Cape Breton mother, son return from dream cruise gifted by strangers

A Cape Breton mother and son return from a dream cruise – that was gifted to them by a couple of strangers.

Nichol MacNeil and her 16-year-old son Devon MacNeil are back home in Cape Breton after taking a cruise vacation gifted to them by strangers.

“It was amazing. It was unforgettable,” Nichol MacNeil said.

In late August, an American couple visiting Sydney, N.S., on the Majestic Princess cruise ship met the single mother and her son, who has cerebral palsy, and gifted them a cruise of their own - all expenses paid.

MacNeil said the VIP treatment started as soon as they boarded the ship in New York City.

“All the crew knew who we were,” MacNeil said. “They were made aware before we boarded, who we were. They saw the story.”

The pair, who had never been on a cruise before, got to see the Statue of Liberty, hang out in the captain’s quarters and enjoy a week of luxury sailing up the East Coast.

“We would be dancing up every night,” MacNeil said. ”We would start our day at 9:30 in the morning, finish and go back up to our room at 11 or 12 at night. He was loving the dancing. He was loving all the movement, the people. There was just so much for him to see.”

At the beginning of the trip, the MacNeils reunited with the couple who gifted them the cruise: Frank and Sharon Williams of Maryland.

“They drove down from Maryland to New York City, picked us up, they had an Uber pick us up,” MacNeil said.

As if paying for their cruise wasn’t enough, MacNeil said their benefactors went an extra nautical mile.

“They had called and we were upgraded to a fully wheelchair-accessible room, where it was supposed to be a regular room that we were getting,” she said.

When the trip ended, the pair got a big welcome home at the Port of Halifax.

“When we came off, they had the Mooseheads mascot there,” MacNeil said. ”They had gifts for us. They had the day planned out.”

MacNeil said while being back home has taken some getting used to after being pampered for a week, the memories she and her son made – and the kindness they were shown – have left a lasting impression.

“It never stopped, and there’s so many people to thank,” MacNeil said. ”It’s not just Frank and Sharon. They’re the big ones, but it just never stopped with everybody else behind them.”

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