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Guide in Israel

Royalco

By Royalco,
in Oceania Cruises

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JimandStan

JimandStan

Posted
Posted
Did anyone have experience with a tour guide named Dina Horn who works for

http://www.israelprivatetourguide.com? Or with the company itself?

 

I have not had any dealings specifically with Ms. Horn or her company, but I would suggest that you compare her offerings, and prices, with the premier company in that area before making a decision:

http://www.guidedtoursisrael.com/

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tanny18

tanny18

Posted
Posted
Did anyone have experience with a tour guide named Dina Horn who works for

www.israelprivatetourguide.com? Or with the company itself?

Hi, we had Dina as our guide for 3 exciting in Israel this past April. She was highly recommended by others on CC. I contracted with her privately (she has her own website). We were 10 and had a truly wonderful time with her. She is great to be around - knowledgeable, personable, funny and smart!! If you are in Jerusalem for two days, think about staying overnight so you can get an early start to Masada and the Dead Sea!! Tell her Arlene and Allan said Shalom. Arlene;)

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  • 2 months later...
Cruiser894

Cruiser894

Posted
Posted

I used an Israeli guide in Israel on Oct-Nov 2011, and can't recommend our guide strongly enough: Moti Kaufer from http://www.private-guide.net/.

 

Me and my wife were on the Azamara and were scheduled to dock in Ashdod on the 1st. night and in Haifa on the 2nd. We booked Moti for 2 days from Ashdod and 1 day from Haifa. We were 6 (we found 4 more while on board).

 

The ship was re-routed to Haifa for the 2 nights and 3 days. Moti was in touch with us while we were on the ship and came to meet us in Haifa. He booked and paid for a Western wall Tunnel’s tour and was able to reschedule the visit to the Tunnels. He did not charge us any fees for the extra mileage and driving hours and for the hotel he stayed in Haifa.

 

Moti explained about the rich history of the country, the holy sites for all religions but also about the present political situation. He took us to experience the local food in some small restaurants and the best Falafel place.

 

Critically, Moti was very flexible and personable guide, with a great sense of humor. We all felt that we found a new friend.

 

If you plan a trip to Israel, I honestly can't recommend Moti strongly enough: moti.guide@smile.net.il or http://www.private-guide.net

 

Oh yea, and when they ask you if you want spicy sauce on the falafel, think twice before saying yes!

 

Niel O.

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ksps cruise fan

ksps cruise fan

Posted
Posted
Did anyone have experience with a tour guide named Dina Horn who works for

www.israelprivatetourguide.com? Or with the company itself?

 

I can highly recommend two guides: Ruchama Alter and Dani Weiss.

 

We toured with Ruchama in Jerusalem itself and with Dani throughout the Galilee and at Masada. Both are licensed tour guides, but each has a different background and style.

 

Ruchama had advanced degree in Jewish studies so she makes an effort to link what we saw with text from the Bible. Incidentally, she lived for a considerable period in Canada (Toronto?) and her English is both idiomatic and easy to understand. For those of you who like to shop, Ruchama does, too. She won't take you shopping unless you tell her you're interested, but if you do, she'll take you to really distinctive places. I went to the home of a jeweler and bought a lovely necklace for less than the same pieces were selling in the stores. Seeing the jeweler's home was itself a nice experience.

 

Dani is a former archaeologist, retired from the Israeli Antiquities Authority. His English is excellent, although I don't think he has lived in the US. (He is married to an American.) He really helped us make meaning of the appearance of the sites we visited that were little more than ruins. If you're scared by the thought that you'll be visiting ruins more than the restored sites, don't be. Our itinerary was very personalized. I've been on university digs twice in Israel and to Israel several times before, so I have a higher than average interest in archaeological sites. Friends of ours used Dani last year and he customized their tour too with the result that our tours hardly overlapped.

 

Incidentally, Dani particularly enjoys guiding people of all religious faiths. Searching for Dani's contact information, I came across a quote from a pastor who specifically mentioned Dani's respect for the Christian faith.

 

Dani Weiss: dani.guide@gmail.com

 

Ruchama Alter: alter_nm@netvision.net.il

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ksps cruise fan

ksps cruise fan

Posted
Posted
I can highly recommend two guides: Ruchama Alter and Dani Weiss.

 

We toured with Ruchama in Jerusalem itself...

 

Ruchama Alter: alter_nm@netvision.net.il

 

One more note about Ruchama's strengths: She's very good working with people with disabilities. My husband has limited vision and navigates using a white cane. When we tried to buy tickets for a tour of the water tunnel in King David's city, the ticket salesperson refused to sell them to us because of my husband's vision. The tunnel is very irregular and navigating it requires lots of bending and careful stepping. Ruchama got in a shouting match in Hebrew with the ticket saleswoman and ultimately won. That meant she had to provide lots of instructions to my husband ("Bend to the right... Bend forward... There's a rock on the left protruding up..") but she did so with a smile. We successfully transitted the tunnel. My husband counts that experience as one of his best in Jerusalem. The bending and being able to touch both walls simultaneously gave him a very good picture of the tunnel.

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Aruba

Aruba

Posted
Posted (edited)
Did anyone have experience with a tour guide named Dina Horn who works for

www.israelprivatetourguide.com? Or with the company itself?

I did not notice your question until this morning.

