Agent 'saves' clients’ 40th wedding anniversary cruise after car breakdown

A Not Just Travel agent has “saved” her clients’ 40^th wedding anniversary cruise after their car broke down en route to the port.

Amy Perring, who went full-time seven months ago, got a call from the Kent-based couple from the roadside about 20 minutes from her home, also in Kent, and decided to drive them to Tilbury herself to board the ship.

Perring said it was “a crazy day”, but she wanted to make sure the couple made their cruise as they had been counting down the days until departure for over a year and it was their first booking with her.

She said: “I got the call that they had broken down near Ashford because of a pothole and I immediately thought it was easiest to drive to them in my car to try to get them to the port.

“It was even more important for me to help them because of their wedding anniversary, so they needed this trip more than ever.”

The couple were due to embark the ship at 3.30pm before a scheduled departure at 5pm, and after calling the emergency Ambassador Cruise Line team who spoke to the captain, Perring managed to get there 10 minutes after final boarding at 4.25pm.

“I waited in a side street until I got confirmation from the customer that they were on board,” she said. “The wife sent me a picture of them with a cocktail at the bar so happy days!”

Perring then had the couple’s car towed back to her house and is dealing with the recovery and garage services while they are away on a 12-night Baltic Cruise.

She said she was going to pick the pair up when they return and that she had received a message from them saying she had “saved our holiday and our sanity”.

Perring made a video on Facebook and a post on LinkedIn about the story, which has led to enquiries from new customers.

“None of them are for cruises ironically,” she said. “I have enquiries for Croatia, a road trip around the US, a Las Vegas wedding and another US trip just from that post.”

She said she would “never have thought” her actions would go “viral”, but that she was glad she could help her clients make their cruise after 18 months of talking to them about their holiday.