CONTENTS
ABOVE: Ermoupoli in Syros, Greece PICTURES: Shutterstock/Georgios Tsichlis, Melnikov Dmitriy (front cover)
cruise contents 4 NEWS
8 THE BIG ISSUE 13 PORT REPORT 14 INTERVIEW 16 SELLING TIPS
editor’s welcome Celebrity, Windstar, Emerald, Ambassador TV shows usher in new opportunity for agents Top five sights to see in Vancouver Polar researchers Dr Scott Pallett and Bill Kwok How spa and wellness facilities can help bag a sale 18 GRAND VOYAGES
Wildlife and ancient history abound in Scotland; Luxury sailing on a three-masted ship in the Aegean
31 SPOTLIGHT ON . . . FESTIVE CRUISES Festive sailings for this year and next; Best Christmas
market cruises; Spend the festive season at sea 47 REVIEWS
Oceania Cruises’ Oceania Allura; Virgin Voyages’ Brilliant Lady; Royal Caribbean’s Star of the Seas
The Saturday before Christmas is said to be the busiest day of the year for shopping as people rush to pick up last-minute presents or stock up on the final few trimmings for the turkey roast. If your clients are the type to join the fray with those frantic shoppers, they’ve probably left it too late to book a Christmas cruise – this year, at least. Luckily, lines have their 2026 and even 2027 voyages on sale already, from Christmas markets to New Year celebrations, so why not suggest they give themselves the gift of a less stressful season and book ahead for next year with our guide to festive cruises (pages 31-45)? There are plenty of other seasonal sailings to enjoy, from finding out about scientific research in Antarctica from two Royal Geographical Society fellows (page 14), spotting seabirds and standing stones in northern Scotland (pages 18-20) and flitting from one gorgeous Greek isle to the next on a small-ship sailing in the Aegean (pages 22-26). Plus, find out how to turn the latest cruise TV shows into a marketing opportunity, so that when the cameras stop rolling, the sales start rolling in (pages 8-9). Now, I’d better start thinking about getting ahead on that Christmas shopping…
Katie McGonagle, editor, Travel Weekly Cruise Travel Weekly Cruise is published by Travel Weekly Group, Third Floor, 52 Grosvenor Gardens, London SW1W 0AU. Tel: 020 7881 4857
Editor Katie McGonagle Deputy editor Alice Barnes-Brown Contributors Jane Archer, Rebecca Barnes, Russell Higham, Kaye Holland, Ella Sagar, Xenia Taliotis and Yolanda Zappaterra Art director Flora Ioannou Art editor Paul McLaughlin Chief subeditor Mike Walsh Deputy chief subeditor Stephanie Krahn Travel Weekly Group editor-in-chief Lucy Huxley UK sales manager David Ramsden Production manager Nick Cripps UK chief executive Stu Parish Printed by Manson Press © Travel Weekly Group 2025 PART OF JACOBS MEDIA
travelweekly.co.uk/cruise
October 2025 3
Katie
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