Israel, Egypt and Med

[chisoxfan]

1 hour ago, Orator said:

Wonderful cruise if they don't skip ports in Israel and Egypt. I was one the cruise three times and only 1 time had all the ports. On one cruise Egypt was missed due to riots. On one cruise they were forced to cancel Israel due to terrorist killings.

That is our biggest concern and I know the history of these cruises is on the side of itinerary change.

While we like X and are excited to sail on a 'new' ship (Apex) I wouldn't be happy if this cruise turned into a Med cruise as I feel we will be 'stuck' in an IV. We certainly will try to keep an eye on political tensions before we make final payment.

[dani negreanu]

23 hours ago, chisoxfan said:

That is our biggest concern and I know the history of these cruises is on the side of itinerary change.

 We certainly will try to keep an eye on political tensions before we make final payment.

 

Living in Israel... political tensions can start from a day to another... 90 days is a long-long time.

 

Traffic is horrendous. I suggest staying overnight off ship, and using small van tours.

 

Good luck to you.... and us here 😢 

[Markanddonna]

At GTI, contact Leo to see if you can customize your tours.For example, the ship tour only offered Caesarea or Akko, each a half day. With GTI, we got both, including the B'hai Gardens and the aqueducts. We paid a lot less too. They are very reliable.

 

[chisoxfan]

1 hour ago, dani negreanu said:

 

Living in Israel... political tensions can start from a day to another... 90 days is a long-long time.

 

Traffic is horrendous. I suggest staying overnight off ship, and using small van tours.

 

Good luck to you.... and us here 😢 

Thank you Dani,

It would be nice if there was no conflict - we must sometime seem to be indifferent to the decades long struggles as long as our two day tours go off smoothly. 

[Markanddonna]

5 minutes ago, chisoxfan said:

Thank you Dani,

It would be nice if there was no conflict - we must sometime seem to be indifferent to the decades long struggles as long as our two day tours go off smoothly. 

I put off going to Israel for years. When you are there, you see the religious and political tensions all over but these people have learned to coexist. One observation is that you can't compare America's political issues and groups to Israel's. Their far right are the ultra conservative and Hasidics and those who support Israels living in Palestinian occupied territory. The religious right want to keep their military exemption and government subsidies to attend yeshiva and not work. These groups are how Netanyahu got back in power. 

[dani negreanu]

1 hour ago, Markanddonna said:

Their far right are the ultra conservative and Hasidics and those who support Israelןs living in Palestinian occupied territory. The religious right want to keep their military exemption and government subsidies to attend yeshiva and not work. These groups are how Netanyahu got back in power. 

 

Well done 👍. You managed to sum it up in just a few sentences, and spot on to boot .

[Cruising7in2017]

We are booked on this cruise for 3/15/24, traveling with our children (ages 10-14) and my parents. We will be doing local tours with guides, just put the deposit down today. 

[indy406]

We are looking very seriously at booking this cruise on Infinity 4/15/24. It's a great itinerary. Some reports on CC about Infinity being shabby and not well maintained give us pause. But it's a good opportunity to experience (even for a couple of days) Israel and Egypt. We did the Ephesus full-day stop last year on Reflection. It was a great day. This non-Catholic strongly recommends the House of the Virgin Mary. 

[Ken the cruiser]

Every time I see this thread pop up, it reminds me of our 30-day B3B from Athens to Rome we have booked in Oct 2024 on the NCL Getaway. We looked at similar Celebrity cruises that go to Egypt and that area of the Med, as we want to see the pyramids along with the ancient ruins in Turkey and Greece, but they were twice the price.

 

So I just thought I would pass along a link that includes a combination of the NCL cruises in October 2024 on the Getaway that do the areas of the Med you may be interested in as well.

 

Cruises on Norwegian Getaway (ncl.com)

[Engedi]

We are considering booking this itinerary for 2024, but I get sea sick.  I did a 2 week European cruise several years ago and had no issues, but was wanting to hear from someone that had been on the trip what the waters were like when you were on the cruise. And what the car rides were like for excursions (I also get car sick- lol). If we book, it will be in Oct 2024.  Any feedback is greatly appreciated.  

[Bstein493]

We have booked this cruise September of 2024 on the Silhouette.  We plan on hiring a private guide in Israel and staying overnight in Jerusalem so that we don't wait precious time gettiing on and off the ship

[MikeMary4449]

On 9/1/2023 at 5:25 PM, Engedi said:

We are considering booking this itinerary for 2024, but I get sea sick.  I did a 2 week European cruise several years ago and had no issues, but was wanting to hear from someone that had been on the trip what the waters were like when you were on the cruise. And what the car rides were like for excursions (I also get car sick- lol). If we book, it will be in Oct 2024.  Any feedback is greatly appreciated.  

Have you tried SeaBands?  I too get car sick and wear them on all excursions (land and sea).

Luckily, I have never needed them aboard a ship anywhere in the world, including the Med.