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Is a Luau necessary when visiting Hawaii?


emarismom
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Is it "necessary" to do an official Luau when visiting Hawaii? We will be staying at the HHV in June and will be see the short hula show there. We will also see the one on the beach on Thursday night (the name escapes me at the moment. These luaus are pretty pricey, so I am not sure if the money could be better spent elsewhere.

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We will do the Eclipse B2B Hawaii cruise in Sept/Oct 2019, in our plans in one shorex that includes Luau. Celebrity has one named Drums of the Pacific Luau, I'm confused because they say that the shorex starts at 8:30AM (3:30 hrs duration), it's not at lunch or dinner time?

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We will do the Eclipse B2B Hawaii cruise in Sept/Oct 2019, in our plans in one shorex that includes Luau. Celebrity has one named Drums of the Pacific Luau, I'm confused because they say that the shorex starts at 8:30AM (3:30 hrs duration), it's not at lunch or dinner time?

 

The Celebrity Excursions website quotes the luau as follows (as an evening event). You may want to check again:

 

ACTIVITY LEVEL

Mild

SEE DETAILS

DURATION

3 hours and 30 minutes

 

ACTIVITY TYPE

Evening

 

ADVISEMENTS

Most tour departures complement the ship's meal service hours. A meal will be served during this excursion.

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Not necessary but if done well luaus can be very enjoyable. They are expensive and the food does not generally get good marks. Many luaus will let you purchase a ticket for entertainment only, which would include a cocktail. This would be my choice because I really do enjoy watching the entertainment. Since you are already seeing a couple of "shows" I would probably save my money but that's just my opinion. Cherie

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We will do the Eclipse B2B Hawaii cruise in Sept/Oct 2019, in our plans in one shorex that includes Luau. Celebrity has one named Drums of the Pacific Luau, I'm confused because they say that the shorex starts at 8:30AM (3:30 hrs duration), it's not at lunch or dinner time?

 

 

 

Drums of the Pacific is a long running luau at the Hyatt Regency Kaanapali and is one of the better ones on Maui. It can, however, easily be booked for less $$ than the cruise line is charging you directly through their website. There’s not a bad seat in the house- the vip seating is a bit overkill unless you need to be in the front.

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We enjoyed Smith's on Kauai and booked it again next month. We did it on our own with pick up and return transfer from the ship. We loved the grounds and the people there so yup it is worth it for us. The food was nice because I love trying new things but was it exceptional maybe not for most folk's. Again day luau verse night time also makes a difference. We went during the afternoon last time but are going at night this trip. Again it is worth it to us.

It's your vacation so do what you want to do most as time on a cruise is generally a short stay on the island. There is so very much offered on each island it's hard to choose sometimes. Guess like us you would need to keep going back :).

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Drums of the Pacific is a long running luau at the Hyatt Regency Kaanapali and is one of the better ones on Maui. It can, however, easily be booked for less $$ than the cruise line is charging you directly through their website. There’s not a bad seat in the house- the vip seating is a bit overkill unless you need to be in the front.

I agree that it’s the best hotel luau in Maui but the highly rated Old Lahaina Luau was much better.

 

Based on Silver’s post their Celebrity ship may tender in Lahaina & remain for the evening. The OLL is even closer to the Lahaina Harbor than those in Ka’anapali.

 

As far as the question of if it’s necessary, no but it’s something we enjoyed on our first trip to Hawaii.

 

Now we only go for milestone celebrations or when Ohana are visiting. For our celebrations we go to either the OLL or Feast at Lele; for visiting Ohana it’s at a more affordable larger hotel luau. Because of their popularity, the OLL & Feast at Lele do not need to offer discounts which are available for hotel luaus. The OLL & Feast only offer kama'aina discounts for Hawaii residents.

Edited by Astro Flyer
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It's just something to do. For the price I don't think it's worth it.

 

We went to the one at PCC because it was an all day thing & we learned about culture but for just the food, it can be skipped. We didn't go, but there are places around HHV that serve the pig at a much better price.

 

I would avoid the one at HHV. It's held on top of a parking garage & you can't even see the ocean from there.

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Of COURSE they're not "necessary"! Lol! You do what YOU want to do! If you're on a land-based trip, with many days, then it's a nice way to spend an evening. If you only have 1 day, then there are PLENTY of other things to do! NOTHING, EVER is a "must do"!

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  • 3 weeks later...

We will be at the drums of the Pacific luau when we are on the Solstice in Maui on May 1 this year. Our schedule shows that it starts at 5:15 and ends at 8:45 PM so it will be dinnertime for us. I will write a review when we return. I will probably never be in Hawaii again, so a luau was something I definitely wanted to experience.

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It's just something to do. For the price I don't think it's worth it.

 

 

 

We went to the one at PCC because it was an all day thing & we learned about culture but for just the food, it can be skipped. We didn't go, but there are places around HHV that serve the pig at a much better price.

 

 

 

I would avoid the one at HHV. It's held on top of a parking garage & you can't even see the ocean from there.

