Just returned from Holy Land Cruise on Royal Princess

[Mark from Georgia]

My wife and I had not cruised since our honeymoon in 1983 ... we are budget travelers and were not sure if the cruise lifestyle was for us. I am happy to report that this cruise (October 23 - November 4, Athens to Venice) exceeded all expectations. We arranged our own flights and arrived in Athens one day early. As we got off of the Metro in Pireaus, we made our only mistake and went to the ferryboat docks instead of the cruise ship docks (Dock E-12). Instead of arriving at 5:00 pm, we arrived at about 6:15 pm. Very efficient check-in process, espicially since we had missed the rush. Princess gave us a room upgrade with no charge. Once we set foot on board, all responsibilities were lightened. We enjoyed the company of our fellow passengers, even though we were in the younger third (we are still working; most others were retired). Our prime purpose for this cruise was shore excursions, and we booked 6 excursions. Tours booked were Patmos, Ancient Ephesus, Galilee/Nazareth, Jerusalem/Bethlehem, Pyramids of Egypt, and Alexandria. All were good and worth the cost. Our food was great, the ship life was more than what we expected, and the itinerary was fantastic for our purposes. The only shore cancellation (bad weather) was Split, Croatia, on the 12th day of the cruise. This was a trip of a lifetime for us, and we would highly recommend this itinerary and this cruise line.

[Toto2Kansas]

Originally Posted by Mark from Georgia

My wife and I had not cruised since our honeymoon in 1983 ... we are budget travelers and were not sure if the cruise lifestyle was for us. I am happy to report that this cruise (October 23 - November 4, Athens to Venice) exceeded all expectations. We arranged our own flights and arrived in Athens one day early. As we got off of the Metro in Pireaus, we made our only mistake and went to the ferryboat docks instead of the cruise ship docks (Dock E-12). Instead of arriving at 5:00 pm, we arrived at about 6:15 pm. Very efficient check-in process, espicially since we had missed the rush. Princess gave us a room upgrade with no charge. Once we set foot on board, all responsibilities were lightened. We enjoyed the company of our fellow passengers, even though we were in the younger third (we are still working; most others were retired). Our prime purpose for this cruise was shore excursions, and we booked 6 excursions. Tours booked were Patmos, Ancient Ephesus, Galilee/Nazareth, Jerusalem/Bethlehem, Pyramids of Egypt, and Alexandria. All were good and worth the cost. Our food was great, the ship life was more than what we expected, and the itinerary was fantastic for our purposes. The only shore cancellation (bad weather) was Split, Croatia, on the 12th day of the cruise. This was a trip of a lifetime for us, and we would highly recommend this itinerary and this cruise line.

Sounds delightful, glad to hear you enjoyed the Royal!

[Coolmama_1]

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. We are looking at this cruise for next year as DH has to take a 30 day sabbatical every 4 yrs as required by the Bishop. We are thinking a b2b Holy Lands Cruise ought to do the trick!

[bjkTX]

Thanks for the review and welcome to CC! We're going on the Royal in May for the first time so we check out all the reviews :-)

[DrivesLikeMario]

You're very fortunate to have experienced such a once-in-a-lifetime cruise like this! Thanks for much for the report on it. It sounds absolutely awesome!

[drjpreston]

Thanks for the great review. My DW and I are taking the 14 day Hawaii cruise in January on the Golden for our 40 wedding anniversary. The Holy Land cruise is certainally one we will look at in the future. As a pastor for 40 years it would be a dream come true.

[imsulin]

So glad that you had such a wonderful cruise! It's hard to skip from 1983 to 2009, but you handled it beautifully! You truly deserved the "cruise of a lifetime", and hope you're able to plan another. Thanks so much for your great post!

[KruzPrincess]

Glad to hear you had such a great time. My friend is on this cruise right now. It good to read about it. I hope I can go on this cruise someday.

[crusdiva]

Thanks Mark - welcome to CC.

How refreshing to have such a positive review on a first post!

I'm so happy to hear of your wonderful cruise, DH and I have been delaying booking this one as we too would be in the minority demographically onboard - you may have swayed us.

[Cruisin'Rabbit]

I would love to do this cruise. I also would be most interested in the shore excursions.

The thing is, I am terrified! How safe did it seem, on the shore excursions in Egypt and Israel?

In Isreal, did you feel tensions between Israelis and Palestinians?

I would love to hear more about the atmosphere.

Thanks!

