Arizona Memorial Honolulu, Hawaii

Posted on Sunday, March 06, 2011

On December 7th, 1941, The USS Arizona was attacked by the Japanese in Pearl Harbor, beginning World War II. The ship burned for two days in the harbor before finally sinking, making it the final resting place of 1,102 sailors out of the 1,177 that were killed. In 1962, the site was dedicated as a memorial to commemorate the sailors that were lost.

Construction to begin building the ship was authorized by Congress on March 4th, 1913. The vessel was named Arizona for the 48th state, which was added to the union on Valentine’s Day of 1912, and the keel was laid on March 16th, 1914 in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Sponsored by the daughter of W. W. Ross, Esther Ross, the Arizona was launched on June 19th, 1915. On October 17th, 1916, she was commissioned in her builder’s yard with Captain John D. McDonald at her helm.

The United States Navy enlisted Alfred Preis, a Honolulu architect, to design the USS Arizona Memorial. The specified that it be in some form of a bridge that would float above the wreckage of the Arizona, and that it must accommodate at least 200 people. The 184-foot national memorial has two peaks at either end and comes together in the middle in a sort of ‘sagging’ shape. The design was initially called a "squashed milk carton" by critics. Preis explained his design as, "Wherein the structure sags in the center but stands strong and vigorous at the ends, expresses initial defeat and ultimate victory."

At the end of World War II, the wrecked superstructure was removed, and efforts to erect a memorial began. In 1949, the Pacific War Memorial Commission, or PWMC, was made to build a permanent site in Hawaii. A temporary memorial site was erected above the ship’s deckhouse. In 1951 and 1952, Admiral Arthur Radord requested funds to build the memorial, but the requests were denied due to budget constraints during the Korean War. During the entirety of the 1950s, there were disscussions of doing away with the Arizona altogether. But, in 1958, President Eisenhower approved the creation. The USS Arizona Memorial was built in 1961, and was officially dedicated on May 30th, 1962.

The Arizona Memorial is only accessible by boat, and can hold 200 visitors at a time. Over 1 million people visit it annually. The main parts of the memorial are the entry, shrine, and assembly room. In the central assembly room, there are seven big, open windows on the walls and ceiling, meant to stand for the date the attack on the ship occurred. There is also an opening in the floor of the memorial that looks down on the sunken decks of the ship. Here, visitors come to pay there respects and, in honor of the sailors that lost their lives, toss flowers into the water.

The USS Arizona Memorial is located in Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. You can visit the memorial Monday through Sunday between 7 am and 5 pm. To visit, it is free of charge, and you are shown a movie on the history, and given access to the museums and the actual memorial site itself.

Maui, The Island of Natural Wonders

Posted on Friday, February 19, 2010

Maui...close your eyes and picture this.  A towering waterfall cascading down a lush canyon wall. A white sand beach with the sparkling blue Pacific beyond. A giant humpback whale breaching near a catamaran's bow.  A serene sunrise over a volcano's immense crater.  A fire-red sunset glowing over an ancient tropical island.  The memories last a lifetime.

Browse through our Hawaii tour and vacation packages.

NCL Hawaii Cruise

Posted on Thursday, December 24, 2009

Are booked on an NCL Hawaii Cruise?

These adventures are sure to make your NCL America cruise vacation even more incredible.  They are time to fit in perfectly with your hotel stay and ship schedule in Honolulu before or after your cruise.  When you book your tours through NCL America, we’ll pick you up, drop you off, arrange for your luggage to be there when you arrive and more.

We suggest booking prior to your cruise, as some shore excursions do sell out.

PEARL HARBOR & HONOLULU CITY TOUR

Learning can be fun and inspirational too.  Check out the history of Hawaii from it’s simple beginnings to its complex role during World War II.

GRAND CIRCLE ISLAND TOUR

120 miles of absolute grandness includes Diamond Head crater, the spouting Blow Hole, North Shore’s Waimea Bay, Sunset Beach, the Banzai Pipeline and more.

CIRQUE HAWAII

The aerial Acrobatics of the more than 30 performers from around the world are nothing short of jaw-dropping.  So go ahead – run off and join the Cirque.

OAHU GOLF

Brag about the views, if not your score.  Nestled at the foot of historic Pali Lookout, the Ko’olau Golf Club looks out over the Pacific and the 2000-foot cliffs of Ko’olau Range.

HAWAIIAN WATERFALL HIKING ADVENTURE

Go take a hike – way into the Ko’olau Mountains to an incredible rainforest world complete with magical waterfall.

O’AHU DELUXE HELICOPTER

See Hawaii’s awesome rainforests, beaches, Pearl Harbor, Battleship Row, Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery, Diamond Head Crater and Sacred Falls from a different perspective.

POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER

It’s a day-long reality adventure unlike any other.  Take a canoe ride past island villages.  Have dinner at the Ambassador Buffet.  Then enjoy a nighttime show that includes over 100 performers and a volcanic eruption.

USS MISSOURI, ARIZONA MEMORIAL & PEARL HARBOR

Pay your respects at Pearl Harbor’s Arizona Memorial and Visitor Center.  Tour the battleship USS Missouri.  Drive through historic downtown Honolulu and see the Punchbowl National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Popular Beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii

Posted on Sunday, October 11, 2009

The beaches of this magnificent island run the range from white to black – and are all bounded by beautiful emerald seas that offer a full variety of watersports.

Green Sand Beach – If you’re looking for something adventurous, try a 5-mile round-trip hike across various terrains to see this rare, green-sand beach. Because of its relatively remote location at the very southern tip of the island and the hike it takes to get there, this beach is usually less crowded than others.

Hapuna Beach – One of the best white-sand beaches on the island, Hapuna is great for snorkeling, swimming, surfing, and body boarding. It’s about 1 mile long, and it can get a bit crowded on weekends.

Punaluu Beach – If you want to see a black-sand beach, this is your spot. The rich, dark sand glistens in the sun, giving it an otherworldly feel. An if the black sand gets too hot, just scoop up the beach and sit underneath the many palm trees. Huge green sea turtles often lumber ashore to sun themselves there.

Maui Island Attractions

Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Maui is known for taking a trip up Haleakala, attending Luau's and enjoying the beaches, but here are some other island attractions you might not be aware of.

Bailey House Museum -This historical treasure is one of the earliest structures built by the missionaries. Once a women’s seminary, the building now contains furnishings from the mid- to late-1800s, ancient Hawaiian artifacts, an art gallery, a gift shop and a 100-year-old dugout canoe.

Waimoku Falls – Part of Haleakala National Park, this waterfall is Maui’s largest. The area includes the pools of Oheo Gulch.

Tedeschi Vineyards – The product line at this vineyard includes pineapple wine, as well as champagne and traditional reds and blushes made from grapes. Free samples are offered in the tasting room (valid ID required) – a structure that was built in the 1880s and served as a vacation home of the last male monarch of Hawaii, King Kekaulike. Free tours are offered daily.  
 
Maui Ocean Center – This aquarium was built to highlight the island’s unusual sea life. Indoor and outdoor exhibits include a walkthrough tunnel that allows you to get nose-to-nose with sharks and a coral reef display the re-creates the scenery beneath the ocean’s surface.

Pacific Whale Foundation – This company offers boat tours from both Lahaina and Maalaea harbors with more than a dozen outings per day during the whale season. The nonprofit organization uses the funds from the tours in its research efforts. The foundation also offers a wild dolphin excursion to Lanai, which operates year-round from Lahaina and it conducts snorkeling outings to Molokini.