Is this all possilble to fit in in one day??

[Beelady]

We are arriving in Oahu a day and a half early for our cruise in Oct. Since our flights will take us 13 hours, even though we are arriving at 12:30 PM I am saving the rest of that day to chill out and recover from the jet lag. We will pick up our rental car late that afternoon. The following day, I'd like to see Pearl Harbor, the Punchbowl, and the North Shore.

 

Am I trying to fit in too much??

 

Is it possible to see Pearl Harbor on the day we board the ship, since we don't sail till late that evening? I keep hearing how you have to arrive early, and I don't know how to handle checking out of the hotel with our luggage, and getting over there, since I was planning to return our rental car the night before and taking the cruise line transfers to the pier. If we make our way there once we are checked into the ship, (which I'm guessing will be after noon) is it too late to start the tour of the Arizona? Will be able to get tickets at that hour of the day?

 

I would also like to hike Diamond Head, but have no idea how to fit that in also! So much to do, so little time!! Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[spleen93]

Pearl Harbor, Punchbowl, and the North Shore are very doable in a day. Start early with Pearl Harbor (watch out for morning rush hour if this is a weekday) then go to North Shore and drop by Punchbowl on the way back.

 

You could hike Diamond Head the morning of the day that you board. Either hang onto the car and return it after you do Diamond Head or return the car as you have planned the night before and take a taxi or the Bus to get to Diamond Head the next morning.

 

Spleen

[sceptic]

Last time we were in Hawaii we did this - our Aloha Airlines puddlejump from Hilo arrived at HNL at 8:30 AM, but our flight to the mainland left around 8:30 PM. So we rented a car (bumped to a minivan, hoorah), drove out to Pearl Harbor (after a zillion visits to Hawaii, we finally went to Pearl Harbor) then drove the North Shore via H3 to Kailua area and then all the way around. We really took our time, stopping a bunch of places and got back to the city 5-ish, which is plenty of time to see Punch Bowl, drop off the car, and head to the port.

 

If you start even earlier you should have no problems at all.

[Beelady]

Thank you all so much, it's so nice to be able to ask questions of people in the know! You have made my day to hear that I won't have to miss anything!