[AndyTheK]

Let me start by saying that I've never cruised to Israel. but that I've lived here in Tel Aviv for twenty years. We've done tours equivalent to the ones offered as excursions, both with commercial tour companies, and on our own.

The first thing you can be sure of is that no tour will ever take you into any area where there is any trouble expected. We take security very seriously and value the safety and enjoyment of our visitors highly.

Security is at a more visible level than is usual in the USA. At the entrance to every shopping mall, restaurant, or place of interest, your handbag or backpack will be examined (usually visually, but sometimes wanded). In some places, you might be asked a few questions... just answer simply. It is nothing personal, nor in any way intrusive! Actually, after a few times, you'll be so used to the procedure that you'll automatically flip the top of your handbag open as you approach an entrance.

The very first thing you will notice is that we live a very normal life, working, relaxing in a cafe, and so forth. On tour, the guides are very knowledgeable and will give you insight to the history and the current life styles.

As far as tension is concerned, you will not experience this personally. Israelis, both Jewish and Arab alike, are basically interested in making a living, raising their family. The incidents you see on TV are, in fact, much rarer than you might think. They will NOT take you anywhere near the Gaza Strip.

As far as Egypt is concerned, we've been to Cairo and to the Sinai area. We did tours booked through the hotels we stayed at. The only time we ever worried was about the way Cairo taxi driverrs drive - they make their own lanes, and don't use headlights at night!! But well worth the trip to see the nighttime sound-and-light show at the Pyramids in Giza.

PS - for whatever reason, Israel has already mostly come out of the worldwide economic slump. Business is booming. No recession here.

Cruising is an ideal way to get here. We're a small country (roughly the size and shape of New Jersey) but we have everything: sea, mountains, desert. Our cities range in age from Jericho - the ruins are 6000 years old - to Tel Aviv - 100 years old this year. Please come and visit.

Shalom from Tel Aviv. Andy.

[Cruisin'Rabbit]

Thank you so much for this thoughtful and moving response!

I so appreciate it!

I do hope to visit one day.

Again, thank you.

Shalom from Chicago. Ken

Originally Posted by AndyTheK

Let me start by saying that I've never cruised to Israel. but that I've lived here in Tel Aviv for twenty years. We've done tours equivalent to the ones offered as excursions, both with commercial tour companies, and on our own.

The first thing you can be sure of is that no tour will ever take you into any area where there is any trouble expected. We take security very seriously and value the safety and enjoyment of our visitors highly.

Security is at a more visible level than is usual in the USA. At the entrance to every shopping mall, restaurant, or place of interest, your handbag or backpack will be examined (usually visually, but sometimes wanded). In some places, you might be asked a few questions... just answer simply. It is nothing personal, nor in any way intrusive! Actually, after a few times, you'll be so used to the procedure that you'll automatically flip the top of your handbag open as you approach an entrance.

The very first thing you will notice is that we live a very normal life, working, relaxing in a cafe, and so forth. On tour, the guides are very knowledgeable and will give you insight to the history and the current life styles.

As far as tension is concerned, you will not experience this personally. Israelis, both Jewish and Arab alike, are basically interested in making a living, raising their family. The incidents you see on TV are, in fact, much rarer than you might think. They will NOT take you anywhere near the Gaza Strip.

As far as Egypt is concerned, we've been to Cairo and to the Sinai area. We did tours booked through the hotels we stayed at. The only time we ever worried was about the way Cairo taxi driverrs drive - they make their own lanes, and don't use headlights at night!! But well worth the trip to see the nighttime sound-and-light show at the Pyramids in Giza.

PS - for whatever reason, Israel has already mostly come out of the worldwide economic slump. Business is booming. No recession here.

Cruising is an ideal way to get here. We're a small country (roughly the size and shape of New Jersey) but we have everything: sea, mountains, desert. Our cities range in age from Jericho - the ruins are 6000 years old - to Tel Aviv - 100 years old this year. Please come and visit.

Shalom from Tel Aviv. Andy.

[Cruisin Sal]

Different strokes from different folks! I was also on this cruise. I thought the passengers were very friendly. However I did not like the size of the ship. I prefer the larger ones that have more going on. The cabin has different storage space. Not very organized. I have been on the Star and Caribbean this year - the food was great. The Royal's dinners left something to be desired.
This cruise had been on my bucket list. The Greek Islands were just a pile of rocks and steep roads. I enjoyed Nazareth/Galilee. I saw so much it became a blur! The trip to Cairo is long - 6 hours each way. I expected to see more than the 3 pyramids in 3 different views. The camel dirvers and vendors were very pushy. Everything was $1 (US) and junk. We had 5 bus loads on our Nile Cruise lunch. We didn't see much of the Nile as were went in circles.
My granddaughter went to Jerusalem. She said it was very crowded.
The jet lag from Venice to SF was horrible! I think I will stick closer to home now.

