Any Casablanca updates?

Wishing you all great times on the Med portion of TAP!

John, I wish I had known you were still on board that late. I tried finding you all around 2:15 to say good-bye and you were nowhere to be found. So I'll say goodbye from LCT this morning. Thanks for a wonderful week. You all will be missed.

Maria, we followed the tour locations that the Regent tour suggested and told the taxi driver where to take us.

Today was Lanzarote (pronounced LAN ZA ROT ie) in the Canary Islands (population about 165000). When you first see it from the port, it is ugly. From those who went to town, I am not sure what it had to offer, so will let Olivia, Ngaire or Suzanne post. For those who went on the South Lanzarote tour, it was great fun and I highly recommend Regent's tour. As usual, the weather was in the 70's with clear, blue skies. The weather on this trip has been super. Bring suntan lotion if you burn!!! No jacket necessary.

There were about 4 or so buses that did this tour alone. There is also a North Lanzarote tour, but haven't a clue about it. So, will begin my discussion of the day.

We didn't arrive in Lanzarote until 12:30 about 1/2 hour ahead of schedule. We were allowed off the ship at 1pm. Our tour took off at 1:30, but they loaded the buses starting at 1 and took off as they filled up. Tina and Prabha were on our bus with us. Wendy and Frank were on a different bus, but also did this tour.

As green as Funchal was, Lanzarote is BLACK. The island looks like the moon as it was destroyed by a 6 year long volcanic eruption 240 years ago. As it was a slow volcanic eruption, folks had time to flee and no one was killed. Nevertheless, this once agricultural island is quite desolate. People's yards are decorated like they are in Arizona, except the sand is black. Everything is black, except for the white houses. First we took our camel ride. We pulled up to a sandy area and there were about 40-60 camels sitting around waiting for us. We were guided to our camels, with the heavier person standing on the left, the lighter person on the right. There were nifty little chairs that were on either side of the camel's hump and you sat forward and were roped in like on a child's swing set. As we approached the camels, some greetest us with bleats and all had either a cage mask or a cloth mask over their mouths. The camels came in all sizes and colors, ranging from palamino, to camel (duh), to taupe to browns...some had curly hair, others straight. Some were rather cute and others were rather homely. Some were very tall and others short. We were led to our camel, Patricia, and the camel behind us, Stephanie, was enamored with Doug. Patricia seemed to have a denture problem. This may have been due to the fact she was the oldest of the lot, at fifteen. Poor Patty wasn't terribly attractive, with somewhat wirey auburn hair, was rather short and scrawny and sported a bad bite. But she was rather docile and quiet. Stephanie was a big blonde with a pretty face and long lashes. I was sure I caught her flirting with Doug. The most jolting experiences on the camels were getting up and getting down, which were like being on an "interesting" amusement park ride. Otherwise, all the horror stories you heard about spitting, spraying with urine,smelliness, etc. were not true for any one of the 50 or so passengers today. We all enjoyed a 25 minute trek over the volcanic ash dunes and had some good laughs and patted our camels good bye before reboarding the bus and heading off to the national park.

While our camel trek began our tour with some laughs, the majority of the tour related to the ecological system and history of the island. Our guide was excellent and truly wanted to share and excite us with his information.

Our first stop included some demonstrations relating to the heat of the escaping gases from molten rocks and a pit stop for beverages and the necessary. Then we ventured off through the park on buses for spectacular and breathtaking scenery and educational lecture on the formation of the island. The second oldest of the Canary Islands, and an independent country, Lanzarote was once an agricultural and seaport community, but since the early 70's has become almost totally touristic by trade...some wineries are the only vestiges left of agriculture. It has, in fact, closer links to South America than Spain.

From there, we traveled through the island to a winery for a tasting, then off to another scenic overview, before returning home at a bit after 5. Considering, all aboard was 5:30, we cut it a bit close. I would most certainly recommend this tour to the CROSSERS and it is not a tour you can do on your own as only buses are allowed in the park. This was not a trip with shopping stops..we did buy two bottles of sweet wine as gifts. I like sweet wine, but others thought the regular white wine was just so-so.

