Just booked the 11 day Holy Land Cruise

[Bocadude85]

Has any one done this cruise? How was it?

[keystoneboarder]

Israel was my favorite. I recommend the overnight shore excursions. It's pricy but worth it. Masada and the Dead Sea were amazing.

[jdvmd]

This is on my bucket list! Sounds like an amazing time.

[hawk1972]

My wife and I just got back from this cruise (Nov. 5-16, 2011) on the Jade. I have posted a member review. It was the trip of a lifetime for us. I had been to Israel before on a land tour, but not to Rome, Turkey, Cyprus, or Egypt. We missed all the recent unrest in Egypt by exactly one week. I'm still in disbelief that I have seen the Great Pyramids of Giza and the Coliseum in Rome, not to mention all the other places.

 

It's hard to do justice to Israel in just 2 days. We had to spend both nights in Haifa -- Ashdod was skipped for unspecified security concerns. But it's amazing to see it all in such a short period of time.

[paiagirl]

Israel was my favorite. I recommend the overnight shore excursions. It's pricy but worth it. Masada and the Dead Sea were amazing.

 

Have been thinking of doing this for Israel. Was this with NCL? Was there a limit of how many participants? Am wondering because they now charge when making the reservation, so I'd like to book it when on board. Did you go with NCL on a Cyprus excursion? Thanks. paiagirl

[keystoneboarder]

Have been thinking of doing this for Israel. Was this with NCL? Was there a limit of how many participants? Am wondering because they now charge when making the reservation, so I'd like to book it when on board. Did you go with NCL on a Cyprus excursion? Thanks. paiagirl

 

Yes it was with NCL. There are several versions - some that focus on Jewish religious sites and some that focus on Christian sites. One version visits the sea of Galilee. You leave the ship in Haifa, spend the night in Jerusalem, and return to the ship when it is in Ashdod.

 

Same thing goes for Egypt. Did the overnight in Cairo and returned to the ship in Alexandria.

 

BTW, I signed up for some excursions in Rome with outside company, but the guides weren't nearly as good as the NCL shore excursions. Never felt unsafe in Israel and Egypt because our guides took good care of us. Highly recommend using vetted tour guides in those ports.

 

Also, there are limits to availability on these. I got lucky because I signed up onboard as a single and wasn't sure if I was going to get on. A day later the shore excursions desk said I was good to go!

[paiagirl]

Yes it was with NCL. There are several versions - some that focus on Jewish religious sites and some that focus on Christian sites. One version visits the sea of Galilee. You leave the ship in Haifa, spend the night in Jerusalem, and return to the ship when it is in Ashdod.

 

Also, there are limits to availability on these. I got lucky because I signed up onboard as a single and wasn't sure if I was going to get on. A day later the shore excursions desk said I was good to go!

 

Thank you for the info. I appreciate it very much. Don't want to take the chance you took since there are 2 of us so will book it a couple weeks before we cruise.