wcbeitz

I have found one company that is offering a combo tour on Oahu where they take us to Pearl Harbor at 8 am and then we go on an around Oahu tour seeing major sites and landmarks. Has anyone do this tour? Our flight out of Honolulu is 11pm so we are wanting to fill our last day with something good.

Shar

Depending on when you arrive at the monument (day and time and season) the wait to get out to the Arizona itself can be long. Hopefully the Tour company already has tickets with a set time so be sure to find that out before you book with them as you may or may not have enough time to do the rest of the tour with them...It takes a couple of hours to go through the Arizona tour, visit the museum and gift shop and like I said waiting in line. If your flight leaves at ll:00pm then you have a a good 12 hours to see everything which is dooable. Is Oahu just a transfer stop for you?

wcbeitz

we are going on the Pride of America cruise so we start from Honolulu and end our cruise back in Honolulu. I went ahead and booked the tour, I'll let you know how it turns out!

garyt22

We made the mistake of taking the bus tour without the Pearl Harbor option... that cost us 3 hours of waiting at PH... you were wise to get the tickets with the Memorial tour...

cwojo99

If your tour allows you immediate access to Pearl Harbor and avoiding the lines it is worth it. What other stops are on the tour? Punchbowl was beautiful. There are many things to see in Oahu and if you are limited on time this seems like the best option.

8-)

dusty56438

There are no tours to USS Arizona Memorial that allow "head of the line".

Everyone has to stand in the same line to get tickets.

To ensure that everyone in the tour group gets tickets for the same tour, the tour guide will get tickets for the entire group. But only after he/she gets through the line like everyone else.

The reason the tour buses seem to get head of the line is because they leave Waikiki before 6:30am & get to the visitors center well before 7am.

If you drive, you'll also get on one of the first tours if you get there before 7am.

dusty56438

Thread about standing in line for tickets for USS Arizona Memorial:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic...hu_Hawaii.html

MichelleY

My daughter, mother and I did this. We got to Pearl Harbor very early 8ish? and did the tour. Then they took us thru the Punch Bowl and around Honolulu, letting us off outside of the City Hall Building(I can't recall for sure) for a quick look around and a look from the outside of Iolani Palace. My daughter and I left the bus and toured Iolani Palace on our own and my mom went back to the hotel on the bus.

I was a bit disappointed since we just drove thru the Punch Bowl and town, so read carefully what you will be doing or just seeing from the bus. I am glad we did the Iolani Palace on our own. Well worth it.

At the same time, I sent my husband on a different tour called a military tour. It included Pearl Harbor, the USS Missourie battleship, and getting off at the Punch Bowl.

Just read the fine print.

wcbeitz

We went on this tour and we had great day. Our Pearl harbor tour went well, we got there around 8:30 and were there around 3 hours. The rest of the day was really fun and we saw so much of Oahu. We got to jump off the rock at Waimea Beach and took some great pics. We had a great tour guide and this was a fun tour
http://www.hawaiicruiseexcursions.co...IslandTour.htm

wcbeitz

We went on this tour and we had great day. Our Pearl harbor tour went well, we got there around 8:30 and were there around 3 hours. The rest of the day was really fun and we saw so much of Oahu. We got to jump off the rock at Waimea Beach and took some great pics. We had a great tour guide and this was a fun tour
http://www.hawaiicruiseexcursions.co...IslandTour.htm

MichelleY

Thanks for reporting back!

dusty56438

Since the new visitor center was opened in December, commercial tours now get set times for their USS Arizona Memorial tour. They do not have to wait in line any more.

Great for commercial tours.

Horrible for anyone driving, taking a shuttle or the bus.

Mademoiselle

I went to the USS Arizona and Pearl Harbor tours in December after it had been open for a couple of weeks and I was surprised to find that it is free since a lot of the tour options charged for the entrance (I understand that the transportation itself costs money, obviously but those tours are actually free). Unless somehow they started charging between December and now, it was free, though they have donation boxes throughout.

I drove and loved it, I could stay as long as I wanted and we could go at our own leisure, we also drove to the North Shore and went to the Dole Pineapple farm the same day since we had the car.

The free tickets were timed and there was a line, and lots of visitors, but it didn't take long for us to get our tickets, and if anything, it was easier for us to get them than the larger groups as we were only two people and could be accommodated easier. Since we had about 15 minutes before our timed entrance began, we enjoyed looking in the museum area and gift shop.

dusty56438

The commercial tours that I am talking about are city tours or circle island tours that combine them with USS Arizona Memorial or similar tours.

Those are the ones that do not have to stand in line to get the free tickets to USS Arizona Memorial.

Anyone who drives, takes a shuttle or takes a bus has to stand in line for the free tickets.

But those on the commercial tours are on assigned tours now. They get there tickets from the bus driver who gets them the previous day.

So while those of us are standing in line to get tickets, we get to watch commercial tours basically get head of the line for their assigned tours.

So if I drive & get there at 8am, I might have to wait until noon to get on my tour.

The commercial tours just need to get there right before their tour starts as they already have tickets.

Totally unfair.

ozgirl

bookmarking thanks for the info