The line’s Above and Beyond initiative will give away 100 balcony cabins on the ship during a two-night trade sailing in late April ahead of the vessel’s maiden voyage on 27 April.

Agents must make as many bookings as possible between 14 December and 28 February across any of Celebrity’s fleet to be in with a chance of winning and log their sales via the Celebrity Rewards portal.

Trade partners, who can earn £10 on Balcony bookings, £20 on Concierge and Aqua bookings and £25 on Retreat bookings, can track their progress on a weekly leaderboard and winners will be announced at the beginning of March. 

Celebrity’s sales team has also been equipped with a number of “wild card” places to reward the hard work of agency partners across all parts of the business. 

Claire Stirrup, UK and Ireland director of sales, told TTG: “We’re conscious it’s not always the top sellers who do a lot of hard work in businesses and we wanted the team to be able to surprise any staff members we thought deserved to go on Beyond.

“It could be someone who has worked really hard on a booking for two people, or someone who is booking their very first Celebrity cruise. It could be someone in marketing or who works in the admin team. There are so many people who support frontline sellers.”

Stirrup added that due to the Covid-enforced cancellation of the christening for Celebrity Apex in Southampton last year, the line wanted to “get as many UK and Ireland trade partners sailing on Beyond as possible” to “experience and celebrate” its newest vessel.

“Apex didn’t make it to the UK for its naming, so this is great recognition that we’re bringing Beyond here and having her maiden voyage from the UK.”

To support agents during the campaign and throughout wave, Celebrity has also launched new trade toolkits - with sales guides, digital marketing assets and social content. 

A series of six new training videos have been made available on the Celebrity Loves Agents Facebook page. 

The brand has also revised the opening hours of its contact centre and will be reopening on Sundays. Stirrup said Celebrity was “up to full capacity” with its contact centre recruitment and would be shifting staff from customer service roles to sales and reservations.

“We’re looking at where the calls need answering on an hourly basis,” she said, adding how redeploying its sales team to the contact centre during the height of the pandemic instead of using furlough had benefitted its team’s knowledge and helped agent partners.

Also during its Above and Beyond campaign, Celebrity will be running a social bot competition which will be live throughout December offering agents the chance to win a range of prizes, including a tour of Beyond.

Agents can also use the points they have earned through Celebrity sales to treat their clients to a luxury gift as part of the line’s Celebrity Rewards scheme.