 

 

 

PCC or the HHV “Luau’s” are terrible. Go to OLL or Germaine’s and have a MUCH better experience.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent a week on Kauai in 2009 and went to the Smith Family Luau. It was longer than I'd anticipated - my fault for not doing much research beforehand. It's fun to say I've been to a Hawaiian luau, but it's not something I'd necessarily care to do again, unless I was with a group who wanted to go. I'll be in Hawaii for 10 days next month and don't have intentions on going to another. :-)

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Our cruise next March gets into Honolulu on a Monday and Germaine's doesn't do shows on Mondays, what other show other then PCC would you recommend. we will be in port until 11 PM.PCC is to far and we were there a few years ago so looking for something different for my daughter. I am considering Paradise Cove but we need to find our own transportation to the Hotel and bus pick up.

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Our cruise next March gets into Honolulu on a Monday and Germaine's doesn't do shows on Mondays, what other show other then PCC would you recommend. we will be in port until 11 PM.PCC is to far and we were there a few years ago so looking for something different for my daughter. I am considering Paradise Cove but we need to find our own transportation to the Hotel and bus pick up.

In past discussions Chief’s Luau has been recommended & is highly rated on Trip Advisor and received their Certificate of Excellence in 2017. They have transportation available for $18 & if interested you could further research this option.

 

http://www.chiefsluau.com/

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60654-d13306614-Reviews-Chief_s_Luau-Kapolei_Oahu_Hawaii.html

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Thank you will check this one out. We were in Honolulu coming off our Transpacific in 2014 and again during the Hawaii cruise which followed. This was our daughters first visit to the Islands.

 

They moved from the Sea Life Park to this Kapolei location by Wet ‘n’ Wild.

 

I just noticed that their transportation picks up cruise ship passengers from both terminals (2 & 11) at 4:15 and the luau ends at 8:30-ish. The cruise terminal pickup is last going to the luau & thus probably first drop off afterwards so plenty of time for an 11:00 sailaway. Google Maps shows it’s a 22 mile drive from cruise terminal 2 and is currently a 35 minute drive.

 

http://www.chiefsluau.com/packages.htm

 

SCHEDULE

5:00 pm Check-in table opens at luau

5:30 pm Luau begins with interactive Hawaiian activities including, hula lessons, headband weaving, spear throwing, tattooing, fire making

'Imu Ceremony

Hawaiian Luau Feast

Chief’s Journey Through the Polynesian Islands Show

8:30 pm'ish Luau ends, mahalo for coming!

Edited by Astro Flyer
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Some of the best luau's are the ones given by the civic organizations, the schools and the churches. Real Hawaiian foods and entertainment. And very cheap. They welcome all to their luau. The tourist ones are (in my belief - are well, touristy and not real). Google / bing local luaus. There is a big one at a school this weekend.

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Astro Plus, yes I noticed that and that is a plus as the Paradise cove one, we would need to get ourselves to the Hotel and the Luau is much further out. The Chief's Luau would be more convenient. I have provided the daughter with the Link and she will be here for a visit next month. This will be a Mother/Daughter cruise. as my husband passed away during our TA this past August and the daughter talked about a cruise for ourselves once things settled down so thought what better way to relax and not have to fly then Hawaii. :)We can drive to San Pedro.

 

Gay

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Astro Plus, yes I noticed that and that is a plus as the Paradise cove one, we would need to get ourselves to the Hotel and the Luau is much further out. The Chief's Luau would be more convenient. I have provided the daughter with the Link and she will be here for a visit next month. This will be a Mother/Daughter cruise. as my husband passed away during our TA this past August and the daughter talked about a cruise for ourselves once things settled down so thought what better way to relax and not have to fly then Hawaii. [emoji4]We can drive to San Pedro.

 

Gay

 

My condolences for your husband’s death & enjoy your Mother/Daughter cruise. In November our friend Pia’s husband Mike passed away during a HAL cruise.

 

We split our time between the Mainland & Maui and when we want to Island-hop we’ll sail the roundtrip LA cruise to Hawaii. That 15-day cruise doesn’t cost much more than the 7-day NCL cruise and we enjoy the relaxing sea days. With higher port parking fees it’s best for us to get a stay & sail package at the Crowne Plaza or Doubletree. Not only is it less expensive but it’s also a much more relaxing experience. [emoji4]

 

I noticed that like my wife you’re a scrapbooker particularly when we’re driving to the port. Between scrapbooking & quilting she has plenty to do while listening to audio books in her headphones.

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Thank you for your condolences, it was unexpected. He was able to enjoy the Copenhagen TA and we were only 4 days from getting to Boston then home. I offer my condolences to your friend Pia. We already have our reservations in at the Double tree as friends of ours who live west of us about 45 min in Moreno valley had already booked the cruise so this is what made me think to book the Hawaii. I especially enjoy doing the scrap booking for our travels and the daughter & I attended classes during our NZ cruise in 2014

 

Gay

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