This was a 7-hour tour. About a third of the time we were on a double decker bus which took us to get to Pearl Harbor but also past historical places. Our bus driver/tour guide had a lot of knowledge and talked about places as we rode past. Unfortunately, with wind in our ears and trucks driving by, the poor sound system
meant that we didn't hear what she said except when she parked the bus and we got off for a few minutes.
The other 2/3 of the day weWhen we were at Pearl Harbor, where we learned that our guide couldn't join us. The line for the Arizona was long so she told us we would get in but that we should go to the Missouri first. We thought she told us to go to the line for the Arizona at 11:30. At 11, when we were well below the main deck of the Missouri, we received a text from her saying that we should go to the Arizona right away because a cruise ship had arrived. By the time we got off the Missouri and returned on the bus to the Arizona line, it was just after 11:30. By 1PM we were the next group to take the boat to the Arizona.
Several things need to be fixed on this tour:
1. The sound system on the bus needs to be enhanced or, better yet, they need to use a regular bus. Sound will be way better and all will see what way to look to see things the guide is pointing out.
2. Before people head into Pearl Harbor, the guide needs to gather the tourists together and explain that she won't be with them, tell them the time they should be in line with a decent chance to get in, tell them there is no guarantee they will get the Arizona, and tell them if the Arizona is what they came for, that is where they should go first. This could be done while they're off the bus at the statue and would save them from having a lot of angry customers!
One thing went well:
1. The driver arranged for people to return to the city on a later tour bus. Fortunately, our family had no other plans for that day so we did get to the Arizona. Several did not.
We arranged for this tour before going to Hawaii. We didn't realize that the tour didn't provide us with a ticket to the Arizona at a specific time. The information about the tour may have mentioned that - we didn't even know it was a possibility. Those tickets are available somehow so check the possibilities. It would save you waiting in line for 1 1/2 - 3 hours.
To us this ticket was overpriced: the first third we couldn't hear, the rest of the time the tour guide couldn't be with us so we were paying for a bus to vet to Pearl Harbor. We could have paid an Uber driver to do that.