Last tender in Lahaina?

[Railwaylass]

Hullo! I originally posted this question over on the Hawaii board but someone suggested that I might get a more definitive answer here from Celebrity cruisers who have done this port...

 

We'll be on the Eclipse in April, 2020 and want to go to the Old Lahaina Luau, which finishes at 8:45pm. We've chosen this one based on the reviews and on the menu, which accommodates the taste/dietary requirements of our little group. According to them it's 5 minute drive back to the tender so we'd need to pre-book a taxi/Uber/Lyft. Our ship, the Eclipse, sails at 10pm. So we'd need to be back on board at what time? I always make sure to give myself at least an hour when I can but what's the official back on board time according to the ship - is it half an hour prior to sailing?

 

Anyone know what time the last tender will go? This is what concerns me the most!

 

Is this doable at all or are we courting disaster here? My sister really wants to go to a luau and this is the only night/port feasible. If we book one through the ship it's quite a bit more money.

[jsf]

We went to the same luau a couple of weeks ago and if I remember right the last tender was at about 9:30 PM. I don't think  the ship left until 11:00 PM. We had no problem getting a taxi after the Luau which we enjoyed but you have to remember that 200 people will be leaving at the same time but not all are leaving by taxi. We made it back to the tender with time to spare.

[Railwaylass]

28 minutes ago, jsf said:

We went to the same luau a couple of weeks ago and if I remember right the last tender was at about 9:30 PM. I don't think  the ship left until 11:00 PM. We had no problem getting a taxi after the Luau which we enjoyed but you have to remember that 200 people will be leaving at the same time but not all are leaving by taxi. We made it back to the tender with time to spare.

 

Cheers jsf...my friend and I are doing a b2b from Vancouver and the first cruise has a sailing time of 11pm from Lahaina. My sister is joining us for the second cruise, back to Vancouver, and sod's law, the departure time from Lahaina shows as 10pm! It couldn't have been the other way around, lol!

 

So, if your sail time was 11pm and the last tender was at approximately 9:30 it would be possible that for a 10pm sailing it might be as early as 8:30...

 

I'm afraid that we just might have to take out a second mortgage and go on the ship's excursion! 

[jsf]

My times are based on our cruise from Honolulu to Vancouver, as I recall our tickets were about $125.00 each and I got them online. I wouldn't worry about getting back to the ship. You have to remember that all these places  live on tourism and they can't afford to have things go wrong.I rechecked our departure time from Lahaina and it was 11:00 PM maybe your info might be wrong.

Edited May 22, 2019 by jsf
s

[Pushkin]

I think you will be fine.  We were just on the Eclipse a few weeks ago and went to the Old Lahainia Luau.  We were back to the ship in plenty of time.  We used Lyft to get from the Luau back to the tender spot.  No timing problem at all.

[zackmar]

We went to the old Lahaina luau a few weeks ago while we were on the solstice sailing Sydney to Honolulu. I don’t recall what time our ship was leaving port but the location of the luau is not more then 10 minutes away by taxi. We were one of the first ones leaving the luau and plenty of taxis were lined up right outside. We were a group of 4 and the cost was only $10 USD total. If your ship leaves port at 11pm I would imagine the last tender would be about 10:00 or 10:15. If your ship leaves at 10, it’s cutting it a bit close but you could always leave a few minutes early. The luau is amazing, I would highly recommend it. FYI the sooner you book it the better location to the stage you’ll have. We booked very far in advance and had great seats. Enjoy! 😊 

[Railwaylass]

Many thanks to everyone for your input and advice! I'm going to go ahead and book, so that we can get great seats and if it does turn out that the ship sets sail at 10pm we will just have to leave a little bit early. It sounds like a really fantastic luau!

[mayleeman]

@Railwaylass

We had fun at the luau (our kids live in Maui).

 

A couple of things to keep in mind: in the first row closest to the stage, the tables are ground level and you will be sitting on cushions. Great view but those seats are very poorly located if you want to get out quickly after the show. Get a table in the middle or top tier if you want to leave quickly. Those are only some 20 to 35 feet further from the stage. It is a 270 degree or so amphitheater so there are no bad views, but back center will keep you closer to the open bar (limited to certain tropical cocktails). We were almost too close to get good pictures!

 

Also, while waiting for dinner there will be a large gathering off to the left out of the seating area. Get over there to have a chance to watch the ceremony where they remove the pig from the pit. And the sunset from that same area is fantastic.

Edited May 23, 2019 by mayleeman

[Railwaylass]

18 hours ago, mayleeman said:

@Railwaylass

We had fun at the luau (our kids live in Maui).

 

A couple of things to keep in mind: in the first row closest to the stage, the tables are ground level and you will be sitting on cushions. Great view but those seats are very poorly located if you want to get out quickly after the show. Get a table in the middle or top tier if you want to leave quickly. Those are only some 20 to 35 feet further from the stage. It is a 270 degree or so amphitheater so there are no bad views, but back center will keep you closer to the open bar (limited to certain tropical cocktails). We were almost too close to get good pictures!

 

Also, while waiting for dinner there will be a large gathering off to the left out of the seating area. Get over there to have a chance to watch the ceremony where they remove the pig from the pit. And the sunset from that same area is fantastic.

 

Thank you so much for the excellent advice!