Virgin Voyages revealed last week that it had placed an order with Fincantieri shipyard for three mid-sized vessels, with the first based in Miami from 2020.

The 110,000-tonne ships will carry 2,700 passengers and 1,150 crew, and will cost a total of £1.63 billion.

Virgin Voyages’ chief executive and president Tom McAlpin told TTG the new line would “definitely work with travel professionals”, and that it saw them “as an important option for our [customers].”

McAlpin added: “We haven’t set an on-sale date yet. We will start to release more information on the proposition late next year.” He added that Virgin was also planning to join Clia in the US “as a first step”.

Virgin Voyages looks set to face opposition from agents in the UK however, with many still angry about Virgin Holidays’ move to direct sell in October 2015.

TTG’s Top 50 Travel Agencies overall winner Nicole Eaves, owner of Garstang Travel, said: “Will we want to support their cruise product? At this moment my answer has to be no.

“We’ve all survived without them [Virgin Holidays] for a year and managed to switch-sell successfully. The question is will they survive without us?”

Graham Dullop, director of Cruise Club International, said Virgin Voyages could only have gone direct “for a year or 18 months” before it would seek trade support anyway.

“If they go direct, they have to simplify the product and if they do that, they minimise the opportunity for additional revenue. Nobody [in the cruise sector] has made an impact selling more than 15-20% of their business directly, because you can’t make cruise an easy 1-2-3 go purchase,” he said.

The Luxury Cruise Company’s general manager Scott Anderson agreed Virgin Voyages had little option but to work with the trade. “Cruise never sells well online unless clients know the cabin grades and the ship. If Virgin has the right suites and ambiance, we will sell it, but until we get more information, it’s hard to say.”

Anneka Bones, tailor-made consultant with Southern Cross Travel, said her agency would sell Virgin Voyages “depending on commission, training and trade support”, but added: “We would probably use other cruise companies first.”