Celebrity Cruises is expecting to see a boom in UK bookings, after it recently announced plans to base its Celebrity Eclipse vessel in Southampton from 2010.
Despite the credit crunch, the cruise line is anticipating that bookings for Mediterranean and northern European sailings will be extremely strong.
Robin Shaw, Celebrity Cruises vice president for the UK and Ireland, said: "It will do for Celebrity in the UK what Legend of the Seas did for Royal Caribbean International when [it] first launched cruises from Southampton in 2005.
"The trade and consumers could see Royal Caribbean was serious about the UK market, and the same will happen with Celebrity."
Celebrity Cruises associate vice-president and general manager UK and Ireland, Jo Rzymowska said they had been pushing for a UK departure, but never expected to be allocated a new vessel like the Celebrity Eclipse.
The cruise line currently offers sailings to destinations including the Caribbean, South America and Bermuda.
Written by Fiona Mayers