marciagordon5227

I am thinking about booking a Holy land cruise for September 2024. I would to hear any feedback. I would be flying into Italy from Toronto

thursdaysd

I don't know why they call it a Holy Land cruise. If it's this one: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruis...3219224#step=0 - you get one day in Haifa, and one day on a trip from the port to Jerusalem. If you want to visit the "Holy Land", by which I presume you mean Israel and Palestine, take a land tour, or go by yourself.

jacketwatch

we did a holy land cruise and ended up with four days in Israel, which was quite a blessing really. We had a stop scheduled for Egypt, but that was canceled due to the Arab spring uprising. We ended up with four days in Israel and we saw as much as we could in those four days.
i’m not sure about your budget, but my suggestion is to get a private guide and there are many. You will pay through the nose but it’s well worth the experience. At least this way you will be on your own and there’s nothing like seeing Israel through the eyes of one of their licensed guides.

if you need a reference, I can give you one.

marciagordon5227

Thank you so much for your feedback. Yes, if you have a referral that would be great. I know it's only one day but I would like to see as much as I can. Thanks,

jacketwatch

My pleasure. I’ll send it via PM. It’s the man we used. His name is Avi.
Tried a PM but not sure it went through so see link below

jacketwatch

Tours in Israel - Avitours

marciagordon5227

Thanks to everyone that responded. I decided to book the cruise. I hope we will enjoy it.

jacketwatch

Great. I am sure you will. The itinerary looks wonderful and it's a beautiful ship.

One word of caution if I may. When we did this cruise there was an outbreak of noro virus which was traced back to Jerusalem. It quite easy to understand as there was much touching of the artifacts there and I even saw someone kiss the slab Jesus was laid on so be very careful about hand to mouth. Bringing hand sanitizer is a good idea.

marciagordon5227

Thanks so much for the warning. I am praying that all will be well on this trip. I welcome any other comments, suggestions and cautions for our trip. Thanks