Your May 2025 Update from Michael Wilson

Hello and welcome to my May update!

April is always an exciting month for the team at Bolsover Cruise Club, and this year was no exception. As ever, a major highlight was the much-anticipated launch of P&O Cruises’ summer 2027 programme. With so many of you keen to book early, it resulted in a record-breaking performance. Although I was out of the office on launch day for the Caribbean, Baltic and Ligurian Tiers of The Peninsular Club, I logged in at 10am to see that over 500 bookings had already been placed – a testament to the speed and reliability of our bespoke agent system. I’ve often said how clever our systems are, and this was yet another demonstration of their capability to process a high volume of bookings quickly and accurately. This gives you, our customers, a huge advantage when securing your preferred cabins and grades, especially the ones that always sell out first. I remain confident that we are the best choice for your cruise bookings at launch time, offering both outstanding technology and industry-leading personal service.

The most popular cruise booked during the launch period was sailing K719 to the Western Mediterranean, departing on 15 August for two weeks. Impressively, Bolsover Cruise Club clients accounted for over 11% of all passengers booked on this voyage, meaning a significant number of our customers will be travelling on that sailing. Equally interesting, though perhaps not surprising, is that six out of the top ten cruises booked were longer sailings of 21 to 24 nights. This reinforces a clear trend that our clients tend to be more experienced travellers who favour longer, more traditional voyages over shorter getaways. 

You can read full details of the P&O Cruises summer 2027 collection here and, as always, our Cruise Experts are available if you have any questions or would like to make a booking.

This leads me on to a triple cashback promotion we are currently running on selected P&O Cruises sailings. When you book by 30 May, you will receive extra Cruise Club Cashback on Select Price bookings on departures between 1 June and 31 August 2025. I urge you to look at the sailings included in this promotion, especially if you haven’t yet booked a getaway this summer! You can see all the applicable cruises by clicking here.

Whilst I’m on the subject of P&O Cruises, you may have noticed over the weekend that the cruise line was once again the headline sponsor of this year’s BAFTA awards. Our Head of Marketing, Danny, and Assistant Marketing Manager, Eliana, attended alongside my son and Product Manager Oliver at the Royal Festival Hall in London. They all had a fantastic time as they walked the iconic red carpet and were invited to a drinks reception by P&O Cruises before enjoying the ceremony alongside a host of celebrities. In the few days since the event, we have seen significant interest in the brand, which has also led to a noticeable rise in bookings. 

Speaking of awards, I am delighted to announce that we have been nominated for Best Travel Agency for Cruise Holidays at this year’s British Travel Awards. Being recognised in this category is an incredible honour, and the overall winner will be determined by the public. Casting your vote is quick and easy – all you need to do is follow this link and submit your details. Everyone who casts their vote will be automatically entered into a draw to win a selection of prizes, which include cruises, travel vouchers, villa holidays and much more. Winners will be selected at random and notified by email in early November once the vote has closed. We are extremely proud to have been nominated for this award, as it recognises the exemplary customer service on which our business is built. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our customers for your continued support.

Elsewhere in the business, we are pleased to share that work has now resumed on Phase 2 of our air conditioning replacement project. This marks the next step in our ongoing commitment to providing a comfortable and efficient environment not only for our team, but also anyone who visits us in the Cruise Bureau. This remains open to the public by appointment only from 10am until 4pm, from Monday to Saturday. If you would like to book, please give us a call on 01246 819819 and we’d be happy to arrange an appointment. 

In the wider cruise industry, Cunard is preparing to celebrate its 185th anniversary later this month, an occasion that will be marked through various events. It has just been announced that Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will be involved in the festivities on 27 May, and receive a tour of the cruise line’s latest ship, Queen Anne, whilst she is docked in Liverpool. Following this, Cunard will officially open its ‘Sea of Glamour’ exhibition at The Royal Liver Building, which will run until 17 June and feature a collection of 185 photos of Hollywood icons, musicians, politicians and royalty from the Cunard archives.

You may recall from a previous update that Celebrity Cruises recently announced it would be entering the river cruise market in 2027. Many of you have already expressed an interest in this product, so I would like to take this opportunity to remind you to update your email preferences so you can receive all the latest information. You can update or overwrite your existing preferences by visiting this link and ticking the boxes of which sectors you are most interested in. If you would like to hear more about Celebrity River, make sure you have ticked ‘river cruises’ and we will send you updates and offers as and when we receive them.

Those of you who have registered to receive our Into the Blue magazine should soon receive a copy of the May/June issue. The main feature covers some of the most popular cruise destinations in the Atlantic Ocean, including the Canary Islands, and, as always, offers plenty of inspiration for your future holidays. If you would like a complimentary copy of Into the Blue delivered to your door, please register here, and we will add your details to our mailing list for forthcoming issues.

Lastly, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to leave us a Trustpilot review, as we recently reached a significant milestone of 8,000 customer reviews! I am delighted to see we have maintained a score of 4.9 out of 5, which is a testament to the level of quality service we provide. If you have booked with us and haven’t already left feedback on your experience, we would love to hear from you. I am extremely proud of this rating and hope we can continue to learn from the valuable feedback we receive.

Thank you for your continued support. And to those of you setting sail over the coming weeks, bon voyage and enjoy every moment of your holiday!