I mentioned last week that we took two shore excursions while we were on Oahu.  We went to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, but we also took an evening excursion to Germaines Luau.

Germaines Luau is billed as a backyard, family luau.  A luau is a traditional Hawaiian style party with lots of food, music, and dancing.  Hawaiians like to joke that they don’t eat until they are full – they eat until they are tired!

At the start of our shore excursion, we stood in line to get on the buses that would take us to the luau.  About 500 people from the ship attended, so we stood in line for a while before boarding the bus.  Tom and I used the time to talk to the people behind us: two sisters and the one sister’s husband from Missouri.

We boarded the bus and were treated to a running monologue by our bus guide.  She kept saying she was going to be quiet but she never was.  She is a native of Oahu and told us about luaus held by her family.

Germaines Luau is held on the beach on the west side of Oahu beside Barbar’s Point Lighthouse.  As soon as we got off the beach, we gifted each other with leis and got our picture taken.  It is the only picture Tom and I bought the entire cruise.  Not bad!

We found seats in the open air picnic area and were joined at the table by the people we met in line.  They were so much fun and enjoying every minute of being in Hawaii.  After everyone was seated, there was some opening music and lots of welcoming “alohas.”

Germaines Luau served the food buffet style with roasted Kalua pig made in the traditional imu.  We enjoyed the Hawaiian rolls, the roasted pork, baked beans, and coleslaw.  We tried poi but it tastes like wallpaper paste.  The only people I know who like poi are native Hawaiians.  Definitely an acquired taste!

After dinner the dancing started.  The eight young dancers were wonderful as they performed all the Polynesian style dances.  The hula is the Hawaiian dance and is a little slower than some of the other dances.  Tahitian dance is the sexiest with the women shaking their hips in a fast, controlled motion.  It makes everyone ask, “how do they do that?”

We got to see a fire-dancer.  The women performed a Maori dance, and the men did the Samoan Slap dance.  Dances from Fiji and Tonga rounded out the program.  We were also treated to the laughter-inducing performances of the hula and Tahitian dances by audience members.

The program at Germaines Luau was wonderful.  We enjoyed it very much.  Everyone should attend one luau in their life.  We only ate until we were full, which must mean we are still haole (not true Hawaiians).  But we felt like “ohana” and were filled with “aloha.”