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1    Introduction & at-sea days
2    Lahaina
3    Nawiliwili
4    Honolulu
5    Kona
6    Hilo
7    Dining
8    Entertainment, days at-sea, Ensenada, & home
 
 
 
 

Honolulu

This was our longest day in port, arriving at 7 AM and leaving at 11 PM.  Again we were at a dock and leaving and re-boarding were no problem.  We had signed up for a Visit to the USS Arizona Memorial and city tour.  The bus took us through some of Honolulu on our way to Pearl Harbor.  One of the stops was the Punchbowl National Cemetary where many of the Pearl Harbor victims are burried.
 

This is the Punchbowl National Cemetery in Honolulu.  There are 776 victims of the Pearl Harbor attack burried here.
	The Honolulu Memorial was built to honor all the heros buried here.

We arrived at the USS Arizona Memorial where we each had to enter the Visitor Center and pick up our own ticket from a National Monument Ranger.  This gave us a tour number. 
 

After picking up our tickets, we had a few minutes to look around before re-boarding the bus.  One of the things we saw was this magnificient mural painted to honor the USS Arizona and all her men.

After we picked up our tickets, the bus driver said there was over a 2 hour wait for our time and had us re-board the bus.  He gave us the first half our our city tour and then returned us to the memorial where we had time to look at a few of the displays before they called our tour.  When they call your tour number, you go the the theater and see a 20 minute video of the events of December 7, 1941.  From the theater you exit to the dock and a Navy launch takes you to the memorial.
 

	We are approaching the memorial on the US Navy launch.
There are several parts of the Arizona which extend above water.  This cut off gun turrett is one of them.
	Even though the Arizona was sunk over 66 years ago, she is still leaking oil, as shown by these oil slicks.  The ranger said she still loses about a quart a day.
This wall at the end of the memorial lists the name and rank of every victim of the attack.
	You can see the wreckage just under water.
The flag is seen here by looking straight up at the center of the memorial.
	After about 15 minutes, our group leaves the memorial and returns to the launch.

The whole experience was very moving.  Our only disapointment was that there was not enough time at the memorial to see the museum, the book store and all the relics.  Another hour would have been wonderful. 
We  re-boarded the bus and completed our tour of Honolulu.  We were not very impressed with Honolulu.  It was a dense city with many hi-rise buildings and very heavy traffic.
 

This is the only royal palace in the United States.    It belonged to King Kamehameha.
	Here is a statue of King Kamehameha just across the street from the palace.

We reboarded the ship and called Rosemarie's grandaughter, Tanya, who lives in Honolulu, (at least for about two more weeks).  She and her boyfriend, Jordan, met us at the ship, presented us with beautiful flower leis, and took us to the highlights of Honolulu - Hilo Hattie's and Walmart!  A quick trip to Waikiki was followed by dinner at Bubba Gumps, a trendy hamburger and fish restuarant.  This was our only dinner off the ship during the cruise.  They took us back to the ship, and we went to the evening show in the Princess Theater.
 

Rosemarie's granddaughter Tanya and her boyfriend Jordan picked us up at the ship.  Here they pose with Rosemarie.
	One of the places they took us was to Waikiki Beach.  For all the publicity, I expected more.