Best Luau in Hawaii

[cruzy-sue]

Can anyone tell me about their luau experience?

 

Not sure which island to do it on.... We want a real luau - not a hokey one. On the beach preferably.

 

Will be in Honolulu, Maui, Hilo, Kona and Kauia - Any suggestions and descriptions?

[cruisingrightalong]

My personal 2 favorites are:

Oahu-Paradise Cove

Maui-Old Lahaina

 

Old Lahaina is more authentic; Paradise Cove is more colorful and "fun"; both had great food. Did not like Germaines when we did it.

 

Some people love the Polynesian Cultural Center. My daughter who was stationed for 4 years in Oahu liked Paradise Cove and the Polynesian one equally.

 

Lou

[mattmommy]

Went to the Old Lahaina Luau in Maui upon the Travel channels suggestion.

 

If you're a drinker--you're set. The price (used to anyway) include unlimited drinks. I don't drink, but that's ok. The people were very warm and friendly. People showing how to do crafts (and selling them too). Very neat for our ds. The show was good. No fire dancers though. What the ladies can do with their hips--amazing. My Mom thought the smiles on the women looked fake. I like pork so I was good for food. Everybody loved the taro rolls (lavender rolls, but taste like regular rolls). The rest of my family left a bit hungry (ok, a lot). I've heard that about many shows.

 

I've heard (after ours) that the one at the PCC is one of the best. Anyone?

 

We've done a luau once out of our 3 visits. We don't need to see another one.

[travel girl23]

We have been to both luaus - but let me clarify. It has been many, many years since we were at the PCC. We attended the OLL just last October and loved it. It is right on the ocean and they have a beautiful show. The PCC was fine but it is not on the water. The atmosphere was not as nice but the show was good. I would have to recommend the OLL. The food was very good and the show was excellent. Here is a picture from the show.

Here is a picture at sunset. We liked having the tables surrounding the stage.

[easygoesit]

My personal 2 favorites are:

Oahu-Paradise Cove

Maui-Old Lahaina

 

Old Lahaina is more authentic; Paradise Cove is more colorful and "fun"; both had great food. Did not like Germaines when we did it.

 

Some people love the Polynesian Cultural Center. My daughter who was stationed for 4 years in Oahu liked Paradise Cove and the Polynesian one equally.

 

Lou

 

 

We did the Old Lahania Luau last January it was excellent from food, drinks and located on the ocean. We were docked in Maui and rented a car and drove around the coast, spent the afternoon in the town of Lahania and went and saw the banyon tree. It's an easy drive and only about 30 min drive direct.

I suggest if u decide on Old Lahania book it well in advance. It's a small venue and the seating is done on a reservation basis, so the earlier u book the closer u will be to the show. I believe the place only holds 500 ppl. There is also lots of parking either at the luau or across the street.

[mattmommy]

Lahaina has the best sunset I've ever seen in my life.

 

We'd be happy with a PBJ sandwich on the wall watching it.

[drifting_away]

Old Lahaina gets our vote and we have been to a ton of luaus! If you are up for a little adventure:eek: reserve early enough to get the front seating area where you get to sit on big fluffy pillows. I have back problems but I was still able to do this without problems. The dancers are right in front of you, so close you could touch them. I could do this on over and over. Service is excellent!!!

[beachchick]

As you can imagine, this is a topic that comes up often. There are so many luaus and so many opinions that it's hard to say what might be best for you because "best" is very subjective. It also depends on whether you will be overnight (or at least in port very late) because luaus are dinner/evening affairs. For example, if you leave Kona at 5 pm, a luau there is not an option. It also depends on what other activities you have planned, what kind of experience you want (large scale or smaller and more "elegant" or kid-friendly, etc.).

 

Normally, I'd suggest that you do an advanced search for "best luau" or "x luau" (where x = name of island). Unfortunately, the advanced search function is still down. So, I did a basic search (something I rarely ever recommend) and found these threads for you:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=680466&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=588614&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=661169&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=618143&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=615193&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=610959&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=584452&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=562323&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=560758&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=517700&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=518882&highlight=beachchick+luau

 

 

Hope those give you some good ideas. Most have detailed discussions of various luau options on the islands.

