Chapter 2
La Palma, Madeira,
at sea, and Casablanca
April 22, 23, 24, 25
La Palma is just a little west of Tenerife
Tuesday, April 22: La Palma, Canary Islands
During the night, we had made the short cruise from Tenerife to La Palma Island. La Palma is a relatively quiet island and we had not arranged any kind of excursion for this day and, considering the way I was feeling, that was probably a good thing. My throat was still somewhat sore and my nose/sinuses were still producing copious amounts of… well, stuff. A little research had suggested that there was a nice waterfront walkway from the dock to the north, past the main part of the town of Santa Cruz. (Yes, same name as the port town in Tenerife and this had caused some problems with the excursions.) We decided to take a walk up the waterfront and look for a pharmacy where I might be able to get some kind of decongestant medication.
There was one other smaller ship in port with the Marina.
We left the Marina, walking up the dock, past a small ship that was there with us, through a shopping area, and out onto the city streets. It was actually a very nice walk along the beach, but I still have problems getting used to beaches with black, or very dark, sand. To my way of thinking, beach sand should be bright white, like we had along the beaches of Florida’s west coast.
There was a nice walkway between the road and the beach.
After walking about a mile, we found what looked most like a downtown shopping area and headed away from the beach looking for that pharmacy. With the assistance of a local, we did find a small pharmacy and tried to explain to the “pharmacist” what we needed. We ended up buying two medications which, unfortunately, turned out to just be Vicks type nasal sprays. They would help clear a “stopped-up” nose, but would not slow down the production of that congestion. Oh well, better than nothing. I did not bother getting anything for my throat since we had a good supply of bourbon and cognac on the ship.
Anyway, we continued our walk, going probably two miles from the ship before turning around and heading back. We could look back from here and see both ships at the dock.
Marina and another ship at the dock: notice the black sand on the beach.
On the way back, we took more notice of the buildings and the local architecture. There were quite a few bright colors and we also noticed that most of the buildings had some kind of balcony, like we had seen in Tenerife.
Practically every building had a balcony to display the wealth of the owner.
After getting back to the Marina, we relaxed for a little while, until time for lunch in the Terrace Grill. A little while after lunch, Susan decided to check out the gym for some exercise, but I just didn’t feel up to that. On our walk, I had noticed a couple of shops on the dock selling souvenirs, and also a decent selection of local and Spanish wines, so I headed in that direction, purely to get some fresh air and exercise, of course. One shop had a surprisingly good selection of wines, including both local and general Spanish wines, like Rioja with vintages going back 10 years. I bought a couple of bottles to have available in the cabin and to take with us when our friends invited us to join them in their Vista Suite.
Leaving La Palma, from the upper deck of Marina
Susan was not impressed with the ship’s gym, so I think I had the better afternoon activity. We rested until time to go get some medication for my throat (otherwise known as cognac) in the Martinis bar before our dinner reservation in the Polo Grill restaurant. Dinner was very good, especially for me since I could get their 16 ounce Prime Rib, which is one of my favorite meals. After dinner we watched the primary entertainment for the evening in the main lounge, “The Dancing Fool” presented by the ship’s “production company” and the show band. This is basically a “song and dance” show and the thread that was supposed to hold it all together was rather weak. The people appeared talented, but the material they had to work with lacked something. After the show we made one more stop at the Martinis bar for some “medication” and then another somewhat early evening. This would probably be our last early evening of the cruise.
Wednesday, April 23, Madeira Island, Portugal
Madeira is definitely out in the middle of the Atlantic.
When we got up in the morning, we were at the dock in Funchal, Madeira, which meant that we were now in Portugal. There were two other large ships in port with us, which meant that the city and many of its attractions would be rather busy.
Two large Mein Schiff cruise ships in port when we arrived
The excursion we had scheduled, “Highlights of Madeira”, did not depart until 9:15, so we could take time with a leisurely breakfast in the Terrace Café. When the tour did start, we were on a large bus with about 30 – 35 people, so a relatively big tour group. From the dock, we rode a short distance to a botanical garden in the middle of town and overlooking the port area.
One of several gardens on Madeira
Our tour guide was very familiar with the various plants and trees in this garden, as well as another garden we toured later. There was an interesting little church in the gardens as well as a statue/memorial of Christopher Columbus. There were lots of blooming flowers (such as the Bird of Paradise at the top left of this page) and tropical trees, but no banana plants here. From the back side of the gardens, we had a good view of the port and our ship, along with the other two ships.
Thankfully, the Marina is still there, waiting for us.
