As first time cruisers our excitement (and anxiety) was ever increasing as our sailaway date approached.

Weeks (months?) earlier, we had arranged car parking at East Midlands airport and booked a night in a nearby hotel to make sure everything went smoothly on the day.

Then, with just three days to go, Princess contacted us. They had apparently 'overbooked' on our flight and were seeking volunteers to relocate to Gatwick. They immediately offered to reimburse our hotel and car parking charges, upgrade our flights to Premium Economy (both outbound and inbound) and dangled $250pp OBC before our eyes. Read more