Pride of America - Pearl Harbor Tour Questions

My target for this question are for people who have already toured Pearl Harbor. I am researching our tour options and I've seen several less than rave reviews. Mainly that some of the tours take way too long, long stops at relatively minor attractions or that the tours are too slow paced. I would like to see the Missouri and the Arizona and am OK with booking a private tour but what are the pointers from those of you who have already been there? TIA Allen

We booked the Pearl Harbor tour from Viator. They picked us up from hotel (Hilton Hawaiian village) then stopped at several others. It made several stops, including points of interest around Honolulu ( think of the opening of Hawaii 5-0) . Then on to Pearl Harbor . There are lockers to put your bags in. No bags are allowed for security reasons. This is run by Park Service. There is food on site, hot dogs etc. we brought sub sandwiches we bought from ABC Store before bus came.

Tickets and small line for journey to Arizona memorial. Went on boat over to Arizona memorial . Were able to look down and see ship and hear narration of events. They dropped,everyone back to hotels. We are seniors and did not think it was too long. Found it very interesting.

Just checked website....several options to choose from, depending on what you are most interested in. Very moving experience.

If you try to do Pearl Harbor on your own, you MUST book well in advance. Lots of people show up expecting to walk up and get a ticket. It is a lot easier to spend the money and book a tour and live within their timelines.

You can easily do it on your own. Information is here.... http://www.pearlharborhistoricsites.org/pearl-harbor/

We were there in Nov. and did the NCL tour as part of a pre cruise package. It was not cheap but was worth every penny. Tour guide was very good. We saw everything....I mean everything. All tickets were included and I had to do nothing.....perfect.

We have always taken the city bus when we first get off the ship. We get to the site and get tickets right away. We have done this twice with no problem. As for the Missouri all you have to do is go to the kiosk on site and get your tickets that include the shuttle and the Missouri. If you are a real WWII history buff you might want to allow for about an hour and a half for the Missouri and do a self guided tour.

My target for this question are for people who have already toured Pearl Harbor. I am researching our tour options and I've seen several less than rave reviews. Mainly that some of the tours take way too long, long stops at relatively minor attractions or that the tours are too slow paced. I would like to see the Missouri and the Arizona and am OK with booking a private tour but what are the pointers from those of you who have already been there? TIA Allen

Just get a cab or UBER and go there. You can do all that you want on your own without any trouble. IN addition to the memorial and the Mighty Mo the submarine that is there is neat too.

We did it as a post cruise tour, with drop off at the airport. We had lots of time at the Missouri and Arizona, but little time to see other exhibits. We had a full day tour and were exhausted by the end. I’d definitely do it again, we were concerned we wouldn’t get tickets to the Arizona without a tour.

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When we went to Hawaii, we were able to order tickets and pick up at will call that morning. We did the self tour with headphones and you can go at your own pace. Since I used to live in Hawaii, I'd been before, but it was hubby's first time.

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I was on March 3rd 2018 cruise and did Pearl Harbor on our own before the cruise.

Don't do a tour, you can do on it your own. Tours are just a way to transport you to Pearl Harbor. Visiting Pearl Harbor is free or you can pay for head phones or guides from the national parks dept. There is a small fee to see the Arizona and either need reservations (see website). I made reservation two months in advance but showed up early and they moved my time up. You can also purchase tickets for the submarine and the Missouri.

The issue with doing PH on your own is getting tickets. You have to reserve them way in advance. Yes, they have walk up tickets but they will be for random times, maybe not the time you want. We went on a tour (Robert's Hawaii) which had morning tickets to the Arizona. Later in the afternoon, the winds had picked up and the shuttle boats were not docking at the memorial. They took you out there and then back, but didn't dock. So we were glad we had early morning tickets. Our tour also included the Missouri which is well worth your time. As others have said these tours pick up and drop off at several hotels. The traffic is terrible in Honolulu and we were glad someone else was doing the driving.

My target for this question are for people who have already toured Pearl Harbor. I am researching our tour options and I've seen several less than rave reviews. Mainly that some of the tours take way too long, long stops at relatively minor attractions or that the tours are too slow paced. I would like to see the Missouri and the Arizona and am OK with booking a private tour but what are the pointers from those of you who have already been there? TIA Allen

We did Robert's Pearl Harbor and City tour after our POA cruise. As others have said, you don't need to book a formal tour to go to Pearl Harbor, and if you have time and aren't burdened with luggage (as we were after disembarkation), I'd suggest doing it on your own, so you can set your own pace.

