The highlight of the cruise itinerary we are currently enjoying aboard Oceana’s Marina is a visit to Israel. It’s not called Divine Times for nothing – we spent a night in the port of Jerusalem (Ashdod) and two nights at the port of Haifa which is about 100 km away.
We chose this cruise because Israel was a destination I had never explored. So let’s start with the ship. We have cruised Oceania before – sure the pax are mostly older but ships are never crowded and restaurants are excellent along with the staff. What I like most though is the relaxed ambience.
Want to dress up to kill every night – no one cares. Want to wear jeans and sweat to one of the restaurants – no one cares. Don’t want to mix with the guests – no one cares. It is a very easygoing and pampered world. Most of the people onboard have cruised with this line many times before and as I said are older – for some even climbing into a bus can be a bit of an ordeal.
So with that in mind, we move into a cruise program offered by the ship. I have to say it has been many years since I took a coach tour – we prefer to arrange a private guide and car – and before you throw your hands up in the air wondering about the cost – it can be quite reasonable.
The cost of two tours we booked via the ship cost nearly $US900 to give you some idea. What’s wrong with ship tours? Well, you are in the hands of the tour guide all day – if he/she is lousy you have little redress. You have to wait for everyone to get on and off the bus – there is always someone missing – I could go on.
Hard of hearing – it can be tough going with a single earpiece stuck in one ear as the guide hopefully chats into a speaker from far away. Get too far away – and goodnight communication. And that brings me to one tour in the Oceania program for Israel. I won’t discuss the second tour – it is for nearly 11 hours as well – hopefully, it will be more successful than the first.
Yesterday’s tour was called A Day in Jerusalem and Bethlehem – the program included the Gardens of Gethsemane where Jesus was arrested by the Romans, then lunch before heading to the old city and heading via the lengthy bazaar to the church of Holy Sepulchre and the famed Western Wall. From here we were supposed to drive to Bethlehem to visit the Church of Nativity built over the cave where Jesus is said to have been born. Some say this was the first church in the world.
So, as you can imagine it was an early start – we had to go through customs at the port before boarding our coach at 7.30 am. We were still sitting there at 8.30 am watching mass confusion all around. Where was our driver – our guide – the Americans were already fuming. Finally, she arrived and we rolled out – but that one-hour delay was to prove a real problem. “Because we are a little late we are going to Bethlehem first,” we were told.
That did not faze anyone – but our first stop did. You probably have already guessed – it was a large souvenir shop full of all sorts of garish stuff mostly made out of olive wood. We have to stay for 30 minutes we were told. The rumble in the coach started up again. No one was happy. Finally, we passed through the security gate into Palestine and saw what is called the Church of Nativity. We had to hurry however because now it was time for lunch – and we had to make our time slot. (The guide didn’t say that – but it was fairly obvious).
The meal was pleasant enough but unnecessary really – we could have all gotten by with a snack. You get fed so well on the ship. Anyway now we were finally getting to the holiest shrine of Christianity – the Church of Holy Sepulchre where Jesus was reputedly crucified and was laid out before burial. Exploring these holy sites involves steep steps worn smooth by millions of feet – not exactly a safe area for older people however the ship did not provide anyone to assist slower, older people – or to stay at the back to ensure no one got lost which was a real possibility given the huge crowd of tourists all battling for a view.
Sure enough two of our people had vanished – we later heard they had found their own way back to the coach. Worse though was that half of our group of 32 people did not see the later part of the church tour because they had become detached from the group. To say they were angry is an understatement.
Written by: Ian McIntosh
