Canary Islands & Madeira 20 Days

On the world’s most famous luxury liner “Queen Elizabeth”, Including a week in Portugal

This cruise focuses on the Canary Islands and combines intriguing places and breathtaking views: volcanic mountains, and lava rocks that created a huge variety of natural formations, dense forests, cliffs, picturesque fishing villages and verdant meadows. This island archipelago, an autonomous community belonging to Spain, consists of seven main inhabited islands and several secondary islands. The islands are unique due to their comfortable climate most of the year.

During the cruise we will visit some of the islands, notably Tenerife, the largest and most popular, rich in green landscapes on one side, while on the other side we’ll find brown beaches and volcanic scenery. We will also visit Lanzarote with its rich and breathtaking volcanic scenery; Gran Canaria, the third largest of the Canary Islands and the island of La Palma. Our cruise will also bring us to the Portuguese island of Madeira. Here, too, we will admire a combination of rough mountains, valleys, huge rocks that descend into the sea, charming bays, cultivated agricultural areas and tropical fruits. On the last part of the trip we will tour Portugal, albeit a small country but with a great variety of sights and sites to see ranging from a spectacular beachfront strip along the Atlantic Ocean lined with ancient fishing villages through impressive mountain ranges, abundant forests, vineyards and picturesque little villages along the Doro Valley. History, monumental architecture and religious and secular art are reflected in the ancient remains from different periods. All these create the magical and special atmosphere in this country. Against the backdrop of this impressive diversity, we will also follow the fascinating story of Jews and the Anusim (Marranos) of this land.

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ITINERARY

The most beautiful ship in the world: Queen Elizabeth

The ship was launched in 2010, weighing 91,000 tons. A spectacularly beautiful ship, classical, built to give all its guests the experience of a royal palace.

12 decks
Restaurants and lounges surrounded by panoramic views
Elegant boutique
Bar complex
Upgraded and decorated theater
Spacious and elegant rooms with a window (rooms with balconies at an additional charge)
TV with DVD
In addition the ship boasts: a magnificent hall for performances, music and singers, casino, bars, luxury restaurants, a spa, gym, swimming pool and Jacuzzi, and of course an active entertainment team every day.

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and what a beautiful way to spend a relaxing Shabbat on board, along with Shabbat services, scrumptious Shabbat meals, lectures and shiurim.

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The island boasts some 300 volcanoes; some of them are even dormant. The color scheme is fascinating: black island soil combines with green vegetation, while housing construction is low and identical with white walls and green or brown windows. We will visit the Timnapaya National Park, which, as a result of geological activity, has exceptional landscapes. We’ll stop at the visitors’ center to observe a demonstration of the volcanic activity. We’ll continue to Hervidros de Aqua where we’ll walk along a strip of cliffs created by the lava, and we will arrive at the fishing village of El Golfo that is located next to a unusual and remarkable natural phenomenon: a lake of green water, black lava sand and blue ocean waters. We will visit a small part of the Cauva de los Verdes, a 17 km long lava cave, after which we’ll descend to another part of the volcanic cave of Hamos de Aquo.

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We’ll stroll through Santa Ana Square and admire the city hall and picturesque alleyways, along the Triana pedestrian street, and along the promenade along the sea and in the harbor.

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From there we’ll continue to the Las Casillas National Park. We’ll drive up to the foot of the Tyda volcano, the highest mountain in Spain (about 3,720 m in height, covered most of the year with a snow dome) to admire spectacular volcanic landscapes. We will learn about the formation of the giant crater, the unique lava species and vegetation, and explore the impressive canary forests. Then it’s down to the Orutava Valley to visit the charming town of La Ortua where the local aristocracy resides. The town is located on the lower slopes of the mountain and offers a spectacular view of the Gulf of Puerto de la Cruz.

