The helpdesk will give agents access to the cruise operators’ experts and online systems and will help resolve standard enquiries with coaching and online training.

The team will consist of 38 dedicated agents who will join the team in mid April and be based within the existing UK contact centre team.

P&O Cruises vice president sales and distribution Alex Delamere-White said: “The creation of a travel agent helpdesk will provide greater transparency to help us transform our agent interactions and processes to deliver a higher quality, more efficient service.

"The helpdesk also provides a welcome extension to our existing partnership team that will help provide individual support and training.”

Cunard UK sales director Gary Anslow added: “We know that the majority of our travel agent partner enquiries can be dealt with very efficiently via our online systems.

"By creating a dedicated, expert team the helpdesk will be able to build online capabilities and support agents with their more complex enquiries.”