We found flights on the Internet from Manchester airport direct to Sanford airport return for £130 each so we bought the tickets.

We contacted Bob to let him know we would be going over for Joanne’s birthday where upon he informed us that the plans had now changed.

The new idea was to book a 3-day cruise – to the Bahamas.

Bob explained we could use an agent that he new and book the cruise ourselves. To say we were shell-shocked would be an understatement after we had finished talking to Bob all that we could think of was what would it cost us; it was close to Christmas and an unplanned visit to the Bahamas was not on our agenda it was the furthest thought from our minds but we had booked the flights so we were committed to the visit.

We contacted Bob’s agent and to our surprise the cost turned out to be much less than we had anticipated. 

For the same reason as our cheap flights (low demand due to the time of year) we were able to book an all-inclusive, outside birth, 3-day holiday on board a cruise ship including a day stop over in Nassau for £150 each. We couldn’t believe it. We decide to consider the whole visit as an early Christmas present to ourselves.

The ship departed from port Canaveral and being first time travellers on a large ship we were unsure of what to expect, we need not have concerned ourselves, as soon as we boarded we were given our first drink, our luggage was taken to our cabin and were given the key to the door. Apart from having to attend a safety brief the only decisions we had to make for 3 days were what shall we have for our next meal, which show, bar, club, casino or pool should we go to. If we had wanted we could have had all our meals and drinks brought to use were ever we were on the ship, being pampered didn’t come close. The day visit to Nassau was excellent the temperature was around 82f (about 26c) with clear blue skies, better than a summer’s day in the UK and it was December.

Anyone visiting Florida considering a similar venture please remember we booked our cruise in December 2005 but if you have flexibility with your plans I would suggest waiting until the last minute to book. A couple that decided to come along at the last minute booked tickets 2 days before departure and paid $150 each.

Brian Pearson