Port report -- Haifa to Jerusalem

[MercedMike]

Here is some expanded information on our port call in Haifa from the Royal Princess recently. My review and pics and guide information are at

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/holyland2.html

but I wanted to add a few specific comments on this board.

 

There are basically three prime things to do in Israel: Jerusalem, Nazareth/Galillee, and Masada/Dead Sea. The Royal Princess offered trips to Masada OR Jerusalem from Ashdod, but only Nazareth from Haifa. So in order to do what we wanted we needed to book independently, doing Masada from Ashdod, and then going in to Jerusalem from Haifa. This involved a bit more travel time, but distances in Israel are not really long.

 

As noted in my other post, we had Israeli landing cards with our passports, all handled aboard, so it was no trouble walking off the ship. We were met by our guide in a nice van and made the drive to Jerusalem, about two hours. Our first stop was at Mount Scopus for the wonderful overview of the whole city, and Avi explained all the territory to us, from the Mount of Olives to Mount Zion. Then we went to the Garden of Gethsemane. Every single place in Jerusalem is incredibly crowded, of course. Parking was difficult to impossible and there is a lot of walking involved. But the sites are wonderful!

 

After the Garden we went to Mount Zion, visiting the Church of the Assumption and the Upper Room. Next we went to the Western Wall. This is a truly awesome experience. Note that on the Sabbath Day, photographs are not allowed at the prayer wall itself. However, pretty much everything else was open and operating.

 

I discussed the Via Dolorosa with Avi, and regretfully concluded that with my mobility limitation I would not be able to make it. This is the advantage of a good independent guide, he can adapt to your needs. My companions did make the walk to the Holy Sepulchre, and enjoyed it but reported that, like everything else, the crowds were stupendous!

 

We did not go to Bethlehem, but people from the ship's excursions reported the crowds were even worse, with two hour waits to visit the site.

 

Visiting the Holy Land is an amazing and wonderful experience. Words fail me. I hope many of you will have the chance in the future!