Jerusalem - Celebrity or Azamara

[Andrea & Bill]

We are wanting to book a cruise to Jerusalem and were wondering which of the two cruise lines would give us the better experience in Jerusalem? We have gotten many conflicting information.

[Essiesmom]

Have you looked at the Ports of Call board here?  Looked in the reviews section for cruises on both lines that visited Jerusalem?  Have you asked on the boards here for those lines for people to relate their experiences?  It will be hard for someone to say which gave the better experience unless that person did both cruises…. EM

[cruisemom42]

What constitutes a better experience, for you?  More time in port?  (If so, easy to check itineraries you are considering).  Both ships use the same ports, it's not as if one will get you closer -- Jerusalem is about an hour's drive from the actual port of Ashdod.

 

With regard to tours, the "best" experience is probably going to mean doing some research and booking private tours in the ports. Smaller tours with expert guides can offer you a more meaningful experience and one that is tailored to exactly what you want to see and experience. For example, when I went to Israel on a cruise, I worked with an organizer who found a guide for me whose knowledge was about Roman sites in Israel, as I wasn't interested in the typical "Christian" or "Jewish" tours that tend to be offered.

 

[martincath]

Personally I'd be looking to do that as a land-based vacation, maybe before or after a cruise. Haifa is a couple of hours by bus to Jerusalem, all the cruise lines will book big bus tours (and certainly for mainstream lines, whoever gives them the best price will be the vendor selected) and so the many stops to see the sights will be inefficient and very much whistle-stops. If you really want to cruise and just do Jerusalem while in port then at least choose the cruise with the longest port times and book your own day-tour(s) with a small group!

 

My very first cruise included an overnight stop at Haifa, two day trips to and around Jerusalem, and we still felt rushed around the sights. My most vivid memories of that trip are actually of tour groups being marched in and out of everywhere we were - arriving after we did, running about taking photos, and being hustled back out onto their buses before we left (it was an educational school cruise for our group rather than just sightseeing, so we always had a proper historian type local guide giving us a big spiel and port days were pretty long as none of us needed to get back for shipboard nightlife!)

 

Going back by ourselves many years later we spent 3 nights staying in Jerusalem itself, saw a lot more at a much more relaxed pace. Even as an Atheist the history alone is worth a lot of time invested - and if you follow any of the Abrahamic faiths you WILL want some time to actually absorb the experience, trust me! We saw everything from people just collapsing in floods of tears, overwhelmed by being where they were, to my personal favourite: a brawl between clerics in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre about whose turn it was to pray in a particular spot (not that unusual apparently, which is why a local Muslim family has had the keys since at least the 12th Century!)

[John Bull]

Hi Andrea & Bill,

 

Please come back with the Israeli ports of both ships, and the hours in each port, including overnites. 

 

Day-of-the-week can be useful too because it affects public transportation and car rentals (but not taxis)

 

That will make it much easier to give you clear recommendations.

 

JB 🙂

[jsn55]

Jerusalem is a port, a city to visit.  What other ports are you interested in?  

[Markanddonna]

I would book a cruise that started or ended in Haifa and then do the touring on your own or with a tour guide. Like others have said, the ship excursions are large groups following a guide with a paddle. You will feel overwhelmed. All cruise ships essentially book tours with the same companies.