Excursions in Israel

Have spent time researching Ashdod and excursions to Jerusalem and Bethlehem for one day but never considered Nazareth or Galilee for the second day until now. Had assumed it was only feasible from the northern port. Has anyone been on that excursion with Thomson? My original other choice was Masada and the Dead Sea with private tour but looks like it won't happen due to lack of interest. Any feedback welcome.:confused:

Yes, Nazareth & the Sea of Galilee are normally accessed from the port of Haifa.

Travelling from Ashdod is perfectly feasible, but adds around 30 to 45 minutes e/w to your journey - toward 2 hours compared to something over an hour. And typical travel around Nazareth, Cana, a kibbutz, River Jordan baptisms & Sea of Galilee eats into your time too. So to have time enough to get best value & to be back safely before your ship sails, you really ought to fix that for Day One.

Problem is, that doesn't solve the problem/expense of no sharers, it only moves the problem to a different day & location, and Masada / Dead Sea is also a very worthwhile choice. There are (were, when we visited) no minibuses offering tours at Ashdod port - only taxis, & they're likely to prove expensive for a full day tour. Quite expensive even for travel to Jerusalem at around 100 euros e/w.

So you need to fix up a tour in advance.

You could consider renting a car, we did that for a two-day stop & sharing with an American couple - we were on an RCI ship, & RollCalls on US ships are just so very much more active than on Brit ships. We drove Masada & Dead Sea on Day One, ending in Jerusalem, hotel overnight, free (just tip the guide) walking tour of Jerusalem walled city next morning, back to Ashdod pm. http://www.newjerusalemtours.com/

Navigation was easy, a very pleasant round-trip - Be'er Sheva, Negev Desert, Masada (cable car to the fort, top of the hill, glorious views over Dead Sea), Ein Gedi (for a dip in the Dead Sea), Jerusalem, Ashdod.

You can't visit Bethlehem in a rented car, its Palestinian-controlled.

For sharers for a tour or car hire, check the Thomson RollCalls at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=818

Like the other forums, they're in order by date of the last posting, not chronological order, so you'll have to trawl. If there's not a RollCall for your cruise, you can start one.

You can also try the Thomson cruises facebook (& other social media?)

But don't hold your hopes too high, we Brits aren't heavily into RollCalls.

A bigger risk at Ashdod than most other ports around the world is that of the port being cancelled. From time to time, missiles are lobbed over to Ashdod from the Gaza Strip and that makes cruise captains a bit twitchy for a few days. Brit ships are less risk-averse than their US counterparts, but the risk of a cancellation is there - bear that in mind & check cancellation terms before committing money up-front.

One up-side to that - if Ashdod is cancelled at short notice & Haifa has availability, ships will port there instead. Solves your Nazareth quandary, and there'll be minibuses outside the terminal plying for trade for both Nazareth and Jerusalem tours.

Good luck

JB :)

Thanks for your detailed response. Looks like whatever trips I do I have to do them with Thomson now as private tours too expensive for 2. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are a definite for me just not sure whether Masada and Dead Sea or Nazareth for my other excursion. I know we might not get to Ashdod but really hoping we do, the whole reason for us doing this cruise!

Thanks for your detailed response. Looks like whatever trips I do I have to do them with Thomson now as private tours too expensive for 2. Jerusalem and Bethlehem are a definite for me just not sure whether Masada and Dead Sea or Nazareth for my other excursion. I know we might not get to Ashdod but really hoping we do, the whole reason for us doing this cruise!

While in other cruise companies (especially the big ones) you can see a lot of activity in the roll call and groups are formed to share private tours cost, you hardly see this on Thomson Cruises. This is why you hardly see people going on private arrangements from Thomson ships in Israel.

I must say, with all the respect, the risk of canceling Ashdod Port is not relevant and to be frank, although it is talked about a lot and here too, very few calls to Ashdod were canceled, way less than what people think or getting the impression of reading here or elsewhere. The problem is that usually when something happens here (like in last July) the cruise companies tend to canceled the whole calls to Israel and not just to Ashdod. The case of canceling Ashdod and moving the ships to Haifa happened only in 2010. Now it is true that British companies tend to be less risk-averse but that was unfortunately true until last year. While the other cruise companies that were planed to call either Ashdod and Haifa during July-September 2014 totally pulled out of Israel but came back on October, Thomson canceled all their calls to Israel, Ashdod and Haifa, for the rest of 2014, although they were not planed to come before October (and everything was way finished and normal here in October) and never came back in 2014. More than this, although the Spirit is planed to be here in Israel 14 times, all for 2 days, mainly overnight Ashdod, but if I recall right 1 or 2 times also calling Haifa, though haven't published yet, Thomson is pulling out of Israel and had canceled all winter 2016 season in Israel, so 2015 seems to be the last chance of coming to Israel on the Thomson.

