The sea is incredibly calm today... I mean incredibly calm. Although we still feel the ship rocking back and forth slightly, when you look outside it is like looking at a lake. In the distance there are a few ships on the horizon that make you feel like there is life out there. We were thinking something we hadn't seen in awhile was a plane. It is interesting to think about not seeing a plane in the sky for about 4 weeks. Anyway, the sun is out and the sea is cal...

Well, we have been on our way to Ghana for about 2 days. We stopped to fuel today in the Canary Islands which are a part of Spain - strange since they're off the coast of Africa! The island we anchored near was Las Palmas and it is the most north-west portion of the island chain. It is the 5th largest of the 7 main islands and has a population of about 86,000. Unfortunately, we could not get off the ship, but we at least had some beautiful land to look at, and ot...

Goodbye Morocco! Today we leave - "on ship time" is 18:00 hours (6:00pm). If you are not on the ship with your passport turned in to the Purser's Desk by that time you will get "dock time" in the next port. Even if you have purchased a trip, you will miss it. We have been out all morning trying to enjoy our last hours of land time before we spend 7 days at sea. Yesterday we "decompressed" and caught up on all of the work we had been ...

We left Casablanca for a 3 day, 2 night trip to Marrakech, Morocco. It was about a four hour drive from Casablanca to Marrakech and along the way we watched the terrain change as it became hotter and drier. In the foothills there were interesting villages that looked as though they were made of red clay and rocks. They had a perimeter wall to keep the animals in and tiny rooms which looked like little homes. When we arrived in Marrakech we rode camels in the ...

In each port we have a cultural pre-port session and a logistical pre-port session to help prepare us for the country we're about to visit. Both are required for EVERYONE. The cultural pre-port basically warns/informs us about cultural norms and customs. We have been told that for Morocco we should dress conservatively, meaning long and loose fitting pants, skirts and shirts. Tank tops and shorts are not appropriate and will draw unwanted attention. Also, women ...