Well, it all started out with me bugging my husband to go on a cruise with me. I am a lifelong cruiser, I love cruising, and I have been on 15 to 20 cruises in my lifetime. My dear husband is not as much of a fan, and he had only been on two cruises prior to this one. However, I have never been on a group cruise before, and I suggested to my husband that we try and get some of our friends to come along with us. This idea was much more appealing to him, so that is what I set out to do. By the time we set sail, I had organized a group cruise for 14 people! I had no idea the group would get to be that large, so unfortunately, we were unable to take advantage of any group discounts or benefits.

The cruise was a 7-nighter on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line's Liberty of the Seas, from October 25, 2008 until November 1, 2008, to the Eastern Caribbean. A bonus was that it was a Halloween cruise, and we were all curious to see how that would pan out. We left and returned to the Port of Miami, and our ports of call were Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Labadee, Haiti.

My husband and I flew down from Washington, DC to Ft. Lauderdale, FL on the morning of our scheduled departure from the Port of Miami, so we did not need to stay in a hotel the night before. However, we did take advantage of Royal Caribbean's airport to Port of Miami transfer for an extra fee, but it was completely worth it. Royal Caribbean's staff handling the transfers was very helpful; the location was clearly marked to make it easier for us; and the people all had great senses of humor while we were waiting for those who were later to arrive. Read more