BLACK WATCH
North Africa and Canary Islands Cruise 2010

On Friday 29th October 2010 my wife and I boarded Fred Olsen's cruise ship Black Watch at Southampton for a 14 day cruise to Casablanca and the Canary Islands. It was our first time sailing with this company, our other cruises being with M.V. Discovery and Oriana. We were very pleasantly surprised with the ship, the standard of cleanliness, attentive staff, excellent food and overall an extremely happy and pleasant holiday. The company and the ship are highly recommended, and we will certainly travel with that line again in the future. The photographs below give a flavour of our voyage.
Black Watch our home for 14 days	First night floor show	Observation Lounge on the first night	Observation Lounge next day
CASABLANCA
Arriving Casablanca, Moroccan Navy Ship	Arriving Casablanca, Moroccan Navy Ships	Arriving Casablanca, Private yacht	Arriving Casablanca, Thopmson's Destiny
Hyatt Hotel Casablanca	Hassan II Mosque	Hassan II Mosque, Forecourt	Hassan Mosque, external mosaic decoration
Hassan Mosque, external mosaic panel	Hassan Mosque, roof which can be opened	Hassan Mosque, Prayer Hall, note polished marble	Hassan Mosque, floor decoration
Hassan Mosque, Prayer Hall floor	Hassan Mosque, Exit hall floor	Hassan Mosque, Alcove ceiling detail	Hassan Mosque Washing area ceiling
Hassan Mosque, washing area floor	Hassan Mosque, mosaic decorated pillar	Public Gardens near Palace	Catholic Cathedral, modern stained glass
Decorated Wall in the Palace	Ornate Palace Gateway	Entrance to the Grand Bazaar, not so grand!	We found Casablanca, in the main, to be a very dirty place.... a typical former French Colony, reminded me very much of Djibouti in 1967. Once out of the main port area and into the former French suburbs, the situation was much nicer. Apart from the Hassan II Mosque, which was very spectacular and a huge building, in fact it is the 3rd biggest mosque in the world... paid for by Saudi Arabian money, there is nothing in Casablanca to draw us back for a second visit. From here we sailed to Las Palmas.
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