Smiths Luau, Kauai

I am thinking about booking the Smiths Luau as an excursion in Kauai. I have looked at booking it through Roberts USD99 NCL USD104 and direct with Smiths USD90. There is not a lot of difference in price.

Is anyone aware of any advantages of booking through a particular company and why.

Also, is seating pre allocated or is it a dash for the best seats.

Thank you.

We booked Smith's through Roberts. I can't remember exactly why we made that choice, to be honest - perhaps because it included transportation?

Here's a quote from my review (linked in my signature):

The food at Smith Family was quite good and the grounds were beautiful. We also thoroughly enjoyed the music, singing, and informal dancing during dinner. The seating was also FAR more comfortable than at Germaine’s. After dinner, we moved to the amphitheatre for the show. Here, the seats were horrible metal benches. The show was nice, but the lighting & effects (combined with the “no flash” rule) made photography difficult and let’s be honest - I could not stop fidgeting.

 

 

Comparing Germaine’s and Smith Family head to head, we would give the food vote to Smith Family and the show / ambiance vote to Germaine’s.

Seating is not pre-assigned unless you book with a large group - but we also didn't find it to be a "mad dash" for seats. Enjoy!

We have booked directly through Smith's for September.

It is cheaper, with transportation, and Robert's is the company that provides the transportation.

We really enjoyed the Smith Family Luau - even the photo tour guide we took earlier said that was the best Luau on the island.

The transportation was worth it - our bus picked about 5 people from the ship - but on the return we had maybe 10-12 people as other people were on an earlier excursion with Roberts and then made the return trip with us.

In comparison - I watched the 6 or 8 large buses picked up cruise passengers who booked their luau through the ship (for another luau) - bus after bus after bus. I heard from someone the next day that one was alot more crowded, not as much choice of food and entertainment not as good (plus took forever to board and unboard)

We enjoyed the luau and highly recommend going through Roberts

We booked with Smith's and we were picked up at the dock. We were less than one busload and we were brought right to the entrance gate. The NCL luau had about 8-10 busloads and had to go in groups every few minutes. So glad that we didn't take the NCL luau.

It was not that crowded at the luau and everyone was fed within about 20 minutes of the meal starting. The benches at the amphitheater now have cushions on them and were very comfortable in my opinion.

Had a great time at Smith's family luau.

Marlene

about the menu-

can anyone comment on the side dishes served? I've got a picky eater who may or may not like the pork and chicken, but LOVES steamed rice. Was there plain rice? Anything else a picky one might like?

about the menu-

can anyone comment on the side dishes served? I've got a picky eater who may or may not like the pork and chicken, but LOVES steamed rice. Was there plain rice? Anything else a picky one might like?

Yes, as I recall there was plain white rice. There was also ample fresh fruit, and there were different salads as well as main dishes. I think even a picky eater should be able to find something to like.

We've done this Luau twice and one of our favorite on the Island. Like all mass Luau's you get mass food, but reasonable quality. The food is exotic and bland if that makes sense. They know who their customers are and thus pretty mainstream on many dishes.

about the menu-

can anyone comment on the side dishes served? I've got a picky eater who may or may not like the pork and chicken, but LOVES steamed rice. Was there plain rice? Anything else a picky one might like?