Two Night Taster

Recently my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, which happened to fall 2 days before Christmas. Up until a day before their anniversary I was stuck on what to get them. The only thing I knew that they would both really love is a cruise, as they are yet to experience a cruise and my mum has been wanting to do this for years. My dad is ex Royal Navy, so he was keen too, especially to see what sea would be like as a guest rather than working and also a bit more glamour than the ships he was based on back in the day.

Unfortunately, each time they have tried to make plans things have changed, as they do sometimes in life. For the past 3 years my dad has been battling cancer, so the cruise has been put well and truly on hold so not to interfere with his treatment. Each time we think he is clear we start looking and then those plans are put on hold again when the results are not quite what we was expecting.

I arranged a couple of years back for them to have a tour and lunch on the Queen Mary 2 when she docked into Malaga for a day (my parents live in Spain too) and they loved the experience.

Although he cannot travel too far and not just for the treatment aspect but also the insurance side of things too, trying to source a cruise from Malaga has been difficult. However, thankfully Norwegian Cruise Lines have their ship the Spirit based from Barcelona all through the winter and they have a 2 night mini cruise from Malaga to Barcelona in mid February this year.

I decided to surprise them and send them on the morning of their anniversary the email confirmation of a cruise booking on this 2 night mini cruise, I also included their transfers from Barcelona port to airport and the quick 1 hour flight back to Malaga. I thought I had better go the whole hog, can’t leave them stranded in Barcelona!

They was overjoyed and it means they can get to experience a cruise without it affecting dad’s treatments.

Last year I took my partner on a 2 night mini cruise for his first experience, he really enjoyed it and really wants to do a longer trip next time.

From Southampton there are some great mini cruises from the 2 night tasters to 4 & 5 night breaks. P&O and Cunard have a selection of offerings throughout the year, even including a New years Cruise.

Royal Caribbean again also have a few mini cruises at the start of the season, their 2 night sailing in May 2018 starts from just £199 per person. The Celebrity Silhouette is also continuing the 2 night mini cruise from her sister ship the Eclipse and has a sailing in May too with fantastic prices for a 5 star ship.

So if you still haven’t tried cruising or have a friend /family member willing to try but not wanting to do a full cruise, then these taster cruises are a great step into the world of cruising.

For more information call me on 0330 303 8155

Dawn

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