'2022 will be a great year for cruise' Titan Travel expert on future of cruising

Titan holidays is selling a swathe of exciting cruises for next year.

Here, Ben talks to World of Cruising's Vicky Mayer about his hopes and dreams for the future of travel and shared some exciting new company updates.

What can you tell us about your new Cruise & Tour holidays?

We’ve been running these hybrid holidays for a while but the new range represents a deeper destination focus on the ground touring side. We are the escorted experts so we wanted to combine our land holidays more heavily with our preferred cruise partners.

We are offering eight new holidays from May 2022 onwards and will be launching some more towards the end of the summer. Our lead-in price is £2,999 per person for the ‘Highlights of Eastern Canada Cruise and Tour’.

It’s also important to note that Titan Travel offers a price promise, where if we reduce the price of your holiday [after booking], we will pay the difference. We also offer a free pick-up from your home to your departure port or airport.

Can you talk us through a typical Cruise & Tour holiday?

A good example is our 15-night trip to South America. It’s a long way to travel for an Antarctic cruise so our trip offers customers six days on land before they join a 10-night cruise with Hurtigruten.

That gives customers the chance to visit Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and see the statue of Christ the Redeemer, visit the Iguazu Falls and have a tango dinner in Buenos Aires. It’s the sort of trip that really offers you the best of both worlds.

Can you recommend a tour nearer home?

I think our Italian Lakes and Med tour is going to be very popular. With this holiday you can visit two of Italy’s most popular lakes and stay overnight in San Moritz.

You will also get the chance to travel on the famous Bernina train in Switzerland. Following this, you’ll step aboard a great Holland America ship to cruise around Greece, Turkey, Croatia and Italy.

Do you need to be physically fit to enjoy these holidays?

It depends where you go. For instance, if you do an Antarctic cruise you will need to be moderately fit, whereas European holidays will be less strenuous. If you are concerned about this, just ask your sales consultant and they will advise you.

Which cruise would you personally like to join?

I’d love to go everywhere! But top of my list would be our new ‘Top of the World’ cruise to Norway, with new cruise line Havila Voyages. On this trip you get to experience Norway by coach, rail (on the Flam Railway) and sea too. It’s so much more than a cruise, so that would be my first choice.

Is this a difficult time to launch new itineraries?

Things change daily but we know our customers want to travel so we need to carry on making plans for great tours. Because these holidays don’t start until 2022, we have given ourselves enough time for things to settle down a bit.

Are your customers looking for bucket-list trips?

Yes, they’re telling us that they’re willing to pay more to travel longer and further. Like all of us, they are desperate to travel again.

Where do your customers most like to cruise to?

Alaska. It’s the number one destination for our customers, and no wonder – it’s a fabulous part of the world. They’re also very keen on the Galapagos Islands and Croatia.

What are your cruise predictions for the next 12 months?

Apart from our home-grown UK cruises, I think we’re going to see a relatively slow start. But as more countries and borders reopen, I think 2022 will be a great year for cruise and it will boom again.