TL;DR
- The Wave Awards 2026 consumer shortlist went live on 13 August, compiled from a World of Cruising reader survey.
- One of the 10 categories is Favourite Cruise Travel Agent … a public vote celebrating agents by name.
- Voting closes 30 September, and the ceremony is 24 November at the Dorchester Hotel in London.
- Favourite Ocean Cruise Line has 12 nominees, including P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Cunard.
- Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is headline sponsor, with Marella Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and nine other lines backing it.
- The early-booking ticket deadline is 30 September too … same date to keep an eye on.
What’s Happening at the Wave Awards
The Wave Awards 2026 consumer shortlist went live on 13 August, and there’s a category in there written for you and your clients. Cruise Trade News published the full list after World of Cruising surveyed its readers on their industry favourites, so this is the reading public having its say rather than a closed judging panel.
There are 10 categories in total, and they cover the whole spread of the cruise world. Favourite Ocean Cruise Line is the busiest, with 12 nominees including P&O Cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Cunard. Alongside it sit Favourite Luxury Cruise Line, Favourite Ultra Luxury Cruise Line, Favourite River Cruise Line, Favourite Expedition Cruise Line, Favourite Land and Cruise Tour Operator, Favourite Cruise Port, Favourite Cruise Travel Influencer and Favourite Family Cruise Line.
A Closer Look
The one that stands out for anyone in the trade is Favourite Cruise Travel Agent. It’s a consumer vote, decided by the people who book, and it puts the agent’s role front and centre next to the big cruise-line names. That’s a nice thing to see on a public shortlist … the person who plans the holiday sitting in the same list as the ships themselves.
Look at who’s backing the night and you get the measure of it. Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is headline sponsor, with Marella Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and nine other cruise lines also sponsoring. That’s a broad slice of the industry lining up behind a single reader-voted awards night, which says something about where the trade puts its attention.
The Agent Angle
The dates set the frame. Voting closes on 30 September, and the ceremony follows on 24 November at the Dorchester Hotel in London. The early-booking ticket deadline is also 30 September, so both dates fall on the same day if attending is on the cards.
The do-it-today move is smaller than a night at the Dorchester, though. Pull up two or three past cruise clients you’ve not spoken to in a while, and send them a quick line: “The Wave Awards public vote is open until 30 September, and there’s a category for cruise travel agents this year. If your last cruise hit the mark, I’d be honoured to be your pick.” It’s a warm reason to reach out before the deadline, it reopens a lapsed client relationship, and it puts your name back in front of them with no hard sell. Clients who’ve had a good booking through you now have somewhere to say so publicly, and that message gives them the nudge to do it.
Where This Helps
Good news? None of this needs anything complicated from you. The shortlist is public, the dates are set, and that one message above is the whole job. Worth a look at the full list on the Wave Awards site too, to see which lines your regulars would recognise … it makes for an easy, upbeat conversation with anyone who’s got a cruise on their mind this autumn.
