This is our 13th tour but our first on Royal Caribbean. Previous tours are on Celebrity

We took a bus from Athens Airport right to the door of Alexandros Hotel which we booked on Hotels.com. The bus was very reasonable price, easy and the bus driver told us when we arrived at the correct stop. We found the bus was the best way to get around Athens. The front desk staff suggested a local restaurant which had excellent choice of food, attentive staff and very reasonable prices. The food was probably the best tasting food we had on the entire trip! We made a big mistake in taking a group bus tour rather than a taxi as so many suggested. As much as we loved our tour guide and visiting the Acropolis, we probably wouldn't visit Athens again. We found it to be dirty with too many stray dogs that populated every site, street and sidewalk. The various sites crowded the ruins, it is not very enjoyable and the museums are spread all over Athens they are supposed to be excellent but you'll take a so much time getting to them and spend little time in them and they close very early. We took the three island cruise arranged by the hotel and enjoyed the wide range of experiences we had on each island. A great way to spend a day We took a taxi to Piraeus, and as a former teacher of history and politics I found the taxi driver (born near Toronto but returned to Athens as a child) the best tour guide of out three day in Athens and he predicted much of the economic trouble that Greece is in today. Limassol, Cyprus Unlike some who did not even get off the ship, we did and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We walked out through the terminal and took a local bus to the downtown area. We walked through many small streets, saw many beautiful table clothes, and interesting local shops. We walked the promenade along the shore and were very happy to spend a glorious afternoon in the city. Another time we would stay on the bus a few minutes longer and get off at the beach. We could have easily walked back to the town from there and caught the bus back to the terminal.

Israel Now, this was the highlight of the trip. We had 2 days there, one in Ashdod and one in Haifa. In Ashdod, we booked Yoram Mor (yoramor@gmail.com) in his private 7 passenger van for a tour to Galilee one day and Jerusalem. Yoram was really quite something - from the moment we stepped into his car, he was telling us about this and that, about the history of Irael, about the political scene in Israel, about anything and everything we wanted to know. He was genuinely interested in showing us as much of Israel as possible and at times, seemed more excited than us. He wants us to "experience" the sights rather than just see them and understand the history behind them. His experience of guiding over 20 years, his Bible knowledge and his openness to make the day fit as many specific sites we wanted to see was what made him an exceptional guide. To that end, he was very keen on us "walking the Galilee", and had us "tasting the fish that Peter used to fish and the food that people of Jesus' time used to eat". He resisted rushing us as much as possible. He had us read the beatitudes when we were at the Mount of Beatitudes, Jesus heals Peter's mother in law in that locale and warned us which of the sites are probably genuine or not, we sat on the stones of the white synagogue which was built around Jesus' time. We hada couple from Chicago share the tour and we were moved to tears several times as Yoram taught us and discussed ideas with us. We found him open and very helpful in understanding the Bible and the Jewish religion. We met Yoram at 7am each orning he was always punctual and brough t a supply of cold water, dates and fruit with him. We wanted to see the holocaust museum and the Museum of the Dead Sea Scroll. He was outstanding in showing us, telling us and allowing us to experience special impact of the place of the children in the Holocaust Museum. He brought us to the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Wailing Wall, the Jewish quarters, the Muslim quarters, the Via Dolorosa (tracing the footsteps Jesus took to Calvary), the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (where Jesus was crucified and his tomb). It was really very moving to we walk along the pavements that Christ could've been walking on. After a wonderful Yoram proceeded to take us back to Ashdod via a scenic route. Along the route, we passed by the place where David fought Goliath. What an amazing, hectic but definitely fantastic day.... Moreover Yoram is a professional photographer, and he not only gave me pointers on improving pictures, but he took several photos that were beyond my expertise and the end product was wonderful. Read more