Ever since the United States reestablished tourism to Cuba, my husband and I talked about going. Our dream became a reality when we booked a cruise with friends to Havana out of Tampa for this September. That dream came crashing down this week when the United States government banned cruise ships from docking in Cuba. Within a day of the announcement, our cruise changed ports from Havana, Cuba to Cozumel, Mexico. Disappointment does not begin to describe how we felt.

At our request, the cruise line cancelled our cruise reservation and refunded all our money. I was happily surprised that Delta also let us cancel our flights to Tampa and fully refunded our money. But the disappointment of the cancelled trip persisted. Within hours of the cancellation,  however, my husband found an available two bedroom suite in Scotland, in our timeshare (translation- no hotel costs). Within hours of the Tampa flights and cruise to Cuba having been cancelled, us and our friends had the suite booked in Scotland, flights booked, and even tours booked. Our disappointment quickly changed to excitement and anticipation about this new unexpected destination.

In following the news about the new restrictions on travel to Cuba, I read the story of a cruise ship that was bound for Cuba and had to reroute mid-cruise to Nassau/Bahamas. I realized how lucky we were to have the time to change our travel plans. We truly made lemonade from lemons. When was the last time you were able to do so?