From the gardens, a short walk brought us to a shop specializing in Madeira wine. If you are not familiar with it, Madeira is a fortified wine, somewhat similar to Port: after all, they are both made in Portugal. It is a bit of an acquired taste and while I do enjoy an occasional glass, I prefer port. Everyone got a small glass of Madeira to try and, of course, time to wander around the store to pick out some Madeira or any of the many other souvenirs they had available. I was considering getting a bottle or two of Madeira, but Susan gave me a bit of a dirty look so I decided I could probably get perfectly good Madeira from the shops back home.
One of several display racks of the Maderia for sale
Our bus showed up so we loaded up again and enjoyed the scenery as the bus climbed a pretty good hill overlooking the city. At about the top of the hill, we got out and made a short walk up the hill to where a church (The “Church of our Lady of the Mount”) stood at the top of the 2000 foot hill.
The Church of our Lady of the Mount enjoyed very nice views.
While I did not bother going all the way up the steps to the church, I did get some photos from just a few steps above “street level” to give some idea of how high we were and what kind of a view we had.
Not a bad view from up here!
While walking up the last part of the hill, we passed a long line of people who were obviously waiting for something. Then, while looking at the church, we heard some commotion on the street behind and below us. Some men were unloading things that looked like rattan love seats, with some cushions, and mounted on some kind of runners. Our guide referred to these as Sledges but more popularly called the “Toboggans”. They are actually a fairly old (over 100 years old) method of transportation to get down the 2000 foot hill. The runners on the bottom of the toboggans are very slick and the road is very smooth, so the toboggans easily slide down the hill, guided by two “drivers” who stand on the runners.
Loading people into the Toboggans: guys in straw hats are the “drivers”
I’m sure that description leaves a lot to be desired, even with the photo above, but I think this video of the toboggans will make it a bit clearer. We found out that evening that our friends, Emily & Murray, had gotten an early start, got a ride up the mountain, and took the toboggan ride without having to wait in line at all. They reported “it was a blast”.
We were going to take a more sedate, but still interesting, route down the mountain. A short walk from the church and view of the toboggans brought us to a cable car station. From here the car descended the about 2000 feet down to water level, just a short distance from the shoreline, as you can see in the photo below. This photo was from well down the cable, not the top. Susan kept saying that they really needed a zip-line (yet she thought the toboggans looked dangerous).
On the way down the cable car, probably about half way down.
To get a better idea of what the cable car was like, you might want to check this cable car video. Each car held six people and, unfortunately, there was no way to get unobstructed views. Once all of our group had gotten down and gathered together, we walked a short distance to where the bus picked us up and, once again, took us up the mountain. Near the top of the mountain, we left the bus and entered yet another botanical garden, but this was a major effort. The total garden area is about 20 acres, with about 12 of that fully landscaped. The garden was established in 1960 and seemed to concentrate on multi-colored foliage, rather than fruits or flowers, although there were a few of each of those.
Entry into the Madeira Botanical Garden
We toured the garden for about 30 minutes with our guide providing information about many of the plants. About the time that she turned everyone loose for 20 minutes for a rest break (or snack, or coffee, or whatever), we also got to a large area that was planted in low growing plants of various colors. There were several geometrical designs and actual letters and words spelling the name of the garden and the years it had been in operation.
There are no flowers here, only colored foilage.
In this same area there were a couple of small ponds with lots of water hyacinths, accompanied by a rather loud “chattering” noise. A quick inspection reveled that the noise was being made by frogs in the ponds. The frogs were hard to spot until they started chattering, then they vibrated the water around them, making them easier to locate. Check this video of the frogs and you will better understand the sound and how to spot the frogs.
The last major part of the garden on the way out was a cactus garden. I have seen lots of cacti in the past, but some of the cacti that were blooming were surprisingly pretty and colorful.
Cactus in bloom
After completing our tour of the botanical garden, the bus delivered us back to the ship about 2:00 and we discovered one of the ship’s shortcomings when fully booked. After 2:00, the only restaurant open is the Waves Grill, and with several tours returning to the ship about that time, it just cannot properly accommodate that many people. The BBQ ribs sounded interesting so we ordered those and, after waiting about 30 minutes, the manager came over to apologize that the food was taking so long and it would be out soon. Our ribs were delivered about 10 minutes after that. The same thing happened, including the manager visit, a couple of days later under the same circumstances when we had ordered Cuban sandwiches. I think that the Waves grill just cannot handle the number of people returning from multiple excursions and Oceania needs to make some other lunch option available.
