When solo cruisers Natasha Jobin and Terry Moseley met in the Crooners Bar on their first formal night aboard Caribbean Princess, love was the last thing on their minds.

But the path of true love never runs smooth. Perhaps it was the fresh sea air. Maybe Cupid was also on board. But somehow, something clicked – and before they knew it the two solo sailors were booking up things to do together.

The year was 2016. The happily married couple have been cruising together ever since, with four planned for the future – including an anniversary voyage on the Caribbean Princess this September to celebrate their relationship.

Ms Jobin, 49, had been cruising solo cruising since 2012. Mr Moseley, a 70-year-old who has been twice widowed told Cruise Passenger magazine he had pretty well given up on the search for love.

“I thought I would never ever meet anybody again,” he said in a video link from his new home in Canada, where he moved to be close to his new partner.

In fact, the romance almost never happened. He got on board Caribbean Princess as he wanted to go to Boston to see the Red Sox baseball team, and see Norway, as that is where his father was stationed in World War II.

“My excursion in Norway was cancelled, so I spent most of the time on the ship. It was the formal night that evening,” says Mr Moseley.

He was disappointed with his dinner company at his allocated table. So he headed to Crooners Bar where he ran into Natasha, who had made new friends from Texas.

“I had a James Bond cocktail and Natasha was just seated next to me and I asked ‘what’s that?’ and that’s how the conversation started.”

“We hit off and I just asked her: ‘what are you doing for lunch tomorrow?’” says Mr Moseley, whose smooth patter seems to have won his new wife’s heart.

For the rest of the cruise they found that they had plenty in common as they caught up over many meals and went on three shore excursions in Iceland together.

They also met up at the International Café on a few nights thanks to the rough seas. “The sea was very heavy at the time, it was very windy, I’m a former Royal Canadian Navy Officer so I’m used to it, but he’s not!” says Ms Jobin.

Ms Jobin said she was bowled over by Mr Moseley’s accent. “And of course I fell in love with the British accent,” she said.

Ms Jobin lived in Quebec City and Mr Moseley in Columbus, Ohio. But they talked on the phone and texted many times a day after the cruise.

Finally, two weeks later, the, love-struck Mr Moseley visited Quebec City two weeks after the cruise and proposed.

Their story is not unique. Fresh sea air and good food led 14 per cent of cruise passengers to admit they have found romance on the waves.  And 41 per cent said they were still with the partner they met, with 12 per cent eventually marrying.

The study questioned 2,058 adults who had sailed the world’s seas over the past three years. Those who found love were most likely to have gone on their cruise with friends.

The chances are lower for lone travellers like Mr Moseley and Ms Jobin.

The survey, conducted in the UK, found the Caribbean was top destination for love (34 per cent), followed by Hawaii on 25 per cent, and the South Pacific on 23 per cent. The Mediterranean accounted for 12 per cent and the Baltic 8 per cent.

The research was carried out by independent online cruising agency www.bonvoyage.co.uk.

“If you go with the expectation of finding a soul partner, you’re going to be really disappointed. If it going to happen it will happen,” was Mr Moseley’s advice.

And he added: “I fall in love with Natasha more every day!”

When Cruise Passenger asked readers about their experiences.

Reader Vicky Elvins wrote: “Met my partner 2 years ago on a Princess Cruise around Asia. He’s a widower 85yrs old. I am a single 68-year-old.

“He has done 90 cruises in his life and now has a lovely lady to take along with him. My first relationship in 30!!!! years.”