New agency Above and Beyond Luxury Cruises – set up by Cruise.co.uk – has bold plans. The company’s head of luxury and expedition Elaine Ross explains in more detail.

Why launch Above and Beyond?

Above and Beyond Luxury Cruises is different to every other agent in the market. We see ourselves as the only truly luxury agent, which offers the service a guest deserves when booking a high-end cruise.

We spotted a gap in the cruising travel agency space, which we aim to fill.

How will you go one better than the other luxury agencies?

We offer the Above and Beyond Concierge Service, which means nothing is too much trouble for our expert cruise concierges.

They are product experts in the ultra-luxury space, having experienced the ships and many of the destinations, and will arrange every last detail of a holiday.

Our customers will be able to contact their cruise concierge via phone, text, email, WhatsApp, video call, or we can even arrange a face-to-face chat.

We call this the ultimate connectivity. They will also be able to book the usual port and airport parking, arrange door-to-door transfers, airport lounges and upgraded flights.

How is the luxury cruising space changing?

Now more than ever, the personalisation and level of the service on board needs to compare with the quality of the hardware.

Guests are looking for operators that offer dedicated stateroom butlers, private dining options and tailored arrangements both on and off the ship.

Plus, we’re seeing luxury cruising getting more adventurous. Clients want unique itineraries and bespoke shore excursions to add to their bragging rights.

We’re seeing our Above and Beyond Prestige Collection proving incredibly popular, featuring fully escorted tours to bucket list destinations.

Our expert concierge team are also able to put together cruise and stay packages, completely personalised to individual requirements.

You’ve spoken about providing ‘ultimate connectivity’. What does this mean in practice?

We offer our guests the ultimate service, which means we will accommodate whichever method they want to connect to us with.

If they want to call, our dedicated cruise concierge will be available on the other end of the phone; if they want to email they’ll get a prompt and effective reply; if they prefer WhatsApp for quick question, the team will respond.

What’s more, if they want a home visit to talk in person, we’ll travel out to them to make that possible. We’ll be available to our client pre-cruise, while they’re travelling and after they return home.