Marina itinerary Change

[Royalco]

Just received notice that the 9/27 Marina cruise from Barcelona to Istanbul has eliminated stops for Cairo and Alexandria, Egypt.

The new itinerary has a stop in Antalya,Turkey and an additional day in Ashdod,Israel.

[Royalco]

Correction. Additional half day in Ashdod, Israel as the ship does not dock until noon.

[rubysue]

We are currently on Marina (Dover to Barcelona) and we eliminated our stop at Casablanca, Morocco, substituting Gibraltar. Sadly, we also lost our day in Oporto today (9/21) due to a pending strike at the dock. Great cruise, so far, however.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Too bad about missing Porto--it's a great city.

[pacheco18]

Missing Casablanca is not a big loss.

Other than the Hassan Mosque, the city is rather uninteresting. We went to Rabat and that was just "OK"

 

Now Tangier -- that's another story!!

[hondorner]

We are currently on Marina (Dover to Barcelona) and we eliminated our stop at Casablanca, Morocco, substituting Gibraltar. Sadly, we also lost our day in Oporto today (9/21) due to a pending strike at the dock. Great cruise, so far, however.

Gibraltar was one of our favorite stops on a transAtlantic. After riding the cable car up to the top, we decided to walk halfway down and then ride the cable car from the midway stop back down. However, when we got near the halfway stop, and I saw how one had to "walk the plank" to board, my fear of heights took over. The rest of the road turned away from the ship in what seemed like miles, and we were running short of time for a Noon departure; then we discovered a nearly hidden path with a little hand-lettered sign "to the city" or something like that, and discovered a delightful gravel path that led to more than 200 concrete steps and ended right in the center of town! It turned out to be an adventure! We walked back to the ship in plenty of time. Not everyone ca say they walked all the way off the Rock of Gibraltar...:rolleyes:

 

Missing Casablanca is not a big loss.

Other than the Hassan Mosque, the city is rather uninteresting. We went to Rabat and that was just "OK"

 

Now Tangier -- that's another story!!

Laraine, while we agree about Casablanca itself, and enjoyed our trip to Rabat, we've heard that Tangier is an industrial city with little to recommend it. We're stopping there next April and would love to hear what you experienced.

[pacheco18]

[quote

 

Laraine, while we agree about Casablanca itself, and enjoyed our trip to Rabat, we've heard that Tangier is an industrial city with little to recommend it. We're stopping there next April and would love to hear what you experienced.

 

I have been to Tangier twice -- 40 years apart -- and each time I had a photo taken with a cobra around my neck. The price to do so quadrupled in 40 years (from 25 cents to $1). My husband was scared to death! I love it there!

 

I can give you the name of a fabulous guide who will take you into the hills of Tangier and you will see majestic homes, beautiful landscapes and learn a lot about the history.

 

Eat lunch in a wonderful local restaurant in the Casbah -- the local food is great and if you go to a nice place there is nothing to worry about. There is usually wonderful music too.

 

The BEST part of Tangier is the Casbah and that requires no guide at all. Plan to spend several hours there and wander through the narrow streets. I could spend days!! It is a great shopping venue (bargain very hard or you will overpay and try to ignore the very aggressive hawkers) and also a place to see some unusual shops where the locals buy their wares (thread, fabric, spices, tagines). Just don't buy a watch on the street. LOL And do not shop anywhere a guide takes you. We ditched the guide after lunch once we got to the Casbah and went off on our own. Do not forget to pick up Argan Oil (pure, the real deal) which comes from Morroco and is dirt cheap there -- it is the latest rage in the cosmetic world and they charge a fortune for it here (I brought it back as gifts). There is also a cooking variety for those who are adventurous cooks.

 

Everyone takes dollars!!

[Mura]

I am another who prefers Tangier ... wasn't impressed that much with Rabat either, the one time we went. We've been to Casablanca three times and once would have been enough. Even Gibraltar doesn't excite me that much although I'm intrigued by your hike down the hill!

 

We did have a lovely time our last time in Gibraltar when we got together with an Oceania frequent cruiser who lives there. We spent the day doing not that much, but it was most enjoyable.

 

Mura

[Benita]

We are currently on Marina (Dover to Barcelona) and we eliminated our stop at Casablanca, Morocco, substituting Gibraltar. Sadly, we also lost our day in Oporto today (9/21) due to a pending strike at the dock. Great cruise, so far, however.

