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Cruise Log (Very Long): Aboard the NCL Spirit, 9 day Canary Islands and Morocco Oct 2

mooline

By mooline,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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Daisyduke70

Daisyduke70

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What a great review, we too were on this cruise....our first ever cruise vacation and that wave hit us on our first ever port.....we didn't know if it was normal or not, which I was asking my hubby as I was holding on to our coffee machine and cups to stop them falling, had it have been the norm, I'd have been trying to get a flight back to the Uk that day! Very, very scary.....I heard that they had turned the stabilisers off too early and then the wave hit, so was a bit of a double whammy!

 

Such a shame about Arricife, we had friends waiting there for us to have lunch :-(

 

Great cruise all the same though, the Spirit sure is a special ship as is the staff that work it, Dancho in the bier garten was my fave!

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wilson2579

wilson2579

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Hi Daisyduke. It was a bit of a scare wasn't it. I was convinced we were going to hear the Captain call abandon ship:( I see the Spirit isn't getting into Lanzarote tomorrow either. It seems to be a regular occurance with the Spirit although I have been in to Arrecife 3 times with other cruise ships.

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wilson2579

wilson2579

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Hi I'm on the same cruise 10th dec, can I ask what currency you used in Casablanca?

 

I hope we get to lanzarote as I'm shop posed to be meeting a friend there also!

 

I was told by other passengers that they did take euros but we only hung around in Casablanca for an hour:eek:, so didn't spend anything.

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Daisyduke70

Daisyduke70

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I was told by other passengers that they did take euros but we only hung around in Casablanca for an hour:eek:, so didn't spend anything.

 

The shops in Casablanca only take the local currency, markets, rug shops etc take Euros, but there really isn't much in Casablanca itself to spend money on, I really was not that impressed with the city TBH.

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sammythedog

sammythedog

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aww was looking forward to the markets! DId you just do your own thing there?

 

The Spirit is in Lanzarote today Wilson, well according to sea scanner, my friend who lives there will let me know for sure.

 

V excited just got a nice upgrade to a balcony from a GTY inside!:)

Edited by sammythedog
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wilson2579

wilson2579

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No the Spirit is at sea today and at Cadiz tomorrow. s**scanner only shows the track that of the supposed itinerary. It is at the moment out of range on the AIS but definitely on route northwards to Cadiz. Apparently according to another cruiser on board at the moment the winds were too high to dock. The same as last week, even though two other ships and a ferry got in before us and the ferry left without any problems while we sat out at sea.

Edited by wilson2579
mistake
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wilson2579

wilson2579

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I had read before I went on my cruise that on different occasions the Spirit hasn't docked at Lanzarote. My opinion is that they should not call it a Canary Island cruise if it isn't going to get as far as the one and only Canary Island on the itinerary. My husband and I felt we didn't dock because we were sailing against a strong wind heading to Malaga and time would have been tight. By not stopping at Lanzarote we were able to have a slow rocky cruise home:eek:

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Marilyn08

Marilyn08

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I had read before I went on my cruise that on different occasions the Spirit hasn't docked at Lanzarote. My opinion is that they should not call it a Canary Island cruise if it isn't going to get as far as the one and only Canary Island on the itinerary. My husband and I felt we didn't dock because we were sailing against a strong wind heading to Malaga and time would have been tight. By not stopping at Lanzarote we were able to have a slow rocky cruise home:eek:

 

That is how we felt also. This cruise needs another name, especially since they changed a stop to port Tenerife to Casablanca and now have only one Canary Island on the itinerary. Also because Lanzarote seems to be a difficult one to dock at and chances are good that you will not be visiting this island. Loved Madeira and Malaga. Casablanca was a bummer. We really did have the ride of our life on the Spirit.

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mooline "Live from...." Rare

mooline

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Thank you for your trip synopsis! I felt like I was right there with you! We are doing Classic Italy next October and cannot wait! Want to come?!

 

I would love to, Neeah. We'll have to see if my boss is willing to give me another long vacation. Or maybe I can retire by then!

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mooline "Live from...." Rare

mooline

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I had read before I went on my cruise that on different occasions the Spirit hasn't docked at Lanzarote. My opinion is that they should not call it a Canary Island cruise if it isn't going to get as far as the one and only Canary Island on the itinerary.

 

Wilson, I agree with you about the name of the cruise. The Canaries were the reason I booked this trip. But such is cruising life, nothing can be guaranteed. Whatever the reason we didn't dock, we must trust the Captain's judgement.

 

My husband and I are both pilots and sailors, so we understand how weather conditions can alter plans. On our cruise, we would have had to maneuver between the 2 ships docked on either side of the pier. There wasn't a whole lot of maneuvering room there. We were also told by a senior officer that the pilot also advised against docking. Apparently one of the ships at the dock broke a docking line due to the strong winds and current. Always best to be safe than sorry. Too many cruise ship "incidents" out there,band I'm happy not to be one of them!

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Marilyn08

Marilyn08

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You'll have to tell me what was so bad about Casablanca now!! What does the ship do if it doesn't dock? Just keep going?

 

The ships shorter excursion took us to a fish market, a rug factory with some pressure to buy (my experience) and then to the mosque (which was beautiful). On returning to the port, we took the shuttle to town to visit the bazaar. It was many stalls of about the same thing and pressure from children to give them money. We felt safe at the market stalls along the road but not deep into the market. We are shoppers but did not buy anything. Maybe others had a better experience. Friends on board did not care for the trip to Marakesh.

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mooline "Live from...." Rare

mooline

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You'll have to tell me what was so bad about Casablanca now!!

 

As with most ports, different people have different experiences. We enjoyed Casablanca, because it was so different from anything we've seen before. The Hassan II Mosque is an incredible structure, especially when viewed from the inside. Driving around the city (in our ship's excursion minibus) gave us a glimpse into the culture of the city, and a tour of the beautiful coastline, as well as the wealthier and poorer areas - true life, which we wanted to see. And we thoroughly enjoyed Rick's Café, even though some describe it as a tourist trap.

 

I've put together a little album of our photos from Casablanca. As I said in my review, the "Exclusive Casablanca and Rick's" ship's excursion that we took was wonderful.

 

https://plus.google.com/photos/111530851320989466447/albums/5944715268029992081

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bearette

bearette

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We might be doing the Granada/Alhambra tour through the ship as well. Can you tell me how they worked the Alhambra visit? I was looking at the timed ticket information and was wondering if the whole group stayed together to visit each area or where you left to wander on your own? Thanks

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mooline "Live from...." Rare

mooline

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We might be doing the Granada/Alhambra tour through the ship as well. Can you tell me how they worked the Alhambra visit? I was looking at the timed ticket information and was wondering if the whole group stayed together to visit each area or where you left to wander on your own? Thanks

 

Hi bearette,

 

The ship's Alhambra tour was great, we all stayed together the entire time and there didn't appear to be any "hurry" to comply with specific area admission times. We had to show our admission tickets several times at different gates. Maybe there is no time restriction for certain tour companies?

 

Where there were sights that involved lots of walking, the tour guide was very gracious to find comfortable sitting areas for any who preferred to wait. By the way, The Alhambra had many visitors when we were there, but we never felt crowded. The place is enormous!

 

Have fun!

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