We got back to our cabin and rested for a while, until I noticed the large ship next to us moving, so I went to take a look. (It turned out that that ship was not moving, we were!) I was rather surprised to see many, (many!), of that ship’s passengers lining the rails looking at us. It is common for some people to watch in this manner, but nothing like what I was seeing. The people were shoulder to shoulder along the whole upper deck and standing on the balconies of many of the cabins, as you can see in the photo below.
I didn’t know our ship was that interesting!
For an even better look at the other ship, check this video of the other ship as we leave the port.
This evening we met our friends in Martinis bar before Susan and I headed to dinner in the GDR (Grand Dining Room) about 8:00. Susan had a “Cuban Chicken” and I had a steak: both were good, but nothing special. We did have a very nice table. We always offer to be seated at a shared table with other people, but this evening they seated us at a table for two with a very interesting view.
We could see where we had been!
We skipped the primary entertainment show this evening and headed to a “Beatles Golden Age” show by the “Rock the Boat” band in the Horizon lounge. We were starting to get the band warmed up now and the show was pretty good and got some of the people up and dancing. The show ran from 9:15 to 11:30 and then Emily and Murry invited us and Jyoti and Joe to their suite for a glass (or two) of wine. It is a good thing that the next day would be a day “at sea” so we did not have to get up and be active very early.
Thursday, April 24: At Sea
Days at sea are frequently rather quiet and there is not a lot to look at, so this will be a short report and there are few photos. I don’t think you would want see photos of the guest laundry where we were doing our accumulated laundry. There were a number of “At Sea Activities” scheduled, such as dance classes, sports contests (bean bag toss, table tennis, pickleball), numerous sales presentations (spa, watches, etc.). We mostly relaxed, did a lot of reading, joined in on the daily group trivia contest and walked a few laps around the upper deck exercise track. For some real excitement, we did join our friends for a round of “Team Trivia” in the main lounge.
We did our now standard routine of visiting Martinis lounge before dinner for a drink and to listen to the “Piano Man” (Tom Ferro), followed by dinner, in the GDR this evening, and back to Martinis until time for whatever entertainment we were attending that evening. We shared a table for 4 in the GDR with a pleasant couple and went to the primary evening entertainment, “Broadway in Concert” with the Show Band and the Marina Production Company, basically another “song and dance” show but with some good music this time. The “Rock the Boat dance band did not get started until 11:15 this evening and that was a bit late for us, so we called it an early evening, anticipating a big day tomorrow.
Friday, April 25: Casablanca, Morocco
OK, we have left the islands, so it is time for a fresh map to locate Casablanca.
Casablanca, Morocco: right in the middle of the map
The port at Casablanca is a very commercial, freight-oriented port and we will take a closer look at this later. This suggests that the facilities for cruise ships might be a bit limited, and that would be correct, but, on the other hand, it is very convenient for access to the city of Casablanca. We were told that a new cruise port and terminal was being built and may be accepting visitors by the time you read this.
We had a general “Highlights of Casablanca” tour scheduled with a mid-morning departure. We had a short walk from the ship, down the dock, through a “Customs” building and out to the busses waiting for us. Our guide was a older woman who was very good, pleasant, and a bit of a “hoot”. Turns out she is a former German teacher and is fluent in 7 languages and, although she dressed in fairly strict Muslim fashion, she seemed very open minded on most subjects.
Our first point of interest, where we stopped for photos but did not get off the bus, was at “Rick’s Café”, made famous by the movie “Casablanca”. Of course, Rick’s Café was a totally fictional place when the movie was made but some enterprising person took some space in a building, hung a “Rick’s Café” sign out front, and arranged the interior to resemble the sets used in the movie.
As much a real “Rick’s Café” as the one in the movie
After getting a few photos, we continued a short distance to a very new and very large mosque, the Hassan II Mosque. It is large, the second largest functioning mosque in Africa and it is relatively new, being completed in 1993.
The minaret and a small part of the Hassan II mosque
Besides the minaret and building behind it in the photo above, there are several large buildings on both sides. The entire complex is rather large and includes an Islamic school, a museum, library, and conference halls. Our guide warned us that we should be careful to not cross some low hanging chains at the entrance to the mosque. Oh no… it had nothing to do with non-muslims walking on mosque grounds, rather that, if you crossed the chains, the guards would want you to pay the admission fee for visiting the mosque.
After hearing many of the interesting details and facts about the mosque, we loaded back into the bus for a short ride to a seaside hotel and restaurant where we were to have some Moroccan style tea. This was a combination restroom break and tea break: the tea was OK and we did have some time to sit back and enjoy the view of the Atlantic Ocean and beach just off the restaurant.
