Have you ever tried a Moroccan dish called tagine? Well, I haven’t. All because of my parents who missed out. We took a cruise to Morocco on the MSC Preziosa, November 2019. My parents were glad we went on this trip, because as we know it, the pandemic happened. Our trip was really fun though! There was a slide on the cruise that went over the edge of the ship, diamond staircases, all you can eat buffets, and a kids club. I love the kids club! When I say diamond staircases, I mean glass stairs with hundreds of diamonds encased in each step.

This was going to be my very first time in Africa, and I was so excited! I was looking forward to see Morocco. Our ship docked at Casablanca. That’s Morocco’s largest city, and the ship docked at a cargo port. That means that not just cruises dock there, cargo ships do too. We booked a city tour through the cruise company. It was very hot and sticky, 40F Degrees (104C), it was a relief that we rode on an air-condition bus that took us to the market. First stop was the Marche Central Market. The first thing I remember seeing, is a cart full of chicken tagine. My parents wanted to try it, so they said that they would come back later. Big mistake, because when we came back, every dish was gone! Tagine is a dish that is slow-cooked in clay pots over charcoal, and I’m sure they would be really good!

Anyway, we headed over to see the shops and the stuff being sold at the market. There were lots of rugs being sold, and most were handmade. My dad’s goal was to buy a rug so he bought two. We needed to buy extra bags to bring them home. They are very pretty and have many colors. I think they are nice too. My parents bought me clothes, and a leather shoulder bag as a souvenir from the trip. Plus, my mom got a scarf made by the Berbers. Berbers are the indigenous people of Morocco who live in the mountains.

By the way, I know a LOT about Morocco, because I did a geography fair project on it. So, here’s an EDUCATION BOMB! The national animal of Morocco is the barbary lion. The Moroccan Prime Minister is Saadeddine Othmani, try saying that ten times fast! The Sunni Muslims are the people with the most common religion. Every time a cruise docks, they fly the flag of the country they are in. So as well as flying the Moroccan flag, they also flew the Jewish flag because there is a Jewish population living in Morocco. By the way, the Moroccan flag is a red background with a green star in the center.

After shopping and walking around the market, we hopped on the bus to see the Hassan II Mosque. It is the second largest mosque in Africa and 7th largest mosque in the world. We also went to The Casablanca Mall to look around then we headed back to the cruise ship. One more thing I noticed is that Moroccans speak French. So I read more about it, and I found out that Morocco was a French colony between 1912-1955.

Going on a cruise ship is good, because if you don’t like the place you are at, You don’t have to come back. But, if you DO like the place you visited, then you can always come back. In this case, we liked Morocco so we are planning to go back and try tagine, visit Marrakesh and other cities, and ride a camel in the Sahara Desert. Stay tuned for my next post!

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Pictures in Morocco were edited by Glenn Rodd

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