History in the Making

Cruise Nation was founded in 2009 by Phil Evans who wanted to change the common misconceptions about cruising. Believing that cruises could be a mainstream holiday of choice for the masses, he set about developing a team to help him achieve his goals. Starting with just 4 team members, Cruise Nation quickly developed in the industry with their focus on creating low-cost Smart Packages which made booking a cruise holiday simple for first-time cruisers by fully including the cruise fare, flights and hotel stays to add value for money. The success of the Cruise Nation Smart Packages led to successful business partnerships with the likes of Costa Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruise Line; earning Cruise Nation several notable awards including ‘Best UK Agent Growth’ for Costa Cruise Line, ‘Agent Account Development’ for Princess Cruise Line and ‘More Than a Million for Norwegian Cruise Line’.

During 2014 to 2015, Cruise Nation developed recognition and notoriety in the travel industry, claiming even more awards such as CLIA’s Rising Star and Best Online Travel Agent at the Wave Awards. Cruise Nation’s continued success saw them beating travel industry titans to the successful win of Best Cruise Holiday Retailer at the British Travel Awards.

In 2015, Cruise Nation soft-launched cruise holiday packages which were fully bookable online – an industry first! Priding themselves on being at the forefront of travel technology, this new system has enabled Cruise Nation customers to seamlessly build their perfect holiday online and get the best possible price for it. Earlier in 2016 Cruise Nation relocated to a new expansive office space, complete with modern facilities and the potential to increase the team from 35 to 50 employees. By developing the team, Cruise Nation was able to develop their products too which kick-started the launch of Maison du Cruise; a bespoke offering of luxurious, tailor-made cruise holidays.

Today, Cruise Nation provides holidays for a diverse mix of 16 different cruise lines, ranging from impact travel brands like Fathom Cruises to the most luxurious of cruise lines such as Regent Seven Seas. This range of choice allows Cruise Nation customers to have access to over 120 different cruise ships and thousands of different itinerary packages for destinations that include the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Norwegian Fjords and even more remote, speciality locations such as the Polar regions.

The Cruise Nation commitment to providing the best-value cruise holidays, has helped to win loyal and supportive customers, 89% of whom would recommend Cruise Nation and 87% of whom plan to book their next holiday with us. As a trusted Feefo Gold Merchant, Cruise Nation has earned 4 ½ stars from thousands of reviews from happy customers, demonstrating that low-cost holidays and fantastic customer service can be combined.

Whilst the Cruise Nation history has been filled with successes, 2016 marks the cornerstone of an exciting journey to come. With a future filled with new partnerships, an expansion into the homeworking arena and plans for global growth, this year truly marks Cruise Nation’s history in the making.

On the 22nd November we hosted a special event at Margam Park Orangery in South Wales to mark pivotal moment of growth for Cruise Nation. Our ‘History in the Making’ event was designed to bring our team, customers and business partners together in one place so we could reflect on our journey so far and reveal some of our exciting new plans and developments for 2017, including the launch of our new employee uniform.

On this page you can discover the videos we used to share our story on the evening as well as photos of our guests and entertainment.

Videos

Guest Comments

Dear Phil Evans,

Congratulations for a superb and successful evening. The entertainment was brilliant, the food most enjoyable and the company exhilarating. From Betty and I, many thanks for our invitation, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Regards,

Betty Collins and Alan Roberts

Dear Phil Evans & Team,

Thank you for the invite and to one and all for a fab night, both me and my husband really enjoyed.

The choir and fireworks at the end were superb. We had wonderful company on our table. Hannah from Carnival and your own Karen Lake, what a lovely lady. I told her I'm asking for her when I book our next cruise. Also there was Julie, I think the owners niece, a manager, another lovely lady.

We are going on The Celebrity Summit next Wednesday, booked with Paul last week.

Thanks again

Meryl

A loyal customer.

Dear Phil Evans,

Hi I must thank you for our invite to last night's do, it was superb in all aspects.It was nice to meet you and our table hosts serena and kelly and also stewart from Norwegian Cruise Line who was most informative and all were a pleasure to converse with on a range of topics. Once again many thanks and we look forward to doing business with you in the not too distant future.

Dear Phil Evans,

First of all Brenda and I would like to thank you and Cruise Nation Staff for a wonderful hospitality last night at the Margam Country Park the Orangery.

Could you please extend our gratitude to the Company Directors and also on our table hosts Charlotte and Stefan.

With regards

William and Brenda Davies

Dear Phil Evans & Team,

My wife and myself would like to thank you, and all the staff, for a wonderful evening at Margam Park.

