LIST: SPECIALIST CRUISE AGENTS
These are UK-based specialist travel agencies featuring cruise holidays.
| Andrew Weir Cruises | 020 7575 6000 | Shipping agents who have been organising passages on cargo ships since the turn of the century. |
| Bolsover Cruise Club | 01246 819 819 | Long-standing family-run agency. |
| Cheshire Cruise Club ** | 08700 664497 | Specialist cruise agency based in Wilmslow, Cheshire. |
| Cruise.co.uk ** | 0870 220 1 220 | Discount cruise website owned by Birmingham-based Victoria Travel Service Ltd, who have been selling cruises since 1984. |
| Cruise Classified | 020 8515 4950 | Sub-brand of Voyana (See below). |
| Cruise Club International | 020 8466 7000 | Father & son team, the Dullops have been selling cruises at bargain prices for many years. |
| Cruise In ** | 01264 350750 | Family run cruise specialist |
| Cruise Line, The ** | 0870 112 1102 | Cruise-only direct-sell agency launched 1993. They are also the publishers of World of Cruising magazine. |
| Cruise People, The | 020 7723 2450 | Small specialist cruise agency founded in 1972 in Toronto, and opened in London in 1992. As well as handling all the major cruise lines they also sell cruises on small expedition ships and cargo freighters. |
| CruiseShop.co.uk | 01206 508888 | aka Colchester Travel, cruise specialist agency. |
| Cumbria Cruise Club ** | 0870 606 1531 | Specialist cruise club (free membership) offering cheap prices. Part of the Co-op Travel Group. |
| Dream Cruise ** | 01285 711414 | Specialist cruise agency in Gloucestershire since 2004. |
| Gill's Cruise Centre | 0800 160 1260 | **Business closed 15/07/11. Assets purchased by online travel agency P&P so it might re-appear** Small independent and innovative cruise specialist since 1957, based in Cardiff. They've now got a blog on cruising which they use to talk about cruise opportunities & deals, and they've created (15,000 downloads, Feb 11) a new iPhone & Android app that enables its customers to chat and review cruises online before, after and during their cruise. |
| Ideal Cruising ** | 0800 050 1093 | Cruise division of the Ideal Holidays group (independent travel agents). |
| Iglucruise.com ** | 020 8544 6620 | Cruises and cruise deals from P&O Cruises, Ocean Village, Cunard, Princess Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Fred Olsen, Island Cruises and other major lines. |
| Mundy Cruising | 020 7734 4404 | The first cruise-only specialist agency set up in 1970 by Paul Mundy (now retired) and now run by his former deputy MD, the indefatigable Edwina Lonsdale. There is still nothing anyone can teach this company about the cruise industry. |
| Page and Moy | 0800 567 6638 |  Page & Moy run their own cruises on a chartered ship (MV Athena) and sell Costa Cruises voyages. |
| Pick & Cruise ** | 01323 472 130 | Online cruise agency. Select a cruise online and book by phone. |
| Planet Cruise ** | 0870 300 3730 | Cruise agency website selling 7,000 itineraries on 22 cruise lines, all bookable online. Planet cruise is a brand of Freedom Travel Group, a subsidiary of United Co-op Travel. |
| Portland Direct | 08705 002200 | Portland Direct Holidays has a dedicated cruise brochure featuring just one cruise line: Thomson Cruises. Why is that then? Because Portland is owned by TUI, which owns Thomson. |
| Strand Voyages ** | 020 7766 8220 | Strand Travel have been famous for years for one speciality: cargo cruises. They organise cruises on container ships, freighters, bulk carriers, refrigerated ships, and even the proverbial 'banana boat' and Trinity House's Patricia. |
| Travel Renaissance | 01372 744 455 | River cruise specialist agency. |
| Vacations To Go | 0800 279 8084 | American cruise agency selling cruises to the UK, but prices still in dollars. |
| Voyana Cruise ** | 020 8385 9000 | Longstanding cruise specialist with a wide range of cruise offers. Voyana became the new name for Globe Corporate Travel (aka justvacations.com) back in Jan 04. |
| WA Cruise Specials ** | 08000 681 175 | This is the Wallace Arnold cruise agency site, offering a good range of cruises and plenty of experience/expertise. They've been at it for 50 years and they've got loads of awards, and credentials - in fact you don't often see a set of credentials like these: they are part of the Worldchoice agency chain, Leading Cruise Agents, and ABTA, but most significantly, they are a PSARA agency, and they are one of the elite AITO Specialist agencies. |
| White Star Cruises | 0845 643 1878 | Cruise agent claiming to specialise in luxury cruises. |
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Listings marked ** are members of the Association of Cruise Experts (ACE) - formerly known as the Passenger Shipping Association Retail Agents scheme (PSARA) - which sets standards, trains, and keeps specialist cruise agencies up to speed on industry news, events, trends and best practises. |
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Notes
- Archers Direct (0870 460 3898) the direct bookings operator, has been offering a selection of ocean & river cruises since Jan 04.