Parrot Mom Posted August 12, 2008 #1 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Are there any mid-price ships that stop in Israel scheduled for 2009, the fall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted August 13, 2008 #2 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Princess has an itinerary from Rome to Athens in October, 2009 that includes a stop at Ahdod, Isreal which is the port of call that is near Jerusalem. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelous M Posted August 13, 2008 #3 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Celebrity Equinox goes to the two ports, Haifa and Ashdod. I am not sure it you would consider it to be a mid size ship but it is brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marvelous M Posted August 13, 2008 #4 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Celebrity Equinox goes to the two ports, Haifa and Ashdod. I am not sure it you would consider it to be a mid size ship but it is brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercedMike Posted August 13, 2008 #5 Share Posted August 13, 2008 This is exactly the type of question that a good local Travel Agent who is a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor can answer for you very quickly and easily. They are trained to do it and have the software to do it efficiently. Have a GREAT cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Mom Posted August 13, 2008 Author #6 Share Posted August 13, 2008 This is exactly the type of question that a good local Travel Agent who is a CLIA Accredited Cruise Counselor can answer for you very quickly and easily. They are trained to do it and have the software to do it efficiently. Have a GREAT cruise! ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! Havent found a perfect one yet..I do the leg work and they do the booking and get the commission.. and Ive had one agent I had used for over10years tell me... it was up to me to solve the problem....YAH RIGHT.. I took care of the problem and ended up very happy..and booked there after directly with the cruise line/charter company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercedMike Posted August 14, 2008 #7 Share Posted August 14, 2008 ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! Havent found a perfect one yet..I do the leg work and they do the booking and get the commission.. and Ive had one agent I had used for over10years tell me... it was up to me to solve the problem....YAH RIGHT.. I took care of the problem and ended up very happy..and booked there after directly with the cruise line/charter company Well, if you are an experienced traveler and researcher, and enjoy spending your time on it, then power to you! The OP asked a very newbie question of the very basics of cruising. In such a case, I think the valuable advice of a trained Travel Agent will be very useful to them -- a lot more useful than a bunch of half baked opinions from people who have maybe cruised once in the area they are interested in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ger_77 Posted September 6, 2008 #8 Share Posted September 6, 2008 Holland America's Rotterdam will be stopping at Ashdod in early October; we'll be on that one and are really looking forward to it, as it is a great itinerary! Smooth Sailing! :) :) :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kitz45 Posted September 10, 2008 #9 Share Posted September 10, 2008 May 1st Azamara Quest 2 ports in Israel 2 ports in Egypt 2 ports in Turkey 2 ports in Greece 2 ports in Italy and Cyprus I know it is not the fall but a great cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul929207 Posted September 10, 2008 #10 Share Posted September 10, 2008 ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! Havent found a perfect one yet..I do the leg work and they do the booking and get the commission.. and Ive had one agent I had used for over10years tell me... it was up to me to solve the problem....YAH RIGHT.. I took care of the problem and ended up very happy..and booked there after directly with the cruise line/charter company I have to agree with Mike. A good TA should be able to answer OP's question. I find my TA (local) very knowledgeable and very helpful. Yes, like you, I find the cruise I want and she books it. But I also find the lowest price online and she matches it. Like everything else ther are good TA's and bad ones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted September 10, 2008 #11 Share Posted September 10, 2008 We'll be visiting Haifa for two days while on the Oceania Nautica June 27 sailing...They repeat the itinerary on the Insignia on August 9: 1 Barcelona, Spain 8:00PM 2 