NCL and Israel

Does anyone have any experience with NCL and cruises to Israel? I see there is one in 2019 and 2020 and they have Turkey on the itinerary also. I would brace myself for that port to be canceled.

There are none in 2018.

Does anyone have any experience with NCL and cruises to Israel? I see there is one in 2019 and 2020 and they have Turkey on the itinerary also. I would brace myself for that port to be canceled.

 

There are none in 2018.

We did the last NCL Holylands cruise back a number of years ago. The ship had to stay in Haifa, due to Hamas sending rockets into Israel at the time - Ashdod is too close to the border. In fact, other cruise lines scheduled to come in the next few days after diverted. Even with the potential of diversions I would do that cruise again...it was our favorite trip (land or sea). Our cruise included Egypt also. And, despite Arab Spring demonstrations that caused a number of ships diverting from Egypt, we did manage to port there also.

I had not seen these cruises!!! Thank you for the thread. Heading now to look!!!!

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Does anyone have any experience with NCL and cruises to Israel? I see there is one in 2019 and 2020 and they have Turkey on the itinerary also. I would brace myself for that port to be canceled.

 

There are none in 2018.

We did a similar itinerary in Easter 2017. I did a report on here at the time, link below.

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2482018

We cruised Rome to Dubai about 18 months ago. We were supposed to start in Istanbul but that was changed due to the problems in Turkey. We were supposed to stop in Port Said but that was cancelled and we had an overnight in Haifa rather than just 1 day, very interesting stop. There were plenty of tours, mainly to Jerusalem. We also stopped at Safaga (for Luxor)

I would love a cruise that stops in Tel Aviv! I have been there twice on business trips and it is a really dynamic city.

How are you searching for these cruises? I’m coming up empty. Thank you.

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https://www.ncl.com/vacations/europe-cruises-dec-2019-?destinations=4294960640&sailmonths=4294942867

Also January 2020.

According to this NCL will have some interesting itineraries on Jade and Spirit:

http://www.seatrade-cruise.com/news/news-headlines/ncl-pulls-joy-from-china-adds-europe-australia-ships.html

We did the last NCL Holylands cruise back a number of years ago. The ship had to stay in Haifa, due to Hamas sending rockets into Israel at the time - Ashdod is too close to the border. In fact, other cruise lines scheduled to come in the next few days after diverted. Even with the potential of diversions I would do that cruise again...it was our favorite trip (land or sea). Our cruise included Egypt also. And, despite Arab Spring demonstrations that caused a number of ships diverting from Egypt, we did manage to port there also.

We did this cruise on the Jade in November 2011 as part of a church tour group.

It left from Rome and visited Turkey, Cyprus, Israel (2 nights in Haifa -- we also had to skip Ashdod), and 2 nights in Egypt (Alexandria).

The tour group arranged all of our excursions in each port.

It was a fantastic trip.

We did this cruise on the Jade in November 2011 as part of a church tour group.

It left from Rome and visited Turkey, Cyprus, Israel (2 nights in Haifa -- we also had to skip Ashdod), and 2 nights in Egypt (Alexandria).

The tour group arranged all of our excursions in each port.

 

It was a fantastic trip.

We were November 2012.

I was watching CNN in the fitness center the night before porting in Haifa and thought for sure we would divert.

NCL had scheduled a number of Holyland itineries on Jade through Fall 2012/Winter 2013, but changed all the itineraries after our November cruise to Western Meds after Egypt got dicey due to cancellations. Our cruise was after final payment when Egypt became a cancellation issue for the cruise lines...so it was the last sailing of that itinerary.

When my husband and I are asked what our favorite trip was...we don’t skip a beat...it was that Jade cruise (and we’ve been a lot of places).:)

For the most part, we have moved onto Oceania, because it is a better fit for us, but for cruises such as these, I would consider NCL. I’m hoping for a Capetown to Singapore on Spirit or a Jade Suez in good months for us (escape the worst of midwestern winter) once the itineraries come out.

11-Day Mediterranean & The Holyland From Rome (Civitavecchia)

SHIP Norwegian Jade

Rome rt

Alayna

Limassol

Haifa

Ashdod

Port Said

Alexandria

We had fond memories of our trip in 2012. We stayed overnight in both Israel(Jerusalem) and Egypt ( Mena house at great pyramid). Land tours that start in Haifa and you resume on the cruise in Ashdod may be pricey, but it was worth it to us.

We too we're scared that it may be cancelled but it worked for us. our best cruise to date.

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I’ve done two cruises that visited and overnighted in Haifa. The Holy Lands Cruise, but Egypt was cancelled and Dubai to Venice both with NCL. I have had 4 days in Israel and ended up doing wonderful, interesting tours each day. The first time with ‘Israel Tours’ / Jerusalem and Bethlehem, Day 2 the Sea of Galilee, River of Jordan etc. Second cruise I did the Masada and Dead Sea tour through the ship. Day 4 I just walked around Haifa and visited the Baha’i Gardens. And if I end up visiting again on another itinerary I will probably just catch the train to Tel Aviv. I’m so excited about some of the new cruises/itineraries NCL is offering.

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I would love a cruise that stops in Tel Aviv! I have been there twice on business trips and it is a really dynamic city.

I would love a cruise from NY to Israel and back.

Royal Caribbean has cruise that stop in Israel.

Yes, I would jump on the RCL cruise in a heartbeat over the NCL experience, but that time period interferes with a major commitment. After my last NCL cruise in Europe, I put them close to Carnival but will consider this sailing because it best fits our travel goals.

Sorry, NCL, but with that last trip, our desire to cruise at all has gone way down. I will go on the ship with a positive attitude since this trip is port intensive and the ship experience is secondary. With NCL, I will sail on them when we have no other options but have much lower expectations.