Recommendations for excursions for an Israel and the Eastern Mediterranean

[Flowers4me]

We are really excited to be cruising this fall from Rome to Athens and Olympia, to Ephesus, Haifa, Jerusulem, and Limassol. 

This is the first time we are seeing these countries/cities.

I am looking for excursion recommendations that people have enjoyed at these cities.

[cruisemom42]

First be sure to spend AT LEAST 2 days in Rome before your cruise; 3 days is better.

 

There is a lot of discussion and recommendations on the various Ports of Call boards (Mediterranean for some of your ports and Middle East for Israel....)

 

I would recommend visiting the Acropolis, Greek Forum and Acropolis Museum at a minimum in Athens. Most of the historic sites are very close to each other, clustered around the Acropolis. Easy to get to on your own if desired.

 

The port for Ephesus is Kusadasi. What you must see are the ruins of the ancient city of Ephesus. You will be amazed. Private tours are fine and less $$ than ship tours.

 

From Katakolon (the port for Olympia) most people choose to visit the ancient site of Olympia, home of the original and best known athletic competition of ancient Greece. You can still see some of the temples built there as well as the original stadium (you can even put your feet in the starting blocks).

 

With two stops in Israel you have some choices based on what appeals to you -- Christian or Jewish history, Roman history, archaeology, etc. I would spend at least most of one day in Jerusalem seeing some of the many sights there. On the second day (from Haifa) there are a lot of choices: Caesarea, Akko, Sea of Galilee, etc.

 

Limassol -- my choice would be to head to Paphos but there are other sites closer to Limassol worth visiting too. Just don't stay IN Limassol, it's probably the LEAST attractive place in Cyprus!

 

 

[George C]

Make sure you join your roll call and see what others are doing, definitely need a couple of days pre cruise in Rome .

[Host Kat]

1 hour ago, Flowers4me said:

We are really excited to be cruising this fall from Rome to Athens and Olympia, to Ephesus, Haifa, Jerusulem, and Limassol. 

This is the first time we are seeing these countries/cities.

I am looking for excursion recommendations that people have enjoyed at these cities.

 

Howdy @Flowers4me 

 

Welcome to the Cruise Critic message boards and thank you for your first new thread! 👍 

 

Cruise Critic is a great resource for new as well as experienced cruisers and we are so glad you are posting on the boards!  Please feel free to browse the Cruise Critic Community Categories list. Read a few threads in the different forums to get a feel for what each forum is about. Make sure you read any pinned threads (aka Stickies) on the top of the first page of threads in a forum. You will find very important instructions or information there. Browse through the thread titles on the forums l👀king for threads of interest. See the Cruise Critic article Top 8 Things You Can Do on the Cruise Critic Message Boards to Enhance Your Cruise.

 

As cruisemom42 states, you need to research the following Ports of Call forums:

 

Mediterranean - Eastern & Western

Africa & Middle East

 

Again, browse through the thread titles l👀king for threads of interest. You will probably find your fellow Cruise Critic members have already posted questions and received answers that will be of interest to you.

 

Please remember the following stated in the Guidelines we all agreed to follow when registering for our free Cruise Critic memberships:

 

Browse Before You Post
Browse a topic first to see if your question has already been asked or answered by someone else. Also, many of the major cruise lines forums have a FAQ (Frequently Asked Question) topic that has been created by our members. Give that a try first. Browsing is your #1 best resource! Please post your messages in an appropriate topic so that you'll receive the best possible response. It is very time consuming to move misplaced messages that are in the wrong topics.

 

Anytime you need to start a new thread/topic on a forum, first make sure you are in the correct forum for your topic. Word your new thread title in a way to help the members know exactly the information you seek. This greatly helps the members browsing through the thread titles and if they know the information, they will reply to you.

 

It is best to limit each inquiry to only one topic or concerning only one cruise line, one ship, one port of call, etc. and of course, on the correct forum.  You will get more replies that way. Be sure to mention your cruise line, ship, port or sail date in your inquiry as that sort of information will help your fellow Cruise Critic members help you.

 

And since George C mentions your Roll Call, the specific Cruise Critic Roll Call thread for your line, ship and sail date will be the place for you to get to know the other Cruise Critic members sailing with you before your cruise. Your fellow Roll Call thread members may have important information posted in your Roll Call thread. Especially those that have sailed your line, ship or itinerary before. Also, there may be existing share requests already posted in the Roll Call thread that you might want to join.

 

Per the Guidelines, the specific Roll Call thread for your cruise is the only place on the Cruise Critic message boards where you and your fellow Roll Call thread members are allowed to post personal ads about sharing private tours, excursions, transportation etc. with each other to 💲ave money. That is ... if COVID-19 protocol allows by then. There is a "captive audience" on your Roll Call thread since you are all sailing together!  You will receive a much better response to your share request if you take some time to read the entire Roll Call thread, post an introductory post about yourself, and continue on with more posts back and forth to get to know the other Roll Call thread members and allow them to get to know you first before you post your share request. That is the spirit of our Roll Calls. 

 

To explain our Roll Call threads and finding the Roll Call thread for your line, ship and sail date, please read What is a Roll Call? Everything you Need to Know and How To: Create A New Roll Call. Since you do not mention your cruise line, ship and sail date, I cannot direct you to the existing Roll Call thread for your cruise if it is already established.

 

For more information about our famous Roll Calls, please read the Roll Calls and Our Policy Regarding Facebook and Roll Calls sections in the Guidelines. We also have a Cruise Critic article you might enjoy too: 8 Reasons to Join a Cruise Critic Roll Call

 

And don't forget, after your cruise be sure to submit your review for publication by Cruise Critic. Many cruisers will benefit from your experience!   See How To: Submit a Member Review.

 

Sorry this is so long, but I sincerely hope all this information will be helpful to someone new to posting on our message boards. Welcome again, and we are so glad to have you aboard Cruise Critic! 

 

Happy sails,

 

Host Kat 

 

[Flowers4me]

HI Host Kat, we are sailing with Celebrity Cruise lines on the Apex on October 5th for 12 nights "Israel and Mediterranean".   I would love to join the Roll Call for this cruise!

[cruisemom42]

12 minutes ago, Flowers4me said:

HI Host Kat, we are sailing with Celebrity Cruise lines on the Apex on October 5th for 12 nights "Israel and Mediterranean".   I would love to join the Roll Call for this cruise!

 

Here's the link to the roll call for your Apex cruise:  

 

[Host Kat]

On 5/4/2022 at 7:33 PM, Flowers4me said:

HI Host Kat, we are sailing with Celebrity Cruise lines on the Apex on October 5th for 12 nights "Israel and Mediterranean".   I would love to join the Roll Call for this cruise!

 

So sorry to be late in seeing your post! ☹️ Have been recuperating for a few days due to eye surgery. One down, one to go in July.

 

Thanks to @cruisemom42 for pointing you to the Roll Call thread for your cruise! Just click the bolded thread title over the February 19, 2021 thread start date in her post to go directly to the thread. I see there have been lots of posts. As I said before, just read the whole thread then post an introductory post. That's how you "join" the Roll Call by posting on the thread. I feel sure you will then receive welcoming replies from your fellow Cruise Critic members sailing with you.