Germaine's Luau via Cruise Excursion on on our own?

We will be on the Grand Princess in Honolulu on Sunday, January 28, 2018 and want to go to Germaine's Luau. There is a ship excursion at the cost of $109pp. Obviously, the benefit of doing this through the ship is that we know we will get back to the ship on time for a 11pm departure. Can this be done cheaper on our own and we can still get back to the ship on time?

For anyone that has done this on their own, was the cost lower enough including transportation to make it worthwhile to go on our own instead of taking the ship excursion?

Thanks for your help!

Dan

I guess I should have checked the Germaine's Luau website. Looks like the luau ends at 8:45am so it seems that we shouldn't have a problem getting back to the ship in time for a 11pm departure. If we use their transportation which is $20, the original luau package would be about $13 pp cheaper than through the cruise ship which is minimal in my opinion but by going on our own, we can choose another luau package if we want to.

For those who have done this on your own, did you use their transportation or did you take a bus or taxi there and back?

Can this be done cheaper on our own and we can still get back to the ship on time?

Sure it can be done cheaper, but not cheaply enough to outweigh the benefit of being on the cruise excursion that guarantees you get back to the ship one way or another.

Sure it can be done cheaper, but not cheaply enough to outweigh the benefit of being on the cruise excursion that guarantees you get back to the ship one way or another.

Thank you for your opinion.

Has anyone actually done this luau on their own versus through the ship and found you were able to get back to the ship on time without much concern? Or is your recommendation that we go with the ship excursion to do this luau?

Thanks.

We did Germaine's Luau on our own on June 1st and used their transportation to pick us up. We went on Norwegian's Pride of America a couple of days later, so it was no issue about getting back to catch the ship. However, you should keep in mind that the luau is about a 30-40 minute drive away from Honolulu (depending on traffic). We got back to our hotel in Waikiki around 10 pm, so I would think you would make it back to the ship before 11 pm, but it may be cutting it close. For my own personal peace of mind, I would book through the cruise ship just in case. If the bus breaks down, or there is some other traffic delay, you don't want to be left behind.

BTW - We had a great time at the luau! The food was really good and we enjoyed the dancing and music. You might want to bring bug spray - I don't know if it is very different in January, but when we went a few weeks ago, there were some mosquitos flying around. Also, it is right on the beach so it might be a bit cool at night.

Redhrtz, thanks for your input and sharing your experience. I have been leaning towards just going with the ship excursion for peace of mind but just wanted to see if others had done this on their own and had issues getting back on time. We rarely take ship excursions but I think this time we will.

Thanks.