Israel: A Journey of Faith

Jordan far exceeded my expectations. Our guide was wonderful and engaging. She went the extra mile to make sure we were satisfied and followed through. She did an amazing job explaining the culture and history.

It’s a MUST to have a Christian guide and driver for this trip.

I felt like we had too many things on the itinerary. Many places we stayed for only short time. Some were interesting and I would have liked to stayed longer. Others commemorated important events, but lacked actual historical or archaeological connection to the event.

Israel: A Journey of Faith was a beautiful mix of history, culture, and religion. I enjoyed seeing archeology and antiquities of the land of Israel. Even if you are not a person of faith, this tour provides so much more. The loveliness of the sea, the stillness of the desert, and the view from the tops of mountains. It is a delightful sensory experience and an enlightening journey of faith.

Very happy with every aspect of the tour

Well organized. Many special moments included in our tour.

Having communion in the Garden!

A lot to see in a short period of time. The only negative is that we saw so much that it was difficult to absorb the spiritual aspect of walking where Jesus walked. The boat trip on the Sea of Galilee was one place where we we were removed from current time. Our tour guide Micki was very efficient and as knowledgeable as a professor. I learned a lot. Bus driver Ishmael was amazing the way he drove through tight spaces and somehow was already ready to get us. The mobile app was helpful. However, please do NOT send notifications saying “your trip has been updated” without stating what changed. That notification is otherwise worthless and annoying.

Very efficient, knowledgeable, friendly & caring!

Fabulous trip. Everything was smooth and I enjoyed the itinerary.

Great Pace and itinerary. Well organized. I would have liked to spend more time at Masada to explore the lower north tiers, we seemed rushed there

Your manager was fantastic, very knowledgeable and very professional. He found some additional time to take us to places off plan to enhance the tour.

Excellent Accommodations and food .

Very organized. Sea of Galilee boat.

Very pleased with everything.

Very well coordinated and organized. Very professional.

Everything for our trip was laid out and well planned. Most enjoyable experience!

Fantastic agenda. Great pacing. Best in class guides. Everything near perfect. Great job Collette, we had a fantastic time. This was our 3rd tour with Collette and all have been fantastic. Our guides Shadi in Israel, and Abed in Jordan were extremely knowledgeable and were "best in class" in everything. Your agenda was "all inclusive" and we were able to visit many historic locations. Masada and swimming in the Dead Sea were both very memorable. Once again, your fantastic guides helped make a very memorable trip for us.

Great tour guides made the whole experience wonderful. We saw everything we wanted to and more.

A fabulous trip. Excellent itinerary. Tour manager/guide was excellent. Hotels were very good. Food was fabulous. Group size was perfect.

Great trip. No worries everything on time

Israel was number one on my bucket list! I experienced everything I wished for and more! My favorites were the cruise down the Sea of Galilee on Jesus Boat, the Stations of the Cross, Mt. of Olives, the Garden Tomb, the Light Show-story of King David, and the Wailing Wall.

Communal baptism and Dead Sea

The day in Petra

As Christians, we were very offended at the last hotel in Jerusalem when we were placed in room 666. We were afraid to request another room because we didn’t know where else they would put us. Besides that, Collette should consider another chain of hotels besides the Leonardo, they were very dated. We felt rushed, it would have been nice to have more time at each site. A lot of my pictures came out blurred from trying to take them while on the go. We enjoyed the Dead Sea excursion but also felt more time would have been nice there as well.

For the amount of money being paid, we should have had better hotels. The second hotel in Tiberias was disgusting and dirty. The TV and phone didn’t work. We didn’t receive our wake up call due to the broken phone; luckily I had set my own alarm. Maybe the phone didn’t work because they didn’t want anyone to call down and complain! The Tower of David excursion was not worth the money at all. It was just lights projected on a wall for 30 minutes. At each site, it was very rushed, shuttled on and off the bus, only able to take photos while walking, not even allowed to stop. A trip like this might be better at 14 days to be able to take everything in and have enough time. The days were so packed that we had no free time to explore or shop. Overall it’s off my bucket list at least. I’m used to getting what I pay for. And for what I paid, plus with added travel insurance expense on top of that, I feel I didn’t receive that. It felt like a bargain trip, hotels felt like hostels, but I didn’t pay for that.

Because I would rather have rated it as 4.5 . I enjoyed all the tours ... very educational.

think I have already commented on that

Tour director was not as helpful as I found my other trips with Collette. He controlled where and what we ate. Where and what we shopped for.

Each day was very packed and since it was high season also very crowded we saw a lot but you almost needed a daily guide sheet to know where we were in Israel to keep up with our incredible local guide. Favorite moment in Israel being baptized in Jordan River. Favorite moment in Jordan sunrise in Amman.

Israel guide hurried us along.

