Cruise Through History - Itinerary 05 - Ports of Arabia to the Atlantic

Itinerary V of Cruise through History's latest release, eleventh in the series, includes tales found in ports of Arabia, through the Suez Canal, along the southern Mediterranean, to Atlantic Ocean islands and Morocco. Just as travelers left the beginning of human civilization in northeast Africa and traveled west across the north coast of Africa and to islands along the southern Mediterranean, so this Itinerary follows currents west from Arabia, down the Nile, through the Suez Canal, to Malta, Mallorca, Gibraltar and out to the Atlantic. In the Atlantic cruise to Madeira, the Canary Islands of Spain and Azores of Portugal, before returning to North Africa and ports of Morocco. As this Itinerary moves from port to port, it traverses timelines from deep into the ancient era of cave dwellers of Gran Canaria to recent history, including formation of the United Arab Republic in 1970.

Meet the real Hatshepsut of ancient Egypt and the real Lawrence of modern Arabia. Be inspired by Gertrude Bell, whose maps of Iraq were relied upon by Winston Churchill in drawing the landscape of the Middle East, and the tenacious Knights of St. John in Malta. Follow antics of the angry artist, Caravaggio, who was a Knight of St. John for two months, and the devious Amaro Pargo, eighteenth century hero of Tenerife.

This itinerary begins at the Red Sea, with a Little Political/Biblical history and moves forward to ancient Arabia in Oman, before displaying the contrast of Bedouins of the Desert with modern sheikhs of the UAE, investing in the most advanced city on the planet in Dubai. The leading city of trade in the ancient world, Petra has its own story, where the ruler of Nabatean Petra, intermarried with Herod's family in Judea and the two rulers played a game of intrigue with Cleopatra VII, that would have impressed Caesar.

Meet the Black pharaohs of the Kingdom of Kush, who united Egypt in the seventh century BCE and ruled Egypt for generations. Visit Ramesses in Luxor and Hat and Tut in the Valley of the Kings. Then solve the mystery of the Rosetta Stone, a competition between French and British scholars, as fierce as battles in this Itinerary and as great a feat as the story of building the Suez Canal.

Enjoy the Long and Strategic History of Malta and the short and infamous tenure of Caravaggio as a Knight of Malta. Peer into the Co-Cathedral of St. John in Malta, the most opulent church in the world. Then island hop to Mallorca and ports of the Spanish Mediterranean to visit Bullrings without the Bulls. Gibraltar has its own stories of heroes in the little bit of Britain surrounded by Spain. History of Gibraltar is linked to the American Revolution, when Britain made Spain an offer to trade Gibraltar for Florida.

Venture through the Pillars of Hercules, into the Atlantic and the lovely Portuguese island of Madeira, where the story is Wine, Wicker and the Women who saved the island economy with embroidery. Madeira history began in a Moroccan prison, then almost touched off a world war in 1907, when Germans came to build a health spa, that stole the view from a favorite hotel of British vacationers. In this island of flowers, visit Quintas, home of local royalty, host to royalty of the world. It is no chance of fate that Columbus came to Madeira to be inspired to discover a New World. Source of his inspiration, his mother-in-law, is its own story. End the voyage through Portuguese islands with a trip to Remote and Exclusive Azores. Discover how Dutchmen preceded Columbus to America.


End this Itinerary at the Crossroads of Trade from Arabia to the Atlantic in Morocco in ports of Tangier and Casablanca. These fabled cities preserve the Kasbah and a real restaurant dedicated to fiction in the famous movie, Casablanca. Finish the tour in the Mosque of Modern Islam, built over the sea in Casablanca.