Royal Princess In Israel on Shabbat!June 13 09

[robin111]

Just found out that the Royal Princess is in Israel Fri and Sat. How could they dock in Israel on days when all the Jewish sites are closed?

[bdjam]

Depending on the itinerary, ports, travel time and distance, I would imagine there was more to consider than whether they would be in Israel on Friday and Saturday. I think you'd really have to talk to Princess to find the answer.

[lulubell]

If its sights you're after-get a ship tour you'll be fine:) -if you just want stores and restaurants then you'll need more research done-some will be open especially around tel aviv-have fun

[mumsiesof2]

I was in Israel in April & although we were not on a cruise-you will be very surprise to find that not everything in Israel in closed on Shabbat-unless you are in a very religious area. If you have any other questions about this issue contact the Israeli tourism in your area-or write back & i will try to help you---

Have a terrific time-wear comfortable shoes---

Linda

(married to an Israeli;) )

[cruisingfreak]

Just found out that the Royal Princess is in Israel Fri and Sat. How could they dock in Israel on days when all the Jewish sites are closed?

 

Robin

 

Thanks for letting me know about this, over on the Roll Call site.

 

It looks as though we are going to be switching dates for this cruise, because of this problem, as we'll probably never get back to Israel again. We want to be able to see everything we can, without any limitations.

 

Most likely we'll now doing the cruise in Aug. It comes in to Israel on a Sunday/Monday.

 

I just want to wait until we come back from our Baltic cruise, before I do the change, to see if anything else turns up.

 

I'll let you know what I do, over on the Roll Call.

 

Minette

[Mapu]

Just found out that the Royal Princess is in Israel Fri and Sat. How could they dock in Israel on days when all the Jewish sites are closed?

All of the Jewish sites will not be closed. Yad Vashem will close early (2PM) but opens at 9AM and if you get off the ship by 7:30 which is entirely possible that could be your first stop. You definitely can't do everything early but there are many places that you will have access to. The Dead Sea does not close. I think you need to think about what you really want to see and check itineraries that are offerred by different tour operators. We used Avitours which has a website that gives sample itineraries; daily and overnight. We chose not to do the overnight and two very full days. While there are certainly Orthodox areas Israel is a secular country. Gail