When you find a great deal on a cruise back to Europe when you were planning on flying back anyway, you jump on the opportunity! Especially when it’s your husband’s 40th birthday!

Armed with all the motion sickness remedies one could buy, we drove from Arkansas to Florida to embark onto the Independence of the Seas. Our final desired destination was Germany, but our cruise took us to Southampton, England via the Caribbean. Our port calls were in Haiti, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas, which were all new places to us. The islands were gorgeous and besides the downpours we trudged though touring San Juan, the weather was perfect.