The Directors Story
The only dedicated cruise store on the high street in the UK & Ireland with our flagship store based in Hoylake, Wirral, Merseyside and in 2025 we've added a 'cruise lounge' in Belfast to our fleet!
The Cruise Room dream was discussed between Directors Robert O'Grady and Jonathan Howitt 10 years ago when Jonathan managed 'Cruise Deals' for TUI in Liverpool. Despite the huge success of the store TUI decided to merge the store and have the Cruise Deals concept in their 'Superstore's rather than stand alone stores. However at the time Jonathan had options to fulfil lifelong ambition to work at sea with P&O Cruises and Robbie was leading key projects for Irish Health Service.
Fast forward several years and the world changed. After a number of contracts working at sea and years creating and developing a cruise business for Irelands leading Tour Operator, Jonathan lost his role due to Covid. Robbie was working 24/7 on Covid response for Irish Health Service but at the time was Ireland's only dedicated cruise influencer. The Cruise Room was back on the table and if not now, it would be never.
What followed was 12 months of research, there was much talking to industry representatives including CLIA, we worked on potential store design and our philosophy! On the 1st June 2021 The Cruise Room opened - a brand new dedicated cruise store on the high street. The pandemic raged, high street was in decline, the cruise industry on its knees, we had no customer base so starting from scratch but together the 2 of us strongly believed that people would return to cruise and when they did, they would want a more personal, supportive service with agents they could build relationships with.
Our flagship store is different from anything on the high street. We wanted guests to feel like they were onboard a ship when they stepped onboard; bringing the experience to life for first time cruisers and taking those more seasoned cruisers back to their happy place.
Our flagship store in Hoylake has an art gallery, a lounge, Guest Services & Future Cruise areas, our own glass topped atrium...even door mats displaying the day of the week just like the lifts on ships. With portholes displaying the latest port of call or at sea, with sounds and scents, it feels like you are on a ship when you step onboard. Our Cruise Lounge in Belfast has some similar moments to give you that shipboard feel
You'll find The Cruise Room crew are friendly, warm, personal, experienced, thorough, transparent and supportive holding your hand all the way through until you're home safe and sound. We'll work hard to get to know you, your likes and dislikes and ensure offerings are tailored to your tastes. There's a world of cruise lines out there all offering something very different and with over 100 years of cruising experience between our crew, we can ensure the right cruise lines, cruise ships, experiences for you. In fact if we feel something is not right for you, we'll say so... it's this refreshing honesty and fierce independence that brings guests back to us time and time again; guests trust us to take care of them and it's our pleasure to see the joy cruising brings to them as much as it brings to us. These moments are why we took so much risk to launch during the pandemic.
This website is here to inspire you, to act as a first step. We know how overwhelming the world of cruise can be. Once you have a sense of what you're looking for, however vague, just 'step onboard' on phone, email, social media message or in person. We'll work around you. We're not your average agency and we're looking forward to taking care of you.
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