Casablanca City Tour: Mesquita e Corniche

Meeting point did not work and no one could be reached either by music or at the given phone number!

We were disappointed with our shore excursion in Casablanca. The excursion only last 3 hours as opposed to 5 hours. We were advised that the pickup would be at the cruise port. It wasn't. We were transfered from the cruise port to downtown Casablanca. Then we had to find our tour guide in a driving rainstorm. Another guide contacted him and we were finally pick-up. The previous evening I send an email to our tour provider seeking clarity about the pickup location but didn't get a response. With the exception of the mosque, the tour stops were disappointing or just drivebys. We were given 5 minutes to take photos of the Notre Dame church with no background information about the church. A drive-by was completed of the large public park in Casablanca. It was supposed to be a walking tour. The other members of our tour group complained about the shorten time of the tour. The response back from the tour guide was "we completed the itinerary of the tour". Not true!

I loved it. I only have two details to highlight. The first is about the meeting place, the map said inside the harbor and there we discovered that no one enters the harbor, then I got a little nervous because I didn't know where to find the guide, but I managed to find him at the exit of the harbor. And the second is that I hired a guide who spoke Spanish, but my guide only spoke English, but eventually got it all right.

The Mosque is excellent and a must see. The rest of the trip was ok. Lunch was ok. Could do the Mosque alone just get a taxi and pay to go in.

If the tour of Casablanca is planned during a layover, you have to make specific arrangements for airport pickup and return after the tour. Otherwise a very exciting experience especially the Hassan ll Mosque.

Operator was late. Did not enter the mosque with us to explain history. Was discourage from shopping at Chinese area. We insisted. Seat belt did not work. Tour was due in 3 hours including being 20 minutes late.

The tour was disappointing, largely because the tour guide failed to secure tickets for the mosque ahead of time. We were left waiting for quite a while. When we were finally allowed into the mosque, our guide simply directed us to join an English speaking tour already in progress. The group was already very large and it was difficult to hear the guide properly. As a result of this delay, we missed the old Medina, the Habous Quarter and the Central market. These were things my wife really wanted to see. We simply drove by the Arab League park.

No one arrived for our private tour. We contacted the local company & were told they didn’t have a driver for us. They cancelled our tour! We were left to find our own transportation for tour!

We did this tour with Sila, and I must say we were very satisfied, if you stop in Casablanca I recommend it, super super super Sila

The guide (Mohamad) was wonderful! He was fluent (or very functional) in many languages, charming, funny. I would recommend that he use something tall in crowds so he could be found easier (flag, umbrella, stick with something on it). Pick up at cruise port went smoothly, despite us not knowing where we were going to dock. Description did not quite match our experience. Some of this was due to weather. Did not go in Rick's Cafe. The Mosque was incredible but Mohamad left us with a guide inside and then another large group joined us and it got a bit confusing about where to meet after. It was raining, so most of the time we were driving around and sometimes we'd stop for a quick photo. Can't blame the company for the rain! We only saw one of the other two churches, and we did not go in. We did stop at the Royal Palace though! The Old Medina...not sure. We were taken to an olive market and got to sample some nice olives. Passed a few shops on the walk in but no time to actually shop. Quartier Habous--I think that might have been the olive market. Marche Central Casablanca--we did not do this at all Arab League Park--drove past it I think, and we drove around the "rich" neighbourhood quite a bit The "Traditional Moroccan tea break" was actually in a carpet co-op. We were taken to a herbal remedy shop where the presenter smashed a cloth covered pile of "black seeds" into everyone's noses. We weren't given the option to sniff the air--he put it hard against everyone's nose! Some nice products there but we weren't impressed to share nose germs with strangers. When we got on the bus initially, there was some confusion about who had paid the admission for the Mosque, and who had paid for lunch. I think several tours were combined. This tour I'm reviewing included the Mosque but made no mention of a lunch! So we had to go along and pay. It was getting very late (it was around 3:30!). We were taken to a restaurant with "authentic" food. Our chicken tagine was okay but was served with French fries on top. Others said their dishes were not authentic and one said his chicken was not cooked. We weren't offered bottled water (but it also wasn't hot) and there was no mention of wifi on the bus, or an artisanal gift. We're not unhappy with the day (except the herbal remedy shoved up our noses and not seeing much of the markets), but just beware, that your tour might not be the same as what's listed here. We weren't expecting a bus of 12 people or a lunch stop! And again, our guide was a lot of fun. So educated and fascinating!!