When luxury cruise line Silversea launched new ship Silver Spirit last December it said it hoped the vessel would appeal to a younger audience.
The operator cannot have known then that within months it would be welcoming on board celebrity pop star couple Liam Gallagher and Nicole Appleton, and their family including children, as it did last week.
The former Oasis front man and All Saints singer opted to take the transatlantic crossing on the six-star all-inclusive ship from New York after being stranded in the US due to the ash cloud flights ban crisis.
Reports from the ship suggest the celebrity family enjoyed their time on board and there was none of the more disruptive behaviour Gallagher became known for during the Oasis heydays of the 1990s.
They left the 540-passenger ship on Friday as it made its maiden call in the UK and welcomed 200 trade guests on board to showcase the ship in Southampton.
Amerigo Perasso, president and chief executive of Silversea, told guests: “This ship offers a lot of variety which caters for an international clientele and a younger clientele.
“I think it’s particularly good for people who have not cruised before – it offers something new to our fleet, we have broadened our spectrum.”
Ken Watson, Silversea chief operating officer, added: “We now have six ships in our fleet which gives our travel agency clients a choice that’s truly international and guests will come back because of the experience our staff deliver.”
Watson, who joined the line from rival Regent Seven Seas last year, said the focus at Silversea had been successfully switched from achieving cabin rates to occupancy levels.
This has meant the line has aggressively driven early sales with value-added offers such as free flights, and Watson said this had enabled it to increase rates this year on the vast majority of sailings.