Princess Cruises has attributed its “best‑ever” third quarter of the year to its “record-breaking” 2023 ship visit programme, and confirmed it will welcome more agents next year.
Between July and September, the line hosted 1,250 UK and Irish agents on board its vessels as part of a Europe-wide programme which saw more than 2,500 agents participate.
Princess Cruises plans to host 3,000 agents next year, with members of the UK and Irish trade making up at least 50% of the number, which will be a “record” for the line.
Speaking to Travel Weekly on a ship visit to Enchanted Princess in Barcelona, sales manager Nikki Dos Santos said: “There are so many new agents joining the industry who have never been on board a cruise ship. Until you do, it’s difficult to bring that to life, so we are excited to welcome more of them on board next year.”
Sales director Nick Hughes said: “We’ve just had our best Q3, mainly because 2023 is the first year we’ve truly enabled our agent partners to see our product.”
Hughes pledged to announce next year’s ship visit dates by the end of the wave season.