Review of Constellation Holy Land Med Cruise with lots of Photos and Menus

We have just published a review of our recent Mediterranean cruise to the Israel Holy Land on the Celebrity Constellation on our website. As usual, our reviews have lots of photos of the beautiful places we visited; as well as menu and food pics. This was our first cruise in Aqua, so the food menus are from Blu.

Israel is an amazing place! We were so fortunate to be able to visit there, since the ports were cancelled last year and in some other years. I still can’t believe that we were able to finally visit this location that has been on our bucket list for so many years. Here are a few photos from the review.

The Athens Acropolis

The Bahia Gardens in Haifa

Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

The vanishing Dead Sea

View from on top of Masada

You can see the review on our website http://www.thepreismans.com. We hope it either brings back some fond memories of your Mediterranean cruise or helps in planning your cruise to see a most amazing part of the world. Enjoy!

Thank you, Preisman's! I am looking forward to reading your review.

We were fortunate to take a land trip to Israel and Jordan almost 3 years ago...a year before things got dicey over there. (We also traveled to Istanbul by ship, along with Ephesus and the Greek Isles.) I would love to return by cruiseship someday and was curious how the trip would differ from our land trip. What better way to find out than to read one of your reviews! :)

PS - We have been to Athens by ship and will be returning by ship this next May. Looks like the Acropolis is even more restored than when we last saw it. :)

We will also be going to Rhodes for the first time in May. :D

Thank you Mr. Mike for posting. :)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you !! Being a Cruise Critic (and Cruise) addict I always explore the web site to discover wonderful reviews, especially those that are documented with photos.

I must say that your site, all of it, is simply the BEST I've ever encountered. Just wonderful. Thank you so very much.

Paul in St. Paul

Thank you, Preisman's! I am looking forward to reading your review.

 

We were fortunate to take a land trip to Israel and Jordan almost 3 years ago...a year before things got dicey over there. (We also traveled to Istanbul by ship, along with Ephesus and the Greek Isles.) I would love to return by cruiseship someday and was curious how the trip would differ from our land trip. What better way to find out than to read one of your reviews! :)

 

PS - We have been to Athens by ship and will be returning by ship this next May. Looks like the Acropolis is even more restored than when we last saw it. :)

 

We will also be going to Rhodes for the first time in May. :D

I would love to go to Jordan some day. Petra has been calling me for years. :D With us being in port for 3 days including an overnight, I did feel like we had enough time to see the major sites. I would happily return and spend another week there on a land trip to do more exploring. I hope you enjoy Rhodes, it is a pretty place.

Thank you Mr. Mike for posting. :)

Your welcome Ed. It is a shame that you are on the Equinox this month instead of the Eclipse next month when we are going. Better luck next time.:D

Wow... another fantastic review...so interesting!

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Your welcome Ed. It is a shame that you are on the Equinox this month instead of the Eclipse next month when we are going. Better luck next time.:D

Definitely, my bad luck sir. :)

Thanks for your review. Been on a Holy Land cruise before and your pictures bring back fond memories. Have bookmarked your blog site for future reading of your other adventures.

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Thank you for all your lovely pictures and review. The Holy Land is a bucket list item for me as well. Your Dead Sea experience was very informative.

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I would love to go to Jordan some day. Petra has been calling me for years. :D With us being in port for 3 days including an overnight, I did feel like we had enough time to see the major sites. I would happily return and spend another week there on a land trip to do more exploring. I hope you enjoy Rhodes, it is a pretty place.

We were on this cruise it was a great cruise. Our first full suite, what a experience. We. Noted all of the ports with our adult daughter . Her first to the HOly LAnds. It was our third visit. Our overnight in Israel was great.

We had ASia booked for next year but came home and found a azamara cruise that starts in AThens and ends in UAE. It overnights at Luxor and over nights in petra. Both sites are on our bucket line. So no Asia next year, maybe 2018. Very excited about this cruise. It will be our first azamara cruise. We have been on princess small ship, which is also a old R ship.

I love your reviews and blog so thank you for sharing your knowledge and wonderful experiences with us.

Amy

I always enjoy reading your reviews -- and especially seeing your photos.

The Eastern Med is really my favorite destination; it's a shame so many places are either off the radar or are a bit "iffy" at the moment. While I feel lucky to have made visits (in some cases, like Egypt and Turkey, multiple visits) to many countries in the Eastern Med, I still hope that things will some day settle down and that I'll be able to see old favorites and new places...

Love your review. I have the same tours booked with Guided Tours Israel for next October on the Silhouette. Glad everything went well for you. Your review gave me a great preview for our cruise.

Rick

Thanks for the review.

