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Euro and USD are not legal tender in Israel and won't be accepted anywhere. But if you want to tip a tour guide or the like, they'll usually be happy to take Euro. Depending on what you want to do, there is a good you won't need any paper Shekels at all. Credit card acceptance in Israel is nearly universal since the pandemic. Cash might be needed only as a backup and in case you want to take a Taxi maybe (they have an annoying tendency to have their credit card terminals "broken"). As said you can always withdraw some from an ATM.

A few words on the ship - Yes, the Rhapsody is old. The styling is quite dated (lots of brown leather and wood paneling), but on the other hand everything is clean and to me at least seemed to be in near-pristine condition. So in a sense, it was like a 90s time capsule, which is kind of cool, and beautiful in its own way. Compared to the Celebrity Constellation (which I sailed on a few months before the pandemic), while Connie is a few years newer, it definitely felt shabbier than the Rhapsody. The fact that the Rhapsody only recently had a dry dock probably helped. Yes, the Rhapsody is small. Vision class doesn’t have a lot of public spaces or things to do. There’s a pool, the solarium, three lounges, two bars, the rock climbing wall, the casino, a few shops and that’s pretty much it. However the ship being compact was also nice, since I could easily use the stairs to get to places. The centrum, which cuts from deck 4 all the way up to the Viking Crown lounge at deck 10 is pretty nice since you can see what’s going on while being on most of the ship’s decks, but I still think I prefer a Royal Promenade more. The ship sailed full. I think that the vast majority of passengers were Israeli, but there were also a sizable number of Cypriots and British expats who boarded the ship in Limassol, and the odd Americans or other nationalities. There were of course a lot of children, since it is the summer vacation. While definitely busy, the ship didn’t feel overcrowded to me, especially after the first day once people found their flow. I didn’t have any problem finding a seat in a lounge or a deck chair in the Solarium anytime I wanted to. The main pool deck was very busy though, and the hot tubs in Solarium were busy too but usually not the Solarium pool (children were not allowed to use the pool in the Solarium, but they were allowed into the hot tubs and to eat at the Park Cafe). Thankfully chair hogging didn’t seem like something that was happening. Royal Caribbean really made a big effort to adapt to this crowd. All signage and written material was in English and Hebrew. Announcements were made in English and Hebrew, and important announcements also in Greek. Israeli music was playing in the Centrum, and movies on the outdoor screen had Hebrew subtitles. The guest services staff was bolstered by Hebrew-speaking representatives from Sun-O-Rama, including an assistant cruise director. The dining staff was assisted by representatives from the Kosher supervision company (more on that later). Special arrangements were made ahead of the Jewish Sabbath, to allow those who observe the religious practices to do so, such as a Shabbat Elevator. One of the conference rooms was designated as a Synagogue, and a Minyan was organized on Friday evening and every morning.

A few pictures from the first sail-away. It was really special for me, to finally sail from the port I’ve only looked at from the outside for so many years. The terminal area - you can see the closed permanent terminal in the front of the picture, and the hangar containing the temporary one in the back: Can't have a sail-away without a fruity drink! In this case, a tropical crush mocktail: Pushing away from the quay: And off we go into the sea:

