Princess 2 day Israel excursion?

[phabric]

We are on the Island Princess, 14 day Mediterranean and Israel cruise.  We will be taking Princess excursions.

 

Since there are not many cruises that include Israel.  I have not found any reviews of the this excursion -

 

“Jerusalem, Bethlehem & Galilee Overland”

 

Has anybody taken this excursion?

 

 

[tml1230]

us too! following along here! Hope you get some great perspectives and recommendations1

[trvlwrld]

We have done this and it was amazing...we saw so many things it’s hard to remember it all...it was expensive, but everything was included so there are no add-ons for meals or hotel...would do it again in a heartbeat!

[Markanddonna]

I responded to this post in the Africa/Middle East posting, so I'll mention a few things here.  After two times in Israel and being somewhat of a Biblical researcher, I will point out a couple of helpful pieces of info.  I would much prefer being on a van in Israel with 15 people that can get in and out of traffic easier than a bus that carries 45 people. It is so difficult for a guide to keep track of that many people and the weakest link affects everyone. I would go with Guided Tours Israel.  Contact a guy there named Leo (I have no financial interest here) who might be able to coordinate this type of trip with GTI. He responds very clearly and in a timely manner. Otherwise, you might consider doing their shore excursions.  BTW, I had a horrible two day tour to the Golan Heights with Bein Harim. Avoid that company.  Our 80+ year old guy had to be the crabbiest, most uninformed guide we ever experienced. 

 

I have done four tours with GTI and they were sensational, more personal, our guides were fabulous, and the cost is much less.  The itinerary proposed by Princess seems very ambitious, but doable, as long as everything goes well. 

 

Just a few things: the streets you walk on in the old city (the Via Delarosa) are streets from the Middle Ages. Jerusalem was completely destroyed in 70 AD and like many cities in that part of the world, the conquerors built upon the ruins.  We were able to find Roman era streets at the Ecce Homo Convent excavated in the 1850s in the Muslim quarter and descend the stairs 20-30 feet to see it and the cisterns. So, the swarms of people carrying heavy crosses thinking they are walking the same path as Jesus are not. I didn't know this until last year...

 

We were there in Nov this year and Dec 2019.  Those are great months, but at the beginning of the rainy season. Fortunately, out of our 10 total days in Israel, we had only one steady rain day and just a few sprinkles on other days. The temps were about 60-70 degrees.

 

I noted you are going to Rhodes. That is a lovely city that is easy to walk to. Go to the Palace of the Grand Master, the Archaeology Museum and the Street of the Knights. Great shopping without push vendors.

 

The Israel Museum is great.  I hope you get to go inside, but it looks like you are only there for the model of Jerusalem and the Dead Sea Scrolls. We spent the whole day there.  We pretty much did six days on our own, walking from our B&B everywhere.  I don't know the days, but if you are there on Shabbat, things will be very different. Everything closes from about 2:30 Pm Friday to 7:30 PM Sat.

 

Feel free to ask questions.  

 

 

 

 

[phabric]

Thanks for the helpful information 

[tml1230]

13 hours ago, phabric said:

Thanks for the helpful information 

Allow me to add my sincere thanks here also!

After 35 plus cruises this will be our first time to Israel....probablydue my attendance  at a Catholic grammar school , there is no place I have been more excited to visit!

[Markanddonna]

To note, the experience going with a sheltered tour group is much different than a DIY.  We had many more challenges and met a variety of people. Some lovely and kind while others were unfortunately, the stereotype of Israelis.  

[trvlwrld]

If your itinerary is similar to ours, there is no option to do a DIY because the ship drops you at one port and picks you up at a different one...hope your trip is as great as our experience!

[Roatanfans]

In 2010 we had two nights in Israel (Azumara cruise)  we booked our own tours with AVI Tours and they were phenomenal.  We were a family of 8 with one member in a wheelchair and we saw far more (for far less) then the ships tours.  The biggest problem with Israel on a cruise is that there is so much to see and do you can't do but a tiny fraction in 2 days.  With a small private group you can Taylor it to your groups interests more.  People of different faiths might want something themed more towards that, or someone who would rather delve into the history vs modern day might want a custom tour.  Too large a group gets really hard to do it all and Israel is a really special experience!