Tonight we enjoyed the talents of a magician / comedien who was wonderful and then went off to bed about 11, which is really 10, as the clocks move back one hour.

Tomorrow is Agadir. We arrive around 8am and all aboard is 3:30. We have a group of 10 (Olivia, Suzanne, Ngaire, Ken, Tina, Prabha, Yvonne, Guy, Doug and me) who are going on a private tour to Tourandant with the tour guide Freddie recommended. So, off to bed so we can be awake for the goats in the trees!!!

We'll try to get some photos loaded tomorrow pm. I know Ken (and Ngaire, Suzanne, Olivia) went into town and is downloading some photos tonight, probably including Funchal.

Thanks Andi for a great report. We are planning on doing the South Island tour, it sounded much more interesting that the North Island. Your Camel experience sounds so fun.

Guess you guys are not "dancing" these days. Hope to see some pictures soon. Give Guy and Yvonne our best, we enjoyed them so much on MUSH - (hope they remember us) :rolleyes:

Informative reporting, Andi. Not sure if we will select this excusion, as the other sounded more of interest to us, too. However, many people really look forward to a camel ride while in this port and it sounds as if it did not disappoint.

Hope Agadir is as enjoyable as Lanzarote.

Andi:

We have always enjoyed your descriptions of what you see and what you've learned but I must say your humor is showing up more and more and we like it.

It is obvious that you are really enjoying this cruise and we can't wait to hear more when we visit you next month.

Cheers! Ray & Penny

Great reporting, Andi, thanks! Your descriptions of the camels made me laugh.

More Photos from TAP:


Private Galley Tour


Dining around the world on deck

This was the toboggan ride in Funchal. We were in front of Andi and Doug


The landscape of Maidera, white buildings, red tile roofs.

The winery Olivia, Suzanne Ken and I visited.

Inside the winery museum

More great photos, Ken! Super report, Andi! Thanks for keeping us up on everything!!!!! Keep having fun, and PLEASE keep posting!

It has been a great few days. It is amazing how little time we have to post. Ken and I have been so incredibly busy it is go go go.

Funchal Maidera did not disappoint. Doug, Andi Ken and I took a taxi around the island. It is a very scenic and clean place. The highlight for me was the cable car and the toboggan ride down. They go very fast but are controlled by two men that ride the toboggan. Andi said there was smoke coming from our glides. They did stop and oil the glide half way. It is really tons of fun. It cost 25 Euros for two but I enjoyed every second of the adventure.

Lanzarote
We rode the camels on our last trp and been to the volcanic area before so we just took a cab to a winery to show Suzanne and Olivia some of the scenery. We did not stay out long, it was hot but it was nice for the "girls" to see the country side.

For people who travel a lot we were pretty dumb when it came to the taxi. We asked how much per hour - answer 12 euros traveling or waiting. We thought he meant on the meter. $12 to just get in the cab plus the meter. It seemed to be too cheap at $12 Euros per hour. No one understood each other. So then Ken negotiated 30 euros with another taxi driver to take us to a winery for tasting and then back to the ship. We hopped in the cab. Told him the winery we wanted to visit and he said Meter. Then he turned on the meter. We thought we were in trouble here but he was driving fast so we just decided what the heck we would go with the flow. Well we were out about 2 1/2 hours and it was 32 Euros. The first taxi was telling us an hourly rate after all, just guessing at the cost for what we wanted to do. No matter how much you travel it is so easy to misunderstand what is going on. GREAT value for a taxi for four people that is about as cheap as it get.

Early Retiree boarded in Funchal and visited briefly with them the first night. They had dinner with the handsome Englebert tonight so hope they enjoyed that. Hope to see them tomorrow.

We all went to bed early tonight, have to be up and ready to leave for an 8.00 am tour ---- ahhh where are those sea days!!!!

Great reports....thanks Ngaire and Andi - much enjoyed!!!

Wonderful pix and reporting, Ngaire and Ken.

