Pre-Cruise Pearl Harbor tours

[AllenO]

We are making our second trip on the Norwegian Pride of America in February.  On our first trip we had booked a post-cruise excursion tour of Pearl Harbor which was cancelled at the last minute leaving us very disappointed.  Well, the stars have aligned and we're going back, but this time, we're arriving  a day early and want to book our own Pearl Harbor tour independent of the cruise.  We would like an all day tour which would include the Arizona Memorial with plenty of time in the museums, and especially on the USS Missouri.  If you've done this please let me know who you'd recommend.  I know you can just walk up and purchase tickets without a tour, but I don't want the disappointment of it being sold out on the day we're there, so figured a tour was our best option.  Thanks in advance.

 

Edited November 14, 2019 by AllenO

[CruiserBruce]

Have been to Pearl a couple times independently. Never had an issue getting tickets. 

 

For the Missouri there are a selection of tours, and you would probably be ahead to book your choice in advance. They have a great "behind the scenes" tour that gets you into the nooks and crannies of the ship. Even DW found it very interesting.

[Beachiekeen]

You can get tickets to the Arizona memorial 60 days in advance for $1 each on the national park service website.  Tickets to the Missouri, submarine, etc. you can purchase once there.  A "tour" is really only transportation and tickets to the memorial.  But the one I have seen most recommended is the Stars and Stripes tour done by Roberts Hawaii.

 

 

[disneyochem]

Haven’t been to Pearl Harbor yet (scheduled for January 2020) but it is a must for my hubby.  I too was concerned about tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial so I booked an excursion with Roberts (check out reviews on TripAdvisor).  Then 60 days in advance of our visit, I was able to get tickets online so we’re guaranteed admission (reserved the narrated tour).  I also booked the behind the scenes tour on the USS Missouri (called the Heart of the Missouri) since that tour is limited to ten people.  Canceled Roberts and we’ll just Uber to the site.

 

DYIing certainly saves money but my biggest concern was making sure we had enough time at the national park and associated sites.  We like to take our time and I didn’t really find a tour that spent as much time as we want to spend there.  

[TwinMamainMN]

We are going to DIY Pearl Harbor/USS Arizona, the Battleship Missouri, Bowfin Submarine, and the Aviation Museum for two reasons: cost and flexibility. We are not tour people. We like to be on our on schedule and have the freedom to move slowly (or quickly) as we see fit. Paying another company to do the tour basically gets you form point A to point B and they will give you a time to be done and back on the bus/van. It is apparently quite easy to navigate the whole Pearl Harbor experience and the various navel vessels on your own and using the tours provided by the National Parks, and we will appreciate the flexibility it allows.

[BostonGal35]

how much time should be devoted to see everything at PH?  An entire day?  Half day?

[princeton123211]

3 hours ago, BostonGal35 said:

how much time should be devoted to see everything at PH?  An entire day?  Half day?

Depends on how much you want to see. If you want to go to the Arizona Memorial and walk around the museum near where you depart for the memorial you only need a few hours. If you want to add on the USS Missouri and USS Bowfin submarine, you are going to be at maybe a half day or a little bit more. You definitely don't need an entire day for it. 

[CruiserBruce]

4 hours ago, BostonGal35 said:

how much time should be devoted to see everything at PH?  An entire day?  Half day?

Agree...very easily half a day, but it all depends on how much you want to see. There is in essence 4 parts to Pearl. The Arizona and related things, the submarine exhibit, the Missouri, and the Museum.