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 3 La Goulette, Tunisia 8:00AM 4:00PM 4 Valletta, Malta 8:00AM 6:00PM 5 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 6 Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece 8:00AM 2:00PM 7 Alexandria, Egypt 12:00PM 7:00PM 8 Cairo (Port Said), Egypt 6:00AM 8:00PM 9 Haifa, Israel 8:00AM 10 Haifa, Israel 8:00PM 11 Limassol, Cyprus 8:00AM 6:00PM 12 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 13 Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00AM 2:00PM 14 Istanbul, Turkey 12:00PM 15 Istanbul, Turkey ...and then they do it in reverse on October 31 on the Regatta: 1 Istanbul, Turkey 2 Istanbul, Turkey 3:00PM 3 Kusadasi, Turkey 1:00PM 8:00PM 4 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 5 Limassol, Cyprus 8:00AM 6:00PM 6 Haifa, Israel 7:00AM 7 Haifa, Israel 6:00PM 8 Cairo (Port Said), Egypt 6:00AM 8:00PM 9 Alexandria, Egypt 8:00AM 3:00PM 10 Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece 1:00PM 8:00PM 11 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 12 Valletta, Malta 8:00AM 4:00PM 13 La Goulette, Tunisia 8:00AM 6:00PM 14 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 15 Barcelona, Spain 5:00AM We looked at all of the itineraries that went to Israel and Egypt and this was the most intriguing one we could find... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rsquare Posted September 28, 2008 #12 Share Posted September 28, 2008 I have to agree with Mike. A good TA should be able to answer OP's question. I find my TA (local) very knowledgeable and very helpful. Yes, like you, I find the cruise I want and she books it. But I also find the lowest price online and she matches it. Uhhhh....excuse me, but what's the point of the TA if you do all the work? We've done two cruises (HAL and Celebrity) working directly with the Cruise line, and on the Roll Call for the most recent one, we had to tell all the ones using TAs about the fact that prices were dropping for certain classes of cabins. Good TAs may meet a need for inexperienced or timid travellers, but anyone who has some travel experience and a resource like Cruise Critic can do it easier and better on their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Ruth Posted December 20, 2008 #13 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Are there any mid-price ships that stop in Israel scheduled for 2009, the fall? We are traveling on Celebrity's Equinox in October 2009. I don't know what you're calling mid-price, but it seems reasonable to us. The price has gone up since we booked several months ago, but I think it's still not bad. As someone else told you, it stops in Ashdod for Jerusalem and Haifa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Mom Posted December 20, 2008 Author #14 Share Posted December 20, 2008 We are traveling on Celebrity's Equinox in October 2009. I don't know what you're calling mid-price, but it seems reasonable to us. The price has gone up since we booked several months ago, but I think it's still not bad. As someone else told you, it stops in Ashdod for Jerusalem and Haifa. WOW!!! We are doing the 14 day t/a of the Equinox November 5th.. and it is a fraction of the cost. RSQUARE-at this point I think t/a are useless..I do all the work finding the cruise I want..if it drops i find out first and then have to tell my t/a..and then they get the commmission.. The last cruise I took on the Constellation in September I found a discount for service men..had to tell my agent.. and in the beginning had heard about a discount when booking, my t/a knew nothing about it she insisted so I called Celebrity where I got an onboard credit.. The only thing that that they MAY be useful for is if they have a block of cabins at discount, last cruise mine gave me a $125.00 discount and she paid for dinner for two in the specialty restaurant. The next cruise I book I'll deal directly with the cruise agency first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Ruth Posted December 20, 2008 #15 Share Posted December 20, 2008 WOW!!! We are doing the 14 day t/a of the Equinox November 5th.. and it is a fraction of the cost. RSQUARE-at this point I think t/a are useless..I do all the work finding the cruise I want..if it drops i find out first and then have to tell my t/a..and then they get the commmission.. The last cruise I took on the Constellation in September I found a discount for service men..had to tell my agent.. and in the beginning had heard about a discount when booking, my t/a knew nothing about it she insisted so I called Celebrity where I got an onboard credit.. The only thing that that they MAY be useful for is if they have a block of cabins at discount, last cruise mine gave me a $125.00 