Casablanca, Morocco - March 20th, 2025

Casablanca in Morocco was our second port of call on our transatlantic cruise with Princess. Casablanca is one of the more exotic places we’ve ever visited. The main language is Arabic, with a different alphabet, but many people speak French and English. It is mostly a Muslim country, but there is also a minority of other religions, such as Christianity and Judaism. The Princess excursion we went on made us feel comfortable in such a foreign place.

Thursday, Day 12, was our port of call at Casablanca, Morocco. We signed up for the full day Casablanca at Your Leisure tour. We’ve never been to Morocco before, so we didn’t know quite what to expect. It was an overcast day, with a light drizzle of rain every now and then in the afternoon.

Our meeting time was 8 am in the Princess Theater. We set our alarms for 6:15 am, so we would have plenty of time to eat breakfast and get ready to go. By the time we woke up, the ship was already docked. The dock was in an industrial area, so we were surrounded by shipping containers. It was interesting to watch the cranes load the containers onto and off of the freighter ships.

We decided not to take our day packs nor water bottles, so we could travel light. Morocco required that we take our original passports with us, so we zipped them inside a leg pocket of our hiking pants along with some cash and credit cards. We wore our hats and carried our rain jackets.

Morocco’s currency is the Moroccan Dirham, but you can’t get their currency outside of the country. You can get it at an ATM, but many places accept credit cards along with other currencies, such as US dollars and euros. So there was no need to withdraw dirham.

The description of our tour was to drop us off in three different locations around the city and let us wander around for 1.5 to 2 hours at each location. However, the tour guide on our bus wanted to share more about the city and spent a lot of time leading us around, providing us with context, stories, and history. It was probably not what Princess had in mind, but it was a much more educational experience than we would have otherwise gotten.

Our first stop was a quick photo stop in front of the Hassan II Mosque. It is the symbol of the city with its tall minaret, the second tallest in the world. The mosque is where the muslims come to worship. Muslims pray four times every day and sometimes more. The Hassan II Mosque was built in 1993. It can accommodate 25,000 worshippers inside with another 80,000 outside. The roof of the mosque can slide open, making the inside open to the sky above.

Our first long stop was the Corniche. This is the beach resort area of the city. We had an hour to stroll along the beach front. The area is where tourists and locals alike come to enjoy the beach, the restaurants, the bars, and the discos. While we were there, the place was pretty deserted. Not only was it a little early for the summer tourism, but it was also in the middle of Ramadan. During the month of Ramadan, no alcohol is allowed to be sold or served. The muslims are fasting during the day, from dawn, at the first sign of light, to sunset. They are not allowed to eat or drink, not even water. Most of the restaurants and bars were closed, but there were a few open for the tourists and non-muslims.

Near the beach, we saw several stray cats and dogs, some looked healthier than others. It looked like many of the resorts were taking advantage of the off season to clean, do maintenance, and renovate some of their facilities. We’re sure the place would look quite different in the middle of the summer, with the hustle and bustle of all of the visitors.

Next, we drove through Anfa, where the rich people live. Anfa is filled with large mansions, with pools and garages filled with five or more cars, even though they typically are families of only four or five people. Many of the residents have servants, from gardeners to maids. Many of them are Jewish and speak French. Many Jews sought refuge in Morocco during World War II. Morocco was colonized by the French, from 1912 to 1956. Although the main language of Morocco is Arabic, many people also speak French. However, according to our guide, the French influence was greater after the colonization ended, when many Moroccans migrated to France for better jobs, then returned to Morocco with their children, who grew up in France.

Next we went to the Royal Palace, where our guide, Ahmed, explained the architecture of the front façade, made of stone, tile, and wood. The King has a palace is many cities across the country. His main residence is in Rabat, but he uses the one in Casablanca when he goes there. The palace is not only a place to sleep, but also where the King works. Unlike England, the King of Morocco, currently Muhammad VI, is the active head of the government and the armed forces. Morocco also has an elected parliament along with a prime minister in each city, appointed by the King, to locally act on his behalf.

From the palace, Ahmed led us through the Habous Quarter, which is a shopping district, where you can haggle with merchants for their interesting wares. We were led to a coffee shop, but the shop was closed. We agreed to meet back at the coffee shop in one hour, as some of the group wanted to wander around and shop.

