A travel agent who had never sailed on a cruise ship before is now considering a holiday-at-sea with Cunard for his next family getaway after experiencing the line’s Queen Elizabeth first hand.

Ben Knowles, cruise consultant at ROL Cruise, took part in a four-night Fly Med fam trip from Rome to Barcelona on board the vessel last month having never cruised before in his life.

Knowles, who was joined by 17 other agents from 12 agencies across the UK, described the trip as a “valuable introduction to holidays at sea” and now plans to book his own family voyage next year.

“As a first time cruiser, I was keen to take in as much as I could, experience life on board and sample the delicious food and I was not disappointed,” he said.

“It was the small touches from the attentive and friendly staff, as well as the incredible dining experience throughout, that showed me how truly timeless this brand is.”

The sailing completed a fam trip double header for Cunard, which hosted 16 agents from another 12 agencies on the preceding Barcelona to Rome voyage, also on-board Queen Elizabeth.

A Cunard sailing ‘is a must for everyone’

Across both fam trips, agents attended training workshops, took part in an exclusive cocktail making masterclass in the Commodore Club and sampled an evening meal in one of the ship’s speciality dining venues, Steakhouse at The Verandah.

Ashore, the first group took a guided tour of Pompeii following a port call at Naples, whilst the second group were given a tour of the Caves of Drach in Majorca.

“A Cunard sailing is a must for everyone. Cunard sailings are simple and easy to book with their user friendly systems,” Knowles added. “This educational trip has been fantastic for my knowledge and I can now use my personal experiences when selling this fantastic brand – it’s made me want to book my own family holiday with Cunard next year.”

It comes after Cunard doubled its fam trip programme for 2023, hosting agents on eight separate voyages across the year compared to the four it ran in 2022.

The next Cunard familiarisation trip in December – the final trade educational sailing of 2023 – is a five-night Queen Victoria voyage from Southampton to Rotterdam, Bruges, and Le Havre.

Next year, the line will host up to 500 of its most engaged travel agent partners on board upcoming vessel Queen Anne within the first month of the ship’s launch.