Twenty-two travel agents enjoyed a cookalong with celebrity chef Marco Pierre White during a P&O Cruises ship visit

The agents, who all won spots in a competition, were welcomed on board Britannia in Southampton where they took a ship tour before they had a meet-and-greet with White.

They then donned aprons and were taught how to make an authentic risotto before sitting down to enjoy their lunch.

White had just completed a 14-day Northern Europe and Scandinavian sailing with the line on which he hosted cooking masterclasses and gave talks to passengers.

Holly Crabtree, cruise.co.uk, was blown away by the day and hailed the P&O Cruises brand as “such an easy sell”.

“It has been fabulous coming on and cooking with Marco – it’s the first time I’ve enjoyed cooking,” she said. “I haven’t cruised with Britannia before but I’ve been on other P&O Cruises ships so it’s great to see the differences.

“I absolutely loved the P&O Cruises brand and it’s such an easy sell because it’s so brilliant. What stands out is how lovely and passionate all of the team are and if anyone had the chance to do business with P&O Cruises I would implore them to do it.”

Diana Sowden, Inteletravel, said: “It has been an absolutely wonderful day. This is my first time on a P&O Cruises ship and I have been really impressed by the hardware.

“This will definitely help me sell the brand because my Facebook page is all about my own personal experiences on board so when I post a load of content from this I know my customers will be desperate to come on themselves.”

Aimee Thompson, Inteletravel, added: “What a great day. I am fairly new to the travel industry so days like this are incredibly valuable for me to learn more about different products in the cruise sector.

“I am really impressed by the ship and the whole P&O Cruises brand so I am so pleased to have been here.”