CONTENTS
ABOVE: Sorrento, Italy FRONT COVER: Celebrating the New Year CREDITS: Shutterstock/ Bahdanovich Alena, LUMIKK555
cruise contents 4 NEWS
8 THE BIG ISSUE 13 PORT REPORT 14 HOW TO SELL 17 INTERVIEW
editor’s welcome
River ship debuts, growth in the polar regions and the return of Clia’s Cruise Champions training
How is the industry meeting demand for solo travel? Must-see sights in historic German city Lübeck Tips for booking for new-to-cruise families AmaWaterways’ director for Colombia, Beno Atan 20 GRAND VOYAGE A shoulder-season sojourn through Italy and Croatia
29 SPOTLIGHT ON . . . CRUISE GUIDE 2026 New vessels on the horizon; five of the best lesser-
visited ports; keeping pace with the latest trends 49 REVIEWS
Disney Cruise Line’s Disney Destiny; Princess Cruises’ Star Princess; Riviera Travel’s Riviera Rose
How are your plans shaping up for the wave season? Are you the type to have your cruise e-blasts already written and social posts scheduled, or are you waiting to see which offers catch your eye so you can highlight the most timely deals to your cruise-loving clients? Savvy agents will be doing a bit of both, getting ahead of the game so any spare time can be spent bringing in those all-important January sales.
That’s why now is the time to get on top of what’s new for 2026 – from our calendar of the new ships you need to know (pages 30-36), to the ports that are growing in popularity (pages 38-41) and booking trends that might help you spot a gap in the market (pages 42-43). One of those trends is towards exploring the Med in the winter, so we joined an off-season sailing to find out whether it’s better without the crowds (pages 20-25). We also chat to the mastermind behind AmaWaterways’ new Colombia programme (page 17) and suss out the ongoing rise of solo cruising as one company devotes an entire ship to solo travellers (pages 8-9). Whatever your wave plans, there’s plenty to inspire your cruise sales in the pages that follow. Happy reading!
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, Lesley Bellew, Laura French, Tamara Hinson, Kaye Holland, Helen Ochrya and Ella Sagar 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 Stephens & George © Travel Weekly Group 2025 PART OF JACOBS MEDIA
travelweekly.co.uk/cruise
December 2025 3
Katie
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