Our tour driver told us that while the National Park entry wasn't a problem, tickets for the Arizona can be. There are only so many available every day, and most of those gone through online advance purchases every day. Since he already had our Arizona tickets, we didn't have to worry about that. Presumably the big tour operators have arrangements with the Park Service to get a block of tickets every day.

This tour did not include the Missouri.

The National Park Service runs the park area, but the Navy runs the Arizona memorial tours. They can, and do, shut down the tour boats when they feel the harbor is getting too windy or choppy. We were very lucky...out tour boat to the Arizona was the last to go out that day, after which the Navy stopped tours.

I didn't feel the tour was too long by any means. We arrived about an hour before our scheduled Arizona time, and had plenty of time to walk around the park, visit the exhibits, and even get a quick snack. There's a fairly decent informational movie prior to the ride out to the Arizona.

Once our time at Pearl was over, the tour was a pretty standard tour of Honolulu sites, the Punchbowl Memorial (we were not allowed to get off the bus there) and some North Shore scenery. It wasn't a spectacular tour, but the driver had a great personality, a good stock of information and tall tales, and he made it interesting.

The bus dropped us at the airport in plenty of time for our 5:00 pm flight back to the mainland.

We did it on our own a few years back. Got the USS Arizona memorial tickets before we went through the park service, took a tour bus out that runs on an open ended round trip to allow plenty of time. There is a bus that makes the loop between Ford Island (since it is still part of the active base) and the main part of the memorial, that you need to take to go to the USS Missouri and the Pacific Aviation museum both of which have an additional cost, but it is well worth it. I could have easily spent a couple days there and not been bored. About the only thing we didn't do was the USS Bowfin tour being 6'4" submarines of that era are a bit cramped for me.

Question on pre cruise Pearl Harbor tour with NCL - looks like it always occurs on a Friday. 

Has anyone done this recently? We leave in May and want to break off the tour to go to see Arizona memorial? What time does the tour actually arrive at PH and when is the best time to break off tour to go see Arizona? Need to get tix separately.

Any other advice appreciated. 

On 3/23/2024 at 4:34 PM, Mr.Dude said:

Question on pre cruise Pearl Harbor tour with NCL - looks like it always occurs on a Friday. 

 

Has anyone done this recently? We leave in May and want to break off the tour to go to see Arizona memorial? What time does the tour actually arrive at PH and when is the best time to break off tour to go see Arizona? Need to get tix separately.

 

Any other advice appreciated. 

Advice - aside from not picking up a 6 year old thread (there are plenty more recent ones regarding POA pre-cruise tours) - don't use the NCL tour.

Book your own tour through a local tour company and it can include the Arizona - with priority access. On your own will require a reservation that may prove difficult to get.

I arrived 4 days before the cruise and booked a couple of full day tours.

I just checked NCL tours - they show post cruise tours.

I am only aware of the Cruise Tour option pre-cruise for a few days. This does not include the Arizona on their Pearl Harbor stop.

You lose a bit of convenience by doing it on your own, but you have many choices of hotel (instead of one) and can schedule the tours you like - for a lot less money. 

Thanks for the feedback! Do you have any recommendations for tour operators for Pearl Harbor that are not with NCL? 

2 hours ago, Mr.Dude said:

Thanks for the feedback! Do you have any recommendations for tour operators for Pearl Harbor that are not with NCL? 

It's been a few years, so I'm a bit short on specifics.

I just peeked at some names and Viator came up. A well known name around the world. I also recall Roberts from when we were there. Not sure which I used; we did a tour to Pearl which made a couple of spots and then took us on the ferry to the Arizona; then some free time for lunch & whatever; finally, back on the bus to the Missouri; then a few city highlights on the way back to the hotel; so, pretty much all day.

If you're interested in the Polynesian Cultural Center, I booked directly on their website. Prices were all cheaper than the tour companies. They offered a few different packages. We did an all day that went to the far side of the island and then along the north shore to the center. All included for the day (except lunch) plus their buffet dinner and the night time show (I think the show is a must see). NCL's tour leaves in the afternoon - no show.

Good luck & enjoy!

@Mr.Dude...welcome to Cruise Critic!

On 3/23/2024 at 3:34 PM, Mr.Dude said:

Question on pre cruise Pearl Harbor tour with NCL - looks like it always occurs on a Friday. 

 

Has anyone done this recently? We leave in May and want to break off the tour to go to see Arizona memorial? What time does the tour actually arrive at PH and when is the best time to break off tour to go see Arizona? Need to get tix separately.

 

Any other advice appreciated. 

When are you going? I booked my reservations on the Perarl Harbor/USS Arizona site for $2.00. We just went there on our own.  Much cheaper and more freedom on the time we wanted to spend there.