Visiting Israel via Ashdod

We visited Ashdod last week and I thought I would share our experience as I had been a little apprehensive as to how the visit would go.

We arrived in Ashdod at 5.30 am and everyone on the ship had to get up for the immigration process, even if you are not leaving the ship. Breakfast was available from 5.30. The immigration people came on board around 6am and set up in the coffee lounge. Everyone has to be waiting in the public lounges where announcements were made for everyone to collect their passports (which had been held by reception) and attend a face to face interview. You will need to have your bags etc with you as you are shown down the stairs to exit the ship once you have passed immigration. Everyone who had booked a Thomson trip were given a letter of the alphabet in advance that you have to listen for - i.e. the earliest trip was A, the next trip was B etc. Announcements were made around 7 am that the immigration was about to start and they called for group A. A few minutes later called for group B. This went on until all the groups going on trips had been called. As we had booked our trip independently, we were then called to immigration after the trips. After this, they call for the people who are not leaving the ship in deck order (downwards). It took around an hour and a half to process everyone - once the procedure started it moved on quickly. We were off the ship at 7.45 which was perfect for our pick up at 8 am. You must keep your passport with you at all times.

We prefer to travel independently and had booked a tour of Jerusalem and Bethlehem in advance by email with Guided Tours Israel. The booking procedure is simple, I contacted GTI by email and Leo kept us informed of all we needed to know. On the morning of the trip we were met at the ship in Ashdod at 8am by our guide who was holding a board with names on it. This was perfect as it gave us plenty of time for the immigration procedure on the ship. Our guide decided to first take us to the Mount of Olives and then onto Bethlehem with Jerusalem in the afternoon so that we could miss the heavy traffic (we did the trip the opposute way round to the ships trips). This was a great move as we saw everything we wanted to quite easily. We first visited the Mount of Olives where there were gret views of the City and then we moved on to the Gardens of Gethsemene and the nearby church which is beautiful. We then moved onto Bethlehem where we had another guide who took us to the Church of the Nativity in Manger Square, there was an enormous queue to see the cave where Jesus was born but our guide managed to get us in by other means which meant we by-passed the queue. A fantastic experience. We then had lunch in Bethlehem and visited the shop and, although there was no obligation to purchase anything, we did buy a small nativity scene carved out of olive wood, it seamed very appropriate.

We then went back into Jerusalem and saw all the sights including the Via Delerosa and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, ending up by the Western Wall. What a day out - very tiring but so interesting. Our guide was extremely knowledgable and very enthusiastic. There were 12 in our party including 2 older ladies and our guide did everything possible to assist them. As we were in a minibus rather than a coach, we were able to get nearer to the sites so there was less walking for the ladies. However, I would not recommend this trip for anyone who has walking difficulties as there are lots of steps.

On the second day we decided to take the free shuttle bus into Ashdod. This runs every half hour and drops you at the Sea Mall shopping Centre. We took a free map of Ashdod from reception and made our way through a lovely park to the sea front. There is a very nice promenade and beach with cafes. (note the local cafes take shekels). We then returned by bus.

If anyone wants to visit Tel Aviv, the reps will tell you it is difficult to get there as you cannot return to the ship unless you are on a tour or shuttle bus. However, it is extremely easy if you take the shuttle bus to Ashdod then take a taxi (they are waiting at the bus stop) to Tel Aviv. You can then return by taxi but ask the driver to drop you at the Sea Mall where you can then pick up the shuttle bus to return to the ship. Shuttles run until 5.30pm.

Please note that the ship docks in a working port and you are not allowed to disembark the ship and walk through the docks. You must always leave and return by bus or taxi (there are taxis available by the ship but they charge a lot as they have to pay for a licence to enter the docks)

Sorry so much information but I hope this may be of use.

Thank you very much for review of Israel / Ashdod We go on 9th june also with GTI so your review has been very reassuring

How was the Celebration ?

Celebration was great, as always. The crew are lovely and the entertainment team did a great job with their shows in the evenings.

Thanks for a great informative post!

During the immigration process were you aware of anyone having problems with Egyptian, Oman or Jordan stamps in their passports?

Thanks for a great informative post!

 

During the immigration process were you aware of anyone having problems with Egyptian, Oman or Jordan stamps in their passports?

i had stamps from a previous red sea cruise and had no issues, they only seem to look at the photo

Thanks for a great informative post!

 

During the immigration process were you aware of anyone having problems with Egyptian, Oman or Jordan stamps in their passports?

I have Egyptian and Jordanian stamps in my passport - no problem with Israeli immigration.

You're more likely to have a problem with these countries if you have an Israeli stamp in your passport which is why they give you a separate stamped landing card. Quite thoughtful actually.

Thanks to you both

My partner and I have just returned from a 7 day Aegean & Holy Land cruise, with Thompson Celebration. This was our first cruise and it was excellent. I cannot believe some of the criticism that people have written. I think some people are professional moaners. We would like to say Well done to Thompson Celebration, cannot believe how well organised the ship was. Yes, it is a small ship by today`s standards, but we found it very friendly, comfortable, and the staff were fantastic.

I do suffer from claustrophobia, & this ship certainly did not feel like this to me. For this reason we did book the deluxe balcony cabin on deck 9 & was not disappointed. The room was spacious and the balcony was plenty big enough. We sat out on the balcony on most nights watching the sunset before going to dinner. Thanks to Putu the cabin steward, who looked after us very well

There is a vibration/wobble on the boat, but it is not as bad as some people made it out to be. We soon got use to it and it didn’t cause us a problem.

We eat in the Meridan restaurant on most nights, and one night in the Mistral restaurant. Great food and service, Joemars team looked after us very well, and Joemar made us feel very special. He always had a smile, very friendly and professional, nothing was too much trouble. Well done because his team worked very hard. Joemar needs to have employee of the month!!

We met some lovely people, which added to the holiday. Only a shame we didn’t have more time to get to know them .

We booked two Israel trips, Nazareth and Galilee, and Jerusalem & Bethlehem. They were very long days, but worth it. The tour guides were great and very informative and felt very safe, worth every penny.

The shows were fantastic, west end standard. The staff show was also great, loved Joemar`s group, bread and butter pudding & vanilla sauce and the dancing chefs. Well done to the entertainment team.

Congratulation to the captain and his crew they all worked very hard, nothing was too much trouble and the staff always had a lovely smile. Keep the good work up.

No problems at all with previous stamps in passport - the Israel immigration do not stamp your passport at all. They provide a card which has all your details and is stamped, you have to carry this with your passport while in Isreal and hand it in when you get back to the ship on the 2nd day.

Hi Dronnygirl

Thanks for your fantastic, informative post.

We visit Ashdod 12/13 June, on Celebration. Also going on Jerusalem/Bethleham tour with guidedtoursisrael, on June 13, so it was great to hear that you had a good time with them, especially as we paid up front

Really looking forward to our cruise now.

Thanks again

Regards

Hi to all those cruisers just returned from Celebration

Am getting a bit freaked out with paranoia, about excess luggage!

We're going next Monday 9 June, would I need to take a cardie/wrap for on deck in the evenings?

Sorry, a very trivial question I know!

But thanks for reading

Regards

All I can say is that we usually enjoy the lovely warm evenings on the ship and I never use a wrap/cardigan. However, this time the evenings were cooler and I had to wear a chunky cardigan that I had traveled in for the sail away party. Even though the days were very warm, the evenings were cooler. However, you are a few weeks later so it should be much warmer. Enjoy your trip.