Andi, Ken and Ngaire...thanks so much for staying in touch. We love to hear about your cruise adventures!

Andi, Ngaire and Ken,

Thank you for giving us all these details about Funchal and Lanzarote and, of course, for the pictures. So far so good! Keep posting ( and having a good time!).

OK, for anyone who cares, I made it home 22 1/2 hours after I began. Wake up call at the CS Atlantic Madiera (the old Crown Plaza) was 4:30 am. Funchal as you have been told is a beautiful city. After arriving at the hotel, I wandered around the area for a few hours on my own, then I was tired and knew i had to get up early, so I sauntered back to the hotel. It has a myriad of fresh water and sea water pools, inside and out and the rooms are huge with a balcony.
I am already missing all my new friends on TAP, and am anxiously reading about what I am missing. Thanks to everyone who wissed me a safe trip home, and to Ray for the beautiful farewell card. It was a great trip, and I hope to meet more of you on another.
Lynn

Welcome home Lynn - sounds like an arduous journey! Thanks for your reports on TAP; I trust it was all you hoped for - relaxation and a chance to meet fellow LCTers (not that I've met any, just feel like I "know" some!)


You were a great "Queen!"

We survived our journey to Rome. Our first day here was great. We are staying at the Hilton which has spectacular views of the city. We took an orientation private tour which helped a lot. Per Stefen's (the F&B asst mgr on Voyager who used to work at this Hilton) advice, we made our way to the Cul-du-Sac wine bar near Pz. Navona. Someone please thank Stefan for his suggestion. We had a couple glasses of wine then stumbled upon a great little pizzaria called Baffetto. It was so crowded. We were seated at a table for 6 with a Roman couple who where celebrating their anniversary and a couple from Brazil. 3 languages but we all managed to communicate over a great meal.

Today we have a tour of the ancient sites, then some more exploring on our own.

I've posted some more pictures, but haven't been able to add captions because of time.

www.worldflyer.net/tap

John, glad you are enjoying Rome. I hope you got upgraded at the Cavalieri; that is still one of our favorite hotels. The view from both our room and the Executive Lounge was fantastic.

double post :(

John...your photos of Rome are fantastic. It looks like a perfect day. Can't wait for more touring!

John & Tonya - we are missing you like crazy, but like I told you our 1st night out, "Someone had to go to Rome!" Loved the photos. Lynn, glad you are home safe and sound. We were wondering last night if you were there yet.
I wish I could send along exciting tour reports like the others, but I have been fighting some sort of sinus infection/cold for several days. Canceled both tours the last 2 days. Hope to make it to Rabat tomorrow. So here I sit in the Club.com, watching the crew practice a fire drill and wonder what is being purchased at the souk and how those goats in trees really looked up close and personal. I will just have to wait for everyone to return, like the rest of you.
No feeling sorry for Betty allowed. I love being on the ship no matter how I feel. My 2 darling stewardesses keep my cabin nice & tidy and food is just a phone call away. And good friends just down the hall. What more could a girl ask for!
Dinner at Latitudes tonight with a family I met on the ship - different menu than last week, but not certain of the "theme." I know it will be good.
Saw Jim from Cleveland across a crowded Observation Lounge before dinner last night but didn't have a chance to say hello yet. But if you are reading this Jim, I will find you before the cruise ends. No news on Casablanca Denise, so it must be a go. I'm counting on it. Bye for now.
It's amazing how much I have written, saying absolutely nothing. But whatever time it is back home, at least you all know the Voyager is still here! :)

Hi Lynn, Glad you made it home safely.

Hi John,

Here I am, salivating at the plate of prosciutto in front of Tonya( looks like you are by San Lorenzo in Lucina?)! That was great that you could get into Baffetto. Some will say that's the best pizza in Roma.

Keep us posted!

Hi Betty,

Sorry you are not feeling well. But if you are going to get sick, the Voayger is not a bad place... At least you don't have to worry about cooking and/ or cleaning,
Wishing you get all better by tomorrow so you can enjoy Rabat !

