As one of the most well-known father-and-son duos in the country, it must be very hard for Martin and Roman Kemp to leave their house without getting stopped by a fan.
But the Spandau Ballet star, 63, and broadcaster, 32, were pleasantly surprised recently when they spent a week onboard NCL’s Norwegian Encore, cruising around the Virgin Islands – and weren’t recognised once.
‘No one cared about him!’ laughs Roman in an exclusive interview with MailOnline. ‘I don’t get recognised anyway, but for my dad, it was great.
‘Forever, family holidays for us, yeah, we’d have a great time by the pool and all that stuff, but wherever we stayed, we’d always have to be in a villa or something, and as soon as we asked to go out into the town, my dad wouldn’t want to, or if he did, he’d have to have his cap down.
‘But on this holiday, I’ve never seen my dad with his head up more!’
Martin adds: ‘It was wonderful. It was like having a week off.’
Martin and Roman were on the cruise with Martin’s wife and Roman’s mum Shirlie Kemp – and it was the first ‘proper family holiday’ they’d had since they went to Ibiza together more than 15 years ago.
And while it may have been daunting to spend a week with his parents for the first time as an adult, Roman says he ‘absolutely loved it’ – because there was something for every one of the Norwegian Encore’s 3,958 passengers.
Martin Kemp, 63, and Roman Kemp, 32, were pleasantly surprised recently when they spent a week onboard NCL’s Norwegian Encore, cruising around the Virgin Islands – and weren’t recognised once
He tells us: ‘The boat is just insanely massive, and you can have three or four different holidays in one.
‘We had a great time, because it was the Super Bowl when we were there, and we were just in a massive cinema with loads of Americans, who were just loving it. It was really good.
‘And if you want that party holiday like that, there’s that on the boat, but there’s also the chilled out, sunbed by the pool vibes, which we did a lot of the time too.
‘Then you’ve got proper families with little ones, and they can have a great time.
‘So I think that’s the most surprising thing whenever you go on a ship like that, is actually how much space there is.
‘It sounds like a lot of people that are going to be on it, but there’s something for everyone, which is really nice.’
Martin adds: ‘There was so much to do on that boat, on the ship, it was so beyond, even to the point there was go-karting on the roof!
‘They’re really well separated, with the amount of restaurants and cinemas and different things you could do on it, which I found really nice.’
While it may have been daunting to spend a week with his parents for the first time as an adult, Roman says he ‘absolutely loved it’ – because there was something for every one of the Norwegian Encore’s 3,958 passengers
When it comes to food, the Norwegian Encore has many different speciality restaurants, which Roman said were ‘fantastic’.
But Martin and Shirlie left Roman and enjoyed quite a few date nights together in The Local, the ship’s all-inclusive, 24-hour buffet.
‘I’ve been on a few cruises in the past, and the food on this one was absolutely beyond,’ he says. ‘Even the food in the 24-hour buffet is absolutely first class, Me and Shirlie ended up eating there a lot of the time.’
Aside from the ship’s huge array of entertainment, Roman and Martin loved their NCL trip due to the fact they were able to tick so many destinations off their bucket lists.
Roman explains: ‘It sounds morbid, but I’ve always had this thing in my head that, when it comes to the end, I want to be able to zoom out and go, “Actually, I tried to see as much as I possibly could”.
‘And I think the luxury you have with a cruise is you don’t have to have a holiday where you don’t have to keep unpacking and repacking to go to new places, and every time you wake up in the morning, you look outside and you’re at some beautiful new island or a beautiful new part of the world, and able to step outside and see that place.’
And one of the British Virgin Islands they visited on their trip blew Roman away.
‘It looked like a screensaver,’ he says. ‘It’s very rare that in life, you look at something and go, “Is what I’m looking at real?” And it was.
The Kemps also got to do many different excursions on their holiday, which they ‘really enjoyed’. One favourite for the family was to the Dominican Republic
‘The water was silly blue, and you’re having lunch in this place. It was a real privilege to be able to see some of these places and to be there with my family.’
The Kemps also got to do many different excursions on their holiday, which they ‘really enjoyed’.
One favourite for the family was to the Dominican Republic, where they spent a day recreating Peter Andre’s Mysterious Girl music video in the waterfalls, jumping off waterfalls into rock pools, and even zip-lining.
‘Seeing my dad in a harness was weird!’ laughs Roman.
Martin adds: ‘It was something I would never usually do but, because it was there, and we were on holiday, and I was with Ro, and Ro asked me to come, I felt like I couldn’t back down, so I went to do it, and it was absolutely fantastic!’
Roman continues: ‘The thing is my dad is always bang up for everything, and is secretly competitive with me, down to the point that if we go to a restaurant together, and I order a steak, he also has to order a steak – even though he doesn’t eat red meat!
‘But, to be fair, on this one, it actually made it really fun, because I pushed him, and he pushed me, and we were zip lining and jumping into the rock pools from 20 feet plus, off this waterfall.
‘It was really fun. But for my mum, I think she was caught in the middle of me and my dad competing for who could do the most dangerous thing. There were a lot of funny moments that we had. I think that was great.
‘Family holidays are great,’ Martin finishes. ‘We haven’t done it enough. It was a real learning curve for me, because I forgot how much of a bonding experience they are’
‘I’ve had the best upbringing that anyone can ask for, and the holidays that we went on as kids were phenomenal, but we have such nice memories of holidays as a family. And I think that being able to do it again, after such a long time, was really nice.’
And Martin is just as sure that the Kemps won’t leave it another 15 years before their next family holiday.
‘Family holidays are great,’ he finishes. ‘We haven’t done it enough. It was a real learning curve for me, because I forgot how much of a bonding experience they are.
‘Shared experiences are so bonding, whether you go with your mates, or your friends, or you go with your family, and they bring you closer together.’
Martin and Roman have teamed up with Norwegian Cruise Line to enjoy a multigenerational voyage with NCL’s ‘More at Sea’ offering. Visit www.ncl.com to plan your next adventure to the Caribbean.
