HX Expeditions has announced plans to triple its ‘mega fam’ programme for 2027/28 following the success of its inaugural education sailing last May

A duo of two-day sailings will take place in Europe in 2027 on board the 150-guest MS Spitsbergen and 200-guest MS Fram. This will be followed by a four-day sailing aboard the 530-guest MS Fridtjof Nansen from a yet-to-be-announced UK port in 2028.

HX Expeditions hosted its first mega fam trip in May, which saw more than 350 travel advisors board MS Fridtjof Nansen, with agents from the UK and Europe embarking on a two-day sailing to Helgoland in the North Sea.

Speaking to Cruise Trade News, Nathaniel Sherborne, senior vice president and managing director, EMEA, ANZ, and global sales enablement of HX Expeditions, said: “We want to ensure we can offer a high-level expedition experience.

“That’s not always easy in Europe as you don’t have whales, polar bears and penguins, but we want to go somewhere where we can get the Zodiacs, science boats and kayaks out.

“We’ll be extending the fam trip on MS Fridtjof Nansen by a day as the feedback from agents was that they wanted to see a bit more of the ship”

Sherborne said the first mega fam was a “huge success”, with agents landing sales for Antarctica and Alaska voyages as a direct result of the trip.

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Sherborne added: Even though we took people to Heligoland, it gave people a completely different appreciation of the expedition experience. We received positive feedback on the quality of the ship, the expedition team and the accommodation as well as the quality of the learning opportunities.”

HX Expeditions announced the expansion of its mega fam programme today (9 July) at the line’s 130th anniversary celebration at the Royal Geographic Society in London, during which Sherborne shared an update on the line’s forthcoming online training platform.

“We’re hoping to launch in Q4 of this year,” Sherborne said. “We’ve already identified a supplier we want to work with and I’m confident we should be able to get to it before the end of the year.

“When I started at HX three years ago, the understanding of the product was so far away that it I felt it would be hard for agents to engage with online training. Now is the perfect time as more people are interested in expedition.

“We want to provide online solutions, gamification and all the things that would bring us in line with some of the other mainstream operators in ocean and river.”