concerned cruiser

Sailing on the Thompson Spirit from Turkey to Israel 11th May I am a bit bothered about touring Israel is it safe:(:(

Sailing on the Thompson Spirit from Turkey to Israel 11th May I am a bit bothered about touring Israel is it safe:(:(

I think if there were concerns about passenger safety Thomson wouldn't take you. And if there is Foreign Office advice against travelling to any part of the world, they most definitely won't.

the main fco warning at the moment is using public transport, the ship has plenty of tours, they do a talk about things in isreal on the sea day before you go, if the situation there changes the ship will stop going there

Just returned from our cruise on the Thomson Spirit. We visited Israel, the first day Jerusalem and Bethlehem with Israel Guided Tours and the second day Masada and the Dead sea with Thomson excursion (as not enough numbers to use Israel Guided Tours, a minimum of 6 required). Never felt frightened or in any way vulnerable when travelling to, from and around the area. So much so I would consider visiting for a longer period of time and stay in Jerusalem.

Just returned from our cruise on the Thomson Spirit. We visited Israel, the first day Jerusalem and Bethlehem with Israel Guided Tours and the second day Masada and the Dead sea with Thomson excursion (as not enough numbers to use Israel Guided Tours, a minimum of 6 required). Never felt frightened or in any way vulnerable when travelling to, from and around the area. So much so I would consider visiting for a longer period of time and stay in Jerusalem.

That's good to hear - I'm on this cruise in July. I'll only be doing the Thomson tours, but haven't decided which to do yet. Would you recommend the ones you went on?

Yes. My husband and I were very happy with the excursions we did on both days. I think the excursions offered are a mixture of what we did in various ways plus Nazareth and Galilee or Tel Aviv. My parish priest recommended Masada and Dead Sea and I am glad he did. Was always going to do Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Excursions are never that cheap but Israel definitely the place to book with a company or Thomson when it is your first time.

Hope that helps.

We took a ship excursion believing this to be the safest option and not once did we feel uncomfortable.

It is a wonderful place to visit and the current warnings are only surrounding public transport. What we did find interesting were the huge walls of which the guide made no comment