Tuesday, October 13 - Casablanca, Morocco

 I planned to get off the ship today to do a private street food tour.  And then discovered getting into town requires a free bus from the dock.  

Here's the deal.  I spent a wonderful week in Fes, Morocco, years ago.  I loved it because I had a chance to spend time with local folks, including spending about six hours in a private riad with a 3 generation family, of whom only the six year old spoke a word of English.  I was getting a henna tattoo on my hand/arm.  The tattoo was ruined that evening when I spent a few hours in the local women's hammam (bath) and it looked like a water color which had been left in the rain until it wore off a month later. 

My point is, I'm too lazy to stand in line to get on/off the ship just to hang out with thousands of other cruisers.  Instead, I'll stay on the ship.  You guessed it - on the balcony.

Photos!

My view at about 7:30 a.m. when I woke up.  Chilly out now but should warm up to be a lovely day.

One of the fun features of the cabins on VV is the tablet in each cabin which controls lighting, TV and curtains.  I was lying in bed when I hit the button to open the drapes. 

You can select different moods - Get It On closes the drapes, dims the lights while turning on a pink lights over the bed and mirror.  And "suggestive" music plays for a minute. It's good that I'm traveling alone because it makes me giggle every time the music comes on.

Hangover closes the drapes and dims all the lights.

Pumped Up! opens the drapes and turns lights on.

Want something from your cabin stewards?  Mine, Jonah and Ash, stop by to clean in the morning and check in the evening to see if I need anything.  In between, I could use the tablet.

The tablet is also how you order room service.  I LOVE that HAL offers free room service, including anything on the main dining room menu.  Virgin offers free breakfast delivery, if pre-ordered.  It costs $10 for room service any other time.  If you order something that has a surcharge (a cocktail or fancy coffee, for example) that can cover the $10 fee.  The menu is limited but has plenty of options (including steak and sea bass) to get dinner in for a few nights.

A sample of the texts we get on the VV app, instead of announcements.  So much nicer.

There were a bunch of these things floating by as we approached Casablanca.  Empty Styrofoam containers, perhaps?  Big ones?

Because this is a buoy, which is big and the white things didn't seem that much smaller.  The mysteries of the sea.  Ok, let's face it, everything about the sea is a mystery to me.

Typical breakfast crowd in The Galley.

So far, there's always been seats available, both inside and out.  But, VV - why do we have to manually open a door when carrying food/drinks?  Most doors open automatically.

Eggs Benedict was an option for breakfast.  Yeah, I had oatmeal.

Vegan eggs Benedict.  

Perhaps the lid to the aforementioned styrofoam chest?

View from the dock.

The "take and go" cooler is stellar.  Here's my snack for later.

And my breakfast.

I love the "view from the bridge" channel.

Sadly, the beds are too low for my suitcase.  

This is all the drawer space.  For up to 4 people.  

These ships were designed for short cruises.  As VV considers longer cruises lack of cabin storage may be an issue for some passengers.

I'm fascinated by harbor pilots (ship pilots).  The specialists who cruise up to the ship in this small boat and climb aboard to guide the ship to dock since they are experts in that port.  I was lucky enough to meet a guy who does it for a living (so does his son!) in the North Sea.  Tough job.

I'm not sure what the issue was but these guys were getting yelled at by the crew on our ship.  And had to redo the lines a couple of times.

That's the Crystal Serenity we're docked next to.  Out of my price range but friends say it's very nice.

Still working on it.

Those ropes must weigh a ton.

In case you didn't notice the text about our departure, the info is in every elevator.

I splurged on a balcony cabin but if you have an inside cabin there are lots of places to hang out.

The Groupies!  One of my favorite places onboard.  It's free karaoke rooms.

You just have to sign up, old school.

My private room!  Very fun and I can sing my heart out without bothering anyone with my bad singing.

If you missed the text and the info in every elevator, it's also posted in the Roundabout in the center of the ship.

One of the many bars - this is near the Arcade and Social Club.

Called The Loose Cannon.

Hot dogs on the ship?  Why only at night??

This is Juicesea - where you can get fresh juices and smoothies for an upcharge.

Instaworthy.  This morning a guy was on his phone, just gently rocking.

This is kinda sad.  We don't seem to be big readers onboard. Then again, the cruise just started.

I was in my favorite spot in the hammock when this boat came by.  I'm guessing military.

I heard lots of yelling/announcements from the "military" boat at this small boat that was circling and seemed to be harassing the military boat as it headed out to see.  Crew on the bigger boat were using firehoses to keep the smaller boat from getting too close?  Practice?  

Big and all glass.  I have just the spot for them in my house.  But they aren't for sale.  Think anyone would notice if I just tucked them, one at a time, in my blouse and walked away?  

The Dock was busy this morning.

And, I found comfortable seating there!

Because daybeds with no headboard are not for sitting, in my opinion.

And, I found another cooler of take away meals.  Same options as in the Galley, but convenient - you can grab something and head out to the daybed instead of eating from the food they offer there.

One reason I stayed onboard.  I hate to stand in line.  I have little patience.  These folks were trying to get on the busses into town.  They'll have to line up to get on a bus to come back.  And then line up again to get on the ship.  I'd rather be reading in my hammock.

I think I'd enjoy being the crane operator placing the enormous cement pieces to the seawall.  Kinda like Jenga with pieces that can crush a truck when they fall.

Lunch was sushi.

And tres leches cake, which was way better than I expected.

I made a reservation for Gunbae - to be honest because it was the only restaurant available for dinner, which is typical.  This is the where the hostess suggested I sit to wait in the lobby of the restaurant.  Chair?  Couch?  Sculpture?  And why is the seating so close to the ground?

Gunbae is a Korean restaurant where you sit with strangers and a guy like Ari (on the left), cooks your food in the center of the table.  The white light ring over the table is a giant and very effective fan to suck up the smoke.

I had a great view of the sunset while we dined.

The food was excellent.  I was the last to order after Ari explained the menu.  I asked him to surprise me and he chose well, but so.  much.  food.  This was a seafood pancake.  Crispy on the outside and filled with tender squid, shrimp and scallops.  I'd have happily just eaten this.  I shared with Nancy, seated next to me but no one else ate seafood.

That's a chicken nugget dish that was awesome, along with some pickled daikon radish that added a crunchy, sour element.  Notice the vegetables being cooked in the background.  That was for Rayann, a vegetarian.  She had a challenge because they had a "vegetarian" dish on the menu but it was JUST vegetables, no protein.  Happily, they brought her a bowl of tofu cubes.  Raw, cold tofu.  She was gracious and said the vegetables would warm it up.

Once again Blogger decided to put this photo in the wrong order - that was the view from my balcony before dinner of the Crystal serenity heading out to sea.

I'm sorry this is a bad photo of Rayann but I was so busy chatting I didn't take many photos of food.  You can see Ari brought me the seafood pancake, chicken chunks, on the left in the black bowl was a delicious short rib and further left is the tray of meat that Ari is preparing to cook.  That's a ring of large shrimp on the cooker.  The meat (bulgogi) was also excellent.  For dessert (sorry, no photo because I was eating and talking too much) we had rice milk and black sesame ice cream with peanuts which I thought was delicious.