Holy Land

[denby]

We are considering booking a Holy Land cruise for fall 2012. Should we consider a cruise that has 2 days in Jerusalem or a cruise that has a day in Haifa and a day in Jerusalem?

[Gonzo70]

It is really a personal decision. Look into what tours are available from Ashdod and Haifa and then decide if you think you'd like to do one in each port, or if two tours out of Ashdod seem to be more appealing to you than any available out of Haifa. The Port of Call board here on Cruise Critic is a good place to look into what is available at the various ports in addition to seeing what excursions are offered through the cruise line.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Two different ports allow you to cover more territory than the same port for two days.

 

If you were interested in the Dead Sea and you berthed at Haifa that would be difficult for certain says of the week. Traffic is a problem in Israel.

 

When we went, we left the ship at Haifa and rejoined her in Ashdod. We covered Haifa, Jerusalem, Dean Sea, Masada, Tel aviv and Jaffa in the two days.

 

The negative is you must spend a night in a hotel rather than on the ship. That is a problem for some people.

[wyodeacon]

I really wish X would spend two days in Jerusalem. When we went we had one day in Haifa (this is a great tour to the sea of Galilee) and only one day in Jerusalem. We wanted to see the Dead Sea and Masada but couldn't work it in with a tour of Jerusalem.

BTW we booked with Israel Tours and liked them a lot.

[wyodeacon]

Two different ports allow you to cover more territory than the same port for two days.

 

If you were interested in the Dead Sea and you berthed at Haifa that would be difficult for certain says of the week. Traffic is a problem in Israel.

 

When we went, we left the ship at Haifa and rejoined her in Ashdod. We covered Haifa, Jerusalem, Dean Sea, Masada, Tel aviv and Jaffa in the two days.

 

The negative is you must spend a night in a hotel rather than on the ship. That is a problem for some people.

 

Whew! You didn't see a whole lot in any one place I'll bet.

[Can'tstopcruising]

Whew! You didn't see a whole lot in any one place I'll bet.

 

When cruising to ports which are in interesting areas, there really isn't that much you can cover in one day. All you get is a Tease! And if you try to see too much at one time, you have less of a chance of remembering what you had seen!!

[floridatravelersforlife]

When cruising to ports which are in interesting areas' date=' there really isn't that much you can cover in one day.

 

All you get is a Tease! And if you try to see too much at one time, you have less of a chance of remembering what you had seen!![/quote']

 

I have been to Israel on business many times and I forced our private tour guide to follow my itnerary and route. We did 14 hours on the first day and 8 hours on the second. We saw as much as any daytrip in Jerusalem. We spent the night at a Dead Sea Hotel rather than in Jerusalem to save on transit times. Plus the days of the week of our visit were favorable to less congestion on the roads.