 

We were in Casablanca last week - on September 11th while on the RIviera- luckily one of the countries which did not have violence that day. We have been to Casablanca several times - this time we went to Al Jadida and to a country club where the King of Saudi Arabia vacations - talk about contrasts.

That said, Casablanca is not a nice place to visit - the mosque is an interesting tour and Rabat is a way to spend the day, but it is an entirely missable port.

Gibralter, on the other hand is fun. Taking the cable car and seeing the barbary apes and driving across the airport - yes the airport is bisected by a main road- is a great way to spend the day.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I have been to Tangier twice...

I can give you the name of a fabulous guide who will take you into the hills of Tangier and you will see majestic homes, beautiful landscapes and learn a lot about the history.

 

Eat lunch in a wonderful local restaurant in the Casbah -- the local food is great and if you go to a nice place there is nothing to worry about. There is usually wonderful music too.

 

The BEST part of Tangier is the Casbah and that requires no guide at all. Plan to spend several hours there and wander through the narrow streets. I could spend days!! It is a great shopping venue (bargain very hard or you will overpay and try to ignore the very aggressive hawkers) and also a place to see some unusual shops where the locals buy their wares (thread, fabric, spices, tagines). Just don't buy a watch on the street. LOL And do not shop anywhere a guide takes you. We ditched the guide after lunch once we got to the Casbah and went off on our own. Do not forget to pick up Argan Oil (pure, the real deal) which comes from Morroco and is dirt cheap there -- it is the latest rage in the cosmetic world and they charge a fortune for it here (I brought it back as gifts). There is also a cooking variety for those who are adventurous cooks.

 

Everyone takes dollars!!

 

I welcome this kind of feedback about Tangier, since most everybody on my roll-call for November 2013 Riviera seems to assume it's a dump. I don't have high expectations (was in Marrakesh in 1970), but at some point would love to communicate with you about hoofing it around Tangiers on our own (or booking your guide.) I had been thinking of a daytrip to Tetouan, but perhaps we don't need to venture that far.

[hondorner]

...The BEST part of Tangier is the Casbah and that requires no guide at all. Plan to spend several hours there and wander through the narrow streets. I could spend days!...

Thanks! My research indicates that it's a safe city, unlike the reputation of Casablanca. Doing it without a guide is exactly what I like.

[jeanine]

Thank you for the info re Tangier. We are there next April on the Riviera. We too thought Casablanca a waste of time. In fact we took the shuttle into town turned around and got right back on and returned to the ship. will visit the Casbah this time

[aohkay]

Now Tangier -- that's another story!!

 

I agree! We also had a wonderful day in Tangier. The sights, smells and constant din overwhelmed the senses - in a good way!

 

We had a very good guide with driver. We drove through some residential neighbourhoods, then along the coast, stopped for the touristy camel ride (fun by the way!) and then off to the Casbah.

 

We dropped off the driver and the guide took us through the Casbah. We did shop where he brought us and definitely paid too much for our trinkets, but that's okay; we had a great time and the memories are well worth it.

[rubysue]

Thanks to everyone for the great replies! We regret missing Oporto but we actually enjoyed our bonus day at sea. We're very excited about Gibraltar, however (we have not been there) and love the stories (Don, we hope not to have to do the same thing to escape the Rock, however, because I have new knees!)

 

Fantastic cruise, so far!

[pacheco18]

I welcome this kind of feedback about Tangier, since most everybody on my roll-call for November 2013 Riviera seems to assume it's a dump. I don't have high expectations (was in Marrakesh in 1970), but at some point would love to communicate with you about hoofing it around Tangiers on our own (or booking your guide.) I had been thinking of a daytrip to Tetouan, but perhaps we don't need to venture that far.

 

 

My email link is below

Happy to give you information

You will love it!

[Mura]

Back in November 2005 we had a last minute addition of Tangier to our itinerary when the Libyan ports were cancelled at the last minute. One of our group found a guide which eve3ryone loved:

 

abdelhamid idrissi kaitouni <tangiertour@yahoo.co.uk>

 

I can't vouch for him myself because I had a torn meniscus and decided to stay on board that day rather than push my knee any further. But the others in our group thought he was marvelous.

 

This was as opposed to the guide we ended up with in Casablanca -- he was a friend of the guide we'd originally booked who was extremely highly recommended, but his friend was mediocre at best. His English was poor as well, although fortunately my french was good enough to translate for the group.