 

beachchick

[cruzy-sue]

Thank you, Beachchick and all above, for the information!!! We just did a on night cruise on one of NCL's ships ( Sun) as sort of a preview of what to expect with NCL, never having sailed NCL. Didn't like it at all! I posted on the roll call for April 19, 2008 if you care to read the gory details....

 

 

Well, we now are hasving BIG second thoughts. It seems NCL's Pride of America has the market for Hawaii in summer.... so we may be re-thinking this Hawaiian trip altogether.

 

But I will definitely save all of the research you did for me!!!

[dougweaver]

If you check the review section of cc for the POAM ... yes you will see some negative reviews but on average it receives 4 out of 5 stars. So with the iteniary of Hono, Maui, Hilo, Kona and Kauai ... we think it is worth the risk ... so we are looking forward to a great vacation. dpw

[CC Help Michell]

Thank you, Beachchick and all above, for the information!!! We just did a on night cruise on one of NCL's ships ( Sun) as sort of a preview of what to expect with NCL, never having sailed NCL. Didn't like it at all! I posted on the roll call for April 19, 2008 if you care to read the gory details....

 

 

Well, we now are hasving BIG second thoughts. It seems NCL's Pride of America has the market for Hawaii in summer.... so we may be re-thinking this Hawaiian trip altogether.

 

But I will definitely save all of the research you did for me!!!

 

I'm sorry you weren't happy with your overnight cruise to nowhere on the Sun, and I wish you the best in finding something that does suit you for visiting Hawaii.

[beachchick]

Thank you, Beachchick and all above, for the information!!! We just did a on night cruise on one of NCL's ships ( Sun) as sort of a preview of what to expect with NCL, never having sailed NCL. Didn't like it at all! I posted on the roll call for April 19, 2008 if you care to read the gory details....

 

 

Well, we now are hasving BIG second thoughts. It seems NCL's Pride of America has the market for Hawaii in summer.... so we may be re-thinking this Hawaiian trip altogether.

 

But I will definitely save all of the research you did for me!!!

 

The truth is that Freestyle cruising isn't for everyone. If you decide against the PoAm, you might consider doing a land trip to one or two islands. IMO (and my DH's) that's really the best way to get an in-depth experience in Hawaii. A cruise will give you a nice small taste of each island, but that's all it is, a little taste. There's so much to see and do on each of the islands that you could easily spend a week on each one and still not do/see everything.

 

You should definitely do what's best for you. Have you considered one of the mainland-Hawaii cruises? They're most definitely not our cup of Kona because of all the sea days, but many people enjoy them. If a cruise line you know you like offers one/some and if you have the days to do it (as the sea days make the cruises a minimum of 11 days for the one-way and about 14 for the round-trip), then it's something to ponder.

 

Edited: Oh, ick! I just read your posts on the Sun 1-night. Completely unacceptable, especially the sheets. I would have gagged. Please do write and let the PTB know what happened. I hope you made it clear on your comment cards too. Absolutely no excuse for it. And what the heck did he mean that the ship was too full? What, they ran out of sheets? They don't have any spares? Give me a break! I have to admit that we would have raised holy heck and gone up the chain of command until clean sheets were on that bed. No wonder you're rethinking the PoAm. Of course, none of us can guarantee that you won't have problems, I can tell you that our PoH cruise was very good--and the ship was kept extremely clean, including the beds, baths, floors. My only complaint was that the air vents in the ceiling had obviously not been cleaned in quite a while. I could have said something (and almost did), but decided not to fuss about it.

 

beachchick

[dixielandings]

I see no mention of Luau Kalamaku - the NCL excursion luau in Kauai. We're currently booked for that but I'm wondering if we should take our car to the Lahaina Luau while we're in Maui. Any thoughts? Anybody actually been to Kalamaku?

