Israel

[Feliseop]

We will be on the Pacific Princess next June and will be making stops in Ashdod (Jerusalem) and Haifa. We are looking for a private tour for our group of 8. Has anyone used a company in Israel that they can recommend? Thanks for your assistance.

[Lauraw]

Hi,

 

I know of a number of people who have used a company called Avitours in Jerusalem when they've docked in Ashdod and Haifa. Good experiences and fair prices. The email address there is: avitours.il@gmail.com. Enjoy!

 

Lauraw

[joybelles9]

We will be on the Pacific Princess next June and will be making stops in Ashdod (Jerusalem) and Haifa. We are looking for a private tour for our group of 8. Has anyone used a company in Israel that they can recommend? Thanks for your assistance.

Yes we just got back from the royal princess holy land cruise and found the most wonderful company genesis 2000 and a great guide in Shagra the person to contact is Sharona genesis4@netvision.net.il we left the ship at 7.30 at Haifia and were meet by shagra in a mercedes aircon van he took us to the coptic and christian churches of annunciation in Nazareth and Marys well then we continued on through the green Jordan vally to Jerusalem to Mt olives and garden gethsemane then on to the outloook over the city then the walk through the old city markets where we had lunch at a local cafe of national dishes most made of chickpeas which I hate but they were delicous after the same old ship food Winding our way back through the old city markets to the wailing wall where the male members were taken to the back where the orthodox jews pray then on to church holy sepluchre and another church and then dropped off at our hotel Picked up at 7.20 the next day we set off for Masada the highlight of my trip we went up in cable car and spent over 2 hours there it was wonderful then a dead sea float and on to Ein Gedi and waterfalls then past quoram caves where the dead sea scrolls were found and back to the ship with plenty of time to spare we were a party of 5- 2couples 1 single and cost per person including entrance fees and hotel (prima Royale) was $320pp

go to royal princess roll calls and read the comments of sept 5-17 sailing my email is tonyandjoy@ now either hotmail.com or aapt.net.au if you need any help this was the very best though full on tour we have ever done and even beat the pyramids for egypt we used a firm called temotours and enjoyed that as well the only ships tour we did was sorrento and that was a disaster

[harrtchr]

Would that be the June 25th sailing of Pacific Princess. We have a roll call going and would be interested in coordinating tours in Egypt and Israel.

[MercedMike]

Hi,

 

I know of a number of people who have used a company called Avitours in Jerusalem when they've docked in Ashdod and Haifa. Good experiences and fair prices. The email address there is: avitours.il@gmail.com. Enjoy!

 

Lauraw

 

We also had very good luck with Avitours and second the recommendation.

 

Check out

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

for our trip report and pics. I know you will have a GREAT cruise!

[TexasCPA]

We will be on the Pacific Princess next June and will be making stops in Ashdod (Jerusalem) and Haifa. We are looking for a private tour for our group of 8. Has anyone used a company in Israel that they can recommend? Thanks for your assistance.

If this trip is meant to be part of a spiritual journey for you, I might recommend doing what my wife and I have done on our two cruises to Israel.

 

Hire a private licensed guide on your own. Make a list of sites you want to visit. You can even request a guide that matches your religious preference, if you want (we didn't, but it wasn't an issue). Make sure the private guide has his own vehicle and that he will meet you in each port and return you in time. Pay and tip the guide in CASH. We were able to see almost all of the sites we considered to be the most important to us.

 

YES, it was expensive. YES, it might seem excessive to some. But YES, it meant a LOT to us personally to see the sites we wanted in the order we wanted at our own pace. If you are looking for any shopping in particular (we were looking for wood carvings of manger scenes), almost every guide has his own connections but KNOW the prices on things before you go.

 

We count the hiring a private guide in Israel among the very BEST travel money we have ever spent. Good luck and God Bless!