For the past couple of years, Nichol MacNeil and her 16-year-old son Devon MacNeil have made a habit of coming down to the Sydney Waterfront in Sydney, N.S. to watch cruise ships come in. “Devon loves the ships,” his mother said on Wednesday. “He loves watching the gangways. He loves watching the people. He loves the socialization.” A couple of weeks ago, however, an encounter with a pair of visitors from the Majestic Princess - which was in Sydney on Aug. 14 - would change their lives. Nichol said she and her son - who was born with cerebral palsy - had been chatting with a couple from Maryland for only a minute or two while the pair were on land. As the ship was leaving at the end of the day, she said their new friends yelled something down to them from the boat’s deck. “They said, ‘If we pay for a cruise for you and your son, will you take him?’,” Nichol said. “I was shocked. I hollered up and I said, ‘Are you serious?’ And he was like, ‘Yes.’” Nicole MacAulay, cruise manager for the Port of Sydney, said everyone who works there has been thrilled to hear that the visiting couple made good on their offer and that MacNeil and her son have been booked for a seven-day cruise aboard a Princess ship - all-expenses paid. “I don’t know if Nichol and Devon miss a ship day, and they have actually become cruise ambassadors for us at the port,” MacAulay said. “Nichol is such a dedicated mother to Devon and she really puts him first, so I hope that she gets to really sit back and relax with him and it’s very well-deserved. We can’t wait to hear all about it when they come home.” Nichol and Devon are set to fly out from Halifax to New York City on Sept. 5. They board the cruise ship in New York the following day and then travel up the east coast, finishing up full-circle at their final stop in Halifax about a week later. “And I just can’t wait to see his face when he gets to go,” Devon’s mother said. “When he’s actually on board, and he actually knows that he’s going to sleep on the cruise ship.” Nichol said if they were to pay for a cruise themselves, she would have had to save up for a long time. “And I’m going to try not to get teary-eyed, but it’s just amazing to see,” she said. “There’s no words. There’s not enough thank you’s for what they did for my son here and me.” For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
