October 11, 2024 Honolulu Day 1

October 12, 2024

We were out on the Deck 5 bow just after 6 a.m. for the ship’s sail into Honolulu harbour. There was a bit of cloud at 6 a.m. with a temperature at 24°C. It was still dark but the eastern sky was colourful. We could see Diamond Head in the distance as the ship slowly approached its pier passing the moored Royal Caribbean ship, Ovation of the Seas. We ate breakfast in the Deck 9 Lido Market (cafeteria) finishing in plenty of time to walk further back to the Sea View pool area then climb to Deck 10 balcony. There, at 7 a.m., the Hawaiian ambassadors presented a Sunrise Hawaiian Blessing.

The ship was cleared before 8 a.m. for passengers to disembark. People leaving the ship for the first hour were each given white & dark wine coloured flower leis by ship’s officers on pier 10/11. We had over an hour before our tour started so walked along Ala Moana Bvld 1.5 km in the morning sun before returning to the cruise terminal which is beside the Aloha tower.

Our group tour today, Pearl Harbor & USS Missouri, met in the cruise terminal at 9:15 a.m. A couple of days ago we were sent a letter explaining that no backpacks, purses, etc, larger than a cellphone case were allowed inside the Pearl Harbour base. They could be placed in lockers at the site, but access to the lockers could face lineups of 90 minutes. When we looked it may have been a 5 minute line.

Our tour coach took 20 minute for the trip to Pearl Harbour for self-guided tours of the Pearl Harbour Visitors Center, USS Arizona Memorial site and the USS Missouri battleship. They are part of the National Parks Service, but situated on the Pearl Harbour Naval base. We toured the Exhibit Galleries “Road to War” and “Attack” and stand in a standby line to take the ferry out to the USS Arizona Memorial - if there was room after the people with advance tickets were seated in the ferry. There was also a submarine museum, but it was an extra cost which included a self guided tour of the submarine 287 USS Bowfin floating on the water beside the museum.

The Road to War panels explained the history of Japan and its expansion into Manchu, a north eastern area of China, and other parts of Southeast Asia in the 1930s and 1940s. Attack explained how the Japanese succeeded in a surprise attack on Pearl Harbour in two waves of Japanese planes just after 7 a.m. and just after 9 a.m. and five support mini submarines early on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941. There was a 23 minute film with historic images and people recalling being at Pearl Harbour that day. The group spent about 90 minutes there before taking the coach ride over to Ford Island, also on the naval base to the USS Missouri battleship. It was on its main deck on September 2, 1945 that Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces. The documents were signed by three Japanese officials, General Douglas MacArthur and about 20 other officers representing Commonwealth countries, the US and Europe. There is also a replica flag of the one flown in Tokyo Bay in 1854 when the American Navy Commodore Matthew Perry signed a friendship treaty with Japan to open trade. The flag is on the starboard side of the ship, the stars are facing to the front of the ship, on the right hand side. The stars of an American flag must always be toward the bow of the ship. The USS Missouri was not launched until 1943, but President Harry S. Truman was from Missouri and insisted that the ship with that name be used in the surrender ceremony. We took a 35 minute tour of the main deck and were shown the area where a Kamikaze pilot struck the warship. The 16 inch guns at the bow and stern of the ship were impressive. We were allowed to tour the upper decks on our own and the lower deck where the sailors lived and ate. We saw their dorms with several banks of three high bunks and the mess halls for the different ranks. The captain and senior officers had small private rooms, a nicer cafeteria and better furniture in their lounge. The two hours were enough to see the Missouri with enough time to indulge in pineapple flavoured whipped self serve ice cream which we remembered enjoying at the Dole pineapple plantation on our last visit to Hawai’i.

We returned to the ship mid afternoon with enough time to walk a few blocks to a Starbucks to use their Wi-Fi to post the blogs for the past six days. We also enjoyed cold frappicinoes. The temperature was close to 30°C this afternoon.

We were back in time for 5 p.m. dinner and were joined by Jo and Mike. Graham and Suzanne made it just before the dining room doors closed at 5:20 p.m.

Tonight’s entertainment was a local group of 11 performers. Five were playing ukuleles, guitar, drums and singing Hawaiian music while there were six hula dancers.

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