Eastern Mediterranean Suggestions

[ricardin]

Can anyone recommend any good cruise companies who sail the Eastern Mediterranean during the summer months please? July or August. Ideally, we would like to take in places such as Egypt and The Holy Lands, Israel etc etc. As a guide to what I refer to as good, RC and Princess are our usual choices.

 

Thank you in advance.

[Essiesmom]

The Eastern Med. in July/August is full of ships, but generally they do not call at the Holy Lands/Egypt then, because it is beastly hot. Go http://www.cruisetimetables.com, and from the second list of ports, choose places you want to visit. Then select the month you want to go, and it will show you who is sailing there, and their itineraries. EM

[dorisis]

You might want to check what Oceania has to offer in that area as well as Celebrity.

[gerryl12]

Most cruise ships avoid Egypt now because of the ongoing problems (riots etc.). We have cancelled trips twice in the last couple years to Egypt.

Greek islands is a good choice with a lot of cruises there in the summer but not too many to Israel. Holland America.

[jocap]

Thomson has some cruises which visit the Holy Land this year, on Celebration. She sails from Turkey. Whilst she's not like the modern ships, the experience can be very good because of the level of activities and the friendly staff. It's a fly/cruise, so you're looked after from arriving at your airport until you return home, going with Thomson fly; tips are included and the drink prices are about pub prices.

Different to the major lines, but we found the Thomson experience good.

You can also opt for a stay/ cruise or cruise/stay.

[pris993]

We have cruised the Eastern Mediterranean on the following lines: Princess, Celebrity, Holland America, Cunard, Crystal and NCL. Do believe RCCL goes as well.

 

The time of year we usually go is late spring or early fall, no as hot, less crowded.

 

We are booked on Celebrity Silhoutte out of Rome next October, leaves October 4th. Egypt has been dropped given unrest.

 

Find a good search engine on line that allows you to put in desired ports and time of year to see what is available.

[John Bull]

We've cruised your itinerary out of Istanbul with RCI, but most cruise lines also offer Eastern Med cruises, and out of other ports as well - mainly Rome, Venice, Athens.

 

But I don't think any cruise ships visit any Egyptian ports at the moment due to the political situation - US ships haven't done so for several years, and even Brit & Italian ships stopped about a year ago. It's a popular cruising destination, and I've no doubt that the ships will return in the future.

 

Israel has also been unreliable, especially Ashdod. Almost like the weather, the political situation can cause ships to cancel at short notice though Haifa, in the more settled north of the country, is way more reliable than Ashdod. On a number of occasions, ships have remained in Haifa for an extra day or two rather than sail overnite to Ashdod, which is close to the troubled Gaza Strip. Although Ashdod is much more convenient, Jerusalem etc can be visited from Haifa.

We'd put off visiting Israel for literally decades, waiting for the situation to settle down. We eventually realised that wasn't likely in our lifetime so we took the plunge. No problem, and a great experience. :)

 

JB :)

[pris993]

We've cruised your itinerary out of Istanbul with RCI, but most cruise lines also offer Eastern Med cruises, and out of other ports as well - mainly Rome, Venice, Athens.

 

But I don't think any cruise ships visit any Egyptian ports at the moment due to the political situation - US ships haven't done so for several years, and even Brit & Italian ships stopped about a year ago. It's a popular cruising destination, and I've no doubt that the ships will return in the future.

 

Israel has also been unreliable, especially Ashdod. Almost like the weather, the political situation can cause ships to cancel at short notice though Haifa, in the more settled north of the country, is way more reliable than Ashdod. On a number of occasions, ships have remained in Haifa for an extra day or two rather than sail overnite to Ashdod, which is close to the troubled Gaza Strip. Although Ashdod is much more convenient, Jerusalem etc can be visited from Haifa.

We'd put off visiting Israel for literally decades, waiting for the situation to settle down. We eventually realised that wasn't likely in our lifetime so we took the plunge. No problem, and a great experience. :)

 

JB :)

 

Israel is a very small country, a switch of ports from Ashdod to Haifa is not only no big deal we actually prefer it. When one docks in Haifa you are right in the city vs an industrail port like Ashdod. Tours from Haifa are just as easy to do. Other than skipping the port of Ashdod, Israel is a very safe and reliable area. We have travel by cruise and land in Isarel for past 25 years. We will be visiting Israel for 2.5 days next October, actually hope the port of Ashdod is dropped and replaced with extra time in Haifa.