Remember Pearl Harbor...Again

I was still waking up well before dawn each morning and had developed a routine of sneaking onto the balcony so Katherine could keep sleeping.  We usually had cell service, even at sea, or I could use the ship's Wi-Fi.  I did so again, on this final morning, and watched the sunrise as we approached Honolulu.  Our flight was not until 3:20pm, so we wanted to make use of the day.  Rather than sit on the boat until we got kicked off at 11:00am, and sitting in the airport, we had booked a tour/transfer.  They would pick us up at the ship with our luggage, give us a short city tour, and then get us guaranteed tickets to the Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor.  After that, they would deliver us and our luggage to the airport.  Norwegian offered the exact same tour, but they would only bring you to Pearl Harbor, and did not provide the boat tickets to the Arizona.  I already wrote how we visited Pearl Harbor on the day we arrived, more than a week prior.  That had been a last-minute adjustment, made in case the government were to shut down.  We had already elected to return with this tour, which was fine, as we had been rushed the first time, and now we could watch the movie and spend more time in the museum.  

Arriving Into Honolulu Early Saturday Morning

Diamond Head at Sunrise

We had a leisurely sit-down breakfast on the ship and then disembarked around 8:00am.  Our driver/tour guide met us at 8:20 with our bags.  He had three other couples already on the tour bus, who had been picked up from various hotels in the city.  We were the last on, and we were the first dropped off, so it worked out great.  We had a short tour of the city, including sights we didn't see upon our arrival.  We saw the Royal Palace and drove up to the Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, which is also called "Arlington of the Pacific."  It is a huge military cemetery overlooking the city, in which Pearl Harbor victims and thousands of other veterans are buried.  It was quite beautiful, as were the views over the so-called "Punchbowl," which is the volcano crater in which Honolulu was built.

Last Breakfast on the Ship

Aliiolani Hale Building (Hawaii's Supreme Court) With Statue of King Kamehameha the Great

Iolani Royal Palace in Honolulu

Honolulu Built Into the "Punchbowl" Crater

Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific

Pearl Harbor was busier than during our first visit, which was surprising, as we arrived shortly after they opened.  We elected to not use our Arizona tickets, so I told a Ranger, who said they would use our seats for standby passengers, so we felt good about that.  It was another moving visit, and we're glad we returned.

Back at Pearl Harbor

USS Missouri and USS Arizona Memorial

We were dropped at the airport around 12:30pm and made our way to the lounge, where we had a farewell drink and lunch.  Our flight left on time (early actually), and we landed at Dulles around 6:30am the next morning, Sunday.  We both made up our beds and went to sleep right after they served dinner on the flight, and we both slept through breakfast and didn't wake until the pilot announced we were beginning our final descent.  It was the fastest nine-hour flight I ever had.

Honolulu Airport

Amenity Kit Had a Picture of Our Hotel on the Front

Arriving Into Dulles

The airport was quiet at that hour and getting home was as easy as ordering an Uber.  

All in all, the trip surpassed my expectations by orders of magnitude.  Certainly a fitting way to mark and celebrate our 25th anniversary, even if it was about 15 months late!