Laninga's Travel Blog

Our cruise left the Houston Cruise  Port Terminal on April 16.  It was the last cruise from this port, which is going to be converted to a container terminal. Our ship was the Norwegian Cruise Lines “Jade”, which was repositioning to Europe.  A seperate blog post details our extensive dining experience.

We made a quick stop in Miami to pick up more passengers.   Our first real port of call was St. Thomas,  VI where we got off for a walk before 6 days at sea.  A ride up the cable car gave some good views of the surroundings,  and our ship.

We joined with the cruisecritics.com crew and had a great time.   There were over 100 of us,  from around the world.   We even celebrated joint birthdays with Romola and Jennifer.   Special thanks to Viet for including us!

Our next stop was Funchal, Madeira where we had a nice excursion.   Our first stop was at the market,  with the usual collection of plants,  veggies, meat and seafood.   Always interesting to see what’s local!  Then, a short stop to taste the local Madeira wine. We even took a ride on their famous toboggan!

Then on to Barcelona.   I managed to get a picture of the Rock of Gibraltar,  even though it was late and I only had my small camera.   Then on to Barcelona,  where I’m sure new adventures await us.

Serial in St Thomas

Not all people that live here are poor

Or ship on the left

Or new friends Dan and Veronica

Cliffs at Funchal

Fishing village colors

In the fish market

Flower merchant in traditional clothes

In the Madeira winery

Living on the side of a hill

Hang on!

Vietnam and his new wife, who had a birthday

Jennifer's birthday on the same day as romola

Gibraltar at dusk