity Resorts, about two blocks from the beach. The resort was clean and cozy and the staff was very helpful.

We went to the resort’s orientation on Monday morning to learn about places to see on the island. Amy was very helpful and we put together a full week of all the tours we wanted to do.

We loved shopping at the International Market. Many little shops to buy everything from necklaces to timeshares.

On the first day, we walked to Duke’s restaurant. The food was very good and the Mai Tais were the best! We took a long walk on the beach collecting seashells and admiring the beautiful water - a beautiful teal color just like in the movies. That night we went to the luau at Paradise Cove. We were greeted by young natives with fresh lais and drinks. We saw the ceremony of the unearthing of the pig and many native dances.

The next day we saw Pearl Harbor. It was very touching and we learned a lot. We bought the DVD that included all the islands attractions for $12.00 and it featured the same veteran that gave us our tour of Pearl Harbor. We are reminded of the wonderful memories of our trip when we see it.

Of all the tours we took, we felt the Hawaiian Cultural Eco-Tour was by far the best! Very few visitors ever get to see and do what we did that day. Dominic was the owner and tour guide for Hawaiian Eco Tours. He was very professional, friendly and knowledgable. I strongly recommend this tour to anyone that is interested in getting to know about the history and culture of Hawaii.

We also took a flightseeing tour of the islands and also rode horseback on Kualoa Ranch. The Atlantis submarine tour that we did was our second favorite. It was very interesting to see the ocean life from a submarine. We then toured the Maui Divers Jewelry. It showed how the divers pick the coral. It was interesting also.