Morocco has been on my bucket list for a while. We were in Gibraltar a while back and you could see across the straits to Africa. I have students from Africa and wanted to ride a camel also. You can get there on the mainstream lines, but usually just on transatlantic runs. Lisbon was a plus also. I did a search for those two ports and found Pullmantur. They are an off shoot of Royal Caribbean, and use some of their older ships.

One of the larger internet cruise sites lets you book Pullmantur – you can also book directly with the line. The pricing is pretty good but the port charges and taxes were unusually high. I am fine with window cabins as on the old ships balconies are rare.

We flew into Madrid. The Indigo Hotel there is well located and has a nice breakfast. Don't book IHG properties via Orbitz, Expedia etc. as IHG will not give you frequent guest points which is highly annoying. Cool tourist stuff is near Plaza Mayor. The El Corte Ingles department store is worth a trip- they are well merchandised and carry everything. Read more