A seven-night cruise from Venice was already the holiday of a lifetime for a British family who had saved for a special treat to celebrate Michael Klopocinski’s recovery from a heart attack.
And it became even more special when a £15 bingo ticket won them an upgrade to the luxurious Royal Suite, complete with grand piano, two balconies, a whirlpool bath and its own bar.
Michael, 59, and his wife Maureen, 54, from Blackburn, Lancashire had saved £1,300 for the cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Splendour of the Seas, and invited Maureen’s father Harry Kinney, 80, and niece Kate Grant, 36, to travel with them.
Two days into the cruise, Maureen sat down for a game of bingo, never imagining that within minutes, she would win a £1,400 upgrade to the best accommodation on board.
In the Berlitz Guide to cruise ships, Douglas Ward describes the Splendour’s Royal Suite as “a superb living space for those who can afford the best; beautifully designed and finely decorated.”
” I was up against hundreds of others,” said Maureen. “At the end they made everyone who was down to just one number stand up. There was a lot of us standing and I was just waiting for 37 to come up. When I did I went wild, screaming like a banshee.
“They told me that porters would come to the room to help transfer us but I couldn’t wait. I raced to our room and took everything up myself. I was so excited!
“It was an incredible prize to win. I couldn’t believe it when they took us up to the suite. We had never even been on a cruise before and we ended up treated like royalty. The suite was unbelievable. Our original room didn’t even have a window and then we ended up staying next door to the captain.”
“We held a little party in the room for all of the friends we made on the trip and even hired a professional pianist to entertain us.
“The only problem was when I put bubble bath in the spa bath, which I now know you shouldn’t do!”
About the Author: John Honeywell
John Honeywell is a travel writer specialising in cruise ships and cruise travel. Winner of CLIA UK's Contribution to Cruise award 2017.
This is a really heart warming story – I have seen people say how pleased they were that somebody deserving had won this. Just one person had to put a dampener on it and suggest that all of it was just a publicity stunt for Royal Caribbean – of course Royal Caribbean have come out smelling of roses, but they didn’t have to offer such a good prize – they coudl have just left the cabin empty. I think it is such a shame these days that people are naturally so cynical