Stateroom My cabin was room 2108, a regular oceanview stateroom in the aft left side of deck 2. It can sleep up to 4 people using two pull-down beds, but as I was solo I stayed there by myself. Other than the beds, the room had a desk with a chair, a couch that could sit 2, a small wall-mounted TV (with its ports accessible!), and ample storage space (many drawers and hanging space in the closet, but almost no shelving). There was no refrigerator - I think those are only available in JS and above in the Vision class ships. Everything was clean and in perfect working order. Upon arriving, the desk had my shore excursion tickets, a small container of alco-gel, a cruise compass in English for day 1, and a couple of brochures in Hebrew explaining about the SeaPass card and its’ functions, about Royal Caribbean itself, some policies, the ship’s facilities, gratuities, etc. I pre-booked a soft octopus travel set as a gift to take with me through the cruise planner, but apparently that wasn’t available and it was automatically refunded as OBC later that day. The cabin was booked as an Oceanview GTY, which was assigned a few days after the final payment due date. Normally I wouldn’t bother with oceanviews (I’m more of either Interior or Balcony room kind of guy), and I would always select my own room. In this case, I decided that the terrible heat and humidity that are the defining marks of East Med summers would limit the utility of a balcony, and paying the large premium for that wouldn’t make sense (especially since the single supplement was 100%). However an Oceanview GTY cost the same as selecting an Interior, and after looking through the deck plans I decided that any of the oceanview rooms would be acceptable for me - and so went for it. I ended up really enjoying the room, especially the window. Deck 2 is low and close to the water level, so it was fun to watch the waves almost at eye level - and the natural light was good of course. It reminded me a bit of the cove balconies in Carnival’s Dream and Vista classes. The room was close to the mid-ship elevators, and reasonably quiet, as in the deck above there were only other guest staterooms and crew cabins in the deck below. There was a little bit of engine vibration felt, but not something that really bothered me. The noise isolation in general however wasn’t that great, and I could hear talking in the corridor or in the adjacent rooms. Since I was alone, I’ve asked the stateroom attendant to separate the beds so I could have a better view of the window when sitting in bed or on the couch, which he did. Speaking of the stateroom attendant - he was OK. Did what was expected and no more. Hard to blame him though, considering that each attendant was responsible for 18 cabins, and most of them completely full to capacity.

Embarkation Day OK, now for the meat of it. The port of Haifa has one great thing going for it - it is as centrally located as it can possibly get. The entrance to the passenger terminal is right in the middle of downtown, sharing the square with the central railway station and right next to a BRT stop and the bottom station of the Carmelit. I had the 11:30 check-in slot reserved (the earliest possible), so I left the hotel just before 11:00 and took the BRT for two stops, leaving at the Haifa Center Railway stop. The square was busy with debarking passengers, and I made my way around them to the luggage drop off point. It was outside the port gate, just to the right side of the railway station - so it could be directly accessed by car and taxi. There was no queue, and there was a quick check of the SetSail Pass on the phone and of my passport. After which a security sticker was placed on the passport and I could hand my luggage to the porters. The port gates were not yet open, so I went off to have a quick coffee at a nearby cafe. After I came back, a queue was already formed. The gate opened at 11:30 exactly. The process was to climb the bridge leading to the gate (there is also an elevator, but there was a long queue to use it), get to the now closed terminal, bypass it and go down on a ramp to the quay. Next there was a walk of several hundred meters until the security tent. This overall took about 10-15 minutes, and as the day was relatively less hot it was OK, and I enjoyed walking through the port areas. There were also golf carts available to assist people with limited mobility and several water stations along the way. After the usual security checks of hand luggage, there was another short walk into the hangar in which the temporary terminal was set up. This consisted of several tents erected inside the hangar, and were thankfully air conditioned. First stop inside was the check-in. The queue wasn’t very long but it moved slowly - I waited about 20 minutes. There was a separate area for Suite guests and Pinnacle members. Check in itself was very fast for me since I did all of the steps in the app, but I suspect most didn’t, so each took time. I had to show my negative COVID test, had my passport scanned, a security photo taken and was given my SeaPass card. After that it was exit passport control, which went smoothly. As in Ben Gurion airport, you are given an immigration slip in lieu of a passport stamp, which you have to keep until boarding the ship. Next, I had to walk through the duty free shop and exit the hangar. It was not allowed to walk the final distance to the ship itself - it was a very quick ride in a shuttle minibus which deposited me right at the gangway. Ship’s security checks the immigration slip and scans the SeaPass card - and I’m on vacation! So it wasn’t TOO bad, but also not as smooth as you'd expect in proper cruise terminals. Indeed - quite a bit of walking in the sun, but the mood was festive, and it was also an unusual and interesting process. After boarding I went to the Solarium to take a dip in the pool, and relax a bit. Had a quick lunch in the Park Cafe, and then went to explore the ship and visit the muster station to check-in there. Rooms were ready at 14:00 exactly, but it took some more time for the luggage to arrive. Mine was actually placed next to the wrong stateroom, but thankfully its occupants were kind enough to move it next to mine and let me know.

