Pacific Paradise Luau, good or not?

[lambs2]

I'm also thinking about going to the Royal Lahaina Luau on my cruise. Does anyone have specifics on what time the Luau ends? My concern is that if I go on my first day on Maui, I may get there later than the 5:30 start time. If I go on the second day, it may end too late for me to get back to the ship!

 

 

We were told that the luau will be from 5:30-8 PM.

[SilkySal]

Lambs2,

I saw this luau on the Travel Channel also. I agree, it looked wonderful! I look forward to your review! Have a great trip!:cool:

 

Thanks!:D

 

salgal

POAL 6-18-06 Honolulu

[dagtoking1]

"As I posted earlier, go to www.hawaiitravelnetwork.com and you will see ALL of the available luaus for Hawaii."

 

This site does not have all the available luaus, only some. For example, when you click on Maui there is no mention of the Old Lahaina Luau or Feast of LeLe which seem to be the two most talked about.

[SilkySal]

OOPS!:o Guess I should have said SOME, not ALL! :( Sorry, thanks for the correction! We want everybody to have as much information as possible to make visiting Hawaii a wonderful experience!

 

ALOHA!:D

salgal

POAL 6-18-06 Honolulu

[lambs2]

I talked at quite a length with the representative from Royal Lahaina Luau before we booked it for during our cruise. Originally we needed to know exactly when it would end because we had a flight out from Maui that night, and the rep said that the finale (fire dance,etc.- great and not to be missed!) should conclude just shortly after 8 pm. At the time we figured we would probably miss part of that finale because of the drive back to the airport for our then 10 pm flight (I think now that would have been too tight a schedule!).

 

Since then, our original Pride of Aloha cruise was cancelled (repair problems) and we rebooked on PoAm for the June cruise and just changed our Royal Lahaina reservations to our new itinerary. Looking forward to seeing ALL of it now, especially since we saw the Travel channel clips!

[CanuckCruizer]

Has anyone been to a luau in Kailua-Kona? Heard that the Kona Village Resort Luau is the best but our ship won't be in port on Fridays (the only night they have it). Heard mixed reviews about other ones. From what I have read - the Royal Kona Luau sounds pretty good. Anyone been to it? We are thinking of skipping the luau in Maui and having a nice dinner at a restaurant instead. Apparently, there are less nice restaurants in Kona - so maybe going to a luau there would be a better option. Any advice would be appreciated!

 

Canuck

[Sailor Cali]

My family and I went to the Royal Lahaina Luau Sunday 5/14. We all really enjoyed it! Only one person in our party of six had ever been to a luau before, and she enjoyed this one better. (The first one was 20ish years ago - she doesn't remember which one it was.)

 

We called the RL resort beforehand and asked if we could come park in their lot in the morning and enjoy some beach time. They agreed, and we had a fun and relaxing day drifting between the beach, their ice cream shop and their oceanfront lounge. Then we got cleaned up and dressed - dress is very casual, btw - and headed for the long line to get in.

 

A lady came through the line checking everyone's vouchers. I had paid for reserved seating near the stage ($59.99+tax for each of four adults, and my two under 12yo kids attended for free) (through hawaiiactivityworld.com, which I think is run by Expedia), so she gave us yellow tickets, which really were decent tables. The luau takes place on 2 stages, seperate but perpendicular to each other, like a disjointed "L". Our seats were about 10 feet away from the main larger stage and 20 feet away from the smaller - not bad at all.

 

There's a band playing as we walk in, and they are quite good. After being shown to our tables, lots of waiters with mai tais, something blue, beer and fruit punch circulated, handing out drinks for all. The blue things were very weak, but the mai tais were tasty, and with a pleasant kick. The drinks waiters were very attentive throughout.

 

After all are seated (and there really are a lot of guests, but don't ask me to estimate how many) they unearth the kailua pig. Unfortunately, since this area isn't elevated, and lots of people rush forward to take pictures, i didn't see this part. They do bring the pig onstage to show off, though.

 

Then we are dismissed by table to the buffet lines. Our table is one of the farthest away from the buffet, so we are among the last to go - but like I said, fun band, attentive drinks waiters, plus sun descending on a beautiful day, so we enjoyed the wait.

 

There were four lines through the buffet station, and they had things like kailua pork, teryaki steak, noodles, fried rice, poi (of course) and really a good variety of things that I am hard pressed to remember right now - but it was all good. They also had a kids buffet (with hot dogs, chcken fingers, etc.), so that was good for my youngest, who's not always so culinarily adventurous.

 

The hostess for the evening was great - very warm and likeable. The dancers were mesmerizing, especially during the traditional dance segments. There were segments in the middle that were intentionally kitschy - more like "Hawaii meets Hollywood". They were fun, but not my favorite part. And of course, the fire finale at the end had everyone gasping.

 

Overall, the luau was a highlight of the trip, I'd say. I'm glad we went.

[SilkySal]

Thanks for the great review! I'm even more excited now, if that's even possible!

 

I'll be sure to return to these boards to post a review after I return also.

 

THANKS AGAIN!:D

salgal

POAL 6-18-06 Honolulu

[lambs2]

WOOHOO! I am even more excited that we booked this luau for two weeks from now!! Thank you!!!

[Sailor Cali]

Forgot to add - I overheard one lady say she took a cab from the port at Kahului to the luau - cost her $105 one way...

[SilkySal]

Forgot to add - I overheard one lady say she took a cab from the port at Kahului to the luau - cost her $105 one way...

 

WOW! Now, I'm really glad that we decided to rent a van! We're planning to drive up to Haleakala Summit for the sunrise on Saturday morning.:cool: I hear this should not be missed!

 

salgal

POAL 5-18-06 Honolulu