Day 67 - Ashdod, Jerusalem, Israel

Here is the itinerary for our tour yesterday:

Easy Jerusalem - 8:30a-5:30p This tour is ideal for those who prefer a more leisurely schedule amidst the sights and sounds of Jerusalem. Your scenic drive to Jerusalem is on the Road of Courage, which is scattered with remains of the convoys that tried to reach Jerusalem during the War of Independence. The drive will also take you through Ein Karem the birthplace of John the Baptist. In Jerusalem, pass through the New City with the Israel Museum, the Shrine of the Book and the Knesset, the Israel Parliament. For those who wish, there will be the option to visit the Menorah, before stopping for a panoramic view of the Old City from Mount of Olives.

Continue onto the Garden of Gethsemane and view the Church of All Nations with the ancient olive trees in the garden where Jesus prayed and wept and was betrayed by Judas.

Enjoy lunch served with wine before visiting the Western or Wailing Wall, the most sacred Jewish shrine, with the option to leave the coach for a short walk to explore. From this plaza you'll have a wonderful view of the Al Asqa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, sacred Muslim sites.

There will be an opportunity to shop for some local souvenirs before driving back to the port.

Below is the actual reality of our tour:

This really was the worst tour I have ever been on, which is what prompted me to write this letter to Princess Cruises. I am sure it was the problem with our guide. Perhaps if she had done the trip in order listed it would have been better? Our guide was not knowledgeable. She stated half sentences which rarely gave a complete thought. When asked questions by several people, she rarely understood a question and looked confused, she failed to answer most inquiries. She did not give instructions when we got off the bus… no meeting place, no directions, and meeting times were vague to be back at the bus. One woman went back to the bus as instructed because she had not seen the guide and the guide voice her displeasure to this woman. However, the woman did just what the guide 1st told us to do… she did not know things had changed as the group dispersed and the guide was lost to us. We did go to the Western wall but most of our time there was spent standing in one place waiting for the guide to find all the others on the tour. IF she pointed out views from the plaza, not everyone heard it. Since I had been here before, I was able to point out some things to my cabin mate.  

This was “Easy Jerusalem” and the guide took us up several flights of stairs with NO rails and then realized there was in fact a ramp we could have gone on! This left several people out of the opportunity to even see the Western wall – the guide was also vague about the Ein Karem stop, leaving people on the bus and not telling them what the stop was even for. People were upset. Lunch was a very nice buffet-styled lunch. Shopping was ONE extremely overpriced store, also disappointing.

We did NOT see the Road of Courage, if we did NOT pass through the New City - IF we did, we did not see the following things: the Israel Museum, the Shrine of the Book and the Knesset, or the Israel Parliament. We were told there was no option to see the giant Menorah.

Our panoramic view of the Old City from Mount of Olives was from the bus ONLY, we did NOT have an opportunity to get off to take a photo. She said there are too many buses! We did NOT see onto the Garden of Gethsemane because we once again did not get OFF the bus! We did see the Church of All Nations but ONLY from the bus. We could NOT get off even for a photo stop! Again, too many busses! As far as the ancient olive trees in the garden where Jesus prayed and wept and was betrayed by Judas we were at a loss…When we asked when we would see that, she told us we went by that already! She never pointed it out OR said a word about it. We were in the first seat behind the guide so it wasn’t that we missed her saying anything about it!

I won’t mention the bus driver who was rude and almost got into a fight with another bus driver. I have no idea what that was about. Apparently, our bus driver leaned on the horn too long…

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