Discovering Cultural Morocco - Balmoral - L2402 departing 18 Jan 2024

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.

Funchal, the capital of Portugal’s Madeiran archipelago, has a timeless old-world charm. Enhanced by a subtropical climate that fills this ‘floating garden’ with the year-round colours and perfumes of flowers and fruit, Funchal was a favourite of Sir Winston Churchill. His praise of the city has ensured British visitors always receive a warm welcome from locals.

Backed by rolling hills, the town is famous for its harbour, the 17th century São Tiago Fortress (now the Contemporary Art Museum) and world renowned Madeiran wine cellars. Funchal’s parks and gardens are a delight, and a hike through the Laurel Forest nearby is highly recommended. The ancient Funchal Cathedral mixes Gothic and Romanesque architecture, and is noted for its impressive carved wooden ceiling.

Poised between the Atlantic and the snow crowned Atlas Mountains, Agadir is a lively resort set beside a vast beach. The town presents the modern face of Morocco, but one where a pervasive sense of ancient and deep-rooted tradition still lingers – while inland, where the warm Sahara winds blow, the citadel-oasis or Taroudant, reflects Berber culture at its most exotic.

The most cosmopolitan of Morocco’s cities, with a palpably French mood, but reflecting the paradox at the heart of Morocco – its unique fusion of ancient and modern, of Africa, Arabia and Europe. The beguiling Casablanca of Bergman and Bogart may be no more – but you’ll still find endless interest and enigmas here amid busy boulevards and vibrant bazaars. From here, you can visit the Imperial City of Rabat, while magical Marrakech is within reach on a full day tour.

The most cosmopolitan of Morocco’s cities, with a palpably French mood, but reflecting the paradox at the heart of Morocco – its unique fusion of ancient and modern, of Africa, Arabia and Europe. The beguiling Casablanca of Bergman and Bogart may be no more – but you’ll still find endless interest and enigmas here amid busy boulevards and vibrant bazaars. From here, you can visit the Imperial City of Rabat, while magical Marrakech is within reach on a full day tour.

Overlooking a vast sweeping bay, Tangier is the traditional gateway to Morocco. Though no more than 15 miles across the Straits of Gibraltar from Europe, this is a cosmopolitan city that stands on the threshold of Africa. Its world of soaring minarets and domes, ancient casbah (once the sultan’s walled palace and gardens) and animated souks express the rich part-Arab, part-African heritage of a city that has seen occupation by 12 nations since the 5th century.

It was from historic Lisbon, built on seven low hills beside the wide Tagus estuary, that some of Europe’s greatest explorers set sail in pursuit of the riches that built Portugal’s former global empire in the New World, Africa and the Indies. Memories of that glorious past linger amid the grand avenues and elegant squares of the attractive capital’s 18th century lower town – a vivid contrast with the colourful honeycomb of cobbled streets in the old Moorish Alfama quarter and the bohemian mood of the hilly Bairro Alto.

The Port of Leixões (Portuguese: Porto de Leixões, pronounced ) is one of Portugal’s major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto.

Southampton offers fast and efficient check-in areas, spacious departure lounges with seating areas, café-bars and smart washrooms. If you wish to travel by car and park for the duration of your cruise, you can pay for and reserve parking in advance directly with the relevant company. Alternatively, if being dropped off or collected by taxi or private car, they can drive right up alongside the terminal building.