Our tour manager, Aehab Mozalbat of Nazarene Tours, was outstanding, He brought both historic and biblical background to each of the spots we visited.

Sea of Galilee Temple Mount Jericho Swimming in the dead sea Waking old city of Jerusalem

The local guides were excellent. Collette failed in accommodations and in getting us safely to the airport at the end of our trip.

Our tour guide, Aehab Mozalbat from Nazarene Tours was phenomenal! He brought history to life through his articulate and informative presentations at each holy site. Aehab was caring, and he went the extra mile to accommodate travelers with special needs.

Iyad (Eddy) was a fantastic tour guide/manager!

Boat ride on the Sea of Galilee and the River Jordan.

Great trip, hotels, transportation, guides, drivers and overall excellent trip.

Tour director and bus driver were exceptionally qualified. Tour director was very knowledgeable and the bus driver made moves in parking etc. that were amazing! Great experience!

The trip to Masada was impressive.

See previous comments. However, I must mention that our tour gude was AMAZING

See last field.....................

Hotels in Israel, avg. Food at hotels avg. Elevators use pretty slow. All the Holy sites were beautiful!, would like more time to pray. Jordan was amazing...loved Petra, & Wadi RUM didn't care for the restaurant where we had dinner in Petra, this was my least favorite restaurant on tour. Marriott's were great, & the better hotels. We asked our tour guide about visiting Spring of Moses, he said he had to ask the bus driver. We never visited it, very disappointing as we were very close, also since there were 4 sites near & dear to Christianity in Jordan, we should have visited all these sites. The Roman ruins & Byzantine church should have been substituted out The Tent restaurant in Israel was great. Overall we saw some wonderfully inspiring sites. Billy was a wealth of knowledge & info, Loved being in the Holy Land & Jordan, & loved traveling with the Church of the Resurrection Group, made some wonderful new friends

This is supposed to be a Journey of Faith - I joined the tour to nourish my soul. But my heart was crushed beyond repair because there are many scheduled visits (listed in the itinerary) that were eliminated. On page 14 of the Collette Vacation document, it is mentioned that we "Celebrate Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the site of His crucifixion, burial and resurrection." This never happened. Instead, we had only ONE mass, held in a gazebo in the backyard of a church. We had to set up the chairs and stack the chairs back after mass. During the homily, the mosque nearby blasting their loudspeaker - praying in arabic. We could not even hear what our Priest said, even though he spoke louder than usual. We learned later on that the other Collette group that were touring the Holy Land at the same time as ours, had a mass at the Holy Sepulchre. Why was our group not given the opportunity to attend the same mass, it is a very big question. So in our Journey of Faith we had only one mass, in the backyard of a church near a mosque. This tour is very, very bad, well below our expectation. Many of our fellow pilgrims used their whole life savings to take this ultimate journey, a once in a life time journey - and Collette failed them. Collette, as I understand it, is a Catholic organization, or an organization that is under leadership of Catholic lay people. The fact that Collette did not give Catholic pilgrims the opportunity to "follow the steps of Jesus" is very troubling. If a Catholic organization would not help other Catholics - who would? Page 14 of the Collette Vacation Documents also includes a "visit to the Church of Dormition (commemorating Our Lady's Assumption." This visit was eliminated completely. The pilgrims were denied to commemorate our Blessed Mother. I am lucky that this is my second pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I wanted to go back and touch the wooden and ivory effigy of our Blessed Mother. I wished my fellow pilgrims had the opportunity to do the same. I am very sorry for them. Wedding Renewal - Franciscan Church in Cana. When we arrived at Cana, we were told that we could not have the wedding renewal service, because Collette did not reserve the church. Our Priest had to talk to the Sister in charge, and she let Father use the chapel for the service. If we depended on Collette - we would not have this service. Baptism: We almost did not have this service. Collette did not reserve one "platform" for this service. Our priest had to perform the baptism "between two "platforms." When I went on my first Pilgrimage to the Holy Land, we had daily mass, wedding renewal was part of a mass, and we had one whole platform for our group for the baptism. In other words, it was a very well organized pilgrimage, we visited every site that is very important to our Catholic faith, from the announcement of the birth of our Lord, the Baptism of our Lord, His first Miracle at Cana, His ministries, His Transfiguration, His Death and Resurrection, His Ascension,and His meeting with St. Peter after His resurrection. That is a "true Journey of Faith." The trip to the Holy Land with Collette, on the other hand, is just a regular tour, highlighting the Roman ruins. I think it can even be categorized as "deceptive advertisement" because Collette did not deliver what is listed in the itinerary. Had we known that the tour would only have one mass in the back yard of a church with the arabic prayer blasting through a loudspeaker, many of us would not have joined the tour. Had we known that there were only a few holy sites to be visited during the tour, many of us would not join the tour. I am very disappointed with Collette Holy Land Tour. In all fairness, I have to say that I was satisfied with my previous tours with Collette: Pilgrimage to Lourdes, and trip to Macchu Piccu. But this last trip with Collete really disappointing. Some friends asked me about my trip to the Holy Land with Collette. I responded honestly: TERRIBLE!!!

