Most people might meet the love of their lives on a night out, through friends, or via a online dating app…but Hannah and Mitchell Still’s romance blossomed on the high seas, after their eyes met on a cruise.
The couple, from St Neots in Cambridgeshire, have shared how they surprisingly set sail for love after Cupid struck while they were both on a P&O Cruises sailing to Amsterdam and Bruges in 2019.
Hannah, now 24, was just a teenager, who lived in Southampton at the time, when she was introduced to Mitchell’s friends while enjoying a night out on the first night at sea on the Ventura liner.
Her future husband was asleep in his cabin and Mitchell’s mischievous pals somehow managed to convince Hannah to wake him up ‘as a joke’.
She recalls, ‘I was 19 and convinced it was just a holiday romance. I met his friends first and they said Mitchell was asleep in his cabin. It was his first ever cruise.
‘They dared me to wake him up as a prank. I remember saying to him, “hello, it’s the girl of your dreams” and somehow, I was right!’
The holiday romance quickly developed over the course of the cruise and the pair enjoyed their first date together exploring Bruges.
Setting sail for romance: Cupid struck for Hannah and Mitchell Still, 24 and 28, from Cambridgeshire, five years ago when they met on board a cruise to Amsterdam and Bruges
After Hannah woke Mitchell up – persuaded by his friends – and told him ‘I’m the girl of your dreams’, the stars aligned and they went on to share their first kiss later on in the holiday
The P&O Ventura, where Hannah and Mitchell first cast eyes on each other
Their first smooch? On board the ship in Havana, Ventura’s Cuban-themed nightclub.
She says, ‘As it happens, my dad was in the vicinity when we had our first kiss. He was giving Mitchell the “I have my eyes on you” look, like Robert De Niro from Meet the Parents.’
Being at sea and away from the rest of the world gave the couple the chance to properly connect, they say.
‘We spent so much time just talking, including an entire night at the buffet one evening,’ Hannah, who works as a project manager, reflects.
‘It all just clicked, and I think the uniqueness of the peaceful backdrop of the sea coupled with the energy on board, brought out this beautiful chemistry in us.’
When the dreamy trip came to an end, Hannah admits she cried all the way home. Mitchell, who owns a wood burner selling business, is originally from Milton Keynes so the pair had to navigate their relationship long distance for some time.
Cruise holidays continued to play a part in their love story and four years later, in 2023, Mitchell got down on one knee and asked Hannah to marry him when the pair were cruising through the Norwegian fjords.
He chose a breathtaking backdrop for the special moment too – popping the question ashore in Flåm beside a waterfall.
Proposal: Mitchell got down on one knee during a cruise in 2023 and asked the question ashore in Flåm, Norway, beside a waterfall
They went on to marry on a cruise ship too in May 2025, pictured above in Planet Bar on Azura, where their wedding took place
The couple quickly decided that their wedding would be on the ocean too.
Hannah says: ‘When I realised you could actually get married at sea, there was no question.
‘It had to be a P&O Cruises ship. I didn’t care about anything else.’
They tied the knot in May 2025 in Planet Bar on the liner Azura, with ocean views behind them as the ship sailed through the Greek Islands.
Hannah says: ‘Walking around the ship afterwards with everyone clapping was surreal – I felt like a film star.
‘Even the entertainment hosts remembered us from our very first cruise years earlier and gave us a wedding gift. It honestly felt like all the stars had aligned.’
Cruising still remains a special part of Hannah and Mitchell’s relationship, and the pair welcomed their daughter Mae, now three-months-old last year.
They plan to take Mae on her first cruise holiday in June, when the trio will sail on P&O’s Iona to the Norwegian fjords with extended family members.
Hannah describes being able to introduce their daughter to their cruising tradition as ‘so special’.
Now, the couple will soon be embarking on their first family holiday with their daughter Mae – a cruise to the Norwegian fjords
‘Watching her look out at the fjords for the first time – I can’t wait,’ she says.
The mother-of-one adds, ‘We can’t wait to tell Mae one day that it all started on a ship.
‘I feel so privileged to have spent so much time sailing the world and I’m just so excited for Mae to feel that same spark for cruising that I do.’
Hannah says meeting Mitchell at sea feels like it was her ‘destiny’.
‘I’d spent so much of my childhood sailing the world with P&O Cruises and it just feels so magical that cruising is a huge part of our story.’
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