Transatlantic Cruise - 2015

After eight busy days in Spain, we boarded the Norwegian Spirit for a sixteen day transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral, Florida.  We look forward to unpacking and not living out of our suitcase.  We also look forward to regular meals and some time to relax.

Leaving Barcelona

Two days at sea before our first stop on, Madeira, a Portuguese island three hundred miles off the coast of Morocco.  We took the 'Hop on, Hop off' bus to tour Funchal, the capital and the surrounding area.

Madeira is a mountainous, subtropical island with colorful flowers and steep-sided green ravines. From the bus, we could see prosperous banana plantations and vineyards.

Pico dos Barcelos, high above the city with great views.

The fishing village of Camara de Lobos.

Camara de Lobos shopping area.

Camara de Lobos.

Camara de Lobos.

Banana trees.

Downtown Funchal cathedral.

Doca, the cruise ship port

Leaving Funchal

The sun sets as we leave Madeira.  Tien saw dolphins as we left.

The next six days were 'sea days'.  We had a lot of time to eat, sleep in, eat, spend time at the pool and hot tub, eat, and enjoy the ship's entertainment.   We even dressed up for dinner a couple nights.

Evening on the ship
 

After many days at sea, it was nice to get to Antigua and get off the ship for the day.

 

Arriving in Antigua

Downtown.  Our cruise ship is in the background.  

St. John's Cathedral.

Next stop, St. Kitts.  This is the first time we have been to this island.

Arriving in Basseterre, St. Kitts

Independence Square with Co-Cathedral in back.

Beautiful Flamboyant tree in Independence Square.

Inside Co-Cathedral

Fish Market.

Produce market.

Fish stalls

Escapees from KFC restaurant across the street.

  St. Marten was another beautiful tropical island we stopped.  The downtown was a short walk from where the ship docked.  Philipsburg was very modern with lots of trendy shops.

Harbor from downtown.

Methodist Church in downtown Philipsburg.

Shopping district.

In the afternoon we went on a catamaran sailing excursion which included a stop for snorkeling and a stop at a beach.  The name of the catamaran is Mirabella.

Sailing time.  

On Mirabella.

Where is the water?

After the "cat' excursion, we were ready to move on.

Hope to come back.

Our last stop before getting to Florida was St. Thomas.  We wanted to spend most of the day at Magen's Bay beach, one of the 'Top 10' beaches in the world.

Arriving in St. Thomas.

Overlooking Magen's Bay.

Getting the hat 'Just Right'.

Magen's Bay Beach.

White sandy beach.

   

Two sea days later, we arrived in Port Canaveral.  We enjoyed our transatlantic cruise but we were glad to be back home! 

PS.

The weekend after we returned, we were at our own Surf City beach. We decided we like our own beach best of all. No place like home!

Our own white sandy beach at Surf City.

Beach view from our balcony

The Surf City Holiday market the day after Thanksgiving.  Warm and sunny.

Spain 2015 - Barcelona

The last stop in Spain was Barcelona.  We were glad that we had no problems with our Leon (our car).  By the time we dropped off the car at Barcelona airport, we had covered over 1,700 Km. from when we picked up the car in Madrid.

Our dependable Leon.

Our Barcelona hotel, Dahlia Ramblas, was centrally located in the heart of the La Ramblas, just behind the opera house.  It was short walk to Barcelona's Central Market.

Street Sign.

Barcelona's Central Market on La Rambla

Beautiful display of fruit and fruit drinks. 

Fresh Produce.

Exotic fruit

This was our last chance to have authentic seafood paella.

Seafood Paella in Barcelona. 

Our last morning in Spain started off with a hearty breakfast.

Breakfast at McDonalds.

From the Ramblas district, we took the metro to Parc Guell to see the famous Gaudi's Park.  There was a long uphill walk from the metro stop to the park.  The view at the top made the long walk worthwhile.

The way to Parc Guell

Parc Guell

Parc Guell terrace and  Hall of Columns. 

Gaudi's house now a museum.

Leaving Park Guell, we took a bus toward downtown to view the famous Gaudi's church, the Sagrada Familia (Holy Family Church).  Gaudi started work on this church in 1883 and construction has continued to the present.  The partially finished church is not expected to be completed for another twenty five years.

Gaudi's church has been under construction for 132 years.

Front of the church.  Large crowds were waiting to get in.

Side of Sagrada Familia

Front of Sagrada Familia

We passed the University of Barcelona which is located at the upper end of the Ramblas district.

University of Barcelona

 We left our hotel in the early afternoon.  We had a short walk to the harbor to catch our cruise ship (Norwegian Spirit).  

Port of Barcelona Terminal

 The Christopher Columbus Monument is located at the lower end of La Rambla.

Christopher Columbus Plaza

Ship terminal

Open deck on the ship.

Getting ready to sail.

Windjammer ship heading out to sea.

Our cruise will last sixteen days.  From Barcelona we go to Madeira, Antigua, St. Kitts, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, and disembark in Port Canaveral, FL.