Speaking to TTG, Gary Anslow, Norwegian Cruise Line regional vice-president and head of UK and Ireland, confirmed Richard Wager and Laura Croft would start their new roles on Wednesday (1 May).

Wager will support agents in the north of England and Scotland as a sales executive, while Croft will become the line’s first brand training manager. Both appointments were internal. 

Anslow said increasing the team size from eight to 10 staff meant that the line could “hit the ground running” this summer. “These appointments signal our intent with travel agents,” he explained. “Every cruise line is different so it’s critical that agents select the right one for their customers.”

Earlier this month, NCL’s parent, Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, announced its biggest ship order in its history, which includes four ships that can carry up to 5,000 passengers. 

While there was no suggestion from Anslow NCL would homeport one of these ships in the UK, he did hint the line may offer more ex-UK sailings in the future. 

This summer, NCL will operate nine ships in Europe, including its latest vessel, Norwegian Viva, which will operate a mix of departures from Lisbon, Civitavecchia (Rome) and Piraeus (Athens). 

“Our proposition is all about getting guests to travel out of the UK,” said Anslow. “Naturally, if you grow our fleet as we’re doing, we will also grow the destinations we sail from,” he explained.

“The UK is a key destination that we offer. We have a lot of round-Britain cruises that sail from Southampton. The UK is an important part of what we do.”

Top 50 boost

To help boost agents’ brand knowledge and drive new-to-cruise sales, NCL is offering almost 1,000 ship visit places at nine UK and Irish ports, including Southampton, Belfast, Edinburgh, Tilbury and Tyne, until October this year. 

“Last year we had our biggest ever ship visit programme – and we’re now replicating it,” he said. 

He revealed NCL has reduced the size of groups to maximise agents’ time on the ships. “We’re making the groups smaller so there will be 25 agents for every NCL person that we have onboard,” said Anslow.

“We can then have more insightful conversations onboard. It gives us more of an opportunity to show off the onboard venues.”

NCL sponsored the UK and Ireland’s number one travel agency award at the Top 50 Travel Agencies 2024 by TTG last week. 

“The one thing that Top 50 stands out for is it is absolutely about the agents,” he explained. “The suppliers can turn up and show their appreciation.”

He added travel agents are “at the core” of NCL’s business model, saying: “We would not able to deliver what we do without the help of agents. Their growth potential is huge.”

New-to-cruise focus

Anslow argued how travel agents are “fundamental” to bringing the new-to-cruise segment into cruise. “They do a fantastic job in recommending our cruises,” he said. 

“We have enormously loyal guests who always come back to us, but new-to-cruise customers are critical to us and our industry.”

When asked about potential airlift challenges this summer, Anslow highlighted how there is more capacity on flights heading to Europe during the peak season.

“There is more capacity in Europe, which makes things much easier,” he explained. "We don’t see airlift as a challenge this year – we see it as an opportunity.” 

Anslow said NCL believes the guest experience is enhanced when passengers fly to an overseas port.

“You get the opportunity to spend more time in the city before or after the sailing and you have the chance to join one of our port-intensive itineraries,” added Anslow. “We feel that we have the available inventory to get our customers to our cruises.” 

Meanwhile, more than 750 travel agents have signed up to NCL’s Walk for Wellness initiative which kicks off on 1 May.

The line aims to donate £15,000 to charities Abta LifeLine and The Irish Travel Agents Association (ITAA) Benevolent Fund once the initiative ends on 31 May.

The first UK programme will run throughout May and challenges agents to collectively walk 40,000 miles. If they complete the target, NCL will donate up to £15,000 to the charities. 

“We are just asking travel agents to walk with us and meet this milestone. They don’t have to raise any money themselves to take part,” explained Anslow.