New Room Type for Jewish Singles Cruise Travelers

Kosherica is happy to announce that we now have a new room type available for our Western Mediterranean Kosher Cruise. It is a Single Stateroom for the Jewish Singles Cruise Traveler--all prices are normally Double Occupancy, but now we have a room for the Single person – and the Single Supplement (normally about 170 percent of the two-person rate) does not apply! Learn more at www.Kosherica.com.

Jewish Vacation Cruises Featured in Cruise Magazine

Kosherica, the leader in the Glatt Kosher Cruise & Industry, is proud to have received honorable mentions in a recent article featured in Porthole Cruise Magazine. The article brings to light the rising trend in Jewish cruises for singles and kosher travel cruises for families.

"It's everything you ever wanted to know about Jewish-themed cruises but were afraid to ask your rabbi."

Kosherica offers unique Jewish travel packages and some of the best kosher travel cruises all around the world.

Luxurious Travel With Kosherica

For over 15 years, Kosherica has been in the forefront of the travel industry both on land and the high seas—bringing joy, comfort, and pleasure to those who have traveled the world with them. Their tours have featured some of the world’s most exciting performers and most talented orators and educators, creating a wholesome travel experience for both body and spirit aboard the world’s most luxurious cruise liners. Their tours are both pas Yisrael and chalav Yisrael, catering to a diverse clientele—all of whom have expressed satisfaction in their experiences.

Merely mentioning the company name Kosherica conjures up visuals from their ads and billboards. Yet the Kosherica experience outperforms the expectations created by the ads. This is what sets Kosherica apart from their competitors.

There are various reasons why one would choose to travel with Kosherica. A world-class lineup of speakers, unparalleled entertainment, and culinary perfection is a winning threesome. We are usually satisfied getting just one of these components in our travels and getaways. Kosherica surprisingly brings them all together for a week of endless joy, while visiting some of the world’s most historic and breathtaking destinations.
Some of the recent cruises that Kosherica has successfully executed were to Alaska, Holland, and the all-new Canada/New England regions traveling through Maine and up to Nova Scotia. My wife and I just returned from this cruise on Sunday, August 1.

The cruise began in Bayonne, NJ and after a day and a half at sea, we pulled into a port of call in Portland, ME. From Portland we sailed through the night until early Tuesday morning when we arrived in Bar Harbor, ME—home to Acadia National Park, one of the world’s most historic sites with opportunities for biking, hiking, or kayaking nearly a hundred miles worth of terrain and breathtaking scenes. From Bar Harbor, we made our way to St John, New Brunswick—home to the Bay of Fundy which, with its reverse rapids falls, is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Other tourist attractions include a Jewish museum datelining the history of the Jews in New Brunswick containing actual artifacts and interesting history about their once vibrant Jewish community.

Our last port of call was in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The streets were brimming with tourists and local summer traffic. Everyone came out for the annual buskers festival which featured a mini merko loco (Spanish market) with various vendors displaying their wares for purchase while the passersby enjoyed live entertainment by various amateurs displaying their talent. We toured Halifax on Friday, after which we embarked over Shabbos back to NJ reaching port on early Sunday morning from where we disembarked capping off a summer vacation that will be remembered for some time to come or at least until the next cruise that we join.

The itinerary in and of itself would suffice to constitute a packed summer travel program. However, aside from the time spent touring the various cities along the way, the staff at Kosherica had prepared a full program including stimulating lectures by the Orthodox Union’s Steve Savitsky and Rabbi Steven Weil who tackled very timely topics such as marriage and outreach as well as an interesting expose from Rabbi Weil into the history of the Haftorah and various interesting traditions with regard to the daily setup of our prayers. In addition, there were daily concerts featuring the world renowned Cantors Yitzchak Meir Helfgot and Ben Zion Miller along with the world renowned accompanist Daniel Gildar, as well as fully orchestrated performances by Avraham Fried, Lipa Schmeltzer, and the famous Broadway star from Les Miserable, Israel’s very own Dudu Fisher.