Yes, I have experience with Dina Horn. She was our guide for 2 days and overnight when we were in Israel on Nautica a couple of years ago. She (as well as her husband who is the driver) was exceptional! We enjoyed her tour so much that in March 2011, the day after we booked a Riviera cruise for July 2012, I contacted Dina to be our guide for the 3 days we'll be in Israel. If you have any specific questions I can answer, please let me know.

Edited by Aruba
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  • 2 years later...
A Knitter

A Knitter

Posted
Posted

This is an older thread but my experience with Dina Horn a few weeks ago was disappointing. An excellent guide but her ethics are questionable. I left a review on Trip advisor. Many left wonderful reviews but I cannot.

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wristband

wristband

Posted
Posted

I can not recommend Dina. Our group on Oceania used her this year and found the experience unsatisfactory - especially an inability to provide clear headed explanations regarding pricing and itineraries. We used Dina based on CC posters but will not do so on our return visit to Israel next year.

 

We all have "bad" days. We sure had them here.

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pacheco18

pacheco18

Posted
Posted

I recommended Dina to both Aknitter and Wristband.

I am shocked that they both had bad experiences, because we had a fabulous experience with her in Israel and we booked her based on a recommendation from my CC friend from whom I get many great tour guide recommendations.

 

Based on these two bad experiences, I am not going to use her again when we visit Israel again in September 2015.

 

One off day could be an exception. Two is one too many IMO.

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tanny18

tanny18

Posted
Posted
I recommended Dina to both Aknitter and Wristband.

I am shocked that they both had bad experiences, because we had a fabulous experience with her in Israel and we booked her based on a recommendation from my CC friend from whom I get many great tour guide recommendations.

 

Based on these two bad experiences, I am not going to use her again when we visit Israel again in September 2015.

 

One off day could be an exception. Two is one too many IMO.

And I was the one who recommended Dina to you. We had a fabulous 3 days and I've recommended her to many others. It's a shame that this happened and at the right time, I will write to Dina about this and tell her how upset and embarrassed I am about what happened. Tour guides count on us to refer them to others. Arlene

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pacheco18

pacheco18

Posted
Posted
And I was the one who recommended Dina to you. We had a fabulous 3 days and I've recommended her to many others. It's a shame that this happened and at the right time, I will write to Dina about this and tell her how upset and embarrassed I am about what happened. Tour guides count on us to refer them to others. Arlene

 

Agreed, Arlene.

This is the first time I have ever recommended a guide who disappointed -- and apparently big time. Feel free to write on my behalf as well.

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wristband

wristband

Posted
Posted

A Knitter's review on Trip Advisor is eerily similar to our experience. Not to belabor it here but, as she recounts, "Mike" was suddenly substituted as a guide/driver when we walked off the ship the second morning. No email, no call beforehand from Dina. We were handed the phone, Dina said she "ill" (she had asked us to add others to our small group - we refused), what could we do there in the parking lot? We met her bright and early the next day and she was just fine. Knitter's description makes me wonder if the same switcheroo for the same reason happened with our group.

 

We also had a similar unpleasant encounter with heavy cell phone usage while driving with Mike and Dina. Dina's incessant cell phone chatter on the first day had our small group feeling far less attention was devoted to us than the repeated distraction of whatever was going on with her businesses - affairs that appeared more pressing than our tour.

 

Both Mike and Dina were knowledgeable and navigated us round with minimal ques. They are licensed guides and have considerable experience. But the price paid, as A Knitter noted, far outweighed the positives in our multi-day experience.

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A Knitter

A Knitter

Posted
Posted

If wristband and our experiences prevents this happening to anyone else, I am glad I posted and this was not an isolated incident but if there is anyone who sailed on the Historic Holy Land tour and was guided by Dina Horn on June 15 or 16 this would be helpful. I should also note that she wasn't the cheapest nor the most expensive guide. Paul is somewhat hard of hearing and we wanted a private guide for this reason. Also Dina asked us within 5 minutes of meeting us if we spoke or understood Hebrew. She was constantly on the phone during those four days.

 

While in Haifa I asked the rep onboard for a contact at the Ministry of tourism following our experience but felt that It would be a waste of time and a cruise critic review would have more of an impact. Pacheco18 also referred us to a tour guide in Cappadocia and Ephesus and both were outstanding. Dina works the system but didn't consider the long term consequences after she met me. I also plan on posting a review on other cruise lines.

 

For the record. The four days she guided us in Jerusalem were 8-9 hour days. We saw everything we wanted. Things didn't get ugly until Haifa but we saw everything we wanted the first day. She in turn got hosed as Computerworks states. She lost the second day from us by not touring with Mike due to his reckless driving.

 

Dina mentioned on more than one occasion not everyone in the Holy Land is Holy not realizing she was speaking of herself.

 

We call this felony stupid.

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Mura

Mura

Posted
Posted

Goodness gracious. How does someone go from being whole heartedly recommended to such a negative review?

 

I don't imagine anyone reading this review will be tempted to hire Ms. Horn!

 

Mura

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A Knitter

A Knitter

Posted
Posted
Goodness gracious. How does someone go from being whole heartedly recommended to such a negative review?

 

I don't imagine anyone reading this review will be tempted to hire Ms. Horn!

 

Mura

 

Hard to give an answer except she got away with it so many times and it appears no one wanted to report they had a bad experience. Had someone posted these reviews before we booked I think you know the answer. She has been a tour guide since 1999 and only 12 favorable reviews until mine. I would expect there will be more.

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