Day Ninety Five April 10 - Palm Sunday

Welcome to Israel!!

I was up at 05:00 to see the ship sail into the port of Ashdod. It is one of three international seaports for Israel with the others being Haifa (the largest) and Eilat.

The Nowegian Jade is also in port with its capacity of 2,402 passengers and 1,037 crew.

From our stateroom balcony later that morning, I counted 25 ships waiting outside the harbour to either unload their goods or to load goods onto their respective ships. The freighter 'Bad Success from Singapore" is in port directly across from our ship and she has been unloading what looks like cement supplies to the waiting trucks.

All Passengers on board were required to take another PCR test after arriving in port on top of the PCR test we took 48 hours ago at sea. This procedure included a swab of your mouth as well.

Until we receive these results no one is allowed off the ship to clear customs. Our cruise director, Leslie just advised us (11:30) that it may be another hour before we have the results.

Our luggage is packed for our 2 night tour of Israel but we just have to wait.

Just noticed at 13:06 an email that Janice and I tested negative for COVID which is always good news. We are getting anxious to leave and I do not know how long this will be.

Finally the OK is given at 15:00 for us to leave the ship with bour luggage but we must wait for a shuttle bus to bring us to the customs office.

Scanning the luggage and clearing customs we must wait again for another shuttle bus to take us where we can finally get a taxi to Jerusalem.

Finally we find our way to Jerusalem at 16:30. The day is basically a write off but we are finally here at our hotel and anxious to start our Israel adventure tomorrow Monday April 11. We have hired a private guide for 2 days with 2 other couples.