Beyond all the luxury, amenities, and the pampered environment aboard the world class Celebrity Summit, there is one detail that is shared not only by my wife and myself but many others whom we have spoken to during and after the weeklong excursion—the warmth and personal attention that was felt by the sold-out crowd thanks to the courtesy of the staff including Mr. and Mrs. Yehuda Shiffman, Aliza Klein, Cheryl Gold, and Offie Schiffman who synchronized the scheduling as well as listened and considered the feedback of each guest. They all helped make this cruise run as flawlessly as it did.

When you give Kosherica a call, you will be prompted by their automated hold feature which tells you to wait to speak to one of their cruise specialists. Until I actually boarded the cruise liner and realized the work required to smoothly arrange, execute, and satisfy all of their travelers this terminology was actually a source of amusement. But once you experience what it takes to bring all the details together and execute it to the satisfaction of all the guests, clearly these specialists are needed to get the job done.

So pick up the phone now and secure your position well in advance of their upcoming cruises. The only thing you will regret is the suspense leading up to the day of embarkation. For more information, see the ad on Page 95. Then call 305-695-2700 or 877-724-5567 and book your cruise today!

What's it like to travel with Kosherica?

Taking a vacation can be very fun. People work hard and want to feel relaxed worrying about absolutely nothing. In the year 2012 anyone of Jewish descent can have their own personal cruise voyage. This concept allows Jewish people to unite and have fun at the same time. Kosher cruises 2012 is something to try. They are just like other trips and they advocate fun.

Jewish people are proud people. They like to have fun and relax like other races. They have a unique history and on this trip they can share their stories and cultural experiences. In the new year, younger Jews can meet older members of the race and learn about their history.

There are lots of activities planned for this cruise in 2012. There are catering rooms where people can get the best kosher food on board. Some of these gourmet meals are free and there are even plenty of drinks of every kind. Some people love to dance. There are nice dancing rooms where people can get together and do traditional dancing from their cultural background.

The rooms on board are very nice. They have lots of space and are very comfortable as well. Some of the sweets are so nice they have king size beds, closets with sweets inside and nice big windows where people can see the ocean.

Bringing your family along is a great option. What better way to have fun and celebrate your culture then by going on a luxury kosher cruise. There are plenty of nice offers that allow you and your family to eat, sleep and relax comfortably.

There are literally thousands of Jewish people ready to travel. They want to have fun and meet nice people at the same time. Kosher cruises 2012 is expected to be a huge success and generate a lot of money.

The next time your are making plans for a holiday, you should think about going on one of the Kosher cruises 2012 options provided by Kosherica! In addition to sailing to great destinations, including the Mediterranean and Australia, their packages come with kosher food and offer Jewish-focused discussions and Jewish-themed music concerts and performances. Book your next great Jewish holiday trip today!

Exotic Kosher Cruises

I sat high atop an elephant plodding through the jungles of Thailand last month, not hearing the distant rush of a waterfall, not smelling the scent of raw nature, not seeing the palm trees and natives in their tropical habitat--just trying to remember what exactly I was planning to do for dinner.

Would I have a succulent tongue appetizer? Hot zucchini soup? Fresh salad with pears and glazed pecans? Barbecue ribs? Hot brownie dessert with whipped cream, chocolate syrup and a strawberry on top?

Yes, that was it. I looked down at my insulated lunch bag with the word Kosherica emblazoned on it and smiled with satisfaction. What would I do without Kosherica? I wondered. Tuna and crackers, I knew. And maybe some vigorously washed and peeled fruit from a local market.

For someone who loves to travel and appreciates world-class vacations, Kosherica’s pampering and handling of all the cumbersome details presents the ideal solution. They take care of everything for you - from five star kosher meals to minyanim, intriguing Jewish lectures, the logistics of spending Shabbos away from home, and interesting groups of people that are a pleasure to get to know. I love it.

And now, in addition to their ever-popular cruises to the Caribbean, Alaska, the Baltics and the Mediterranean (be sure to reserve a spot for this summer - they sell out fast!), Kosherica continues to pave the way in glatt kosher cruising with even more exotic destinations like the Asian Orient cruise in January and the Australia & New Zealand cruise come December 2012.
Every Day a New Destination
Our Asian Orient cruise departed from Singapore on January 8 and ended in Hong Kong 14 days later, with numerous stops along the way in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Hong Kong.

