P&O Cruises has unveiled plans for greater online and in-person training for agents as it launches 78 itineraries for winter 2026-27.
Ruth Venn, P&O Cruises director of sales, told Travel Weekly that training webinars around pre-registration were “relatively new” for the line but have now become “a focus” for launches.
She said: “Webinars are really popular for us and something our training manager focuses on and builds a big plan around for launch, based on agent feedback.
“Working with some new agents, and maybe agents on the front line who have not sold cruise before, pre-registration can sometimes be a bit confusing as the process is slightly different to a standard booking.”
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Venn said P&O Cruises had seen “really good success” with its summer 2026 launch and is “really optimistic” it will see the same for winter 2026-27.
An “encouraging” trend she has observed with recent launches has been more new-to-cruise customers booking through pre-registration, which she said was down to agents “doing a really good job” of explaining the benefits of booking early.
Pre-registration for winter 2026-27 sailings opened at 8.30am today (October 14), with three offers available for new bookings made before December 9, 2024, for voyages departing after October 1, 2026.
These include a 10% early bird discount, a 10% deposit offer and an extra 5% discount for Peninsular Club loyalty members on selected trips.
P&O Cruises will provide three training sessions for travel agents on the new collection with two webinars on October 14.
The first webinar at 10am will give a full collection overview and the second at 11.30am will advise agents how to pre-register clients.
Training and engagement manager Stephanie Adams will also host monthly training sessions via Facebook Live to outline what has been selling well, with the next session on winter 2026-27 itineraries taking place on October 30.
Alongside the launch-specific webinars and monthly training opportunities, P&O Cruises’ regional team will deliver face-to-face training opportunities to travel agents during launch weeks.
Ship visit programme
Venn added that the line’s ship visit programme, Shine At Sea, which included two agent family visit days for the first time, had been “hugely successful this year”.
She said: “We have had over 1,000 agents on board throughout the year and we’ve already confirmed we will be involved again in the Clia conference with Britannia with an opportunity to highlight her 10th anniversary, so we want to build on that success.”
Details for the ship visit programme next year will be released in the coming months, as will flagship’s Britannia’s anniversary celebrations on its June sailing around the UK next year.
Winter 2026-27 itineraries
The winter 2026-27 itineraries include longer duration journeys with more overnights and late-night visits, said Venn, with “a diverse programme over Christmas”.
The season includes 102 destinations with more than 100 late or overnight stays across more than 30 points of call.
New destinations include Galveston in Texas and Port Vila in Vanuatu, with new ports in Agadir in Morocco, Alotau in Papua New Guinea, Kona in Hawaii, Newcastle in Australia, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Progreso in Mexico.
Aurora will sail a 75-night Grand Tour from Southampton in January 2027, with prices starting at £5,999 per person.
Arcadia will sail an extended 106-night cruise stopping in 28 ports from Southampton in January 2027, with prices leading in at £9,999 per person.
The ship will also operate an Atlantic Islands itinerary on December 3, 2026, with stops in Morocco and Cape Verde. Prices begin at £979 per person.
There are also four itineraries during the festive season on Iona, Aurora and Azura.
Iona will sail a 16-night Atlantic Islands cruise from Southampton in December 2026 which will call at eight European destinations, including a late stay in Lisbon on December 31 for New Year’s Eve. This costs from £1,399 per person.
Aurora will sail two festive itineraries, a 14-night Baltic itinerary from Southampton in December 2026 and a five-night cruise between Christmas and New Year.
The former will visit five ports with Christmas markets and stay overnight in Tallinn with prices starting from £1,399 per person.
The latter will spend a full day in Zeebrugge for Bruges and a full day and evening call in Hamburg for New Year’s Eve. Prices start from £599.
Azura will also complete a 10-night sailing from Tenerife on December 18, 2026, followed by an 11-night itinerary from Malaga, with both costing upwards of £1,229 per person.
In winter 2026-27, the newest ship in the fleet, Arvia (pictured), will sail 14-night Caribbean fly-cruises from Barbados and Antigua.
Iona will operate cruises in Spain, Portugal and Canary Islands, while Britannia will sail 14-night Caribbean fly-cruises from Barbados with up to nine destinations per sailing.
These itineraries will go on sale for Peninsular Club members on October 22, 2024.
October to December 2026 departures will go on sale on October 23, 2024, while January to March 2027 departures will go on sale a day later.