Pre Cruise (Continued) For some reason I didn’t sleep very well, and woke up very early - at 05:00 or so. Since I couldn’t get back to sleep I decided to make the best of it and go for an early breakfast. The hotel does not serve breakfast, and instead sells discounted vouchers for having breakfast in several of the German Colony’s cafes and restaurants. I opted out of this option and took the Carmelit, Haifa’s quirky underground funicular railway to the Carmel Center. (Fun fact, the Carmelit is the only underground railway in Israel, at least until the Tel Aviv light rail opens later this year; and it was once the Guinness world record holder for being the shortest underground railway in the world). 8 minutes after departing the downtown station I was in the Carmel Center, and I went to Gal’s Bakery - a real institution. Haifa absorbed a lot of Jewish immigration from Central Europe in the 1920s and 30s, and a fortunate side effect was the development of a strong pastry culture. Gal’s is a really famous place, and as a favorite Israeli pastime for Friday mornings is to have a long sit down at a cafe to start off the weekend, it can be hard to get in on Fridays. But the pastries are really second to none. Getting there super early meant that I could easily get a table in their garden, and it wasn’t too hot yet. I enjoyed a berry tart and some tea (which cost around ILS 40 together, don’t remember exactly how much). As is customary with “institutions”, service is indifferent, bordering on hostile. In the meanwhile, the Rhapsody was already docked and I could get this distant picture of her from the Luis Promenade, next to the top entrance to the Baha’i Gardens - so close! After that, I rode back to the hotel and rested a bit until it was time to check out and go to the port. P.S: Very near the entrance to the cruise terminal there is another place called Shany Bakery. Even if just docking in Haifa as a port of call try to drop in there on the way back and try a slice of their Apple-Cherry cake - it is really something else...

Some food shots from the dinner - Aperitif - "Fontana di Trevi": Floral sauvignon blanc, lychee syrup, lemon juice, prosecco and caramelized apple (ILS 29): Appetizer - "Mozzarella Burrata": Roast tomato, olives, confit garlic, artichokes, basil, oregano, pine nuts, fresh chili and balsamic reduction (ILS 67): Main - "Linguine di Manzo": Short ribs braised in beef and tomato stock, spinach, roast mushroom, pine nuts and Parmesan shavings (ILS 86) Dessert - Apple financier cake with hazelnut crumble, salted caramel sauce, and vanilla ice cream (ILS 44): Another dessert - special for the fact that it was the 15th of the Hebrew month of Av, which is kind of a Jewish Valentine's Day. Off the menu, I think it was peach sorbet with berry compote (on the house): After an extremely satisfying dinner, rode the BRT back to the hotel and enjoyed the night view from the rooftop terrace:

Pre-Cruise (Continued) After a quick lunch, I did another favorite pastime - walking the stairs of Haifa. Being a city that is built on the steep slopes of Mt. Carmel, there are large elevation differences between its’ neighborhoods. A result is that many streets are in fact public stairs that offer pedestrian shortcuts between the paved roads that have to twist and turn to cover the slopes. Years ago the city recognized their touristic potential, and marked several stair trails descending from the Carmel Center to the downtown. Sadly, this wasn’t maintained very well and the signage faded and/or disappeared over time, making the trails hard to follow. But this year, the city decided to start a renewal, with the two top sections of stairs enhanced and converted into an outdoor art exhibition. Some of the works were really good and integrated into the environment in interesting ways. View of the Port's passenger pier from the top - the MSC Lirica and Mano Maretime's (a local Israeli cruise line) Crown Iris can be seen: After that, I got back to the Hotel and prepared for dinner. I made reservations at Raffaello, an Italian restaurant which I used to go back to at the time with my team at work in the nearby industrial park to celebrate occasions, and I remembered it as really good. I took the BRT from outside the hotel to the Hof Ha-Carmel area, and then walked to the pretty funky commercial center it is housed in. Thankfully, it survived the pandemic, and I’m happy to report that it is still serving incredible food with impeccable service (bonus food shots in the next post).