The food, entertainment and the company were exceptional.

We will definitely be booking our cruises through Cruise Nation in the future.

Many thanks, Bill and Stella Francis

Dear Phil Evans & Team,

Moyna and I would like to thank everyone at Cruise Nation for the wonderful evening we had with you all at Margam Orangery.

The company, food and entertainment was wonderful and it was so good to put faces to the familiar names and to be able to talk with you all.

Again thank you all very much and we look forward to booking our next cruise with the country's number one travel agent.

Ray Di Francesco

Dear Phil Evans,

What a fabulous evening Maureen & I had with you all last night. Such a fabulous experience joining your celebration of the success of "Cruise Nation". Well done to one and all.

We have in the past given wonderful reports to family and friends regarding our time with holidays that we had via your company. This experience will only add more praise for you all.

Again, thank you all so much. Our cruising in the future could only be made via one company, "CRUISE NATION".

Best Regards, Maureen & Gareth Toms

Dear Phil Evans,

Thank you so much for inviting Sarah and me to the glorious celebration last night. We had a wonderful time and thought the evening was quite magical.

All the hard work that went into making such a marvellous event is greatly appreciated.

With very best wishes,

Christine x

Dear Phil Evans & Cruise Nation Team,

My wife and I didn't have chance to speak you last night so I would like to say a thank you to yourself, Phil and your staff for a superb evening. We had a great time last night from the start to the end of the event.

Thanks once again.

Kind Regards

Peter Colgan

Dear Phil Evans & Team,

A big thank you to Phil and the team for a fantastic evening last night.

Better than a night on a cruise !!! All went extremely well - fantastic organisation.

Hope to book next cruise shortly.

Best Regards

David & Gaynor Oak.

Dear Phil Evans and Team,

Rob and I just wanted to say what a wonderful evening you put on for everyone last night.

We had a lot of fun, met new people and the entertainment was fantastic, especially the male voice choir and fireworks.

Please pass our thanks on to Mr Phil Evans and his team for organising and all the people who helped with the arrangements.

We are leaving in an hour on our cruise round the Med (thanks to your company!) and will be in touch when we return

Best wishes

Philippa Pickford

Just a note to thank you all at Cruise Nation for a really enjoyable evening last Tuesday at Margam Orangery.

Richard and Diane Onions

Supplier Comments

Phil & co,

That’s me just back in the office today.

What a superb night and show you put on for us on Tuesday night. I thought it was excellent in it’s uniqueness, something different for sure. Not just that but a great mix of people – the older couple I sat next to were great craic, and very good to hear how much they all love you guys!

Thank you very much again for the invite, really appreciated and very very nice to be part of the event. You look to have a superb operation at Cruise Nation and one can only get bigger and better, again I hope to be part of the success.

I have some excellent pic’s and 2 superb videos (one of the models and one of the choir – THE CHOIR!! How amazing were they! I just love that sort of thing and without a hint of hyperbole the ‘time to say goodbye’ song has constantly been in my head).

Thank you once more :- )

All the very best for now and speak soon.

Andy Charlton - Head of Travel Partnerships - Northern & Shell

What a night ;) Thank you Phil, I really enjoyed it. You did an amazing job.

Antonio Paradiso - Managing Director UK & Ireland - MSC Cruises

Phil,

Thanks so much for last night!

Great evening and great company, so thank you so much for letting me be part of it. You've done an amazing job with Cruise Nation and you should be incredibly proud

Hope to catch up soon

Stuart Parish - Managing Director - Travel Weekly

Dear Phil,

Many many many congratulations on such a superb event - everyone, including me are talking great things about it. Very nice and set a very high bench mark! It had everything buddy. Congratulations and thank you for allowing us to be Part of it.

Congrats to the whole cruise nation team - well planned and well executed! I loved the fashion catwalk showing the uniforms and the choir outside was the best to me personally. Great great great event!

Iain Baillie - Managing Director UK Sales - Carnival Cruise Lines

Morning Phil,

Thanks so much for a great night last night - was a brilliant event so hope you enjoyed it & are pleased with how it all went.

Thanks again,

Melissa Hobson - Account Director - Rooster PR

Dear Phil,

I just wanted to thank you and the Cruise Nation team for providing both me and Simonne with a wonderful evening on Tuesday at Margam Park.

We were thoroughly entertained throughout the night and were also pleased the weather remained cold but dry so we could enjoy the choir and fireworks too. Equally, the meal was absolutely delicious. So all in all, well done, especially to you for putting so much effort into it.

Kevin Bishop, Cruising Excursions