Travel with Katie Butler: P&O launch 2025 cruise collection

Katie Butler writes: Last week we saw the launch and general sale of P&O Cruises summer 2025 collection.

Since the pandemic, along with mainstream holidays, cruises have really made a come back with many sailings sold out already for 2024.

A cruise holiday really is a fabulous way to see lots of destinations in one holiday and it pays to book early.

Not only does booking early mean you can choose where you want to be on the ship and also what time you want to dine, it also gives you some great fares.

As an example – a family of four can take a stunning seven nights cruise to Norway and the Fjords in May 2025 from a total cost of £1,358 per family.

This includes either free car parking in Southampton or a free coach from Leeds or Bradford, along with other pick up points across the UK.

A cruise holiday also offers incredible value for money – luxury accommodation, amazing dining with choice of where to eat, pools and whirlpool spas, theatre shows, live music, comedy, films and children's clubs. There really is something for all the family to enjoy.

The better priced cabins do tend to sell out first, for obvious reasons.

If you have not cruised before I certainly recommend you to take the plunge and they do say once you have taken a cruise you will almost certainly do it again, I can vouch for that.

It seems there is a glimmer of hope for Doncaster Airport as it has been recently announced that Doncaster Council has agreed to set aside £3.1 million to help save the regional airport from permanent closure.

If acceptable terms can be negotiated, owners Peel Group has offered to grant the council a lease to run the airport.

There is huge support for the re-opening of Doncaster Airport from the business community, the general public and cross party political members, including a petition with more than 100,000 signatures that have called for the airport to be saved.

Fingers crossed we hear of more positive news on this soon.

Spending on holidays and travel continued to grow last month according to the latest Nationwide Building Society's Spending Report which showed that expenditure on holidays rose 19 per cent year on year.

In fact spending on holidays and travel grew at a faster rate than other non-essential categories last month.

In addition, Barclays research also found that spending on travel – particularly with travel agents – is continuing to rebound faster than all other areas of non-essential spend.

We work very hard all year and it seems the last thing we want to give up when tightening the spending reigns is our well-deserved holidays.

Majorca and Tenerife were our best selling destinations for last week and late deal demand remains high with a huge 31 per cent of our bookings made last week to travel within the next 12 weeks.

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