 

Thanks.

[beachchick]

I see no mention of Luau Kalamaku - the NCL excursion luau in Kauai. We're currently booked for that but I'm wondering if we should take our car to the Lahaina Luau while we're in Maui. Any thoughts? Anybody actually been to Kalamaku?

 

Thanks.

 

I just did a quick search for "kalamaku luau" and got a bunch of threads. Here are a few specific to it:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=610959&highlight=kalamaku+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=603287&highlight=kalamaku+luau

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=561277&highlight=luau+kalamaku

 

Hope that helps.

 

beachchick

[dougweaver]

Since the POAM has changed their schedule for the ports you should now have an additional 4 hrs in Maui. That should give you more flexibility on whether to go to the OLL on the first night in that port or not. Unless you expect a fire dancer it sounds as if the OLL is hard to beat. We are planning to go in July. dpw

[dixielandings]

Thanks, beachchick and dpw. I guess I posted that question before I figured out how to search.

 

Sounds like everyone like Kalamaku but OLL just seems to be everyone's fave - and we've already rented a car for Maui. So...

 

Here's my new dilemma - I'm really wanting us to drive to see the Haleakala sunrise which requires getting up at like, what, 3am? So maybe we should get to bed early the night before huh?

 

I thought our plan was coming together so nicely, then I found these Boards, where people actually know what they're talking about...:rolleyes:

[mattmommy]

I agree with dixielandings.

 

We're going on the 6/28 cruise and found out about the extra hours on Kauai and Maui through the great CC family. NCL didn't tell me. My TA didn't tell me. Grrrrr.

[CC Help Michell]

I agree with dixielandings.

 

We're going on the 6/28 cruise and found out about the extra hours on Kauai and Maui through the great CC family. NCL didn't tell me. My TA didn't tell me. Grrrrr.

 

That's what we're here for! :) Not a bad problem to have, on the whole -- MORE time in glorious Hawaii than you were expecting. ;)

[CC Help Michell]

Thanks, beachchick and dpw. I guess I posted that question before I figured out how to search.

 

Sounds like everyone like Kalamaku but OLL just seems to be everyone's fave - and we've already rented a car for Maui. So...

 

Here's my new dilemma - I'm really wanting us to drive to see the Haleakala sunrise which requires getting up at like, what, 3am? So maybe we should get to bed early the night before huh?

 

I thought our plan was coming together so nicely, then I found these Boards, where people actually know what they're talking about...:rolleyes:

 

Aloha and welcome! :)

 

We did sunrise at Haleakala in July of last year, and we had to get up at 2:00 AM in order to meet our excursion at 2:45 AM. We did the sunrise + bicycle trip down from the summit back when they offered the full trip, and sunrise on July 20 was at 5:36 AM. Based on that, perhaps you can look up when sunrise will be on your day in port, and judge travel time accordingly? All I know is after we got back to the ship from that excursion we made THAT our "hang on the ship, doze in the sun, get to know the bar staff" afternoon. :D

 

Have a wonderful trip!

[dixielandings]

MichellP, I like the way you think!

[cruisy-suzy]

I really enjoyed the Luau at the Hilton Waikaloa on the Big Island. I'm not sure if any itineraries include an overnight at Kona though.

 

Suzy

[cruising forever]

When we were in Maui, we were lucky to have an overnight there, thereby making the Old Lahaina Luau an easy choice, based mostly on the Travel Channel reviews and comments here on CC.

 

We booked it directly with OLL about 11 months before we went and were we thrilled to find out that our table was on the front row!!! Granted it was one where you sit on the ground, but even if we needed a crane to get up (which we didn't), we decided this was the way to do it. OLL did NOT disappoint and we have lifetime memories!

 

We hope to go back in the Fall of 09 (if RCCL will ever release their sailings......heck I can't even figure out which ships will be doing the runs now that Radiance and Serenade have been sent elsewhere!)

 

Aloha!