Betty, I hope you are feeling better soon! Welcome home Lynn, I am glad you made it safe and sound.

John and Tonya, your Rome pix are fantastic, how lucky you are to be in Rome in the spring!

I'm cancelling my subscription to Conde Nast. ;) Your posts are SO much better than anything I could ever read in any travel magazine! Thank you, everyone, for sharing such fantastic experiences!

John/Tonya,
So glad to hear you are enjoying Rome. Your photos are wonderful.

Welcome home, Lynn! From your posts and photos, looks like you had a great time on TAP's 1st segment.

Betty,
Feel better very soon! I hope you are able to go to Rabat tomorrow.

Betty, sorry to hear that you aren't feeling well. I can't imagine a better place to be sick!

Welcome home, Lynn. So glad you enjoyed the cruise.

John, fab pictures. Keep having fun in Rome.

Welcome home Lynn and welcome to Rome John & Tonya!

Betty, I hope you're feeling better today but as you said, if you're going to be sick it might as well be on the Voyager. I saw pictures of Jan & Harry Hufford at Ngaire's parties....are they still onboard?

For those still onboard, keep enjoying!! We love your seamail!

John and Tonya,

We missed you at the Cavalieri Hilton by just a couple days.... We checked out on the 5th of May! I hope you are on the executive floor....we enjoyed the stay and in particular the views from our room and the lounge! Also, the bottle of champagne and box of chocolates in the room upon arrival were a lovely surprise ;) .
Cheers, Pam

We just got back from a morning of much walking. We took the Context Rome walking tour of Roma Antica (Palatine Hill, Forum, & Coloseum). Our guide was fantastic. Thanks again Marc for the recomendation. We came back to take a quick break and grab a glass of wine from the Executive Lounge (got the upgrade!). The Exec Floor will save us many Euros. The free food & wine plus the view cannot be beat. Not bad for an award stay!

We're going to try to find a restaurant recommended by John & Kim tonight. Tomorrow we're going on a Vatican tour.

We miss everyone on the ship. I hope you're still burning up the dance floor at night.

salute!

As the others have said thanks for the great pics and seamail (also the Rome land mail). Hope you are feeling better real soon, Betty! :) Glad you got home safely, Lynn.

To: TAPers
From: Us

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=1215507782161&source=jl999

Photos From Agadir, Morocco:

Goats in a Tree:

Ken, those might be the best pictures of the trip so far! How lovely was that "Ngaire in the mirror" photo!!! and the goats in the tree are just priceless! Agadir looks perfectly exotic.

OMG, those pictures are precious! I love the goats!

Ken, I love your pictures. How this captured our day! The sights and sounds are truly different from what we are used to. I especially love the picture of the pottery with Ngaire reflected in the mirror.....

To sum up the port, the highlights were the goats in the trees. See bottom pictures.

As you know, we hired a private guide to go to Tourandant. We began our day a bit after 8am and a Mercedes van was awaiting our arrival. We had both a driver and a guide.

We first visited the fort and the former old section of Agadir, which was destroyed by the earthquake in the 60's. All of the city is new and is post 60's. At the time of the earthquake there were 45000 people living here. 15000 were killed in the quake. Today there are 75000. There is building everywhere. All of the coastline is designated for only hotels. There is an expansive beach in the town with many large hotel complexes running up and down the beach.

Ken's first pics were taken from the fort location at the beginning of the day...the camel and the group photo. From there, we ventured about 1 hour through the countryside to Tourandant. There were vast apartment complexes, citrus farms, the goats in the trees and small towns dotting the countryside. The terrain was flat with a range of mountains generally to our left, the highest peak being 12000 feet.

The rest of the pictures are of Tourandant. We arrived at this walled city and proceded to an herbalist who makes skin care products, some being based on the nut from the trees that the goats are in. If you remember Suzanne's post, the goats eat the fruit, digest it and excrete the nuts. The nuts are then collected, roasted and turned into cooking oil or not roasted and turned into skin care.

