Looking back at the tour page, I can see this tour does not include the ferry to the USS Arizona; however, this was not clear at the time of booking and three other parties we ran into with this same experience also had the same issue. That’s three couples that happened to visit on the same day at the same TIME that we did who were misled by this tour. Statistically, that suggests this is a major issue with the advertisement of this experience.
These three other parties had also attempted to receive a refund and were declined…as such, we didn’t bother trying and at least took advantage of the VR portion of this tour. It was a cool diversion for 7 minutes and is the reason for the second star, but this alone is not worth the full price. We didn’t bother with the audio tour as the free museums were fantastic on their own. There’s probably a case to be made with the Better Business Bureau here regarding the advertisement of this experience—I still may raise a case once we’re home.
Though we did eventually make it to the USS Arizona, it came after waiting two hours in an unshaded standby line with several other frustrated customers. The reservation system on recreation.gov is frustrating, confusing, and seems like yet another corner-cutting measure hiding behind the guise of COVID safety. This excursion exists specifically to take advantage of customers that don’t know any better and will make me steer clear of any Viator tours in the future.
Be sure to visit Pearl Harbor when in Oahu—but do NOT take advantage of any added experiences and be on the recreation.gov site exactly at 3pm the day before your visit to make your best attempt at reserving the USS Arizona ferry.