The MSC Masters programme will relaunch on 1 November with seven new modules and a refreshed agent exam. Agents who complete the course will receive a certificate signed by MSC’s UK and Ireland chief Antonio Paradiso.

UK and Ireland sales director Steve Williams said he felt “the time was right to reinvest and overhaul” the programme after attracting new trade partners to the brand this summer.

Williams said the UK domestic season had ensured selling cruise was “never more appealing” to agents, with MSC claiming a high number of new agencies working with it for the first time.

“We know there’s a lot of those agents out there who have limited knowledge [of us] and we want to give them a strong training platform to understand MSC on a much deeper level.”

Williams said the refreshed site would also help agents returning to work post-furlough and new entrants into the industry.

New modules include training around MSC Virtuosa, future cruise credits and MSC’s Yacht Club suite offering, while a segment on MSC’s World Europa ship class, debuting next year, will be added soon.

Williams said the relaunch offered “a great opportunity to refresh skills” in the lead up to what he predicted would be “an incredibly busy” wave period.

Next month, MSC will begin offering winter sailings from the UK for the first time with a new Northern Europe programme featuring embarkations from Southampton on MSC Magnifica.

Williams said agent fam trips were being planned to see the ship and demand since open sales had been “very promising”. “We think there’s real appetite for a ship in the UK year-round,” he added.