Boy am I glad I found this forum! You guys have already answered so many of the questions I was wondering about. Here's one that I need some help with.
We going on our first ever curise to Hawaii in September. We've booked a number of excursions with NCL but didn't fancy doing the Luau on Maui offered by them. We preferred the sound of The Old Lahina Luau and have booked that instead. Neither of us wants to drive because we'd like to drink. From what we saw in the NCL excursion descriptions, it should be possible to take the Lahaina On Your Own excursion, going to Lahaina mid-afternoon, going to the Luau and return to the ship around 9:30pm. We just can't get any confirmation of whether these pick up times are offered by NCL. The trip operates at various times but no one can tell me whether they will pick us up in Lahaina as late as we would like to be picked up. NCL keep telling us that we can specify our pick up times on board but by then it would have been too late to book for Old Lahaina. Can anyone help with this?
We tried to do it on our own, too. As I recall, the shuttle doesn`t run that late, and a taxi is very expensive. That ended up being the only excursion we booked with NCL.
Thanks for the response. I figured that the luau might end too late to make the return journey possible. NCL probably make it harder for their passengers to attend any rival luaus. How was the luau they offer?
Just in case anyone is interested, it IS indeed possible to get to Lahaina for the Old Lahaina Luau under your own steam without renting a car. There is a public bus service (airconditioned) that goes from the Queen Kaahumanu Shopping Center to Lahaina for just $1. From there you can get another bus to the Cannery Mall also for $1. However, getting back from the luau is not possible on public transport so a taxi is the only option. I would definitely recommend the taxi option because the drinks at this luau are potent so driving would NOT be an option. Details of the bus service can be found here.
