Oceania Shore Excursions - Ashdod & Haifa

[babydrum]

Has anyone taken tours in Israel through Oceania's shore excursions and if so, did you have a good tour?  I'm looking at either shelling out thousands of dollars on private excursions for 5 days or booking something through Viator or Get Your Guide with mixed to terrible reviews.  I've trying to arrange something through Guided Tours Israel but finding 4 people to join me isn't as easy on Oceania as it has been with other CC roll calls.  I'm tempted to just book the ship's excursions but there are no reviews for them.  If anyone has taken tours to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Nazareth and Galilee or Masada and the Dead Sea with Oceania recently (within the last 4 or 5 years) and would be willing to share their experience I'd really appreciate it.

[ohmark]

September 2022, our Marina cruise docked one day in Ashdod, and then 2-days in Haifa. We booked the same private guide for all three days through Tours By Locals. The guide only guided, but provided the driver. We paid via Tours by Locals for the guide and paid the driver directly each day.

 

Looking at a map of Israel, it was clear that spending the first night at a hotel in Jerusalem would save us hours of driving. So, the guide picked us up at Ashdod port. Toured the desert, Masada mountain, and the Dead Sea, and then dropped us at a hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. Guide picked us up the next morning and gave us a walking tour of the Old City. In late afternoon the guide had his driver take us back to the ship in Haifa, where it had sailed to. The third day, the guide picked us up at Haifa port, and took us through Galilee, including Nazareth, and a kibbutz. The guide and driver were both fine and we enjoyed every minute.

 

There is no question in my mind that the private guide was significantly better than a cruise excursion. In fact, I got aboard one of the excursion buses for a few minutes as it returned to Haifa port, and observed what appeared to be a bus full of exhausted and unhappy travelers.

 

But, in our case, the expense was divided among three travelers. Dividing the expense this way made the cost for each of us in the neighborhood of the ship's price for its large bus excursions. If you can find a couple of people to go with, there is no question that a private guide would be a far better choice. Good luck.

 

 

[babydrum]

4 hours ago, ohmark said:

September 2022, our Marina cruise docked one day in Ashdod, and then 2-days in Haifa. We booked the same private guide for all three days through Tours By Locals. The guide only guided, but provided the driver. We paid via Tours by Locals for the guide and paid the driver directly each day.

 

Looking at a map of Israel, it was clear that spending the first night at a hotel in Jerusalem would save us hours of driving. So, the guide picked us up at Ashdod port. Toured the desert, Masada mountain, and the Dead Sea, and then dropped us at a hotel in the Old City of Jerusalem. Guide picked us up the next morning and gave us a walking tour of the Old City. In late afternoon the guide had his driver take us back to the ship in Haifa, where it had sailed to. The third day, the guide picked us up at Haifa port, and took us through Galilee, including Nazareth, and a kibbutz. The guide and driver were both fine and we enjoyed every minute.

 

There is no question in my mind that the private guide was significantly better than a cruise excursion. In fact, I got aboard one of the excursion buses for a few minutes as it returned to Haifa port, and observed what appeared to be a bus full of exhausted and unhappy travelers.

 

But, in our case, the expense was divided among three travelers. Dividing the expense this way made the cost for each of us in the neighborhood of the ship's price for its large bus excursions. If you can find a couple of people to go with, there is no question that a private guide would be a far better choice. Good luck.

 

 

Thanks.  I do put out a post on our roll call for the 5 days to see if anyone was interested.  I am also looked at the Overland tour (had never heard of that one before) which offers an overnight in Jerusalem.  I'd like to spend 4 days in Jerusalem and tour from there so that is what I'm working on how but at least I have some options.

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

On 9/6/2023 at 6:29 PM, babydrum said:

Has anyone taken tours in Israel through Oceania's shore excursions and if so, did you have a good tour?  I'm looking at either shelling out thousands of dollars on private excursions for 5 days or booking something through Viator or Get Your Guide with mixed to terrible reviews.  I've trying to arrange something through Guided Tours Israel but finding 4 people to join me isn't as easy on Oceania as it has been with other CC roll calls.  I'm tempted to just book the ship's excursions but there are no reviews for them.  If anyone has taken tours to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Nazareth and Galilee or Masada and the Dead Sea with Oceania recently (within the last 4 or 5 years) and would be willing to share their experience I'd really appreciate it.

