Worst customer service ever!!! We booked and were given tickets for Friday evening at 5 pm. We showed up at 4:45 pm and asked where to lineup. They told us go up near the entrance gate (which we did) and we were 6th in line. At about 5 pm, they set up tables on the sidewalk near the parking lot to begin checking people in. This created chaos briefly as the whole line had to backup and try to keep their place in line. They need a BETTER system! We were finally called to check at 5:05. There was a “problem” with our reservation and they stated we missed it, we were supposed to be there Thursday evening. I showed them our tickets that clearly show Friday evening. We were asked to get out of line and wait on a lawn area in full Sun while they investigated. One of the checkin personnel headed off to check phone messages. We waited and waited for 25 minutes and the rest of the line went in. Eventually, the girl returned and said there was a mixup on the confirmation call(nothing that we had control over) and that all the seats in Paradise were spoken for, so we would now be “upgraded to Royal”. I said great sounds ok as we were now the last ones to enter the Luau. I wish my story ended here. We went through and participated in the photo shoot and then headed to our seats at table 1C. We were a party of 4 and there were only 3 seats so I had to search around for another chair. Our place setting was barren ( as if we were just thrown into this section at the last moment). I asked a waiter where our stuff was as everyone else had towels, mood lanterns, table covering, flower leis, and water jugs with glasses. The waiter said she would ask…. Never to return! I asked another person about the leis and they went off to investigate. I was told we wouldn’t get bar service as we were addons so I then went to get drinks for my daughter and her friend (the 30$ virgin pina colida in a pineapple). Missed the beginning of show as line moved very slowly. When I returned, we now had some paper over table and nut leis. My spouse was told we were upgraded for seating only with none of the perks that came with “Royal level”. I attempted in vain to get the attention of staff explaining how we were now feeling ill treated and isolated(certainly not the Royal treatment). I let them know that our hotel would hear about it as we did all we could do to make this a great experience. The show was short and yes the Chief is funny but I would rate the luau as a 7/10 on its own merit. However, due to the callous treatment of my family, I will not return and encourage this organization to “organize”.
PS. My hotel did refund us 50$ for this experience as they said yes indeed our tickets were bought for the Friday show but there was a mixup on the confirmation call. Chiefs Luau slotted us in for the Thursday and our hotel didn’t catch the wrong date. Our hotel reached out to chiefs to see if they could give a partial refund, but Chiefs declined. Mistakes happen BUT it’s how you handle the mistakes that matter!