We followed our guide to another coffee shop, in hopes of finding mint tea. We ducked inside a plain looking building, at least on the outside. Ann thought it was just for a restroom break, so she waited outside with another couple from the group. After we waited for a while, we started to get a little concerned that the group had exited out a different door, so we ventured inside to see what was going on.

The inside was gorgeous, intricately decorated. The hold up was that the bathroom was only one or two stalls, so it was just taking that long to get everyone through. However, we learned that the coffee shop was open. It was up two or three flights of tiled stairs, up on the roof. It was a cute little roof patio, with views out across the area.

We ordered two cups of mint tea along with a plate of assorted Moroccan pastries. After waiting a while, a server came out with one cup of tea. That didn’t seem right. Did he bring us the wrong order? We waited a little while, wondering if we should go ahead and drink the one cup. It was served in a decorative tea pot, but we only had one glass to pour it into. A few minutes later, the server brought out two pots of tea and a plate of cookies to another table. We quickly hopped up to see if that was our order. It turns out that the other table, who was also with our tour group, had ordered coffee, not tea. So they gave up and left, as our time to meet back with the group was approaching fast. Another couple from our group also gave up and left, as they didn’t even get to place an order yet.

We quickly drank our tea and scarfed down the cookies. It was not the relaxing experience we were anticipating, but we’re glad we got to experience the mint tea. The cookies were pretty tasty as well. Then we rushed downstairs to pay our bill. They didn’t take credit cards, but did accept euros. We gave them a 20 euro bill for a 135 dirham (MAD) bill (about 13 to 14 euros, about the same as dollars) and told them to keep the change. It was 35 MAD for each tea plus 65 for the assortment of patisserie. Then we rushed out the door to meet the group. We met our tour guide coming towards us, trying to find us. We were about two minutes late. Sorry about that. Hopefully, the group forgave us.

From there we drove through the city. Casablanca is quite large and crowded, with about 4 million inhabitants. We’re glad we weren’t driving. There didn’t seem to be any rules that the drivers were following. Lane markers seemed to be mere suggestions. Vehicles just seemed to make their way in the direction they wanted to go. Motorcycles weaved their way through the cars. Luckily, the traffic was moving slowly, because there were bicycles sharing the road along with pedestrians crossing the streets everywhere, playing frogger. When our tour group crossed busy roads on foot, our tour guide would go out into the middle of the street and make sure the traffic would stop for us.

Our tour made a quick photo stop at Muhammad V Square. It was a pigeon-filled square with a fountain in the middle, surrounded by administrative buildings. There were kids riding powered tricycles. We’re not sure if the trikes were the kids or they were publicly available to everyone, as there were more trikes parked on the square than there were kids.

Then our tour guide took us to a shop. It had all kinds of interesting wares, but the main focus was rugs. We were led into a room where we sat as the shop owner brought out one beautiful rug after another, explaining the different types. They were beautiful, but we were not interested in buying anything. A couple of people in our group did stay behind and haggle for an agreeable price. The shop arranged to ship the rugs back home to them.

The last stop for the day was at a shop that sold Argan oil and spices. We opted to wait on the bus. We were there for about half an hour. Our entertainment was watching the traffic, pedestrians, cyclists, and two workers hoisting a hanging scaffold up to the top of the ten story building using ropes and pulleys. In hindsight, we should have gone into the shop. We might have learned something about the oil and spices. Morocco is known for its spices and Argan oil is indigenous to Morocco. The oil is used on food and for cosmetic purposes.

Then the bus took us back to the dock about half an hour early. That was fine with everyone, as we were all tired and hungry. It didn’t take long to get through the dock security, walk the pier down to the ship, and go through the ship security. By the time we freshened up back in our room, it was time for dinner.

As we were sailing away, the Hassan II Mosque turned on their laser. The laser shines from the top of the minaret towards Mecca, indicating which direction the worshipers should face for their prayers. It was a lovely sight to see, with the bright light shining into the night sky, a great way to end our visit to Morocco.

Even though the tour turned out to not be as described, we thoroughly enjoyed it. We learned so much about Casablanca and Morocco from our tour guide. It was a great introduction to the city and the country.

Check out our related video: Casablanca, Morocco

(Ann)