Cruise

Solo travellers, Svalbard rules and the industry's 'twisted stepchild', plus seven other expedition cruise talking points

Does Svalbard still deliver as a destination? Why are regulations on the rise and how do cruise lines feel about this trend? Everything we learned from Expedition Cruise Network's second conference

Viva Cruises hires Riviera's Stephen Sands to drive expansion into Ireland

Sands 'played a pivotal role' developing the Riviera Travel brand in Ireland, said Viva

Tui transfers shipbuilding slots from Marella Cruises to sister line in push for more UK passengers

Tui AG said the decision to move the slots from Marella Cruises to Tui Cruises was taken to strengthen the brand's long-term growth platform in Europe and UK

UK and Irish agents to experience new Princess Cruises ship before it repositions to US

The line has revealed 20 "frontline" agents will join Star Princess on its second sailing – a seven-day round-trip Mediterranean voyage

MSC Cruises launches new fly-cruise packages for 2026 with extra Jet2 seats

Line takes 42% larger allocation of seats with Jet2 for 2026 programme, flying from Belfast, Edinburgh and Manchester

'It's a big-picture move': Agents hopeful Riviera Travel's dedicated ship for solo travellers will drive market forward

However, some figures in the trade have flagged questions around how the river line is going to price cruises onboard George Eliot in 2027

Virgin Voyages shakes up fare model promising passengers more 'flexibility and transparency'

The new VoyageFair Choices model includes three fare types – the Base fare, the Essential fare and the Premium fare

A-Rosa River Cruises UK chief Lucia Rowe to depart line this month

Rowe was part of the start-up team at A-Rosa more than 20 years ago and returned in 2015 to launch the brand to the UK travel trade

Oceania Cruises 'happy with bookings so far' after unveiling winter Med programme

Allura – the sister ship to Vista – will reposition from Miami to Barcelona on 31 March 2027 before its extended season in the Med that runs into spring 2028

HX chief commercial officer Alex Delamere-White to follow chief financial officer out the door following restructure

Delamere-White joined HX Hurtigruten Expeditions in July 2023 and went onto 'spearhead' the brand's journey to becoming a standalone brand and separating from its sister company Hurtigruten

'My posts inspired an agent friend to book this cruise for a client'

A recent fam trip convinced Becky Walker, travel consultant with Club Voyages, that small ship sailing is the way forward

Royal Caribbean's Legend of the Seas to launch earlier and offer more sailings

Each of the additional cruises will depart from Civitavecchia, Italy, on 11, 18 and 25 July before the ship moves to Barcelona

Viva Cruises' UK country manager makes fam trip pledge as line unveils new Venice-based ship

Viva Cruises' new luxury brand – Viva Boutique – will launch its first ship in May 2026 with another vessel joining the fleet 12 months later

AmaWaterways orders eight new European river ships for delivery by 2030

The order, once delivered, will double the river line's fleet to more than 40 vessels compared with 2020

Riviera Travel to dedicate 140-passenger ship to solo travellers for an entire season

The escorted touring and river cruise specialist will operate 19 departures across its fleet that are specifically for solo travellers

Azamara becomes latest line to set up agent advisory board following David Duff exit

The specialist small-ship line confirmed its UK and EMEA managing director had vacated his role with chief international sales officer David Siewers taking on his responsibilities

Crystal unveils plans for supporting agents at invite-only event

The luxury cruise line shared updates on enhancing its booking platform, as well as key customer insights, at its marketing training day on Wednesday.

Azamara's UK boss David Duff to leave line after 17 years and hand over to new global sales chief

The move brings the curtain down on UK and EMEA managing director David Duff's 17-year Azamara career

Ponant promotes 'robust' solos offer and launches new yachting brand to enhance offering to luxury clients

Starting late 2026, the French cruise line will operate 22 ships including new catamaran – Spirit of Ponant II – which will carry up to 10 passengers

Explora Journeys looks to attract 'yet-to-cruise' customers with debut Asia programme

Between September 2027 and May 2028, Explora III will visit 28 countries including Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia

MSC Cruises may replace 'taster' cruises with more seven-night sailings in future ex-UK summer programmes

Antonio Paradiso, MSC Group's international sales chief, believes week-long cruises offer the 'perfect balance'

'Agents – we've fixed our pricing issues,' insists Virgin Voyages UK sales chief

'The success we’ve had this year is around our pricing stability,' SJ Walker tells TTG as Brilliant Lady captures agents' attention

'It's more than a retail outlet': Celestyal opens first-ever shop where agents can be trained

Celestyal launched an operator brand in the summer, which sells land and cruise packages through agents

Ambassador to reward best agency partner with new staff room in month-long trade incentive

The winning agency will receive a staff room makeover to create an Ambassador-themed lounge featuring new seating, a coffee machine, a kettle, a toaster, a microwave and an air fryer