A Holland America cruise ship, Nieuw Amsterdam with about 2,000 gay travelers on board was reportedly denied docking at Morocco over the weekend.
The ship docked Sunday in the southern Spanish port of Malaga. This had been marketed as the first all-gay cruise to the country by gay tour organizer RSVP Vacations. It was scheduled to dock in Casablanca on Sunday.
According to Reuters, the two companies explained the situation in a letter to passengers, "Our port agent in Casablanca has advised us that authorities in Morocco have -- despite previous confirmations -- now denied our scheduled visit. For all of us, this is a very disappointing development."
In Morocco the same-sex relationships are unlawful and punishable to up to three years in jail. Moroccan penal code also bans sex outside marriage. However, Morocco's Tourism Minister Lahcen Haddad reportedly dismissed the ship's claims.
"We don't ban cruise ships here and we never ask our visitors about their sexual preferences," he told Reuters. The ship was supposed to stop in Casablanca for about 12 hours.
Post Casablanca, the cruise ship was due to sail to Cadiz, also in southern Spain, and then to continue on to Ibiza in the Balearic Islands, then to the eastern Spanish city of Valencia.
The ship was scheduled to end its journey in Barcelona.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
