The popularity of cruising from UK ports is set to spiral in 2016.

BY KARL CUSHING

It’s official: 2016 is set to be the year for ex-UK cruising with a bumper boost in capacity and some exciting operator firsts teeing up a potential sales bonanza for agents.

Sailing from the UK may add sea days, not to mention the occasional rough North Sea or Bay of Biscay crossing, but for many the convenience of simply rocking up to a UK port and kicking off your holiday as soon as you embark – even using sterling on board – is a compelling proposition, and not everyone likes flying of course.

Even so, the growth of the ex-UK cruise market is staggering, having risen from 91,500 passengers in 1986 to 1.64m in 2014, according to figures from industry body CLIA. This despite experiencing a 4.8% fall in demand last year, the first since 1986, due to a temporary fall in capacity, strongly reversed for 2015/16.

Underpinning this demand is the continued investment in UK ports. Alongside Southampton and Dover, with its two cruise terminals, there’s Portsmouth and options from Hull and Harwich to Greenock and Glasgow, with a feasibility study planned for a new cruise terminal in Plymouth. More ports mean more options for clients, and operators such as Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) and Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, which sail from eight and ten UK ports respectively, make much of this fact as a selling tool.

Lol Nichols, general sales manager at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, who describes the market for ex-UK cruises as “buoyant” and “very competitive”, believes the operator’s focus on regional ports helps it avoid discounting while offering agents the chance to reduce clients’ sea time, for example by offering northern itineraries out of northern ports.

“By offering convenient departures from a choice of eight British ports CMV brings cruising closer to home, with hassle-free joining and embarkation opposed to flying,” says CMV’s head of marketing Mike Hall, adding, “And two and three night cruises to European cities are a great alternative for a city break.”

Andy Harmer, the director of CLIA in the UK & Ireland, believes the wealth of regional departure points is a great sales tool for local agents, aided by CLIA’s ex-UK cruises training module and search facility [cruiseexperts.org].

“Sailing from a UK port remains incredibly popular with figures showing more than 730,000 Brits choosing to begin their cruise holiday this way last year,” says Harmer. “There’s no shortage of choice in size and style of ship, nor in destination. And 2016 will be another exciting year with a number of firsts, including Fred. Olsen Line’s first departure from Newcastle for its ship Balmoral, and Disney Cruise Line offering its first British Isles itinerary on Disney Magic.”

Choices, choices…

Most itineraries focus on the British Isles, Western Europe and the Med, and Northern Europe and the Baltic. Norwegian Fjords cruises remain popular with 2016 options from Southampton on Celebrity Eclipse, Britannia and Fred Olsen’s Balmoral, whose offerings include an eight-night Waterfalls, Fjords & Glaciers itinerary, and Disney Magic sailing a seven-night cruise from Dover on May 29 calling at Stavanger, Alesund, Geiranger and Bergen.

British Isles cruises are hotter still with ship options for 2016 ranging from Oceania Nautica, Seven Seas Voyager and Seabourn Quest to family-friendly Disney Magic, which will run its first ever round-Britain tour out of Dover on June 5. Crystal Cruises has a 14-day Grand Britannia round-trip from Tilbury, departing July 23 (from £4,191, cruise-only), while Oceania’s offerings include the 12-Day British Isles Tapestry on Nautica, a round trip from Southampton departing June 1 2016, bolstered by a range of options which fly out or back one way, including Southampton to Stockholm and Southampton to Copenhagen oceaniacruises.com.

Nice twists include Voyages of Discovery’s 12-day Britain’s Beautiful Isles cruise on Voyager, which takes in islands from Scilly to the Shetlands (From £1,277 cruise-only, departing Harwich on June 9, 2016; voyagesofdiscovery.com, while Fred. Olsen’s options range from a seven-night Easter Ireland sailing on Balmoral to the festive 11-night Tinsel & Hogmanay on Black Watch.

Cool Britannia

Following the return of ships such as Royal Princess this year, 2016 is set to be bigger yet. Operators offering ex-UK options next year range from Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises to Holland America and Cunard Line, while Princess Cruises’ expanded ex-UK programme for 2016 features everything from a three-day ‘taster’ cruise in April to increased Med sailings between April and September and a 48-night epic from Southampton to Sydney.

Hot tickets include the trio of five- to seven-night European sailings on Royal Caribbean’s Ovation of the Seas, which will sail out of Southampton next April and May before relocating to China. As a Quantum Class ship Ovation is big on onboard fun and activities and will also feature the line’s new luxurious Royal Suite Class offering. Another great family-friendly option is P&O’s Britannia which returns to Southampton in March for a full season of ex-UK sailings, including a British Isles cruise on July 6. Accommodating 3,647 passengers the ship boasts the fleet’s biggest spa and a fantastic Cookery Club space, with occasional classes and demos led by P&O’s ‘food heroes’ such as celebrity chef James Martin.

Despite ending its ex-UK programme earlier this year, and having put back its return to full season of ex-UK sailings until 2018, MSC Cruises will offer a selection of short sailings from Southampton next year on MSC Splendida. Standouts include its first ex-UK Britain Isles cruise. Giles Hawke, executive director MSC Cruises, UK and Ireland says: “Operating ex-UK itineraries on a Fantasia class ship for the first time, in 2016 and beyond, will offer UK cruisers an opportunity to truly experience our product.”

Fred. Olsen’s bumper 2016/17 cruise season include Balmoral’s first ever programme from Newcastle, featuring 11 departures; Boudicca’s inaugural sailings from Falmouth, including an adults-only 12-night Canaries & Portugal Spring Break; and an increase in  sailings from Tilbury to six.

Looking ahead operators are suitably bullish, not least Nichols. “For the 2016/17 cruise season we are already well-ahead in terms of bookings and sales – particularly looking at where we were a year ago. We are therefore very confident that 2016 will be a strong performing year.”

Kidless cruising 

Operators worth a look for clients who prefer to cruise without the little ones include Fred. Olsen, which has added 18 additional sailings for 18+ passengers in 2016/17, and P&O, whose fleet includes three adult-only vessels — Arcadia, Adona and Oriana. CMV’s four-strong fleet includes the adult-only Marco Polo, and its themed cruises such as the 15-night TV Soap Legends cruise to the Canary Islands & Madeira on Magellan, departing Tilbury on October 14, 2016, attract an older crowd. All Leisure Group’s Voyages of Discovery, Swan Hellenic and Hebridean Island Cruises lines are also purposely designed with adults rather than children in mind, although the latter does accept over nines.

Sample packages

Disney Cruise Line has a 12-night British Isles cruise on Disney Magic departing Dover on June 5, 2016, priced from £1,782pp full-board based on two adults and two children sharing an inside cabin. Ports of call include Newcastle, Liverpool, Invergordon, Greenock, Dublin and St Peter Port, Guernsey. 0800 085 0695; disneyholidays.co.uk

P&O Cruises has a 13-night Canary Islands cruise on Britannia departing Southampton on May 16, 2016 priced from £1,049pp for an inside cabin, including full board meals and afternoon tea, kids’ clubs and entertainments. Plus celebrity chef James Martin will be aboard. Ports of call include Madeira, La Palma, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Agadir and Lisbon. 0843 373 0111; pocruises.com

MSC Splendida’s first ex-UK sailing in 2016, departing May 6, will be an 11-night round-Britain cruise calling at Hamburg, Invergordon, Kirkwall, Dublin, Greenock and Cork before returning to Southampton. Prices start from £899pp; msccruises.co.uk