discount and she paid for dinner for two in the specialty restaurant. The next cruise I book I'll deal directly with the cruise agency first Maybe it's harder to book trans-Atlantics these days. Our t/a on the QM2 in April went down a lot in price since we booked. Our Equinox cruise keeps going up. I happen to be married to RSQUARE so we kinda think the same about travel agents, in spite of the fact that my grandfather was one most of the time I was growing up. I buy our foreign money at an American Express travel agency and the women there keep telling me everything I'd get if I booked through them. I'm sure they do a great job, but I like calling the cruise lines myself and dealing with them directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eh2zed Posted December 20, 2008 #16 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Use the cruise finder search engine on Vacationstogodotcom. Plug in region, port options, dates, etc and let it sort for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruin Steve Posted December 20, 2008 #17 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Oceania has, since I posted on this thread last, changed our itinerary so that it now stops one day in Ashdod, one day in Haifa: 1 Barcelona, Spain 8:00PM 2 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 3 La Goulette, Tunisia 8:00AM 4:00PM 4 Valletta, Malta 8:00AM 6:00PM 5 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 6 Aghios Nikolaos (Crete), Greece 8:00AM 2:00PM 7 Alexandria, Egypt 12:00PM 7:00PM 8 Cairo (Port Said), Egypt 6:00AM 8:00PM 9 Ashdod, Israel 6:00AM 10:00PM 10 Haifa, Israel 6:00AM 8:00PM 11 Limassol, Cyprus 8:00AM 6:00PM 12 Cruising the Mediterranean Sea 13 Kusadasi, Turkey 8:00AM 2:00PM 14 Istanbul, Turkey 12:00PM 15 Istanbul, Turkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Parrot Mom Posted December 20, 2008 Author #18 Share Posted December 20, 2008 Maybe it's harder to book trans-Atlantics these days. Our t/a on the QM2 in April went down a lot in price since we booked. Our Equinox cruise keeps going up. I happen to be married to RSQUARE so we kinda think the same about travel agents, in spite of the fact that my grandfather was one most of the time I was growing up. I buy our foreign money at an American Express travel agency and the women there keep telling me everything I'd get if I booked through them. I'm sure they do a great job, but I like calling the cruise lines myself and dealing with them directly. We booked the Equinox when itineraries and prices were announced in the spring..they have sky rocketed..whereas the Soltice seems to be stable..Not happy about the itinerary, but what the heck.. I had my choice of any CC cabin on the ship..Going to see where the new Eclipse goes comes March.. they are talking about staying in Northern Europe.. As much as I would love to change my t/a Equinox for the Noordam it doesn't make sense, because prices are still high.. You can always transfer your booking from Celebrity to American Express. I've transferred once I've made the reservations.. not that it does me much good. We are hooked on t/a going to the US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abby Ruth Posted December 20, 2008 #19 Share Posted December 20, 2008 We booked the Equinox when itineraries and prices were announced in the spring..they have sky rocketed..whereas the Soltice seems to be stable..Not happy about the itinerary, but what the heck.. I had my choice of any CC cabin on the ship..Going to see where the new Eclipse goes comes March.. they are talking about staying in Northern Europe.. As much as I would love to change my t/a Equinox for the Noordam it doesn't make sense, because prices are still high.. You can always transfer your booking from Celebrity to American Express. I've transferred once I've made the reservations.. not that it does me much good. We are hooked on t/a going to the US I have a feeling that the Equinox cruise we're on will come down closer to the sailing date. But it's just a hunch. I know I could switch the booking to AMEX, but then I'd have to go through them if I want to change anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bogart55 Posted April 18, 2009 #20 Share Posted April 18, 2009 We are on the Holland America's Prinsendam on Oct 4 going to both Haifa and Ashod. Got really good prices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mobyduck Posted April 22, 2009 #21 Share Posted April 22, 2009 We are booked on Vision of the Seas for October 9, 2009 and it goes to two portsin Israel as well as two ports in Egypt. The price was very, very reasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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