Story Contest 2022 Winner

As part of the Katarina Line 2022 Story Contest, we received dozens of stories describing wonderful moments, splendid destinations, special places and people from the cruise vacation.

It also was very hard to narrow down the selection as we really received lots of awesome stories. But we did it, and all our employees and captains gave their votes...

And the winner is....

NICOLETTE WALSH

with the story about her cruise vacation and the surprise engagement on board! All the stories were wonderful but this one stood out as truly memorable and romantic! We wish the newly engaged couple all the best in the future and many more magical moments together!

 "After spending time catching up with schoolwork from my Master's program, I finally have time to post more engagement photos! 
 
While we were on the beautiful island of Šipan in Croatia, Justin took me to go watch the sunset on a cliff. After watching the sun set on the beautiful Adriatic Sea and the Elaphiti Islands, we walked back to our boat and a surprise happened.... 
 
A small, wooden fishing boat came up out of nowhere and Justin turned to me and told me that this boat was for us. I asked him where we are going and he responded, "I don't know... you'll see.." As the boat driver took us through the harbor, Justin and I admired the lingering sunset and watched as the town lit up at night. 
 
The boat turned around a small peninsula and in the distance I saw a long, private dock and at the end there was a table set for two, along with mood lighting and music... I thought, there is no way that this is for us. I asked Justin, "who is this for?" he responded, "...it's all for you!"  
 
We proceeded to have a very private and very special dinner, along with our very own waitress. After serving us delicious champagne and appetizers, our boat captain, Captain Tomo, arrives tableside with lobster! Captain Tomo served us lobster and the famous Grk wine, only found on the island of Korčula. 
As the captain served us, one of the boat skippers came out of nowhere and started taking pictures of us with my big camera. Turns out, Justin had given my big camera to one of the boat skippers to photograph our dinner and special night. He had been in the bushes behind the dock, hiding and getting spy pics.... he also got attacked and scratched by a local cat who lived in the bush! 
 
After a lovely dinner, desert and more wine.... I began to hear guitar music. A guitar player shows up out of no where and began serenading us with acoustic guitar. Justin asked me to get up and dance with him, as we slow danced Justin began to express his love for me and then......he gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him!  
 
Tears of happiness were shed as we professed our love to each other (and I admired my beautiful ring!) 
 
After the beautiful dinner experience, we walked back to our boat and the crew had roses and candles in our room... accompanied with a bottle of champagne! 
 
Our boat captain, Captain Tomo, then hosted an after-party at a local Konoba where we drank more wine, cheered and sang old Croatian sailor love songs! 
 
It was the best night of our lives and the most special engagement a girl could ask for! Thank you to Captain Tomo and the crew of the Seagull, Anamaria Hauptfeld Schweitzer, Katica Antonic Hauptfeld and Katarina Line Cruises for making our engagement so special! "
 
Nicolette Walsh & Justin Monteleone

CONGRATULATIONS NICOLETTE & JUSTIN!!!