[NownZen]

7 minutes ago, Roatanfans said:

In 2010 we had two nights in Israel (Azumara cruise)  we booked our own tours with AVI Tours and they were phenomenal.  We were a family of 8 with one member in a wheelchair and we saw far more (for far less) then the ships tours.  The biggest problem with Israel on a cruise is that there is so much to see and do you can't do but a tiny fraction in 2 days.  With a small private group you can Taylor it to your groups interests more.  People of different faiths might want something themed more towards that, or someone who would rather delve into the history vs modern day might want a custom tour.  Too large a group gets really hard to do it all and Israel is a really special experience!

Certainly second the small group choice. A few years back we spent two weeks in Israel with a private guide and it was stunning. Going to some small arab places for meals, camel riding in the Negev desert, meeting with locals at each stop and timing to avoid the crowds. Also going to Petra (in Jordan but with a local guide there). In the Negev we got to the site before the bus crowds hit and had the camel place to ourselves. Afterwards we went to the nearby Nabatian city of Manshit (this was on the trade route that also went through Petra) and we were the only tourists in the entire excavations.

The cruise ship tours were very good but you had a crowd. At Gethsemane we waited outside for an hour for our bus to get back through traffic. At the dead sea, one passenger got lost while shopping and was well over an hour late. The guide told us to just hold it in and wait for the ship as we were not stopping on the way back to Haifa.

I would go back happily either way. It is an amazing place.

[tml1230]

thanks again to all who have shared thoughts! currently on the Regal princess transatlantic and my research begins today!

[bethfelk]

Can't comment on this excursion as I've never done it but just some general Israel advice as I spent this past summer there:

-Public transportation is excellent throughout the entire country (its a small country), so if you are adventurous it's very easy to get around yourself (unless you're there over Shabbat, that will really throw a wrench in any Israel plans)

-The Bahai Gardens in Haifa is among the most incredible things I've ever seen, I would try to make it there if you can

[donaldsc]

On 11/25/2022 at 2:23 PM, Roatanfans said:

In 2010 we had two nights in Israel (Azumara cruise)  we booked our own tours with AVI Tours and they were phenomenal.  We were a family of 8 with one member in a wheelchair and we saw far more (for far less) then the ships tours.  The biggest problem with Israel on a cruise is that there is so much to see and do you can't do but a tiny fraction in 2 days.  With a small private group you can Taylor it to your groups interests more.  People of different faiths might want something themed more towards that, or someone who would rather delve into the history vs modern day might want a custom tour.  Too large a group gets really hard to do it all and Israel is a really special experience!

 

There is a real advantage that most people do not think about in going on a private tour of Israel that is much longer than 2 days with a maximum group size of 10 - 15 people and of mixed faith.  That is that you get to experience how people who are not of your faith view and appreciate Israel.  We are Jewish.  We did a small group tour with maybe 12 people of different faiths using a minivan for transportation so we could get into places that a large tour bus could not.  This was not planned as a mixed faith tour but that was how it turned out.  It was fascinating how people of faiths other than your own reacted to visiting sites that you would never think of as important and seeing it from their viewpoint.  There was one woman who really wanted to visit a place that we had not planned in advance to visit.  It was really important to her and the guide said that she could make it happen if the rest of the group agreed which we did.  It was an interesting place to visit but the most interesting part was how ecstatic the woman was to be there.  It was probably the high point in her life.  

 

They also slightly modified the tour for us.  We wanted to buy a specific piece of Judaica and asked the guide if she could take us to place where we could get it.  She took us to a small shop where we got exactly what we wanted.  We also got to tour the owner's workshop and have coffee and cake with the owner.