The adventure began with a pre-cruise Shabbat magnificently hosted by Rabbi Mordechai and Simcha Abergel at Singapore’s beautiful Jewish center. The venerable synagogue next door is a well-kept edifice built in the 1800s in Britain's Late Renaissance style by wealthy Jewish merchants from Iraq. It is currently run by the rabbi and his wife and a diverse yet remarkably united Jewish community.

Kosherica also arranged a Sunday morning tour around Singapore where we took in the sights such as the Singapore Flyer, Marina Bay Sands, Botanic Gardens, Chinatown and other cultural areas before dropping us off at the cruise terminal.

At our first port of call we found Thailand to be every bit as titillating as they say it is. There are palaces and temples, noisy markets and lively aromas wafting everywhere. The wildlife is as varied as it is exciting; we rode elephants through the jungle, interacted with monkeys that blithely climbed towering trees and picked coconuts, watched a fierce tiger show and discovered exotic birds and marine life. Thailand’s beaches are particularly alluring and they are known for their spectacular resorts featuring distinctive Southeast Asian service.

Cambodia, our next country, is a poor kingdom recovering rather quickly from a bitter civil war known as the Khmer Rouge. Tourism is their second-greatest source of income after the textile industry, and we certainly did our part to contribute to the effort. We docked in Sihanoukville in the southeast, a city that features several popular beach resorts and the photography-inducing Tumnuk Rolok fishing village.

As an American, our next country was a particularly compelling destination. Vietnam’s portrayal of the Vietnam War, in museums and other historic sites, is decidedly one-sided; particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon, where you can view fascinating representations, and the many gruesome repercussions, of modern-day warfare. Vietnam has invested a great deal in the tourism industry, so if that’s not your thing you can find many other worthy attractions. These include traditional water puppetry performances, the coastal region of Nha Trang and the UNESCO World Heritage Site called Halong Bay, which translates to “Bay of the Descending Dragon.” The bay is dotted with more than 3,000 limestone islands, their jagged cliffs rising mystically out of the water on what was for us a perfectly overcast, misty day. A stop at one of these islands reveals the Thien Cung Cave with its illuminated stalagmite and stalactite formations, which locals have the habit of naming and sometimes worshipping.

Our second-to-last stop was Sanya, a lush city considered to be the “Hawaii” of China. Located at the southern tip of the massive Hainan island, the palm trees, beaches and splendid vistas do indeed evoke that sense of paradise. Several world-class hotels are sprouting up along the coast, including an over-the-top seven star hotel being built by the designers of the world’s first seven star hotel in Dubai. Although the city could benefit from a few improvements to be comfortable for westerners, a tour of Sanya can include a pleasant visit to the ethnic minority village with its vibrant native dance performance, the Pearl Culture Museum, the Seashell Exhibition Center and Butterfly Valley.

Our final stop, Hong Kong, is a portrait of consumerism at work. The skyline glows with flashing skyscraper lights and laser shows, merely hinting to the excessive focus on brand names and “stuff” in this part of the world, but the sheer energy of the city is rather captivating. Some people in our group headed straight to the airport while others stayed on to check out the many attractions the city has to offer, including dinner at the JCC and the Peak Tram pulled by steel cables climbing 1,200 feet above the vivid skyline.

In all these exotic countries of the far east, there were ample opportunities for bargain-hunting at the colorful outdoor markets. Ladies loved the difficult-to-distinguish knock-off purses and men enjoyed designer shirts on the cheap. One of my favorite experiences was visiting the Chabad Houses in these far-flung communities, each one a testament to the pure dedication of the Rebbe’s shluchim. The Chabad Houses are often the best source of information about local culture and attractions, and are a great place to meet fellow Jewish travelers - always a joy when you’re so far from home.
All You Can Eat
I know what you’re thinking: With all these exotic destinations, Kosherica might arrange kosher food, but - it can’t be that good. I mean, are you really served kosher succulent tongue in middle of the South China Sea?

