Love Takes the Helm 🛳️

Prepare to set sail on another captivating Love Letter journey with Roy and Vy, whose paths intertwined on a serendipitous cruise in Jamaica. While working on a cruise line mobile app, Roy was drawn to Vy's adventurous spirit. From a chance photograph that sparked their connection to overcoming a 9-year age gap, their story unfolds with patience and heartfelt communication. Join us as we delve into their captivating journey, filled with adventure, understanding, and the magic of destiny.

Can you tell the story of how you two met?

Roy: So we met on a cruise in Jamaica, however, the only reason I was onboard the ship was for a work project.

Roy was working on a mobile application for the cruise company, and was supposed to be working the whole time… he defers to Vy to tell the fun part of the story.

Vy: It was a week-long cruise that I'm on it with my family. My family doesn’t do much besides hang out on the boat, go to the pool, and eat. It was the fourth day of the trip and I told myself I'm gonna go find an adventure. So I get off the boat and find a little trolley bus that takes you around the town of Falmouth, Jamaica. So I get on the ride and I see this guy running and sweating heavily. He’s got gear and a backpack on.

Roy: I had a bag from a bamboo raft excursion. They give employees, like me, a budget to do an excursion every day on the cruise. So I had my shirt off and I was sweating and was headed back to the ship and saw the bus on my way back.

Vy: He sees the bus and asks the driver “What is this?”. I overhear, and I’m extroverted, so I say “It’s a tour. Go buy tickets over there” and I do this whole spiel like I’m working for the company.

Roy: I immediately think to myself, “Who's that girl?” and that's the first time I notice Vy. I think to myself, you know what, I have some time between shifts so let’s go for it.

What happens from there?

Roy: The tour begins and at the second or third stop we reach the oldest Church in Jamaica. We’re both catholic and when we arrive there is a line to the altar for people that want to do a prayer. I noticed her approach the alter and kneel, and I thought the angle and lighting looked good, and she looked. One of my hobbies is photography and it was the perfect shot. So I took a picture and realized it was going to be a great conversation piece for me to start talking to her.

Vy: So he showed me the picture. He kind of like caught up with me, after we left and said “Hey, I have a picture of you I realize it’s a bit weird but I do photography so you want to check it out”… I loved that he took that photo of me, and it was an easy way to exchange Instagrams with each other and I figured I made a new friend on the cruise.We parted ways the day and the next day I messaged him first and asked if he could send the picture over. So he sent it to me and that's when we kind of started connecting and talking.

Roy and Vy had 3 more days together on the cruise.

What was dating on the cruise like?

Vy: We spent the rest of the cruise together. We did a scuba day, we took a boat out and snorkeled, we went to an island bar. I didn't see my mom again until the end of the cruise. The last day was when it hit because we were both enjoying each other's company but the reality was that he lived in Miami and I lived in Atlanta.

And did you take it long-distance?

Vy: We talked every single day for the next two weeks until like 4 am, and we’d have work in the morning and we’d both be like, “No let’s talk a little more”. Until he booked a ticket to come see me and then we started visiting each other regularly.

Roy: So we did long distance for the next year and a half and shortly after bought a house and moved to Atlanta.

Roy and Vy mentioned that they had a 9-year age gap when they first met. Vy was 23 and Roy was 32.

Can you tell us the secret to the success of your relationship? Did the difference in your age cause any initial adversity?

Roy: It’s cliche, but patience. I came into this with a lot more experience with relationships and cohabitating and those sorts of expectations, while Vy hasn't quite had that time of learning. It's in February, she's at that time to kind of learn those things. So when those frictions do inevitably come about, I think patience is what I have to remind myself to have more of

Vy: Communication - however it’s not only communicating your thoughts but it’s also working to deeply understand where the other person is coming from. Only then can you determine how to meet in the middle? There are lots of factors that get thrown at your relationship that are outside of your control, but what you can control is how you communicate with your partner, and how you receive the communication from your partner.

Meet Cutes NYC Takeaways:

1. Embrace Serendipity: Sometimes, the most meaningful connections happen when we least expect them.

2. Overcome Distance with Communication and Effort: Long-distance relationships can be challenging, but Roy and Vy's dedication to daily communication and regular visits helped them bridge the gap between Miami and Atlanta.

3. Patience and Understanding are Key: With a 9-year age gap, Roy and Vy approached their relationship with patience and understanding. Recognize that each partner brings unique experiences and perspectives, and be patient when navigating differences and learning from one another.

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