 

One more thing.  For almost every meal that we had we were the only tour group in the restaurant.  We were eating with the locals and not with other tour groups.  We also did not have to plan in advance for exactly where we stopped for meals.  The guide would just have the van stop and she would check out the restaurant and ask if they could handle a group of 15 people.

 

How much of this would you get on a 2 day tour on a 40 passenger bus?

 

DON

[Mflem1278]

I was just on this cruise early November.  We did the Jerusalem Overnight (Overland) tour thru Princess.  It was awesome and I highly recommend it.  The tour company that Princess used for this  was Petra Tours.  Our guide spoke perfect English.  Our overnight hotel in Jerusalem was 4 or 5 star.  Very nice!  Dan Jerusalem Hotel was the name.   There were probably 35-40 in our group.  The guide was sooo knowledgeable and I learned so much.  There was a separate guide for Bethlehem but our regular guide stayed with us the whole time.  We did ALOT of walking the first day, the 2nd day was not quite as much.  It was go go go the whole time but I would do it again if I had the chance.  You can email me if you want more info.  mflem1278@yahoo.com

 

[antsp]

Hire a car and do it yourself, save 1000s

[phabric]

27 minutes ago, Mflem1278 said:

I was just on this cruise early November.  We did the Jerusalem Overnight (Overland) tour thru Princess.  It was awesome and I highly recommend it.  The tour company that Princess used for this  was Petra Tours.  Our guide spoke perfect English.  Our overnight hotel in Jerusalem was 4 or 5 star.  Very nice!  Dan Jerusalem Hotel was the name.   There were probably 35-40 in our group.  The guide was sooo knowledgeable and I learned so much.  There was a separate guide for Bethlehem but our regular guide stayed with us the whole time.  We did ALOT of walking the first day, the 2nd day was not quite as much.  It was go go go the whole time but I would do it again if I had the chance.  You can email me if you want more info.  mflem1278@yahoo.com

 

Thanks that was the information that I was looking, someone that had taken this excursion 

[trvlwrld]

2 day private tours are extremely difficult on this itinerary because the ship moves to a different port while you are off the boat (overland tour).  

[Markanddonna]

We did three separate, but coordinated tours with Guided Tours Israel- long days but we saw:

 

-from Ashdod: the major sites in old Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, Bethlehem

from Haifa- A Christian focused tour of the Galilee region and Nazareth

from Haifa- Baha'i Gardens, Akko (Acre), Caesarea Maritima, Roman Aqueducts.

 

We went back to the ship each night

 

[Markanddonna]

Just now, Markanddonna said:

We did three separate, but coordinated tours with Guided Tours Israel- long days but we saw:

 

-from Ashdod: the major sites in old Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, Bethlehem

from Haifa- A Christian focused tour of the Galilee region and Nazareth

from Haifa- Baha'i Gardens, Akko (Acre), Caesarea Maritima, Roman Aqueducts.

 

We went back to the ship each night.  Someone mentioned renting a car. Believe me, there are drawbacks there. A friend tried a few weeks ago and the company didn't provide the promised English GPS device. He quickly returned it, very frustrated. We went all around the country- to the upper Golan Heights, Negev, etc. and the Israeli drivers are often very aggressive. Negotiating some of the city areas requires amazing skill. Driving in Israel is not for the casual driver. 

 

Just now, Markanddonna said:

 

 

[Roatanfans]

On 11/28/2022 at 4:17 PM, trvlwrld said:

2 day private tours are extremely difficult on this itinerary because the ship moves to a different port while you are off the boat (overland tour).  

Not really, Israel is a fairly small country and many of the private tour companies will accommodate the two different port stops.  Back when we did it our ship was scheduled to port in Ashdod one day then Haifa the next.  It wasn't a problem for the private tour company.  This was back in 2010 when there was the problem with the Turkish ship, which happened to change our schedule at the last minute (the day before we were directed to port at Haifa for both nights).  Our tour company (Avi Tours) was monitoring our ship because of these issues and made the changes even as I was contacting them.  Everything went smoothly, just a little longer drive to Jerusalem.