Now, as regards to the specific questions that were asked in the original post. Yes Thomson is offering Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee excursion from Ashdod. it is a looong one usually 12-13 hours but it includes all that in the same excursion offered from Haifa. But if I were the OP I would go to Masada and the Dead Sea. Excursions in Israel are different than all other places. Due to the uniqueness of the Holy Lands the excursions include lot of historical sites, involved a lot of walking and very concentrated and it is tiring. There for the Masada and the Dead Sea option on the second day is the best as half of the time of this excursion (excluding the 2 hors drive each way) is spent on the beach of the Dead Sea.

Another option you may consider is taking the overnight offered by Thomson. It includes Nazareth and the Jordan River and Dead Sea on day 1 and Jerusalem and Bethlehem on day 2 with an overnight in Jerusalem. The only thing that is different here is that this tour does not get all the way to the northern part of the Sea of Galilee there for Capernaum and Mt Beatitude in not included. However you drive down all along the Jordan Valley to the Dead Sea.

I don't recommend renting a car simply because that is time and money sucking. Rental offices are opened from 08:00-17:00 and there for you must return the car before 17:00. Also, mileage is limited to 200k a day and if you are going either to Masada or to Nazareth from Ashdod on one of the days it will involve extra cost. Take into consideration taxi from the port to the rental office (the only way) and back, gas cost, parking in Jerusalem (good luck with that) and you can find yourself spending just too much money and time on that.

Enjoy your visit to Israel and your cruise on the Spirit. I sailed the Spirit last your in the Baltic and though not a Britt I enjoyed it a lot.

TaliaBT, altho' you're a local there's a few matters I'd respectfully disagree with you about.

For instance I don't recall any mileage limit or charges on our car rental, and certainly there was no mileage charge for our Ashdod / Masada / Dead Sea / Jerusalem /Ashdod journey. But you've alerted the OP to the possibility, so they can easily research that on various operators' websites.

And the return time for the car wasn't a problem - bear in mind that back-on-board time is likely to be late afternoon.

Ports in Israel tend to be the highlight of a cruise - folk choose those itineraries specifically for Israel, and whereas a cancellation for say a Turkish port or a Greek island is nothing more than a small disappointment, the cancellation of the only Israeli port defeats the main objective of the chosen cruise. So cruisers certainly wouldn't consider that risk as "not relevant"

That certainly wasn't the case when I cruised Haifa & Ashdod a couple or three years back - altho our cruise was unaffected, several cruises either side of our dates were diverted at the last minute to places like Cyprus or Malta or extra days at sea - not happy bunnies!!!!

I avoided over-egging the risk. I said it's higher than most ports. And it is. And much higher than the risk of Haifa being cancelled. A point to bear in mind when committing money on a tour, hotel rental car or whatever without adequate cancellation rights. My o/h cruised to Israel last year with her sis, a Thomson Celebration cruise out of (?) Bodram, fixed a private tour from Ashdod with an operator that made no charge if the ship failed to port. All went well.

I have no idea why Thomson planned two nights in Ashdod, rather than Haifa - perhaps availability, perhaps port fees, certainly not reliability.

You've talked-down the risk of cancellations, then explained that Thomson is pulling out of Israel.

Why would they do that? It's a popular itinerary. The reason must surely be either the risk of diversion or cruisers reluctant to book because of that risk.

Which neatly brings me to my own position.

I've wanted to go to Israel for decades. Kept putting it off because of the troubles, waiting for things to settle down. Sadly I eventually came to the conclusion that Israeli & Palestinian were never going to co-exist peacefully & if I waited for that I'd never ever get there.

Had a great cruise out of Istanbul on Vision of the Seas, enjoyed our time immensely in Israel.

So I say to the OP, you've made the right decision in booking for Israel, probably it'll work out well & you'll have a great time in Israel despite the difficulties in fixing up tours. Spirit is a good little old tub with a very friendly atmosphere & one of the best crews on the ocean.

JB :)

Am convinced Thomson excursions best option. Now just have to book! Thanks for input.:)

Am convinced Thomson excursions best option. Now just have to book! Thanks for input.:)

I loved Israel, its an amazing experience. I hope you enjoy it as well, what ever you do.

I dont want to push my own barrel, but if you a re interested here is a piece I wrote for a little magazine on my last excursion to Israel a couple of years ago..

http://roscoesseafever.blogspot.co.nz/2013/09/israel-land-of-david-luke-john-and.html

Have a fabulous trip..

Regards Roscoe

Am convinced Thomson excursions best option. Now just have to book! Thanks for input.:)

Ship's tours often book-out ahead of the sailing.

So if that's your chosen path (which I can understand in the circumstances), best to choose & book soonest.

Do check Thomson's excursion cancellation terms (on most cruise lines you can cancel without penalty up to 48 hours before the day), so you'll know whether that's an option if an alternative presents itself.

With Thomson excursions you have to pay in full with booking.

Unlike most cruise lines, Thomson charge a credit card commission - and the same applies to settling your on-board account. So use a debit card.

Of course you have the safety of a full refund of ship's excursions if the ship fails to port.

Euros are widely accepted in the sort of places you'll visit, but it's good to have the security of a few shekels in your pocket.

Have a good one

JB :)

Read the blog, it was great.

Thanks for the replies. :o

Read the blog, it was great.

Thanks for the replies. :o

enjoy Israel, just remember to take as sense of humour....:D