New CLIA webinars and virtual ship visits to feature 'insider' hints and tips

CLIA has unveiled a series of virtual trade events to showcase new and existing ships.

The first of five complimentary ‘CLIA Introduces’ webinars is scheduled to take place on Thursday (March 25) with MSC Cruises and Ponant, and will give travel agents “insider information, selling hints and tips”.

In each webinar two cruise line representatives will host an hour-long session.

All webinars will be on Thursdays at 9.30am and feature the following cruise lines:

25 March – MSC Cruises and Ponant
13 May – Carnival Cruise Line and Holland America Line
27 May – Scenic Cruises and Avalon Waterways
3 June – Royal Caribbean and P&O Cruises
10 June – AmaWaterways and TBC

CLIA is also reintroducing a second round of its virtual ship tours. The tours, which give agents “expert on-board insight”, were launched last year and are back following popular demand from the trade, CLIA said.

The hour-long sessions are free and will launch on 8 April 2021. They will be held on Thursdays at 9.30am over four weeks in April and May.

Four cruise line representatives per session will give the lowdown on ships that are either a firm favourite with UK passengers or largely based overseas.

The schedule is:

8 April – Carnival Cruise Line, AmaWaterways, Fred Olsen Cruise Line and APT
15 April – Celebrity Cruises, Holland America Line, Marella Cruises and Seabourn
29 April – A-Rosa, Oceania Cruises, Princess Cruises and Nicko
6 May – Amadeus, MSC Cruises, Silversea and Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection

CLIA UK & Ireland director Andy Harmer said: “We are delighted to announce these sessions following a fantastic response from the trade to the virtual sessions we introduced last year.

“With cruise now firmly on the travel agent agenda, and all of us looking forward to its phased return, now is the perfect time to learn more about the amazing ships that will begin taking to the water soon.”

Attendance at a virtual ship tour will count as credit towards the CLIA Level 2 (ambassador) certification, in place of in-person ship visits.

Each session counts as one ship visit, so attendance at three will meet the requirements of ambassador-level certification.