NEWS SPECIAL REPORT
Apex educational C
elebrity Cruises hosted its largest-ever fam trip last week when 200 of the
line’s top-performing agent partners sailed from Lisbon to Southampton on a three-night voyage on Celebrity Apex. Claire Stirrup, managing
director for the UK and EMEA, described the trip as an opportunity to say “congratulations and thank you” to the group, about 100 of whom were from the UK and Ireland. The remainder were from Germany and Switzerland. “We feel really passionate
about our trade partners and everything they do,” said Stirrup. “We’re looking for all their
feedback and what we can do better, because there’s no point in us thinking something’s a good idea if our trade partners don’t.”
Phenomenal uptake The agents attended an hour-long Conversations with Celebrity session led by Leon Hand, the line’s training manager for EMEA, as well as workshops on river cruise, business growth and pre-cruise purchases and onboard sales. Stirrup said the training sessions
complemented the ongoing Celebrity Cruises for Beginners series, run in
12 14 MAY 2026
We feel passionate about our trade partners and all they do and we’re looking for all their feedback
partnership with Travel Weekly. “It’s the fourth year of Celebrity
Cruises for Beginners and we’ve had more than 800 sign-ups in the first month,” she said, describing the opening weeks as “phenomenal”. “We’ve had really great feedback,”
she added. “It just seems to go from strength to strength.” The line is also increasing
in-person training workshops this year, with sessions in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Dublin, York, Belfast and Reading, while 10 ship visits across five ports are also being arranged. Last week’s mega-fam, which
began with a pre-cruise stay in Lisbon, featured “wildcard” agents in addition to top sellers. “We wanted to recognise people
who might have sold their first cruise or first few cruises, or had worked really hard but didn’t secure a place through the leaderboard,” she said. The agents were invited to bring
plus-ones on the cruise, which ended in Southampton on Friday morning.
AGENTS’ VIEWS
Jill Clough, Escapes Travel I’ve been a top seller for Celebrity Cruises for the last two or three years. I previously
came on Celebrity Apex in August 2024 and I was on holiday on Celebrity Infinity a couple of weeks ago. Seeing a ship makes it so much easier to sell. It’s
been a real privilege to be looked after and treated as well as we have by Celebrity. The Conversations with Celebrity session was invaluable.
Rhys Morgan, John Henry Travel This is my first time on a Celebrity ship. The trip has been brilliant from the
moment we boarded the flight until now. It’s been really well organised and the hosts have been very friendly and welcoming. Understanding the cuisine,
the drinks packages and the Wi-Fi will help me sell them as add-ons.
Shirley Harris, Cruise Nation It’s been amazing. Celebrity Cruises is always up there [in terms of quality]. The
shows in particular have been outstanding – they spend a lot of money on them, so they’re like West End productions. Celebrity really look after the agents on
fam trips and the river cruise presentation was great. It’s going to be exciting going into the river cruise market with Celebrity. I can’t wait to start selling.
Celebrity Cruises hosts 200 agents on fam sailing from Lisbon. Andrew McQuarrie reports
travelweekly.co.uk
PICTURES: Andrew McQuarrie
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