Travel Counsellors were thrilled to partner with Reubens Retreat to gift a “Reubens family” a 2-night stay onboard Disney Magic at Sea in the summer.
Since April 2021, Travel Counsellors have been working closely with Disney Cruise Line to promote their Disney Magic at Sea UK sailings.
This year marked the first time that Disney Cruise Line offered UK sailings, which proved extremely popular with Disney fans, families, and “new-to-cruisers” alike.
Travel Counsellors set themselves the challenge of booking 150 cabins, and for every cabin sold, the company donated £10 towards a cabin for a special family at Reuben’s Retreat. The Travel Counsellors community managed to do that and more, exceeding the target within days, to secure this unique gift for a special “Reubens” family.
Nicola Graham, Founder of Reuben’s Retreat says “During a pandemic, when travel has taken such a hit, to be gifted such a wonderful experience is testament to the special relationship between Travel Counsellors and Reubens Retreat. For this family, it’s about far more than the gift of a cruise. Offering this opportunity to them has allowed them to create magical memories which will last a lifetime.”
One of the hardest decisions for the team at Reubens Retreat was who to award the experience too. After much careful thought, this experience was given to 8-year-old Molly and her family.
Nicola continues “As well as helping Molly make fantastic memories, the cruise has helped Reubens Retreat to truly engage with the family. The conversations around the cruise opened a great dialogue between ‘Mum’ and the support team at Reubens Retreat and our follow up led to some great interaction. ‘Mum’ has accessed more support and Molly has visited the retreat to enjoy a swim and some sensory play. This has been a great gift, because aswell as the cruise, we will now be able to support Molly and mum through the toughest of times ahead.
After the trip, Mollys Mum said “Wow, what can I say? Onboard the Disney cruise, we had the most amazing experience and made the most precious memories that we will treasure for a lifetime. It was beautiful to see Molly smiling and laughing so much at Olaf and the other Disney characters! The whole experience was fantastic, and Molly absolutely loved it - her face was priceless! Molly is the epitome of strength and resilience, and we are so grateful and blessed to be able to experience this and make special memories!”
Janet Whittingham, Head of Cruise at Travel Counsellors commented “As soon as we decided to provide a family at Reubens Retreat with such a special gift, we just knew we had to reach our goal. Our Travel Counsellors immediately got behind the effort, and it wasn’t long before we smashed our target.
When I made the call to Nicola at Reubens Retreat to gift the cruise, she was taken aback by the generosity of our community and we both felt the raw emotion of gifting something so special.
Disney Cruise Line really does create “Magic at Sea” and I, along with everyone in the Travel Counsellors community are delighted that Molly and her family were able to create magical moments to treasure forever.”
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