Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) UK and Ireland’s Cruise Week 2025 will run from September 15–21. The theme will continue to be #BeyondExpectations, first introduced at last year’s CLIA conference.
CLIA member agents are encouraged to register their support by August 22 to receive a Cruise Week digital toolkit, which includes trade incentives, social media assets, webinar registration links and the official campaign logo. Registered agents will also be eligible to win a range of prizes rewarding outstanding promotional efforts across platforms.
Key highlights include The UK’s Biggest Cruise Event on September 16, during which agents and cruise lines are invited to host cruise-related events from customer-facing promotions and ship visits to training sessions and social media campaigns.
Special trade incentives will run throughout the week, supported by a series of pre-Cruise Week webinars that kick off on September 8, offering brand updates and incentive details from participating cruise lines.
Multiple awards will recognise agents excelling in categories such as best window display, social media campaign, training session, and overall engagement.
Nearly 40 cruise brands, spanning ocean, river, expedition, luxury, and small ship lines, have pledged their support for the initiative.
Celestyal survey offers prizes and chance to shape trade strategy
Celestyal has launched a new travel agent engagement survey open to all agents via the cruise line’s social media channels. The survey aims to collect feedback on key areas including brand awareness, booking tools, incentives, and overall agent engagement.
Running until August 15, the initiative offers an incentive: agents who complete the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win one of ten £100 Amazon vouchers. Winners will be notified via email during the week beginning September 1.
The survey results will directly inform Celestyal’s future trade engagement plans, helping shape tools and strategies to better support agents.
Off-season sailings still available with Avalon
There is still limited availability on Avalon Waterways’ Cozy Cruise Collection off-season sailings for 2025.
Example packages that still have spaces include:
‘Romantic Rhine for Wine Lovers’, priced from £1,999pp, based on two sharing a Deluxe Stateroom. The price is available for various sailings in October and November.
‘Bonjour Bordeaux’ starts from £1,999pp, based on two sharing a Deluxe Stateroom, for departures on November 4, 2025.
‘Christmastime on the Danube’ is from £2,599pp, based on two sharing a Panorama Suite and available for various sailings in October and November.
All the above ideals include economy return flights from London Heathrow, London Gatwick, Birmingham or Edinburgh. Departures from Newcastle, Manchester, Bristol and Glasgow are available as a supplement.
Holland America set to entertain
Holland America Line is enhancing onboard entertainment across its fleet, with updates already live on six ships and full rollout expected by the end of 2025.
New features include Vivace, a classical string duo or trio performing on all sailings on Nieuw Statendam, Zaandam, Zuiderdam, Volendam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Eurodam, and The Dam Band, accompanying shows and guest entertainers on the World Stage. Nightly entertainment has been expanded with refreshed live music, cabaret performances and shows.
A regional soloist programme brings culturally relevant music to destinations, including steel drums in the Caribbean and mariachi in Mexico. Breton Thunder also returns with expanded performances on Canada and New England cruises.
A restructured entertainment team will feature Cruise Directors as voyage hosts, supported by new staff leading activities such as cooking demos, trivia, and themed parties. Travel Guides and an Activities Crew will join by year-end. A new “Welcome Aboard” show debuts fleetwide by summer 2026.
Seabourne’s new Grand Voyage
Ultra-luxury and expedition line Seabourn is planning its first-ever expedition Grand Voyage, the 94-day ‘Grand Expedition: Pole to Pole’ on the purpose-built Seabourn Venture.
Departing on August 17, 2027 and concluding on November 19, the voyage will span more than 20,500 nautical miles, charting a course from the High Arctic to Antarctica and offering a combination of remote landings, immersive expeditions, rare wildlife sightings, and signature Seabourn luxury experiences.
The voyage begins with an overnight stay in Reykjavik, Iceland, followed by a charter flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, where guests will embark the ship.
Over the course of the sailing, Seabourn Venture will offer 60 days of expedition experiences and visits to destinations across 14 countries and territories, including five days in Antarctica, three in South Georgia, and three in the Falkland Islands, as well as six days in the famed Northwest Passage and a new three-day experience to the remote and rarely visited Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Archipelago.
Additional highlights include 33 sea days; and crossings of the equator, Tropic of Cancer, and Tropic of Capricorn. Between the poles, guests will also explore sun-drenched tropical islands and vibrant coastal regions across the Caribbean and South America, experiencing the full spectrum of the planet’s geography, from icy wilderness to equatorial warmth. The sailing concludes in Ushuaia, Argentina, with a post-cruise charter flight to Buenos Aires.
The 94-day ‘Grand Expedition: Pole to Pole’ sailing starts from £71,279pp, based on two guests sharing a Veranda Suite.
