Israel Port Itinerary Help

[SLSL]

We have an upcoming cruise with stops in Israel. We will be  in Ashdod from 8am on a Sunday until 6pm the next day, Monday. On Tuesday, we will be in Haifa from 8am until 7pm.  My husband and I have a private tour scheduled with Guided Tours Israel.  We have never been to Israel before and I know it is impossible to see everything.  We enjoy getting the "feel" of a country when we visit...not only seeing the "must see" sights. We also feel like we should visit Tel Aviv, which was not originally on our itinerary.  So, basically we have the following options and we are asking our Cruise Critic members for their opinions. Thank you all!

 

Option 1 – original itinerary (NO Tel Aviv) 

 

October 23 – Ashdod port to Jerusalem-Yad Vashem – overnight in Jerusalem

October 24 – From JLM to Dead Sea/Masada – return to port of Ashdod

October 25 – Haifa port to Jewish Galilee – return to port of Haifa

 

Option 2 – Dropping Dead Sea/Masada with overnight:

 

October 23 - Ashdod port to Jerusalem-Yad Vashem – overnight in Tel Aviv

October 24 – From TLV to Tel Aviv-Jaffa-Caesarea – return to Ashdod port

October 25 - Haifa port to Jewish Galilee – return to port of Haifa

 

Option 3 – Dropping Jewish Galilee if you want to do overnight:

 

October 23 – Ashdod port to Jerusalem-Yad Vashem – overnight in Jerusalem

October 24 – From JLM to Dead Sea/Masada – return to port of Ashdod

October 25 – Haifa port to Tel Aviv-Jaffa-Caesarea – return to port of Haifa

[Markanddonna]

I toured with Guide Tours Israel in 2019 and thought they were great. If you are a Christian, go to the Galilee. If you can,  see if you can go to Casearea Maritima and Akko, the crusader fortress if you decide on option three. Better than Jaffa. 

[SLSL]

Thank you for your response.  We are not Christian.  Yes,  we feel confident having booked the tours with Guide Tours Israel...we have read only good things.  They are being very flexible with what we want to do...we just don't know what we should do since our time is limited and there are so many wonderful sights.  Guide Tours Israel is kind to offer us three different options...still researching which would be best for us.

[Markanddonna]

On 9/23/2022 at 7:41 PM, SLSL said:

Thank you for your response.  We are not Christian.  Yes,  we feel confident having booked the tours with Guide Tours Israel...we have read only good things.  They are being very flexible with what we want to do...we just don't know what we should do since our time is limited and there are so many wonderful sights.  Guide Tours Israel is kind to offer us three different options...still researching which would be best for us.

I would try to go on a tour that covered Caesarea and/or Akko. Leo from GTI customized our tour to include those two sites and also the Baha'i Gardens. Because we were such an efficient travel group, we also got to see the Aqueducts.

Edited September 25, 2022 by Markanddonna

[mpk]

On 9/25/2022 at 5:35 AM, Markanddonna said:

Because we were such an efficient travel group, we also got to see the Aqueducts.

 

That would be nice.  I'm worried about getting off the ship in a timely manner.  I've read that Israel requires in person review of passport and traveler.  This lengthy process can take hours to clear people... seems difficult to meet a tour guide at a stated time.   Did you experience this?

 

We're used to ports where everyone turns in their passports the night before, and they are processed en masse without the traveler being there.  😀

[Markanddonna]

2 hours ago, mpk said:

 

That would be nice.  I'm worried about getting off the ship in a timely manner.  I've read that Israel requires in person review of passport and traveler.  This lengthy process can take hours to clear people... seems difficult to meet a tour guide at a stated time.   Did you experience this?

 

We're used to ports where everyone turns in their passports the night before, and they are processed en masse without the traveler being there.  😀

I understand that is still happening for cruises to Israel. We won't know the process or day until we board. I don't know when they would process the passengers for our cruise since our only sea day in day #4. We were able to get off the ship quite early and even agreed on GTI tour days to meet 30 mins early to "get ahead of the tour buses."  Israel is typically very efficient and I doubt they want a lot of passengers in the terminal at one time.