 

Granted, this information is old ... but if you want to do a tour in Tangier, it couldn't hurt to try this address. As I recall the tour was not expensive, but I didn't keep any further information other than his name and email address.

 

Mura

[pacheco18]

We used Aziz (he has a great group of guides)

benami aziz <info@benamitours.com

http://www.benamitours.com

 

Fabulous in every way and inexpensive.

 

 

But remember -- GET RID OF THE GUIDE IN THE CASBAH!! LOLOL

[aohkay]

We used Aziz (he has a great group of guides)

benami aziz <info@benamitours.com

http://www.benamitours.com

 

Fabulous in every way and inexpensive.

 

 

But remember -- GET RID OF THE GUIDE IN THE CASBAH!! LOLOL

 

Laraine:

 

This is the same guide we used too! I whole heartily agree; great group of guides and inexpensive. Email responses were very prompt as well.

 

Our tour was called VIP to Tangier. It was 35e p.p. and we paid after the tour.

[pacheco18]

Laraine:

 

This is the same guide we used too! I whole heartily agree; great group of guides and inexpensive. Email responses were very prompt as well.

 

Our tour was called VIP to Tangier. It was 35e p.p. and we paid after the tour.

 

We also paid 35E pp at the end -- a bargain. I agree -- email responsiveness was terrific.

[hondorner]

Thanks to everyone for the great replies! We regret missing Oporto but we actually enjoyed our bonus day at sea. We're very excited about Gibraltar, however (we have not been there) and love the stories (Don, we hope not to have to do the same thing to escape the Rock, however, because I have new knees!)

 

Fantastic cruise, so far!

You should take the cable car to the top of the rock, to see the Barbary Apes, if for no other reason. The views are fantastic.

 

Some folks told us the smart thing to do was take a gentle, relatively short walk down the road to St. Michael's Cave and the seige tunnels, then get back on the cable car at the intermediate stop to go back to town. As we came around the corner of the road and spied the intermediate stop, this is what we saw:

 

 

With my fear of heights, there was no way I was going to walk out that "gangplank" and wait on the leaning pylon for the cable car to sway to a stop!

 

Here's what WikiTravel recommends:

 

"Stop by the tourist office in Casemates Square (if entering by land, this is immediately after passing through Landport tunnel). The tourist office will give you a map and recommend the following basic itinerary. Take bus #2 free of charge from Market Place (around the corner of the tourist office) to Europa Point. Take pictures and enjoy Europa Point with the rest of the tourists. Then take the bus back towards Market Place but get off at the cable cars. Ask the driver for help, but you will see the cable cars before the stop. Take the cable cars up to see the Upper Rock and Nature Preserve. Then take the cable car down and walk main street back to Landport tunnel.

 

Cable cars run from 9.30AM until 5.45PM to the Upper Rock, but the last car up the hill might leave as early as 17.00PM. A "cable car and apes" ticket costs £8 return, while a ticket including entrance to St. Michael's Cave and the Siege Tunnels costs £16. Entrance to each sight costs £8 without this ticket. Alternatively, a 'Taxi-Tour' (typically for 8 people in an MPV) will cost £16 for a 1.5 hr tour, and this includes the fees for entry to the Cave, tunnels and upper rock."

[Relaxing Rita]

Don & Betsy. thanks so much for posting this info on Gibralter, we are on the TA in November... very useful information for us!

There is no way I could walk out on that 'gangplank' either!!!!!

[Oceans&Rivers]

Here's another photo of the midway point of the cable car ride at Gibraltar, and it shows how far away the ship dock is. My hat's off to Don and Betsy for doing that trek. I'd be very nervous about that gangway, but the walk down steps would be a no-go for me, so I'll just take the entire cable ride from the top when we get to Gibraltar one of these days.

 

[Jancruz]

I loved Gibralter also..a warning..the apes steal..and they will unzip a backpack or purse..so be very careful what you take with you..definitely no food!!

"So many places, not enough time..."

Jancruz1

[Benita]

I loved Gibralter also..a warning..the apes steal..and they will unzip a backpack or purse..so be very careful what you take with you..definitely no food!!

"So many places, not enough time..."

Jancruz1

 

One of the apes did enjoy my ice cream cone. I guess it was a blessing in disguise as I did not need the calories

[wripro]

They are like the baboons in South Africa, especially at Cape Horn where they will swarm around your car and wait for an opportunity to steal anything remotely edible. I saw one man attacked for a life saver he had buried deep in his jeans pocket.