We almost had a good view of the beach.
While sitting, drinking our tea, we did see a couple of cats who were obviously looking for handouts. Of the three cats we met, one of them was friendly and glad to get just a pet, but the other two were only interested if you had something for them to eat. Unfortunately, this was at a bad time of the morning and I don’t think anyone had handouts the cats would be interested in.
These two were definitely after the food.
We said goodbye to the cats and loaded back into the bus for a drive-thru tour of some of the nicer residential areas of Casablanca. One house we drove by was the Casablanca guest house of the king of Saudia Arabia. Apparently, there is some kind of close relationship between Morocco and the Saudia Arabia royal family. We drove through the wealthy neighborhood for a while and then stopped in front of what looked like some kind of police station. I think it was some kind of palace guard facility as we then walked a very short distance to visit the Palace of the Morocco King. We did not go inside the palace, but it was pretty impressive on the outside.
One entrance to the Morocco King’s Palace
We stayed on the outside of the palace, on what you might consider the patio or possibly the parade grounds. This is where major ceremonies or royal events were held. It was a large area and you can get a better idea of the size of the palace and the grounds from this video of the palace.
Back on the bus, we rode through part of the city, but never went through or even saw what I would consider a major downtown area of the kind I would expect in a city of almost 4 million people: no significant hi-rise or skyscraper buildings. Although I’m sure we only saw the better parts of the city, it appeared very modern, clean, and well maintained. There were numerous small parks and green space, and the center of the round-abouts were nicely landscaped and well trimmed.
Casablanca appeared very clean and nicely maintained.
Our next stop was to take a walk through a local market, complete with meat hanging in front of a butcher shop, fresh fish on display, decorative flowers and lots of fresh fruit, including quite a bit of tropical fruit (I wonder if it came from Tenerife).
The market: meat, fish, fruits, and flowers. What else do you need?
The one product that was obviously missing was anything alcoholic. Although alcoholic beverages are not illegal in Morocco, it is against the Muslim religion and few of the residents consume it. Drinks are available, mostly in restaurants and hotels, but there are very few displays of alcohol for sale. As you might expect, with raw fish and meat hanging on display, there were several cats hanging out in the market, just waiting for a handout or an opportunity to grab something.
This cat was very alert, waiting for an opportunity.
We did make one other stop on the tour, the usual visit to a store for a chance to get some souvenirs of our visit. Our guide led us to a very interesting store with all kinds of products, from perfumes, to T-shirts, to leather goods, cooking spices, and, well almost anything you could imagine. It was interesting to just walk around and see what they had. After the shopping visit we headed back to the port area, said “Thank you” to our guide and made the short walk back to the ship.
Directly behind the Marina was a area with about 8 large tugboats parked there. They appeared to all be very new and still spotless, like they had never been used and they never moved while we were there.
The Tugboat parking lot
As I mentioned previously, we were docked in the middle of a large freight handling port with hundreds of the standardized shipping containers stacked around us. There were cranes and other machines continually stacking and restacking the containers: sometimes I could not figure out just what they were accomplishing. You can get a better idea of the size and type of the port in this video of port activity. This was from one side of our ship; on the other side were the stacks of hundreds of containers. You can see a few (very few) of the containers in the photo below.
If you remember from the beginning of this report, I mentioned that I had considered a Windstar cruise in the same area. It turned out that the Windstar ship was in Casablanca the same day as we were and we could see that ship from the upper decks of the Marina.
The Windstar ship we would have been on
Back on the Marina, we again were late getting back to the ship and the Waves Grill was the only food source that was open, so we tried out their Cuban sandwiches. Not bad, but we’ve had better.
In the evening, we had dinner in the GDR, again sharing a table with another couple. The primary entertainment this evening was a vocalist, Nicola Ward, and it was a very good show. She is a very talented singer and I liked the selection of songs she sang. Considering she sang songs by Simon and Garfunkel, Adel, and Andrea Bocelli, how could you not like it? The Andrea Bocelli part was an interesting story: Nicola Ward was asked if she would like to sing a duet with Andrea Bocelli and of course she said she would love to. Then they told her that the song would be in Italian and, of course, she did not know any Italian and she had 3 days to learn enough.
Nicola Ward performing
If you want to hear how well she did, you can watch this video of Nicola Ward singing a number of different songs, but you will have to watch until the end to hear “Con Te Partirò” (“Time to Say Goodbye”) that Bocelli has really made famous.
Some cognac while listening to Latin Music in the Horizon lounge completed the day
You can either click on the “Back Button” to go back to the main page, or click on:
Chapter 3 - the cruise continues