Actually, we are. And that’s only one of the choices for the appetizer of a five course meal, which we have every night at dinner time. Not to mention the full spread at breakfast and the lunch buffets, as well as afternoon and late night teas. Each meal is a feast for the eyes and taste buds. For days when you’re out exploring on land, Kosherica gives you a lunch bag to be filled as you wish.

Best of all, it’s glatt kosher, chalav Yisrael and pas Yisrael under the strict supervision of MGK (Maritime Glatt Kosher).
Luxury Liners, Lavish Amenities
What does one do on a ship for 14 days, you ask? Glad you did. Well, besides for the incredibly liberating ability to travel to multiple destinations without having to pack and schlep suitcases between each one, every ship comes loaded with places to hang out and be entertained.

Looking for excitement? Today’s cruise ships come with anything from water slides and pools to rock climbing walls and even ice skating rinks. There are shows every night after dinner and shops where you can purchase necessities as well as luxury splurges. A spa and fitness center will help you stay in shape, while the casino and numerous lounges will give you opportunities to let your hair down and relax. Libraries, free movies, cooking shows and classes are available on many ships as well.

Ships also have a shore excursion desk to assist you with planning your days at port. If you’re bringing your brood along, children’s programs and teen areas will keep them busy during the days at sea. For the rest of the time, your private luxury cabin will keep you rested and comfortable with a level of service not often found on land. Think adorable folded towels and thoughtful turn-down service every night. Trust me, you’ll miss it.
People and Programs Just Like Home

Kosherica knows there’s nothing like a vacation with all the spiritual components built in. You won’t need to go looking for a minyan for mincha or a chavrusa for daf yomi - that’s all arranged for you. Their lecturers offer a wide range of topics that will inspire you, entertain you and enlighten you. They’ve hosted both historians and world Jewish leaders, as well as kosher cooking gurus and spiritual luminaries. They’re also famous for their popular music festivals at sea, featuring Jewish superstars like Avraham Fried, Dudu Fisher and Chazan Yitzchak Meir Helfgot. These singers infuse the already-packed trips with the sound of music that elevates you to new heights. On Shabbos you’re treated with extravagant meals and meaningful services.

Every morning at breakfast you’re greeted by the familiar faces of the members of your group. At night you have dinner with them and recount the adventures of your day. After a few days they begin to feel like family. Over the years I’ve kept in touch with people I met on cruises long after we first got to know each other. Now I have friends to visit in the UK, Gibraltar, South Africa, Australia, Argentina, Israel and all over the U.S.

I’ll probably visit some of them on my next kosher cruise vacation.

Rochelle Ginsburg enjoys writing and travel - especially combining the two. Her love of working with people is evident in her varied capacities as journalist, public relations and marketing consultant, tour guide, volunteer and executive editor. She resides in New York and, as often as possible, explores the world. rochelleginsburg@hotmail.com | linkedin.com/in/rochelleginsburg

Itching to do a dream vacation like this? Contact Kosherica now to reserve a summer or fall cruise - they get booked months in advance. They’ve got a deal with coupon code RG5772 that gives you $50 off your next reservation. Go to www.kosherica.com or call 877-724-5567.

Why Jewish Travel Cruises With Kosherica?

Why does Kosherica enjoy the highest rate of guest return in the Kosher travel industry? It’s simple. The Kosherica experience is unique. First, there’s the innovative, fresh, beautifully prepared Glatt Kosher, Cholov Yisrael, Pas Yisrael gourmet cuisine. Next, is the renowned scholars-in-residence, inspiring services, and our non-stop program of lectures, entertainment, and activities that are both fun and edifying. Then the itineraries that visit the world’s most magnificent destinations. And all on the newest, best-equipped, safest, and best-appointed ships at sea today. Of course, there’s also this: the warm, personal, and generous hospitality that makes every Kosherica guest feel that they are truly on the kosher vacation of a lifetime.

Join Kosherica this summer or winter on cruises to Alaska, Australia, Caribbean, Croatia, Finland, Greece, Italy, Russia, Spain, Sweden just to name a few.

For more information visit www.kosherica.com or call 877 SAIL KOSHER or 305-695-2700.