Jackson Anthony was boarding Royal Caribbean’s Rhapsody of the Seas on a family holiday when he saw Monica Monk standing on a balcony for the first time.

He turned to his mother and said, “I’m going to marry that girl.” Four years later, after a long distance relationship and many cruises with Royal Caribbean, the couple married on November 21, 2016.

They are just one of many untold love stories that blossom and flourish onboard cruise ships.

When it comes to love and marriage, cruise ships beat The Bachelor and Love at First Sight! Cruise Passenger found dozens of tales of true romance on a Facebook group page.

So if you want to meet the partner of your dreams, get cruising.

Blake Murdoch met his partner Natalie Boyd onboard the Legend of the Seas two years ago on a South Pacific cruise. “I was travelling with two friends and we decided to play trivia on the evening of night four. We joined up with Natalie’s group and soon we got to chatting. We had our first date onboard the ship, breakfast, drinks, you name it.

“But for us, the most pivotal moment on our cruise was when we were frolicking in the water in Champagne Bay in Vanuatu, and I realised that she was the one for me. By the end of the cruise, we were a couple.”

Jackson was travelling with his family and friends when he met Monica. “I wasn’t looking for a girl on my holiday, let alone the girl I would marry. But I saw her and thought she looked lovely. Monica was travelling with 98 of her family members. But we spent some time together and by the end of the holiday, we thought we would continue to see one another.

“She was based in Sydney and I was playing AFL in Melbourne so I came up to see her after we met and then I knew she was the one. Since then, we’ve cruise with Royal Caribbean many times since we met – our last holiday was in November on Explorer of the Seas.”

Blake and Natalie who now live together in Sydney with their three children, are planning to get married on a cruise ship. “We’ve done lots of cruises since we’ve been together – we even returned to Champagne Bay with Holland America Line which was lovely. We’ve got another cruise coming up in September – a repositioning cruise on Radiance of the Seas from Honolulu,” said Blake.

“And the plan is to hopefully get married on a cruise ship next year. That would be the dream – meeting on a cruise and then getting married on a ship. What a way to celebrate our union!”