P&O Cruises reveals Iona will sail in Caribbean for winter 2027-28

P&O Cruises will offer Caribbean cruises on Iona for the first time during winter 2027-28.

 

The news was announced first to delegates at the Barrhead Travel conference in Dubrovnik on Monday (September 29).

 

Ruth Venn, associate vice-president of sales and distribution at P&O Cruises, said: “Iona is going to be joining Arvia in the Caribbean for the first time.

 

“We are going to have two Excel-class cruise ships in the Caribbean, so that’s about 11,000 UK guests that we’ll need you to help us find every two weeks for our winter 27-28.”

 

She said that high demand means Caribbean cruises have been selling well, thanks in part to regional airport departures, which helps Barrhead agents too.

 

Currently, Iona offers cruises in the Norwegian fjords, Canary Islands, northern Europe and Scandinavia.

 

The main deployment announcement will come on Tuesday (September 30) and the cruises will go on sale in October, so Venn urged Barrhead agents to start thinking about how they will promote the cruises, especially with the forthcoming wave peak booking season.

 

Venn said the most recent wave season in January 2025 had been its best ever – but and she is anticipating another record for January 2026.

 

“Wave is still the biggest booking period of the year for us,” she told delegates.

 

“I think wave will be fiercely competitive, but in a good way. Let’s go break some records.”

 

The cruise line gave agents one million Shine reward points during the last wave period and is now planning its marketing and incentives for the upcoming peak selling season.

 

She urged agents to use as many training tools, ship visits and sessions as possible to boost their knowledge ahead of the period.

 

Two ‘Shine at Sea’ educational sailings for agents are coming up next week, and the line also holds ‘Shine on Shore’ ship visits for the trade.

 

“Knowledge is power; make sure you understand and know your products so you can sell the right product to the right customer,” she said.

 

“We see a bigger training focus in December, because it is typically a little bit quieter on the sales front.”

 

Research by the cruise line shows customers find that booking with agents is easier than on a website.

 

“That is because agents understand and know their customers. They understand the product. A website can sell a cabin, but an agent can sell a sunset, they can sell a memory, they can sell entertainment, they can bring that all to life,” she said.

 

Venn also highlighted growth in the multigenerational market, with about 30% of cruisers sailing with at least two generations.

 

This summer, P&O Cruises saw a record number of families cruising, helped partly by its two family-friendly Excel ships.

 

“We have had to really think about our family proposition on board to make sure there’s different activities happening throughout the day,” she said.

 

“With Barrhead Travel, we have seen some good examples where you’ve promoted family-of-four pricing. The family-of-four price message looked really compelling.”