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We will continue to the Botanical Garden and see the vegetation that was brought to the island in centuries of Portuguese colonialism. We will continue to Monte, the “mountain” of Funcha, where we’ll try our skills at tobogganing which was ancient means of transportation of the island. Afterwards we’ll continue to Ira do Serrado, for a beautiful view of the “Nuns Valley”. Then its onward to Ficus dos Barcelos for a look at Ponciel and Santo Antonio, where the world famous soccer legend Christiano Ronaldo was born. At the end of the tour we will return to the ship to prepare for Shabbat.

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We’ll visit the city’s synagogue and see the impressive Stock Exchange Palace. At the end of the tour we will go to Coimbra, a beautiful city built on a cliff surrounded by a river. Coiumbra has the oldest local university in Portugal and the library of King Joao, which is built in Baroque style with about 300,000 antique books.

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Afterwards its on to Guarda, to visit the Jewish Quarter there where we’ll be able to see the impressive engravings on the doorways of the Marrano homes. From Guarda we’ll continue to Belmonte, built around a 13th century fortress. The town has preserves the history of the Jews well, and is home to  a community of Marranos who, after being separated from Jewish tradition for over 500 years, decided to return to Judaism in the 1980s.

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At the end of the tour we will travel to the small town of Castelo de Vida. Here we’ll visit the Roman remains in and around the town. Most of the town’s fame came from the most impressive Juderia, the Jewish quarter, in Portugal. It contains the oldest synagogue that was recently restored. In the synagogue there is a display showing the integration of Jews in the town’s famous textile industry and in various other industries. It was here that the President of Portugal, Mario Suarez, chose to apologize to the Jewish people for the terrible injustice and murder his people have committed. We will walk through paved alleys and hear about the community that lived here before and accepted Christianity by royal decree. We will also see the fortress that gave the city its name. We’ll continue to Lisbon, capital of Portugal.

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We will see the unique palace with the huge chimneys above its kitchen. We’ll continue along the coast to the westernmost point of Europe, Cabo de Rocca, and continue to Cascais, the most prestigious resort town in Portugal, and see the “Devil’s throat.” From there to the resort town of Astoril, a town with a casino, hotels and luxurious villas inhabited by some of world’s the richest people and exiled kings. At the end of a day filled with experiences, we will return to our hotel to prepare for Shabbat.

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We will stroll through the quiet streets of the town, between ancient buildings and conservation sites, and walk up to the impressive 12th century fortress – a Templar monastery – that dominates the city. The town looks like a toy. Everything here, except for the castle on the hill, is small; the white houses, the squares. For the courageous among us there is a real challenge – walking on the town wall. But the reward for accepting the challenge is the amazing view of the surrounding landscapes that are revealed.. At the end of the visit we will continue to the fisherman’s town of Nazare, located on an impressive cliff overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

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We will visit the district of Belem, (Bethlehem in Portugues) a quarter built on the waterfront and where the famous Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama is buried. We will see the Tower of Belem and the monument to the explorers of Portugal. We will climb to the heights of St. George’s Castle overlooking the city and then descend along the winding alleys of the ancient Alfa district, which also includes the Juderia region (the Jewish quarter). Our fascinating excursion is over. We’ll go to the airport in Lisbon and fly back home.

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PRICES & DATES

DEPARTURE
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DAYS
PRICE *
SINGLE ROOM **
FLIGHTS
NOTES
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* Price per person in USD double or twin room

** Supplement Price for single room

NEED TO KNOW

Price Includes:

Air-conditioned bus for all tours and transfers according to plan
Tours, visits and site entrances according to the plan
First class hotels or the best available
Half board kosher throughout the trip and supplies to prepare sandwiches for lunch.
An experienced, professional tour guide from Shai Bar-Ilan
Logistics and Kashrut Supervisor
Tips for local service providers abroad
Travel, health and basic cargo insurance

Price Excludes:

International flights
Tips for shipboard service providers only $ 140 (paid directly to the ship on board)
Any personal expenses
Evening entertainment not included in the detailed plan
Tip for the Israeli tour guide – $5 per person per day

Important to Know:

There may be changes to the order of places visited. We will make every effort to visit every place mentioned in the itinerary.
The tour organizers have no control over airline services such as seating, special meal requests, changes in departure times or delays. These remain the sole responsibility of the airline company.

