The show itself receives 4 stars, I'll go into detail in the end briefly. But first I want to warn anyone who is planning on booking the show through Tripadvisor.
Long story short, Tripadvisor screwed this up, and I FOUND OUT ON THE DAY OF THAT WE HAD NO SEATS and our expensive booking didn't show up in the system at all. When you’re a tourist and have only a few days on the island, this really hits you hard. PLEASE BOOK IT FROM THE LUAU KALAMAKU SITE, DO NOT GIVE THESE PEOPLE YOUR MONEY.
Here are the things that happened:
• I booked premium seats at the luau + shuttle pick up + train ride.
• I never got a confirmation email but it showed as confirmed on the site when I checked back.
• We were all set, not really suspecting that there would be any problems with the reservation.
• I check back on Tripadvisor on the day of the luau to check on shuttle details, and I see that the tour company has chatted us asking where we are staying. I chatted them back giving them our hotel address.
• I hadn't received any email notifications about this chat.
• When I call the tour company, they can't find our booking, I'm obviously very worried and frustrated.
• I was told to call Tripadvisor, and when I called them they said they'll check on it.
• When I heard back from them, they said the booking company has graciously allowed to make sure you have a seat today. This really irked me, because I had booked ahead and they were making it seem like I was at fault.
• They then asked me to talk to the tour company to make sure things were good. I had to reiterate that I made this booking and made a confirmation, so I was not at fault here, this was their job. Also, I had to tell them again that I had gotten premium seats, and the train ride and shuttle pickup.
• They said they’ll check again, and after a long while I got a call back saying that everything is squared off. This was pretty suspicious because it really seemed like they were making this booking for the first time.
• The tour company then calls me to say that they never got the right confirmation number from Tripadvisor so we were never in the system, they never communicated to them about the hotel we were staying at and were very apologetic. At no point did I get an actual apology from Tripadvisor admitting to fault.
• The tour company then gave me a new confirmation number and made sure to let me know all the details of the pickup.
There is a system-wide problem with this booking, from the confirmation emails to the chat notifications, the communication between Tripadvisor and the tour company, and the customer service. Also, EVERY TIME I talked to Tripadvisor they corrected me saying I booked through Viator. I did not. I booked through the Tripadvisor site and I only found out later that Viator is a company they acquired. I shouldn’t have to know the nuances of the details of an acquisition to have a conversation with a customer service rep. Iron this one out Tripadvisor.
The show is great, performers were really amazing and talented. It goes down to 4 stars, as it is a pretty disneyfied story like others mentioned. For me, that takes away from the wonderful story of the island.