A Tribute to Terry

The first time I spoke to Mr Cosgrove was in December 2013 , a very much young at heart gentleman who in his early 80’s  loved his cruises with his wife Wendy. He had been booking cruises with Cruise.co since 2012  first with my colleague Neil and then myself . Sailing with Celebrity cruises was always their first choice when it came to itineraries and cruising experiences and a good choice too. Terry , as he asked me to call him, was a lovely caring gentleman who was interested in me as a person from the start, asking questions about myself and my children while we discussed availability for future cruises. I remember after the first call I had with him and after putting the phone down saying to myself what a lovely man he was.

Further calls followed leading up to his cruise last May, he wasn’t great with computers so we spent many a time talking through various aspects of his cruise personliser etc, it was on these calls that we had some really lovely chats, nice easy carefree and talking to each other like we had known each other for ages. I used to smile to myself on some occasions as he used to call me to ask what dates were his future cruises he knew he was booked on them but couldn’t remember when. Every call was a complete pleasure to speak to this gentleman who had a heart of gold . He reminded me of my grandad in the way how he cared and with a lovely sense of humour that always made me laugh.

I only knew Terry and his wife for 14 months but it only took that first call for me to build a bond with him that only filled me with warmth and affection. I guess with further cruises booked for this year it came as a shock when his son Mark had left a message for me to call him to say Terry passed away in December . Nothing could stop the tears from falling when I heard the news and my heart goes out to Mrs Cosgrove and all Terry’s family. A lovely lovely gentleman who won’t be forgotten.

I guess it is times like this when we realise not only what our customers mean to us but also what we mean to them . My colleagues too have had similar experiences with fellow customers and it shows that although we are cruise specialists we are also  people who care very much.