NCL America is spending millions of dollars in renovations and upgrades at Kilohana Plantation on Kaua'i, where the cruise line will launch a new lu'au and dinner show as an optional shore excursion for its passengers.

NCL America has been offering passengers a lu'au at the Maui Prince Hotel since its first ship began sailing interisland cruises in July 2004. That will change early next year, when NCL begins offering a lu'au and dinner show at Kilohana Plantation for its three U.S.-flagged ships.

NCL America officials said they decided to move the lu'au to Kaua'i to give passengers more options during their seven-day cruise around the Islands. Unlike Maui, Kaua'i has a limited amount of evening activities, said Denise Hayashi, director of community relations for NCL America.

To prepare for the new lu'au, NCL America is renovating Kilohana Plantation's existing carriage house — and building a connecting 15,000 square-foot, semi-permanent pavilion that will be able to accommodate 1,000 guests, NCL said.

The cruise line declined to say how much it is spending on the upgrades, saying only that it is "a few million" dollars.

The lu'au, expected to begin in mid-February, will be catered by Gaylord's Restaurant with entertainment provided by NH Productions LLC. NH Productions will hire 40 performers, artists, crafters and cultural practitioners for the lu'au, NCL said. NCL did not say how many catering jobs the lu'au will create.

The show will run three times a week when NCL America's ships are in port on Kaua'i and will eventually open for the general public at a later date.

"Our goal is not only to entertain our guests but educate them about Hawai'i's historical and cultural heritage," said Robert Kritzman, NCL America executive vice president and managing director of Hawai'i operations. "Just as important, though, is to build sustainable partnerships in Kaua'i that will have a long-term and positive impact on the community's economic future."

The change, however, will impact the Maui Prince Hotel, which caters the food for NCL's Maui lu'au. The business from NCL passengers "definitely brought in a lot of revenue," said Maui Prince spokeswoman Liana Mulleitner. But the hotel has started hosting a lu'au for the public and plans to open another by the end of the year, she said.

"It definitely is a loss to us, but it's kind of a gain also because we gained experience to know how to do the lu'au," Mulleitner said. There are no plans for cutbacks affecting employees, she said.

Each NCL lu'au on Maui drew an average of 800 passengers, NCL said.

Tihati Productions, which produces NCL's Maui lu'au show, will not lay off any employees when the lu'au ceases next year, said Tihati vice president John Tilton. Tilton said Tihati was recently awarded a contract with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and that the company will still run a lu'au for Norwegian Wind passengers as well as entertainment aboard NCL America cruise ships, he said.

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.