Today I’m sharing my third Maui post. While in Maui, we went to the Old Lahaina Luau, which is supposed to be THE best luau to see while in Maui. We did need to take an uber from the Hyatt (our resort) to this luau, but it was fairly close to it. The Hyatt (our resort) offered Drums of the Pacific Lu’au, which is supposed to be the second best luau in Maui. I wish we would have had time to see it as well, but I think one luau in the week we were there was plenty. I’m also sharing in this post a little about our sunset dinner cruise.
If you missed out on my first post, I share how much we loved staying at the Hyatt Maui Resort and you can see what I wore in Maui in my Thursday Fashion Files. And, in my second Maui post, I share about the Road to Hana and a Pie Adventure).
Old Lahaina Luau
I spent a lot of time researching what to wear to the luau and it was the night I was the most excited about our entire Maui trip! I landed up purchasing this Gibson dress (you can see how I styled it two other ways HERE) and it was perfect! This dress was really hard to get, it kept selling out and I stalked Nordstrom to get it… and, I had to order it a size down (XS).
This is where they had the pig buried. Poor piggy! 🙁 Before the luau, they had several stations for you to walk around and see them doing different things… one lady was making stamped bookmarks (I grabbed 2 for the kids), they had a guy giving out traditional Hawaiian appetizers, a lady teaching dance, etc. The luau included a full open bar and buffet. I try to take some days off from drinking on vacation. I seriously can’t drink everyday for a full week on vacation! This was one day I had planned not to drink alcohol and I was excited they made me virgin drinks from the regular drinks on the bar menu.
The luau offered table seating or lawn seating (you sat on a cushion right up by the stage on the lawn). I am SO glad our travel agent booked us the table seating… I could not have sat on a cushion for 2+ hours! lol! The sunset was SO gorgeous!
When we got there, they gave me a flower for my hair and we each got a mai tai with a flower in it. So pretty!
They served a hummus dip with purple sweet potato chips before dinner.
The show was really entertaining. It’s amazing how well these girls (and men!) were at hula dancing. I just don’t know how they do it! And, they wear those little skirts so low down, how do they stay put?! LOL.
Here is my plate after I went up to the buffet. The pulled pork was the best I’ve ever had, SOOOO good!
They brought out banana bread after dinner with a spread (I can’t remember what kind of spread it was, but it was delicious!). Then, they brought out a huge platter with several other desserts on it. I didn’t get a photo of it, nor did I try any… I was SO stuffed!
The show was really beautiful, they had special lighting, several big groups of dancers together and some smaller groups together. I loved the authentic Hawaiian instruments they used. They shared a little history about the luau in the show as well.
They sent us home with banana bread, which was great for breakfast the next morning!
Sunset Dinner Cruise
The sunset dinner cruise was the most romantic evening of our trip! I loved snuggling with my Brian while we enjoyed an open bar, buffet and a beautiful cruise in the ocean with the breathtaking sights in Maui! We had to reschedule our cruise, because of the high surf earlier in the week, but we were able to do it later in the week (whew!). We were told not to wear anything below the knees and it is a little hot before the sunset, so don’t wear anything you don’t mind sweating in! You board the ship FROM the shore, so we did get a little wet while boarding. I got a little seasick on the ship (so did a few others!) and I wish I had taken something for that before we left. So, if you do one of these… you may want to take something if you get motion sickness easily.
Once we got on board, it was so relaxing and just… beautiful! I love how Maui is a mix of mountains and beach.
It was so hot that I didn’t even bother doing my hair… naturally curly hair does best up in a bun! Ha! But, I did put on some cute resin earrings!
This is one of my favorite photos from the trip. There was a lady down below and she said that she was watching us and she just had to take a photo of us together, because we were too cute.
You can BARELY see it in this photo, but there is a hint of a rainbow. We saw SO many rainbows while in Maui… apparently rainbows happen all the time in Maui and I didn’t even know that until we got there. You’ll see several rainbows a day!
Since I got a little seasick, I didn’t really eat a lot of the buffet (I just had some bread)… but, here is a photo of Brian’s plate! Luckily, when we got back to the resort I got some dinner in the Regency Club.
Once the boat turned around and we were facing away from the sun, I started to feel a little better. Brian and I enjoyed a champagne toast! It was so refreshing. I love champagne!
And, I enjoyed a warm brownie with a berry sauce.
The same lady that took our first photo, took this photo of us by the sunset. So pretty. The sky is literally purple and almost matches the hue of Brian’s shirt. What a special evening that I’ll never forget sharing with Brian! 🙂
Well, this caps off our Maui trip!! Brian and I would love to go back, maybe even with the kids… altho, if we do a long flight trip with them, I think I’d rather take them to Europe first. I’m not sure if we’d go back to Maui, or if we’d explore a different island in Hawaii. I loved Maui so much, but it would also be fun to see what else there is to see in Hawaii. I think sometimes the fun in a vacation is exploring new things! Have you been to Hawaii? What is your favorite island and why?