Pre-Cruise While there was no strict need to get to Haifa early, I still opted to go a day early. For me, arriving at the departure port a day or more before is an inherent part of a cruising vacation and a way to ease into vacation mode and start the actual cruise fresh. Also - having lived in Haifa for a few years some time back, I really like this city and always happy to spend time there. A second particular reason was that the sailing was to depart on a Friday, and due to engineering works there are no trains from the center of the country to its north on weekends. I could have taken a bus of course, but the train is so much more comfortable. I didn’t want to drive, as it is quite far for me to do alone, and long term parking in Haifa’s downtown is very problematic (well, if you prefer to find your car in one piece after returning, that is). Royal Caribbean’s local agent Sun-O-Rama did offer some arrangement to park for the week at a nearby shopping mall at the cost of ILS 60 per day - which was a bit steep to my taste, and I preferred not to drive anyway. So on Thursday morning I got to the Jerusalem Central Station, and took the train to Tel Aviv and then Haifa, but not before getting a quick breakfast of Bureka Treat and Coffee at the Aroma branch there: I always find the Jerusalem terminal of the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem high speed line impressive; its platforms are quite deep - 70m below street level, and it is interesting to descend to them - though the express elevators or three flights of seemingly never ending escalators. After arriving in Haifa, I checked into the Hotel. I’ve booked one night at the Schumacher boutique hotel in the German Colony area of Haifa, not too far from the port. A very nice hotel overall, with an awesome rooftop terrace with views to the Baha’i Gardens, sort of the City’s symbol. Not very private in the room though. It wasn’t my first choice, but it is the peak season, and many hotels wouldn’t accept a booking for just one night on the weekend - and as said, it is a nice hotel anyway. The main activity I planned for the day was going to the Israel Railways museum, which is one of my favorite places. A festival was going on to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the introduction of the first Diesel locomotive to the country’s railways. The museum staff actually threw a proper birthday party for the locomotive, with goodie bags for the children and a magnet photographer. The birthday boy itself was restored and re-painted at its’ original livery of gray and red: Alongside, locomotive #107 painted in the bright blue and yellow livery adopted after the 1985 HaBonim disaster: And locomotive #303, which was abandoned in the Sinai peninsula after the Six Days War and subsequently looted, restored to its original Egyptian Railways livery: There were also guided tours of the museum’s collection offered. While small, and doesn’t really hold a candle to the likes of the museums in York or Nuremberg, this is a really nice railway museum. Although if I had to have some criticism, it is that it focuses too much of the past of the Railways in Palestine/Land of Israel - under the rule of the Ottomans, British and the early years of the modern State of Israel, and doesn’t showcase the massive renaissance that rail travel in Israel is undergoing in the last 25 years. The icing on the cake was the special event train operated from Haifa Center station, to the museum’s premises in the historical Haifa East station, which was one of the starting points of the famous Hejaz Railway, but is no longer being used as an active passenger station. The short ride went right next to the port area and offered some view of the MSC Lirica docked:

Just back from this 6 night Greek Isles cruise on the Rhapsody of the Seas which departed on August 12th - sailing from Haifa, Israel as the home port (the second one ever for Royal) and interporting in Limassol, Cyprus - and wanted to share a brief review about my experience. Royal Caribbean has been meaning to enter the Israeli market for a few years now, but the pandemic delayed that. Last year was supposed to be the debut, with the Odyssey of the Seas starting its inaugural season out of Haifa as the world’s first all-vaccinated sailing, but for various reasons this fell through in the 11th hour. Nevertheless, Royal still continued, and earlier this year it was announced that the Rhapsody of the Seas will sail from Haifa for a three month season (August to October), doing Greek Island cruises of varying lengths. While the Rhapsody is not the crowning gem of Royal Caribbean's fleet, I found the opportunity to take a cruise directly out of my country without any flying really exciting - and even more so considering the madhouse that is airports in Europe this year (and Tel Aviv’s airport is no exception). I therefore booked the August 12th sailing in April, directly with Royal Caribbean. The run-up to the cruise wasn’t a completely smooth one. Around May, just before the season was due to start (with MSC’s Lirica beginning to interport in Haifa) an inspection discovered that the Port of Haifa’s passenger terminal has structural flaws, which of course necessitated its immediate closure. The port authorities worked to very quickly set up a temporary terminal inside a nearby hangar. Complaints about the inadequacy of the facility and long walks in the sun carrying luggage quickly surfaced in Israeli social media groups. Those died down overtime, but still I was dreading the experience a bit. More importantly, a little over two weeks before the sailing I got an email stating that due to an “inventory error”, the sailing (and all the other August sailings) was overbooked, and asking for volunteers that would cancel their booking in exchange for a full refund and 50% FCC (and with an implied threat, that if after this “special offer” expired there would still be oversold cabins, those will be canceled unilaterally). This struck me as quite strange, but I wasn’t particularly worried at that point since I had a cabin assigned already. But a few days later, I got another email that stated that the sailing is still overbooked, and improved the offer to 100% FCC or a price-protected move to another sailing out of Haifa - this year or in 2023). Now, I started to worry, as this meant that the severity of the problem was large, and there was no transparency as to who’s booking exactly is oversold, and how much I was at risk. In other circumstances, I would have jumped at the offer, but I had various reasons why I wanted to go at that particular week (and if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have booked a cruise in the highest of the high season). The offer’s deadline was also further extended, to less than a week before the sailing date. It was then extended again, such that I was sure I was able to go only 3 days prior to sailing. At the end, according to the sailing’s WA group, many cabin assignments were changed (not mine, though) and at least a few people did end up being involuntarily ejected from the sailing all together and were moved to the September 1st one. So for me at least, all’s well that ends well, but still - not a desirable situation to be in instead of getting into a vacation mood.

Yes, you can buy at the station just before traveling. Seat reservations are not possible, and tickets can't run out, so there is no benefit to pre-purchusing.

Yes, should be fine. Trains on the coastal main line (Tel Aviv - Haifa) currently operate Sunday to Thursday. I don't see any scheduled engineering works for that date, but double check a few days before at https://www.rail.co.il/en/pages/updates.aspx If that works for you, I'd try to take a train after 10:00 or so. Sunday morning is the busiest time of the week, with students, soldiers, etc traveling up north after the weekend. Happy to hear that the Embassy Hotel is taking guests again. Enjoy your trip!

Great - a middle of the week workday, no holidays in sight - a best case scenario. In this case it is really hard to do better than the train. When it runs, it is by far the fastest, most comfortable, almost the cheapest and I think the least fuss overall. The Haifa Center station is adjacent to the cruise terminal entrance. There are no direct trains from Haifa to Jerusalem yet (and won't be by November for sure), so you'll need to change at one of the Tel Aviv stations - Tel Aviv University station is probably the easiest - change in the same platform. The Jerusalem rail way station is at the city's main transportation hub and you should be able to reach your hotel from there with the light rail service (if relatively centrally located). Both the Haifa - Tel Aviv and the Tel Aviv - Jerusalem trains run at least twice hourly. The fare is ILS 27 per person. Do check closer to the date for railway construction work, although I think it is less likely in this period. If the train does not run for some reason, there is a direct bus service from Haifa to Jerusalem, though somewhat less convenient with luggage but still not too bad. Enjoy!

Can you share the date you intend to make the trip, or at least the day of the week? It matters a lot, due to Shabbat and the upcoming Autumn holidays.

Yes, if you are guest of the hotel. There are also a few large luggage lockers at the basement of the Central Bus Station, and some more in the adjacent railway station.