Kashrut on Tours

Only strictly kosher food is provided to our travelers on all our tours. On some of our tours we are able to provide glatt meals. Kashrut is of utmost importance to us and we take special measures to ensure that everything served is kosher.

The meals:

Breakfast is prepared using our utensils. We use local fresh fruits and vegetables, and we use milk products when they are permitted. We use kosher cereals, and bread. We usually serve hard boiled eggs and sometimes scrambled eggs or omelets. At breakfast, we prepare our lunches so that people have their choice as to what they eat for lunch. We bring food from Israel to supplement what is served in the hotel such as cheeses, peanut butter, tuna, etc.
For dinners, we serve either fish or meat (usually chicken) as our main course. In areas where meat is not available nor readily acquired, we will have fish. When possible, we acquire the meat locally from Chabad or other reliable kosher source, and in some cases we fly the meat in from Israel. We try to provide as many meat meals as possible. The main course at dinner is preceded by soup and salad and accompanied by freshly prepared vegetables. Dessert typically consists of fresh fruits.
We do not guarantee Pat Israel and Chalav Israel for all destinations.
In many destinations we have our own dishes and silverware. Where we don’t, we provide disposables at the meals. When we cook in hotel kitchens, we use our own knives, cutting boards, pots and pans, cooking implements and disposable metal trays. All food preparation is done on covered surfaces under the strict supervision of our trained staff/guides who function as our mashgichim.
We make great efforts to assure that our travelers will experience local foods first-hand, while maintaining stringent observance of Kashrut laws on all occasions.
On most of our tours, you will be accompanied by two of our staff members- one a guide for the tour who is knowledgeable about the places you are visiting and will accompany you throughout the day and the second, a person who will deal with the logistics of the tour and provide kashrut supervision in the kitchen.

Hotels:

It is our aim to provide the finest hotel possible in each area we visit. We require our hotels to allow us to work in the kitchen and to supervise the cooking and there are many hotels that are not willing to cooperate. They simply have no desire for us to be “meddling” in their cooking process nor are they happy about our bringing our equipment into their kitchens. We work very hard to find the best hotel in the area that will meet our requirements. Because we are not ready to compromise on kashrut, we may not always be able to use a five star hotel.

Deposit, Cancellation Fees & Policy:

A $500 USD Deposit per person must be received at the time of booking in order to confirm your reservation. Payment in full is due 60 days before departure. A minimum number of participants are required to operate tour dates. If a minimum number has not been reached prior to tour departure and the tour is cancelled you will receive a FULL refund.

Terms of cancellation
Cancellation for any reason from the moment of registration and up to 90 working days (inclusive) * prior to departure of the trip – the passenger will be charged $ 97 registration fee only
Cancellation for any reason from 89 work days to 30 working days (inclusive) * prior to departure of the trip – the passenger will be charged $ 1500 + $ 47
Cancellation for any reason from 29 working days to 11 working days (inclusive) * prior to departure of the trip – the traveler will be charged $ 2500 + $ 47
Cancellation for any reason from 10 working days * prior to departure of the trip – the traveler will be charged the full price of the trip including all the accompanying costs.

Remarks
Fridays and Saturdays, holidays and holidays in Israel, Sundays and holidays abroad are not counted as a working day.
If any air tickets have been issued or additional services have been purchased,(eg: visas etc.), their prices will be added to the cancellation fees specified above.
Adding a logistics and kashrut person is dependent upon more than 20 participants.
In case of change, cancellation or malfunction related to flights, cruise or transportation, the responsibility for these rests with the service provider
The performance of the trip is subject to the conditions and responsibilities as they appear on the website
Passports must be valid for at least 6 months beyond the date of return from the trip

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