Luau or dinner cruise: which?

The short answer

These are two different evenings that happen to cost about the same and last about the same time. The luau is a performance with dinner attached: you sit facing the floor and the dancers come to you. The cruise is a meal with a view attached: the boat moves, the waterway slides past, and a musician and the crew fill in the background. Decide which of those you want first, and the rest follows. If your group includes young children who need something to watch, the luau is the safer bet.

The rule that settles it for many people

Read the cancellation terms before anything else. The luau gives every cent back to anyone who calls it off through GetYourGuide at least 24 hours ahead, and its seats can be held now with payment deferred. The dinner cruise is non-refundable from the moment you book. On a coast where summer thunderstorms are common and plans change, that difference matters. If your dates are firm, the cruise is easy to commit to. If anything about your trip is still moving, the luau leaves you room to change your mind. A sensible pattern for a week on the coast is to book the luau early in the trip, when plans are loosest, and save the cruise for a night when the forecast is settled.

What the cruise actually is

The cruise leaves from North Myrtle Beach on a wooden paddle-wheel riverboat about 70 feet long, with two climate-controlled indoor decks and three outdoor decks. It runs for about two hours along the Intracoastal Waterway, the inland waterway that runs for most of the length of the Eastern Seaboard. Dinner and dessert are served on board, water and tea are included, and beer, wine and spirits are sold at the bar to guests aged 21 and over with ID. A shuttle runs from the parking area to the boat.

What the luau actually is

The luau runs for about two hours in an air-conditioned room at an inn in Myrtle Beach. A Samoan family from Tutuila stages it with a live Polynesian band, hula in the ancient and modern styles, Samoan siva and the fire knife, which closes the night. A buffet dinner, water, iced tea and lemonade are included, along with parking, while a cash bar sells everything else. A comic emcee runs the evening and audience participation is part of it, which is a large part of why families rate it so warmly.

Read next: Myrtle Beach luau: worth it?

Food and drink compared

Neither evening is about fine dining. The luau serves a buffet whose menu changes, so you choose your own portions and can go back for more, which helps with fussy eaters. The cruise serves a plated dinner and a dessert; its own reviews praise the crew and the views more than the cooking. Both include soft drinks of the water-and-tea kind, the luau adds lemonade, and both sell alcohol on top. On the boat you must be 21 or over with ID to buy it; at the luau, bring cash for the bar. Guests with a food allergy or diet usually find a buffet easier to work around than a set plate, but message either organiser from the booking before you travel.

The entertainment compared

This is the real dividing line. At the luau the entertainment is the whole point: dancers, drums, costumes and fire, with the audience drawn in. On the cruise the entertainment is gentler: a live musician on board and narration about the waterway and the Grand Strand, with the scenery doing most of the work. If you want to talk to the person opposite you for two hours, the boat is better. If you want your children to stop talking for two hours, the luau is. Neither promises a particular song or dance on a given night: the luau family sets its own programme, and the cruise's music and commentary depend on the crew on board.

Weather and season

The Grand Strand has a humid subtropical climate: cool winters, hot and humid summers; rain falls through the year but is most concentrated in summer, when strong thunderstorms are common. The luau is indoors, so weather never touches it; if anything, the strong air conditioning is the bigger surprise, so bring a light jacket. The cruise has climate-controlled decks to retreat to, but the outdoor decks are the reason to book it, and a wet evening shrinks the view. Because the cruise ticket is final, a storm warning is a real risk.

Children and accessibility

The luau is built for families: the band plays from the start, the dances change often, and the fire-knife finale holds even restless children. Wheelchair users can attend. The cruise suits children who enjoy boats and can sit through a meal, and the outdoor decks give them space to move. Neither evening is late by holiday standards, and the start time is on your confirmation. If you are travelling with grandparents as well as small children, the luau's single room and included parking make it the simpler night to organise.

A third option: the arena dinner show

Myrtle Beach also has large purpose-built dinner theatres. One that books through GetYourGuide is the pirate-themed arena show with a four-course feast, acrobatics, high dives and animals around an indoor lagoon, about an hour and a half long and cancellable free up to two days before. It is a different scale altogether: a big production in a big auditorium, where the luau is one family in one room. Families who want spectacle may prefer it; those who want closeness and a living tradition usually prefer the luau.

Getting to each one

Both evenings assume you have a car or a taxi. Parking is included with the luau ticket, at the inn in Myrtle Beach where the show runs, and the inn's name is on your booking. The cruise leaves from North Myrtle Beach, further up the Grand Strand; you park at the operator's parking area and a shuttle takes you to the check-in point and the boat. Allow for summer traffic on US 17 either way, and do not try to fit both evenings into one night.

Read next: Getting to the luau by car

Who each one isn't for

The luau is not for anyone who wants sea air, sunset or a quiet table for two, and not for guests who dislike being pulled into a show. The cruise is not for travellers whose plans might change, since the money is gone once you book, and not for children who need constant action. If neither fits, a daytime eco tour of the salt marsh at Murrells Inlet, south of Myrtle Beach, gives you the water without the dinner, and leaves the evening free for the luau.

Read next: A Grand Strand day and night