Four of us went on the Sunset Cocktail Sail while in Maui. Overall, it was a great time. The crew was friendly and attentive, the drinks were plentiful, we got to race with a bunch of friendly dolphins, and the sail itself was beautiful. The basic experience was top-notch.
There were only two negatives about the cruise:
1) It doesn't launch from a dock. Rather, the boat backs up to the beach and you have to run through the waves (while the boat is very much moving) and up a flight of stairs. It turned out fine for us, but beware of this if you have mobility issues or you're not very steady on your feet. It required a bit of agility and I don't think any of the information we receive prior to the cruise warned us about it.
2) The boat was overstuffed by about a dozen people. Our party of four got on dead last and there were no seats left for us. The only available seating was the two "nets" at the front of the boat, and for one member of our party that was not an option, so we ended up uncomfortably perched by a railing for most of the trip. A fair amount of people were basically sitting on or hanging onto anything they were able, and the people who HAD found seats were hesitant to leave them. I know it's financially beneficial to the company to cram as many people as possible onto this thing, but with 10 or 12 less it would have been 100% more comfortable for everyone.
Overall, I recommend it! It's a great way to spend an evening. But get to the front of the line!
Réponse de l'hôte
Jan 2020
Stoked you guys got to see our dophfriends on your sunset cocktail sail with us here at Sea Maui! Always a treat to have those pods cruise with us! Thanks for your recognition that we are a beach loading catamaran and you must be able to board the boat through sand and a shore break. We definitely always recommend those with mobility issues try to find a company whom departs from Lahaina Harbor vs. Kaanapali Beach due to this beach loading process. It states this on our website as well as in every confirmation email which we send out. Sorry to hear that you felt there was not adequate space on the vessel. Although you were on our smaller boat please know that we are Coast Gaurd certified to comfortably fit 48 passengers on that boat and we will never go over our capacity limit. Many people don't notice the back row of seating behind the captains wheel which can comfortable seat up to ten more customers. We never have assigned seats in hopes that people will get up and move around as they desire to enjoy all the different views from the boat. We would love to host you guys on our bigger vessel on your next trip to Maui so feel free to call us direct and we will happily get you guys out on another cruise which we hope you to find more comfortable with the spacing! Mahalo for you kind and honest review! Aloha