Proposal in the Caribbean

Travelling with Gullivers on a cricket supporter tour is an unforgettable experience, with our clients making friends and memories that last a lifetime

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Travelling with Gullivers on a cricket supporter tour is an unforgettable experience, with our clients making friends and memories that last a lifetime.

Take Phil and Sue for example. After choosing Gullivers for many years on cricket tours around the globe, they celebrated their engagement on our recent trip to the West Indies for England's three-Test series.

It really is an amazing story, from the couple’s initial meeting six years ago, to their engagement on a catamaran in Barbados!

^{Joe Root leading England out against the West Indies [Getty Images]}

Phil picks up the story: "I first travelled with Gullivers in 2004 and then again in 2005 to South Africa, in a tour group called Impala B. It was a great group and the 10 of us rapidly became close friends, meeting up to watch a County Championship match every summer.

"During a hiatus due to work commitments over the next few years, Sue was adopted as an Impala in my absence as she was travelling alone.

"We first met at the annual reunion at Chelmsford in 2015 and have never looked back! In total, I have attended 11 tours and Sue seven. Although she lives in Yorkshire and I in Hertfordshire, we have been together for six years."

^{Phil and Sue pictured just after announcing their engagement at Harbour Lights [supplied]}

Sue’s first tour was in 2009 to Barbados. She was traveling by herself and spent time researching the trip to make sure she went with the best possible tour operator.

She explains: "I'd phoned lots of other sports tour companies to see how well they would look after a woman travelling alone and Gullivers were way ahead of any other company.

"They gave me really practical advice, such as look out for other people with Gullivers bags at check-in and say hello. That was exactly what I did, and after speaking with Maureen Taylor and Rachel Van Staveren was quickly 'adopted' into their group of friends, the Impalas. We even had annual reunions in the UK reunions to see Test and county cricket."

^{Sue (second on the right) on her first trip with Gullivers in 2009 at the end-of-tour dinner in Bridgetown, Barbados [supplied]}

In 2015, Sue travelled with Gullivers to South Africa, joining a tour group that called themselves the 'Impalas' on tour in South Africa, on the basis that it would be the last time all of them would go on tour.

It was here, she met Phil for the first time.

"Phil had recently re-joined the group after retirement. We were at that incredible Cape Town Test, where we saw Bairstow and Stokes hitting sixes for fun over the Railway Stand and Temba Bavuma making the first Test century scored by a black South African."

Although Phil and Sue both count this as the start of their relationship, it took a while for it to become 'official'.

"More travels followed as we visited the West Indies in 2017, with the highlight being listening to Sir Garfield Sobers at the Gullivers Cricket Forum one evening," Sue said.

^{Ben Stokes celebrates his double-century with Jonny Bairstow during the 2nd Test at Newlands in 2015 [Getty Images]}

"An Ashes tour to Australia swiftly followed as we welcomed in 2018 in Sydney in emphatic style, before having a guided tour of the MCG as one of our tour excursions the following day. Then later in 2018 we visited Sri Lanka and watched Rangana Herath's final Test match in Galle, then onto New Zealand in 2019 where we attended the inaugural Test at the Bay Oval, finally returning to the West Indies in March 2022."

Then in the West Indies at the start of the year, Phil decided it was time to pop the question.

"Phil and I went on the Catamaran trip in Barbados and were discussing the possibility of going to Pakistan for the forthcoming Test series. Phil had apparently been thinking about proposing for some time and he felt it was the right moment with rum punches flowing, the sun shining and reggae blasting out. What else could I do but say yes?

"We then followed this with an evening at the Gullivers cricket forum with our Tour Manager, Di, celebrating with more rum punch. To cap it all, two of our fellow travellers (Lewis and Denise) very kindly arranged for British Airways to bring us a glass of champagne to celebrate our engagement on the way home from Barbados. Great memories to treasure."

To find out more about Gullivers tours to the T20 World Cup and more, visit the Gullivers website by clicking here, or call 01684 878 792