From there, we walked through the souk. It was very clean and smelled wonderful... full of spices. The colors were vibrant and the market rather quiet, save for tourists.

Much of the wares are modern and for the Moroccan, with t-shirts and western attire. There are marvelous sections with olives stacked in the shape of tagines, in shades of red, purple, black, yellow and green.

Only two of us bought anything today. I bought a small cooking tagine for $10E (this was a good deal) and Suzanne bought a small votive tagine for $7E. There were some deals to be had, but once you relay interest, it is hard to really look and make a decision properly. It is overwhelming. However, I looked up the costs on the internet, when we returned back to the ship, and the cheapest I saw my tagine was $38US and Suzanne's, $26US. Doug saved us some money by giving a shopworker his hotel pen instead of cash.

From the souk, we stopped for a drink at a beautiful 5 star hotel outside of Tourandant. Most had cokes, but I had an outstanding cut of hot moroccan mint tea. It was a wonderful respite despite my getting pooped on by a bird.

Our trip home's highlight was stopping to see the goats in the trees...see above. It was great fun.

We had the ship pack us a picnic lunch which we ate on our way home..the yoghurt was a bit warm and the chocolate had melted, but the sandwiches, fruit and cookies hit the spot. What we didn't eat, we offered the goatherder who allowed us to take a picture of his tree climbing goats.

We arrived back at the ship hot and tired, but no worse for wear at about 2-2:30pm and freshened up for trivia (which our team won today!!)

Again, the weather was beautiful and warm, with a cloudless, blue sky. We set sail at 3:30.

To sum up the day from ourselves and others who took the Regent Agadir trip, the tours are mostly shopping oriented. Going to Tourandant allows you to see the countryside, how people live, a traditional souk, and the goats. Staying in town allows you to see how modern day Moroccans live in a large metropolitan city. However, there were mostly shopping stops, a visit to a modern casbah and the requisite trip to a rug store. Neither of the tours offer any true history. What was good about a private tour, was the ability to say "no" to shopping or stop for goats. Our time was in our hands and we got to enjoy one anothers' company.

I would suggest, if you plan to buy, that you look things up on the internet and determine what you are willing to spend and go armed with information. Things to purchase included leather coats (mid $200 in Agadir), perfume bottles, jewelry, herbal remedies/skin care, spices, ceramics, slippers.

While I have enjoyed other ports better, we were glad we left Agadir and took the Torandant tour and that we did it on our own. Folks had mixed reviews for the Regent tour, for probably the same reasons that we had..there wasn't much to the general area to oo and ah about. The main criticism of the Regent tour was that is wasn't paced well. If I hear anything else, I will post.

Tomorrow is Casablanca. Our tour guide said Casablanca is just a big, modern city with only the new mosque to see. We will try to take in the Mosque and go to Rabat for some history and to see the Royal Palace.

Off for drinkies...

Sorry I've been so quiet. I will bring a laptop on FJORDS so I can post directly from the Voyager lounge.

The tree climbing goats were awesome!!!!! This is the only place in the world you can see this. Like Andi said, this is the highlight of my trip (off the ship) so far. It will be very hard to top!

We were taken to a shop selling antiques...jewelry, knives, ceramics and various Arab and Berber objects d'art. They had some fabulous things, but bring the big bucks. I found a necklace I loved but didn't want to spend 600+ Euro and have "the folks back home" think I bought it at Chico's.

Wonderful photos, Ken! (As always.) And thanks to all for the detailed reports. Sounds like a wonderful time all around, and it certainly is getting me excited for CROSS.

Betty, I hope you are feeling better today. So sorry to hear that you had to cancel excursions, but no better place to relax and be pampered than on the Voyager.

Editing to say to Ken: Besides the fantastic goats in trees photos, I love the souk photo with Ngaire reflected in the mirror. You are so talented and creative!

You guys, Ken and Andi, are making me wish I hadn't taken off at 1Funchal. I am now like everyone else, green! Betty, I hope you are feeling better. I hated leaving you when you weren't feeling well. I miss you all.
Lynn