Amy Luna Manderino stumbled into her 2010 cougar cruise experience somewhat accidentally -- by winning tickets after accompanying a friend to a cougar event.
Several months later, she ended up with a marriage proposal.
“I met a young man my first night on the cruise,” said Manderino, 47, an artist who had previously been married to a man seven years her junior. “We ended up dating … and after the cruise he came to visit me. Turns out he wanted to marry me, but I said no ... we didn’t share the same values and priorities.”
Manderino –- who got more involved with cougar events after the cruise, and was even crowned 2011’s Miss Cougar International -– is just one of hundreds of singles who have gone on cougar cruises. She described the experience like that of any other event or vacation for singles, with one major exception.