After fashion and lifestyle influencer Debbie Grainger’s father-in-law Trevor passed away suddenly, she realised that what her mother-in-law Amanda and the rest of the family needed more than anything else was some time together away from domestic routines and familiar places.
After returning from their nine-day Mediterranean itinerary with Celebrity Cruises, the family was delighted that Amanda had got her appetite back, loved spending time with her children and grandchildren, indulged in lots of sunbathing (something she’d never had a fondness for on previous holidays) and overall professed to be feeling herself again.
Meanwhile, Debbie and her partner Luke, her sister and brother-in-law, along with their four children aged between seven and twelve, all adored the combination of seeing some of the greatest sights in Europe, relaxation and fun. For the kids, that meant spending time together as cousins sampling everything the boat had to offer, including swimming in the pool, golf-putting, watching a movie on the big screen… and raiding the vast buffet!
Before Trevor died, he and Amanda had been about to book a cruise – their first holiday since the pandemic, and their first since going to Tuscany with Debbie and her family in 2019. Trevor had been unsteady on his feet, so a cruise would have been perfect for him. He and Amanda had done a Northern Europe cruise eight years before to see the Northern Lights and loved it.
Debbie and her family were new to cruising, but they discovered that this kind of holiday was also perfect for a multi-generational group like theirs. As Debbie explains, they all loved the comfort and luxury of being on ship while having the scope to discover some of Europe’s greatest cities – big-hitters such as Pisa, Florence and Nice, but also more under-the-radar gems such as Genoa and the island of Corsica. Places Debbie might not otherwise have visited but would now love to go back to. The kids loved visiting attractions such as one of Europe’s largest aquariums but also appreciated not having to spend as long in each city as they would have done on a longer city break – especially with the heat as it was.
For Debbie, waking up each morning to a different destination was magical and having a ship-based getaway meant they could all holiday together without being on top of one another. Everyone had the space and flexibility to go off and do their own thing, because there was just so much to choose from.
They would meet up for dinner, and then some of them would go to the cinema, while others would head off to join in a pub quiz. In a villa holiday, for instance, there just wouldn’t be that much choice or freedom. On the ship, everybody could be entertained or relax in the way they wanted. Similarly, while on shore they might do something together, then some of them might carry on to a local restaurant while others might want to go back and eat onboard (there was no keeping the kids away from the buffet!).
Debbie can’t speak highly enough of Eda Ayyildiz, the Travel Counsellor with whom she has been booking holidays for five years. It was Eda who had arranged their multi-generational trip to Tuscany in 2019, and Debbie says that they have built up a lovely relationship (and even a friendship) based on complete trust and on Eda’s understanding of what her family needs from their different kinds of holidays. When she decided to take her mother-in-law on the cruise holiday that she’d dreamed of with Trevor, she knew that Eda would build something really special, taking into account everyone in their group of nine.
That’s exactly what happened - and why Debbie says she would 100% recommend Travel Counsellors, Celebrity Cruises, and a family cruise holiday in general.
To book your next family holiday or to find out more about Celebrity Cruises, call your Travel Counsellor today.
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