[cruisemom42]

Originally Posted by Cruisin Sal

Different strokes from different folks! I was also on this cruise. I thought the passengers were very friendly. However I did not like the size of the ship. I prefer the larger ones that have more going on. The cabin has different storage space. Not very organized. I have been on the Star and Caribbean this year - the food was great. The Royal's dinners left something to be desired.
This cruise had been on my bucket list. The Greek Islands were just a pile of rocks and steep roads. I enjoyed Nazareth/Galilee. I saw so much it became a blur! The trip to Cairo is long - 6 hours each way. I expected to see more than the 3 pyramids in 3 different views. The camel dirvers and vendors were very pushy. Everything was $1 (US) and junk. We had 5 bus loads on our Nile Cruise lunch. We didn't see much of the Nile as were went in circles.
My granddaughter went to Jerusalem. She said it was very crowded.
The jet lag from Venice to SF was horrible! I think I will stick closer to home now.

My goodness.....did you not choose a shore excursion in Egypt that would allow you to experience more, like the world-famous Cairo museum?

It's interesting that you would describe the Greek isles as a pile of rocks and steep roads. The ones I have visited have stunning scenery as well as some world class ruins and history.

And speaking of which, what did you think of Ephesus, surely one of the MOST stunning archeological sites to be visited in the Med?

Perhaps you are right, it doesn't sound like foreign travel agrees with you at all....

[Woobstr112G]

Originally Posted by cruisemom42

My goodness.....did you not choose a shore excursion in Egypt that would allow you to experience more, like the world-famous Cairo museum?

It's interesting that you would describe the Greek isles as a pile of rocks and steep roads. The ones I have visited have stunning scenery as well as some world class ruins and history.

And speaking of which, what did you think of Ephesus, surely one of the MOST stunning archeological sites to be visited in the Med?

Perhaps you are right, it doesn't sound like foreign travel agrees with you at all....

I'd have to agree.....

Bob

[drjpreston]

Andy,
Thanks for the great post and information. A cruise with tours would be a dream come true however I have led ten tours to Israel proper. I have never felt I was in danger. My DW and I love it there. The tour companies are always so very careful. I have found that many Israelis are afraid to come to America because of the coverage of all the crimes here on TV.

I always tell my groups tongue in cheek, that as long we can get our tour bus safely across LA and get everyone on to the plane without anyone getting shot, I will be a happy host and able to rest.

[janina]

Wow, great information. Thankyou Andy this is the next area I had in mind to cruise in. Can't wait to do more research.

[Manny's mom]

We haven't gone to Israel or Egypt on a cruise, but have done both by land. We've also been on 2 Royal sailings and love her. The first time I went to Israel it was on a 14 day land tour. I have to admit I was nervous before going. It took getting to Tel Aviv, and experiencing the wonderful attitude of all, the laid back way everyone just goes about their business to convince me. I was hooked, and never nervous again. We toured with a group the first trip and went back a year and a half later by ourselves. Now, we would like to go and spend a month at a time. In all my trips and the countries I have visited, Israel is my favorite. I also have toured Egypt by land and a river cruise, and it was an amazing trip. I would just say I would recommend always going with a guide in Egypt.

[pris993]

We did a Holy Land cruise on the Royal Princess in 2007. It was one of the best cruises we ever did. We did a cruise to Alaska on the Pacific Princess - a sister ship to the Royal and loved it as well.

We are seasoned travellers, elite on Princess, cruise Celebrity and HAL as well. This year we did another Holy Land cruise on the Celebrity Equniox. We had a good trip but did not think the service was as good as on the Royal.

We often cruise on new ships, often on the larger ones as a result. Cruised on the Ruby Princess last April. Will be on the HAL Eurodam this coming March. While these larger ships offer more variety they still don't compare to the smaller more intimate ships like the Royal and Pacific Princess.

If you like a smaller more intimate experience can't go wrong on the Royal Princess.

The itineraries including Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Greece and Italy are very exciting. We have been to all of the ports/countries a number of times
and never tire of them.