"I couldn’t understand why she was spending so much time with us. Paul later told me that he told her I was taking photos for a review I was doing. Then I understood. She didn’t realize that it was just for our little website" - Very humble, but I think the analytics would show you get a good amount of visits. I know I see plenty of ship menus on your site pop up in google search and I've even based our excursions off yours (like an upcoming one with Roberto).

Thanks so much for your thorough reviews! It helps me plan my own booked trips and sparks new wanderlust.

Love your review. I have the same tours booked with Guided Tours Israel for next October on the Silhouette. Glad everything went well for you. Your review gave me a great preview for our cruise.

 

Rick

I hope you get the same guide I had. She was awesome.

"I couldn’t understand why she was spending so much time with us. Paul later told me that he told her I was taking photos for a review I was doing. Then I understood. She didn’t realize that it was just for our little website" - Very humble, but I think the analytics would show you get a good amount of visits. I know I see plenty of ship menus on your site pop up in google search and I've even based our excursions off yours (like an upcoming one with Roberto).

 

Thanks so much for your thorough reviews! It helps me plan my own booked trips and sparks new wanderlust.

Well, it is just a hobby site. Say hi to Roberto for me. He did an awesome job for us.

When looking at your blog, I saw that you had recently gone to Iceland. That's on our bucket list and we are thinking of booking the April 2018 from Dublin. So, I read your entire review of that trip, first. Only got as far as Athens for the Israel cruise. :D Back to reading tomorrow!

I would love to go to Jordan some day. Petra has been calling me for years. :D With us being in port for 3 days including an overnight, I did feel like we had enough time to see the major sites. I would happily return and spend another week there on a land trip to do more exploring. I hope you enjoy Rhodes, it is a pretty place.

We went to Petra, and I have to say that it was the most interesting place that I have ever been to. It felt like I was in a dream...caught in a fairly tale. We walked all the way to the end and back of the city while fighting dust, dodging camels and racing horses! I'd love to go back some day. ;)

Jordan was interesting, as well. On the way back from Petra to Jordan, we traveled on a 4 lane of highway. The lanes were separated by a tree filled, wide and hilly median, where families gathered to cook their dinners over open campfires and camp out among the traffic. :eek: Very odd.

Then out in the middle of nowhere, the traffic comes to a standstill. Thinking there was an accident, we were very surprised to learn that the traffic was for a grand opening of an IKEA store...out in the middle of nowhere! :D

Hi Mike,

nice to see that you enjoyed your cruise!

We did a Holy Land Cruise on Silhouette a while back... it still is on of our favourite cruises ever. Partly because of Silhouette but mainly because of the fantastic time we had in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the fortress.

As we stayed in a hotel in Jerusalem over night we extended our experience to the late hours when all the tourists were gone and we wandered the streets alone with local kids playing soccer in the alleys so unbearably crowded during daytime. Since we were there during the Sukkot holiday, people were singing and dancin in front of the Western Wall... Unforgettable!!!!

After the cruise is before the cruise... maybe we will meet on board again ;-)

Oliver

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Always enjoy your reviews and this one was wonderful. Looking forward to your TA review as we will be on that cruise next Nov.

Thanks for sharing your amazing Holy Land cruise. Our cruise on the Silhouette was cancel several years ago and we could not travel to Jerusalem.

Thanks for all your photos of your cruise. Just Outstanding. :)

Sounds liked your Holy Land tour & guide was amazing !

Hi Mike,

 

nice to see that you enjoyed your cruise!

 

We did a Holy Land Cruise on Silhouette a while back... it still is on of our favourite cruises ever. Partly because of Silhouette but mainly because of the fantastic time we had in Jerusalem, the Dead Sea and the fortress.

 

As we stayed in a hotel in Jerusalem over night we extended our experience to the late hours when all the tourists were gone and we wandered the streets alone with local kids playing soccer in the alleys so unbearably crowded during daytime. Since we were there during the Sukkot holiday, people were singing and dancin in front of the Western Wall... Unforgettable!!!!

 

After the cruise is before the cruise... maybe we will meet on board again ;-)

 

Oliver

 

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Hi Oliver,

I certainly agree with you about Israel being a special place to visit. As much as I would have enjoyed being in Jerusalem at night, I was too exhausted to even think about it on this cruise.

I look forward to cruising with you again Oliver.

Hi again, Mike. I finished reading the Rhodes part of your review. Could you tell me when you visited the first time. I would like to read about your ships excursion. ;)

Hi again, Mike. I finished reading the Rhodes part of your review. Could you tell me when you visited the first time. I would like to read about your ships excursion. ;)

No problem at all. It was in 2007 on the Grand Princess Med cruise.