Holy land cruise
 

I am looking for a cruise for next summer, I am really interested in the holy land cruise offered by Princess. Has anyone done this or other cruises to Egypt and Turkey, Greece, Isreal. This is the only one I see that includes Isreal. It seems much more economical and safer than doing it on our own. Do you agree? I am also wondering if this would be a good cruise for kids ages 12 and 10.

We are doing this trip in september and got the very last cabins available will post something on return They are fully booked for the rest of this year and have not posted next years dates as yet. The travel agent we are dealing with in a country town in australia has over 20 couples waiting on the new listings for next year so it is a very popular tour taking in santorini capri isreal turkey egypt greece and italy and her firm promoted this tour locally complete with photos of santorini the blue grotto on capri the wailing wall in jeruseulem pryamids etc a real attention grabber she has had some clients go on this tour all gave it the thumbs up and several are planning on doing the same tour again as some of the one day port calls had 2 or 3 shore tours and they could not do everything

We did this cruise many, many years ago on the Island Princess (twin of the original Love Boat). Having traveled with Princess many times, and always used their excursions, safety is not of concern. Even recently cruisers have posted that in Egypt they had convoy protection: pickup trucks at the front and back of the bus line with armed men. In Israel each coach has armed plain clothes protection; remember, this was many years ago and I haven't noticed recent postings on Israel excursions. Check the Cruise Critic Boards; I know they have an active roll call for the October cruise including Israel because I was considering it.

The ship's excursions are somewhat expensive, especially the overnight one in Egypt, so "economical" is relative to what you elect to do in each port. In some instances you may feel "gyped," for example, last year cruisers posted that on the Egypt overnight excursion, due to delays, they didn't get to the luxury hotel until 9:30 PM for the included dinner, as I recall, and then were back on the go very early in the morning. (A similar private excursion for less money is also being discussed on the CC Boards.)

Look on the Princess Web site and estimate your excursion costs based on the outings listed for the itinerary you're interested in.

I assume you're considering the Royal Princess ship. Based on the pre-launch popularity of the vessel, the smaller size of the ship, the length of the voyages, and the waiting lists, I'm guessing senior citizens are going to be prevalent and there would be few children or children's activities. However, recently more young families with babies and toddlers are cruising, as well as extended families and family reunions.

These are just a few thoughts for your further consideration.

After a long debate, we decided to book the RCCL 12 day cruise, which does Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Egypt(departing at 10pm vs. the overnight). I think the price difference with kids was around $6000. That's a big difference, so we are missing out on Isreal and Princess. I'll have to put the Holy land cruise on my list of things to do when the kids are grown.

We are booked for the Holy Land cruise for June '08. Princess told me that because there are more than 20 children on that trip, onboard activities will be provided. That's a relief because I'm travelling with an 8-year old. I, too, was reluctant at first to take this pricey trip but I figured it's a once in a life time trip. It's more for me than for my child. Obviously, safety is a consideration but I haven't heard of any problems.

HI we are just back from the sept 5 cruise to holy land with princess and was worth every penny except for the ships tours we arranged a lot of our own and worked out fine suggest you read all the info at cruise critic -roll calls- royal princess-9/5/2007 athens to rome. we were so amazed and glad we did overnighters privately in Israel and Egypt