Jerusalem and western wall.

The most memorable was the Jordan River, re-baptism and the Sea of Galille.

This was my first trip to the Holy Land and had a wonderful experience. I just wished that at some sites I could have spent a little more time to really absorb the experience. This tour was very special and emotional for me as a Catholic.

The pace was very fast and not all hotels were at the same level.

I was excited to see Holy land so the entire place was a favorite and Jordan was a plus. My Jordan experience was excellent!

Comments were provided in previous page.

- Our tour guide Halil was amazing. His knowledge regarding the Holy Lands was a major reason for our trip's success. - The one issue I have with our Holy Land Tour as well as our northern lights tour last February in Iceland was the quality of our Hotels. With the exception of our two hotels in Jordan and our Iceland hotel near Vik, the Centre hotel in Reykjavik and the two hotels in Israel were disappointing.

Tour was great. Your manager made it so.

My most memorable site was the tomb.

It was intense but doable. It needs to be intense if you want to cover all the important places but you always have the option to wait for the group in the bus if you are tired. I don’t recommend to stay in the bus, of course. The Tour Manager, Raed Makhouli, deserves five stars. Very knowledgeable and very accommodating.

Had to deal with luggage. No whispers inJordan!!! Hard to keep up with what was being said. Too many buffets... no opportunities to select meal

I have several memorable experiences. The most memorable I would say is Jesus' tomb.

Always prompt, and always kept us moving.

Fast paced but a thorough itinerary that did not miss any key sites. Trip of a lifetime.

Covered every desired sight.

The whole tour was very memorable. Great experience!

Great bus, bus driver, tour guide was so knowledgeable and fun and kept things right on pace The Dead Sea was a great experience.

Fast-paced tour. Lots of places with much history. Our tour managers were very knowledgeable and accommodating.

Lackluster meals and accommodations. Not worth the price. Tour guides and bus drivers were the best part of the experience. They were friendly and knowledgeable. Petra and Jordan will always hold a special place in our memories!

Israel was too crowded. Enjoyed the boat ride on Sea of Galilee mostly because we were able to get away from the crowds. Would like to have seen more in the towns we went to.

Hotels were not up to par for Collette

The hotels were not as expected, and the food at 2nd and 3rd hotels was not good. Same food for multiple days and seemed like cheapest food they could serve. And service during meals was non-existent - had to find our own silverware and coffee and even clean off tables because no one cleaned the tables between groups coming in. Terrible service in restaurant. No staff ever smiled either.

Hotels and meals (except one night in Tel Aviv) were poor. Service was poor. We had to take our own luggage to rooms. Food in Hotel and for lunches directed by your manager were poor. Taste was awful and no variety.

Garden of Gethsemene and tomb of Christ receiving communion

Great trip you see so much more when you go with a group.

The tour mananger can make such a difference on any tour and this one was terrible. The only redeeming part of being on a bus tour is the running commentary, facts and history that you learn from your tour manager during the drive. This one did not offer any information during the drive so I am going to say that the majority of the guests on this trip got home with photo albums full of unidentifiable pictures! We had no idea what we were seeing or photographing during the drive, because he did not offer that information. He only gave information at our scheduled stops regarding the sites on our schedule.

Great trip . . . many memorable experiences . . . too numerous to expound upon . . . definitely felt like it was well worth the price. Thanks!

Enjoyed singing Christmas hymns in the Rotunda at Shepards Field.

Good experience. I learned a lot.

Arriving home after nearly 24 hour trip —one-way.

LOVED my tour guide and driver. Khalil was super knowledgeable and friendly.

Being in the places I’ve read and studied about in the Bible.

See my comments above. We can't pick a favorite experience. We were overwhelmed with all that we saw.

Perfectly executed tour by a highly recommended tour guide.

It was all great and the your guide was wonderful

I know we got a lot to see but all in all it was exhausting. Up at 5:30, breakfast at 6:30 and on the bus at 7:30. Touring until at least 5 or later. Not much time to take pictures. Had to keep moving. Tremendous amount of people touring. All in all the trip itself was a lifetime of memories. Someplace I always wanted to visit and at age almost 77 was strenuous but worthwhile. I think the trip could be a few days longer but with a little more time to relax. Our tour guide was excellent and knowledge and very concerned about his travelers. I think his name was Ajab or sometime like that. We could call him Eddie. We did get to see everything we wanted and wish we did the tour a few yerars back when we were younger. Hotel food was excellent and plentiful.

A place in the world we always wanted to visit.