The Continental Island Hopper from Honolulu to Guam with 4 Stops

For as long as I can remember, ever since I started traveling I had wanted to take this flight.  I started planning the Round the World Trip nearly a year in advance, and everything revolved around this flight.  The Island Hopper is a flight from Honolulu to Guam which makes four to five stops (depending on the day of the week) along the way.  As much as I would have liked to stop, I just wanted to take the flight and see what it was like!

We dropped our rental car off bright and early, checked in with no problem.  The agent was, however, completely confused why we were on the four stop flight to Guam instead of the nonstop.  She decided it was “for miles or something” and let us go.  Nothing else exciting, and soon we were in a gate holding area full of quite unusual people for the flight to Majuro, Marshall Islands.

Continental 154
Honolulu, Hawaii to Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Depart 6:35 Arrive 9:44 next day, +22 hour time change
Seats 1E and 1F
Boeing 737-800, Registration N26232, Manufactured 1999

Flight was overall pretty uneventful. The crew was quite friendly, a warm breakfast of omelette and miscellaneous breakfast meats, fruits, and potatoes was served, and about five hours later we were descending into Majuro. We really really wanted to be able to go through immigration for the stamp, but no matter how hard we tried we were denied. Seems once they check everyone in to the flight, the immigration guys head out…so they weren’t there to let us out of the country again if they let us in? I don’t get it, but we got that story at every single stop. Few notes on this flight: movie is on the overhead monitors only, there were no power plugs, and it was essentially a domestic flight. Don’t expect more, and you won’t be disappointed 😉

A picture descending into the Majuro airport:

We were on the ground about 45 minutes, where our only options were to stay on the plane, or go into the gate area. No entering the country if you’re in transit, but there were a few light arts and crafts (and beer) on sale in the gate area. Fun times! Soon, it was time to head to stop #2:

Soon we were off on segment #2 from Majuro to Kwajalein Atoll.

Continental 154
Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands to Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands
Depart 10:35 Arrive 11:30
Seats 1E and 1F
Boeing 737-800, Registration N26232, Manufactured 1999

This was technically a domestic flight, and only drinks were offered. Since it was still not noon we stuck to the Coke Lights, and resisted the Continental Margaritas. Flight was up and down, and soon we were in Kwaj. Not sure why, but I didn’t manage to get any pictures here. Oh yes, I remember now: we weren’t allowed off the plane since Kwaj is primarily a US Army Installation. The funny thing here is the aircraft cleaners “recatered” the plane with 12 packs of soft drinks and some really dodgy looking ice with black stuff all over it (which the crew wisely refused to accept.) Soon, we were off again a few minutes late for our next stop.

Continental 154
Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands to Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia
Depart 12:05 Arrive 12:40 -1 hour time change
Seats 1E and 1F
Boeing 737-800, Registration N26232, Manufactured 1999

Pretty quick flight again, and we were offered some sort of scary pre-done warm ham and cheese sandwich. I suppose it could have been worse, but it definitely didn’t meet the hunger/appetising ratio for me to consume it. I did, however, accept a margarita since we’d passed the noon mark! Soon, we were in Pohnpei!

Not too much to say about Pohnpei. We tried again to get into the country and get a passport stamp, but we were shot down once again. The holding area was at least air conditioned this time, so we didn’t completely melt while waiting the 20-30 minutes to get back on the place. The gate area did have a little “snack bar” that sold the typical canned drinks and Pringles, but beyond that…nothing.

Continental 154
Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia to Chuuk/Truk, Federated States of Micronesia
Depart 13:25 Arrive 13:35 -1 hour time change
Seats 3E and 3F
Boeing 737-800, Registration N26232, Manufactured 1999

So, you probably noticed above we were in different seats. The microphone in the gate area cracked our (badly pronounced) names, and we were asked if we would switch seats. It wasn’t a request so much as telling us we were going to. I would think that as paying business class passengers (also Continental Platinum members) we’d be the last folks they would ask, but there was no arguing. They had decided to relocate a disabled passenger from coach to our seats, and relocate us a few rows back. No big deal really, but the way they handled it was far from professional. Flight to Chuuk was quick and margarita-fueled, and soon we were at our last stop before Guam.

Approaching Chuuk:

Welcome to Chuuk!

After Chuuk, we were absolutely exhausted and very ready for the last flight!

Continental 154
Chuuk/Truk, Federated States of Micronesia to Guam
Depart 14:25 Arrive 15:55
Seats 3E and 3F
Boeing 737-800, Registration N26232, Manufactured 1999

Another sandwich was offered on this flight, but alas I had to pass on more margaritas since I had to drive on Guam…and being part of the United States I didn’t want to risk any black marks on my driving record. The flight went quickly, despite well over 12 hours of flight time the crew was professional, friendly, and awesome to the end, and it was a fantastic trip overall!

I’m sure I’ve missed lots of little details, but honestly after 5 segments in 12+ hours some things just blur together no matter how much you’re enjoying it! I’ll include one final picture that I can’t quite determine which island it was from.