We were in Israel last year on O.  We took the O excursion to Masada and the Dead Sea, and a group (16 people) tour with Guided Tours Israel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  Some people don't like a coach full of people, but honestly, I found the O tour a little more comfortable than the 16 person GTS tour.  However, we had a slightly unusual situation on that cruise because of Israel Covid regulations, and I think normally GTS tours don't have a full load of 16 passengers.  Both tours, however, were worthwhile, had good tour guides, and no problems with waiting for people to come back to the coach or vehicle. Both required lots of time getting to and from the sights, but there's not much you can do about that. For Masada you'll go up to the top, get a tour, come back, and possibly have a little free time (I forget).  After Masada we went to the Dead Sea, where we had lunch (buffet, pretty good) at a hotel, and those who wanted went to lie in the Dead Sea for a while.  I think we had what is apparently obligatory demo/shopping stop for maybe 40 minutes and then back to the port.  I think GTS had a Dead Sea/Masada tour also.  Their prices are reasonable, at least if you take the group tour.  You don't have to get a group together; they'll do it for you (all people from your ship).  They can get into both Haifa and Ashdod ports, so they meet you right at the ship. We thought the Jerusalem/Bethlehem tour was pretty good, although one person wasn't crazy about the tour guide.  I think they wanted more talk/explanation from him, but I thought he was fine.  I don't really like all the non-stop talk that some guides provide. Their group tours are pretty much set in stone, but they have several different ones for Jerusalem, based on whether you'd prefer a Christian or Jewish focus.

 

I have photos if you'd like to take a look at my photo site. If you want, I can post a link. 

[babydrum]

1 hour ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

We were in Israel last year on O.  We took the O excursion to Masada and the Dead Sea, and a group (16 people) tour with Guided Tours Israel to Jerusalem and Bethlehem.  Some people don't like a coach full of people, but honestly, I found the O tour a little more comfortable than the 16 person GTS tour.  However, we had a slightly unusual situation on that cruise because of Israel Covid regulations, and I think normally GTS tours don't have a full load of 16 passengers.  Both tours, however, were worthwhile, had good tour guides, and no problems with waiting for people to come back to the coach or vehicle. Both required lots of time getting to and from the sights, but there's not much you can do about that. For Masada you'll go up to the top, get a tour, come back, and possibly have a little free time (I forget).  After Masada we went to the Dead Sea, where we had lunch (buffet, pretty good) at a hotel, and those who wanted went to lie in the Dead Sea for a while.  I think we had what is apparently obligatory demo/shopping stop for maybe 40 minutes and then back to the port.  I think GTS had a Dead Sea/Masada tour also.  Their prices are reasonable, at least if you take the group tour.  You don't have to get a group together; they'll do it for you (all people from your ship).  They can get into both Haifa and Ashdod ports, so they meet you right at the ship. We thought the Jerusalem/Bethlehem tour was pretty good, although one person wasn't crazy about the tour guide.  I think they wanted more talk/explanation from him, but I thought he was fine.  I don't really like all the non-stop talk that some guides provide. Their group tours are pretty much set in stone, but they have several different ones for Jerusalem, based on whether you'd prefer a Christian or Jewish focus.

 

I have photos if you'd like to take a look at my photo site. If you want, I can post a link. 

Thank you for your response. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. I guess I didn’t realize that GTS was going to try to put the group together. I asked for a 6 to 10 small group and they said they would automatically cancel 7 days before if there weren’t enough people.
 

We are holding a hotel and planning on staying in Jerusalem for 3 to 4 days and taking tours from there since no one has expressed interest in our GTS. tours. I think it’s because the 5 days are during the end of one cruise and beginning of another so many will be on one half of the cruise but not the other. I’m glad to know the ships Israel tours are good also. At least that’s an option if everything else falls through. 

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

18 hours ago, babydrum said:

Thank you for your response. This is exactly the type of info I was looking for. I guess I didn’t realize that GTS was going to try to put the group together. I asked for a 6 to 10 small group and they said they would automatically cancel 7 days before if there weren’t enough people.
 

We are holding a hotel and planning on staying in Jerusalem for 3 to 4 days and taking tours from there since no one has expressed interest in our GTS. tours. I think it’s because the 5 days are during the end of one cruise and beginning of another so many will be on one half of the cruise but not the other. I’m glad to know the ships Israel tours are good also. At least that’s an option if everything else falls through. 

Well, I'm pretty sure they rounded up the tour participants, not us.  But I'll look back to see if that was indeed true. And we were supposed to be in Israel on the ship for 3 full days, and this was May 2022, though I wouldn't think they would have stopped offering tours for a group that they put together.  But I would ask them about a group tour, no more than 16 people, and see what they say.  But if you're wanting to tour with them from a hotel, it may be harder for you, or them, to find enough people to make the tour a go. Then again, if they have a tour from the ship, I suppose it might be possible to take a cab (unless it's Sat/Sunday, be careful!) from the port to a location on or right outside the port to meet a group.  And I don't know when the cruise is, but if you have time to keep looking for participants, you may have more luck.  Our current cruise Roll Call (for Asia) was almost non-existent about 6 or 7 months pre-cruise.  Now, a bit more than 4 months out, it has picked up quite a bit. 

 

I see I keep referring to GTS instead of what it is, which is GTI!  Sorry! Anyway, good luck.

Edited September 15, 2023 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea