P&O Cruises has put its summer 2022 programme on sale, with a range of early booking discounts, low deposits, and the chance for agents to earn double Shine Reward Club points on bookings for a fortnight from launch.
Referring to news of a second national lockdown in England at the weekend, vice-president of sales and marketing Alex Delamere-White said the launch “couldn’t be more perfectly timed in many ways, as it gives something positive for agents to support and to get behind after everything they’ve been through”.
He added: “The tagline we’re using is ‘At last…a ray of holiday sunshine’, which seems fitting, not just given the last few months, but with news on Saturday of a further lockdown.”
The 2022 programme features more than 150 holidays both from the line’s home port of Southampton and Mediterranean fly-cruises, with a 5% low deposit offered on all cruises.
A 10% discount for past guests is also available, as well as a 5% discount for new guests. Child places are available at £49 for off-peak holidays and £199 for peak holiday periods. All offers are available until December 14, 2020.
The cruises range from four-night breaks to Amsterdam through to a 30-night itinerary to North America and Canada. Summer 2022 will be new ship Iona’s second season in the Norwegian fjords. Seven-night holidays, which start at £599 per person, depart from and return to Southampton with ports of call including Stavanger, Olden, Ålesund and Haugesund.
Delamere-White said the timing of the launch was “driven by the demand we are seeing in the market”. He added: “Summer 2021 is doing very well. We’re seeing strong demand for that, so thought it appropriate to put 2022 on sale. Pre-registration for summer 2022 holidays starts today (November 3) with all holidays on sale from Wednesday November 11, 2020.”
He said the trade launch would be “very different this year”.
“Historically, we would be very visible, out on the road visiting agents, but that’s not possible with the restrictions. So we’ve had to adapt how we engage with frontline agents,” he said, citing webinars and social media as key communication and training channels.
Delamere-White said more than 500 agents had already registered for a webinar about the 2022 programme launch, and he hoped they would get behind it with the “lucrative incentive” of double Shine Rewards Club points, and other giveaways from quizzes and training, which would “give more opportunities to earn more points”.
Delamere-White added that Shine Rewards Points can now be redeemed against vouchers for high street stores, based on agent feedback.
P&O Cruises president Paul Ludlow said: “As so many of us have missed out on summer holidays this year, we know our extensive range of cruises for summer 2022 will be eagerly-anticipated. We are already delighted with the demand for holidays in 2021 and we are confident that our guests will be looking forward to further opportunities to sail with us the following year.
“All our summer 2022 holidays are available with a 5% low deposit, plus generous discounts if taking advantage of our launch offers and the opportunity to spread the cost monthly at no additional cost. Additionally, our flexible booking conditions allow guests to move their booking as many times as they like before paying their holiday balance.”
Delamere-White added that while many customers whose cruises had been cancelled for summer 2020 had rebooked the same dates for 2021, many still had Future Cruise Credits to redeem.
“There are many guests keen to understand our deployment for 2022 and utilise them. In many instances, guests have multiple FCCs to use from two or more cancelled cruises,” he said.
Delamere-White added that the summer 2022 programme, which runs from April to October 2022, remained “fundamentally unchanged” from plans, despite the pandemic, other than having one fewer ship sailing, following the departure of Oceana from the fleet.