Cruise and Maritime Voyages (CMV) has taken almost 2,000 bookings since going on sale at the start of the month.
The new cruiseline, launched in August, will be offering no-flycruises from the UK next year on Marco Polo, which will be based in Tilbury, near London, and Ocean Countess, which will be offering regional departures from Hull, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Leith, Greenock, Liverpool and Plymouth. Each ship holds 800 passengers.
Director Chris Coates said he is “encouraged” by the trade’s support and early consumer demand for the new cruises, which represents 6% of its 2010 capacity.
Earlier this month he told Travel Weekly he wanted to increase trade through agents to maintain the 85:15 split between trade and direct bookings. This is the split recorded by CMV’s predecessor Cruise and Maritime Services, which offered summer-only charters on Marco Polo for the past two years.
CMV sales manager Michelle Daniels has developed a support package to help agents develop local, regional and national opportunities offered by the new cruises. Anyone interested should email sales@cruiseandmaritime.com for details.
Coates said: “We are delighted with the initial response [to the new brochure]. We believe that our market-responsive pricing strategy is in tune with the requirements of our sector of the market.”
The 2010 preview programme offers 46 no-flycruises with prices from £149 per person for a two-night mini-cruise from Tilbury to Amsterdam on Ocean Countess, which will be chartered by CMV from April next year.
Marco Polo enters service for CMV on January 2 2010, with a 30-night cruise from Tilbury to the Caribbean, which costs from £1,499 per person. A 42-night cruise to the Amazon and Orinoco departing February 1 2010 costs from £1,999 per person.
During the summer, Marco Polo will be cruising around the British Isles, and to the Norwegian Fjords, Spitsbergen, the Baltic, Mediterranean and Canary Islands. A six-night Fjordland cruise starts from £399 per person.
Ocean Countess will be cruising to Norway, the North Cape, Iceland, Spain and Portugal, and also sailing around the British Isles. A 12-night Iceland and Northern Isles cruise from Leith costs from £899 per person.