Take a risk with itinerary or stay safe?

[amurray88]

Hi All,

I've cruised the Mediterranean quite a few times and been to the usual ports. I'm booking a cruise for March and MSC have 2 that I'm interested in. One covers the normal Med with Naples etc.

 

The other does a bit of the normal then goes to Casablanca, Tangier and Ceuta.

 

Does anyone have any experience of these ports? Are they worth it? Should we stay safe with what we know?

 

We are in our early 30's and at the time of cruising will have a 9 month old baby with us.

Thanks!

[morpheusofthesea]

25 minutes ago, amurray88 said:

 

The other does a bit of the normal then goes to Casablanca, Tangier and Ceuta.

 

Does anyone have any experience of these ports?

The safest way to do these ports is via cruise ship.

[Mark_T]

1 hour ago, amurray88 said:

The other does a bit of the normal then goes to Casablanca, Tangier and Ceuta.

 

We have been to Casablanca and Tangier on cruises and the only thing I'd say is that with a young baby, avoid the lengthy trip to Marrakesh if it is offered from Casablanca. 

 

Ceuta is not somewhere we have been and it covers a fairly small area of land before you would be going through a border crossing into Morocco, so on its own, I'm not sure I would be motivated to visit, but the other two are places I'm glad we were able to visit.

[Nunagoras]

Casablanca is great for the Hassan II grand Mosque and as Mark has said: avoid the long trip to Marrakesh is that was your sort of thing. Nothing else more interesting. The other 2 I don't really know, even though like again Mark said; Ceuta is a small enclave perhaps not worthy really a visit, other than for duty free shopping. With a so small baby I'd say a no for those cruises. You'd better fit with the usual ports here in the most developed countries. Better, cheaper and more reliable medical assistance if needed, and usually places more accessible to just exit the ship and have a wonderful day ashore. Let those more adventurous ports for when your little one grows up and have a wonderful day!

[Eglesbrech]

Personally I would not go to Morocco with a small baby. While the ports are really interesting and the people friendly the hygiene standards are, shall we say, different. 

 

We have had some amazing trips to and really enjoyed the Moroccan ports. Everything from camel rides to tree climbing goats but not with a baby.

 

Ceuta is nice to visit, there is a Parador near the port which we enjoyed along with the very well priced tax free shopping. 
 

For now I would stick with mainland Europe.

 

 

[amurray88]

Much appreciated!

[Mark_T]

22 hours ago, Nunagoras said:

Casablanca is great for the Hassan II grand Mosque ...

That is indeed a magnificent place to visit, we were fortunate enough to be there when it was virtually complete, but not yet in use, so we were able to be guided around all areas of the mosque, which would not have been accessible a couple of weeks later.

[morpheusofthesea]

We have found that there are really very few mosques that allow tourists inside. The tour buses stop a distance from the mosque for photos.

[Mark_T]

5 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

We have found that there are really very few mosques that allow tourists inside. The tour buses stop a distance from the mosque for photos.

Agreed, which is what made our visit to the Hassan II mosque such a special event.

[ConnieTact]

We were hassled a lot in Morocco and didn’t enjoy that! Leaving the port by foot, we had cars following us, crawling along and calling from the windows. Then at the shops so much pressure to go in. I’m glad I didn’t have a baby with me! 😅

[morpheusofthesea]

1 hour ago, Mark_T said:

Agreed, which is what made our visit to the Hassan II mosque such a special event.

Did you have to leave your shoes outside on the sidewalk?

[Mark_T]

9 hours ago, morpheusofthesea said:

Did you have to leave your shoes outside on the sidewalk?

We have done that in many countries, but in this case if I recall correctly we were given a bag to carry our shoes with us as due to the size of the site and a little remaining construction we would not be leaving the same way we entered.

[cublet]

Hello,

 

On the excursion I was on, we were allowed so far into the mosque with our shoes on (eg to view the bathing areas) but they had to be removed to enter the Prayer Hall.

 

Regards,

 

Cublet