excursions for January 07

[poorsusan]

In January my husband and I are taking the Zaandam from San Diego to Hawaii - 15 day cruise - with the Kingston Trio. ( yes I know - seriously dates us but I am ALOT younger than my husband.)

 

We def want to see the Arizona Memorial. My husband is a Navy veteran. Any recommendations for tours? You all have me convinced not to do the ships' excursions. My husband said he thought he had heard of a Navy tour? Would he need to bring his discharge papers to prove he was in the Navy?

 

We are also going to be in San Diego for 2 days before and 2 days after the cruise. We figured we may as welll - we may never get to the left coast again.

 

I am starting to get very excited about the cruise. I have 2 outfits and my shoes and my bags. I know there are more than 2 formal nights but is about all we would want to dress up. After my son's wedding in September, I am going to really start to gear up for it. I have lost 25 pounds since the end of March and by cruise time, hope to lose another 20 pounds.....so I can be in a size 6/8 depending on the outfit.

 

So recommendations for tour operators would be appreciated. If they are not allowed to be posted, you can email me at sliberantowski@nycap.rr.com.

 

Thanks in advance. I have been enjoying lurking on the board. I also belong to Tripso.com. That is another good travel board.

[spleen93]

Susan - congrats on your upcoming cruise and your weight loss! I actually like the Kingston Trio (my mom used to sing me their songs all the time when I was growing up) and I'm in my 30s so I don't think it dates you at all. :D

 

I have not heard of any special tours of the Arizona Memorial for Navy veterans - maybe you're thinking of the Missouri? Maybe our military cruisers here can comment?

 

Spleen

[Lydia B.]

I too am looking forward to visiting Hawaii and Pearl Harbor next spring. I have done some research and it seems that all the tours I have found basically get you to Pearl Harbor and then you are somewhat on your own. Tickets are first come first serve only...no reservations. I don't ever remember seeing any special tours for vets. However I did read you can take a very extensive and interesting tour of the Missouri or "Big Mo".

One tour that has been recommended to me has you getting to Pearl via the WWII D.U.C.K. vehicle which sounds like a blast. Someone on the board said they really enjoyed it and you get a brief tour of Honolulu too. Here is their website https://www.fishbowltours.com/index_18.html Have fund. Lydia

[beachchick]

Aloha and welcome. You will love Hawaii.

 

I've never heard of any special Pearl Harbor or Arizona Memorial tours for current or retired military, except I do know that there are special events every December 7th and that veterans are involved. It is first-come-first-served for the day's tix--no exceptions. (As Spleen mentions though, we do have some wonderful Hawaii locals who are military and might have more information. I've just never heard of any special tours like that.) Try to get there as early as possible, as the day's tix are often gone before noon.

 

Are you interested in touring the Missouri? (Not to quibble Lydia B., but she's referred to as the "Mighty Mo." ;)) If so, check out my post (#8) on this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=388866

 

The Explorer's Tour would be just the thing for your DH. You do have to book that tour in advance, and can do so online or by phone. It wasn't cheap, but was worth every penny, IMO. It includes the regular Missouri entry fee as well, so you can explore the regular decks (the places open to the general public) on your own with other visitors.

 

Other than that, I can only recommend that you do some advanced searches on this forum only for things that interest you, such as snorkeling or hiking or relaxing on the beach or going to Volcanoes National Park. You can also search for things like "X excursion" (where X is the name of one of the islands). Make your search terms very specific and only go back a few months to start. Also, scroll over to the list of forums and highlight "Hawaii" even though it will already appear highlighted. I've no idea why this helps, but it does. There's a ton of current and excellent information that should help you get started. (Heck, there must be a dozen or more threads just about rental cars in the past couple of weeks.)

 

Enjoy browsing around the forums and please do ask questions. It's just really hard (for me) to answer an open and general question like "what should we do?" with so little information. For example, likes/dislikes, ages, health status, even general budget, and such all make a difference. That's why searching is so helpful because it can really help you narrow your ideas down (again though, only the advanced search; the plain one is extremely inefficient and frustrating).

 

Hope this helps you get started toward your wonderful journey. (And congratulations on your weight loss; I know from experience what hard work it is. I'm about halfway to my goal--and have been at that plateau for more than a year. I'm working on it again though. Good for you.)

 

beachchick

[poorsusan]

That may be what he was thinking. Another friend of ours who has been there said to book the excursions off the ship - that it was worth it for the Arizona as cruise passengers are given priority. So after October First I will start to do that...I will know by October 1st if the Kingston Trio are going to cancel or not.....and I will look to see if the Explorer Tour is available through the Cruise ship.

 

Thanks for your reply. It was very helpful and I bookmarked it to show DH.

[beachchick]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but cruise pax are not given priority. Your friend is incorrect--No one is given priority; no exceptions. I don't know what ship he/she was on, but the cruise pax were not given priority, no matter what someone told them. They may simply have gone at a time when it was not crowded (such as very early). Cruise pax on a ship excursion have to stand in line just like everyone else. Any company that guarantees a certain tour time for the Arizona is, not to put too fine a point on it, lying. They cannot guarantee a time or even that you'll get tix that day.

 

beachchick

[beachchick]

I haven't seen the Explorer's Tour advertised through the ship excursions (perhaps because it's very specialized?). However, it's possible that you may be able to find it through the ship. It may not matter though because if the only reason you planned to go on the ship's excursion to Pearl Harbor was to get priority for the Arizona, it's a moot point.

 

I really do hate to sound like a negative Nelly, but I'm really bothered when people get and give incorrect information about the Arizona. There's never any priority for anyone for the tix, and everyone has to stand in line to get a ticket. You can't send one person to get tix for a party of 40 or even a party of 4. I only saw one exception when someone had a broken leg and really couldn't stand in line that long. They allowed someone from his party to get his ticket, but just the one "extra" for him.

 

beachchick

[SacDr]

You can ride the bus to Pearl Harbor early and get in line for the Arizona tour.

You really should think about the Polyneian Cultural Center tour. It is really well done and worth the trip.

We have made this trip two years ago, but did very little sightseeing, because we had been to the islands before.

Sacdr@aol.com