The 2,800-passenger Celebrity Silhouette, which launched in 2011, will sail out of Southampton, offering itineraries in the Norwegian Fjords, Scandinavia and Russia and the Mediterranean, Canaries and Azores.

Silhouette will replace Eclipse, which has spent the last eight years sailing out of Southampton. As previously announced, Eclipse will now be homeporting in Dublin – the first large passenger ship to do so - from late April, offering a mini season until June.

Itineraries will include a 10-night Ireland and Iceland sailing, calling at Belfast; Reykjavik and Akureyri in Iceland; Lerwick/Shetland and Cork. It will also offer an eight-night Norwegian Fjords itinerary.

Jo Rzymowska, UK, Ireland and Asia managing director for Celebrity Cruises, admitted the sailings would likely be popular with the North American market, but said the line was expecting that at least 20% of the market would also be “sourced locally – both from the UK and Ireland”.

“There will be a really great mix of people onboard,” she added.

From late June Eclipse will move across to Amsterdam, offering a 12-night British Isles itinerary, and a 12-night Scandinavia and Russia sailing before moving to Barcelona in September.

Before the ship leaves its Southampton home in 2018 however, it will host a series of events in 2017 as part of a “farewell season”.

These will include a Modern Luxury two-night sailing to Le Harve, as well as a President’s Cruise, which will be joined by president and chief executive Lisa Lutoff-Perlo. There will also be The Wine Show itineraries, calling at European wine regions and featuring onboard wine tastings hosted by wine experts.

Meanwhile, for 2018, the line will also base two other Celebrity ships – Reflection and Constellation - in Europe, with both offering various Mediterranean itineraries.

Rzymowska dismissed concerns as to whether there was enough demand in the UK to meet the capacity. “Relatively so few people still cruise compared with the rest of the package market. There really isn’t an over capacity problem,” she told TTG.

“[Maintaining four ships in Europe] shows confidence in the European market and in the UK cruise market. We’re seeing good demand for 2017.”

Meanwhile she admitted that the Brexit vote had lead to some “currency challenges”, but said it had not impacted the business.

“You always have to look at what’s happening, and be conscious of the market. We expect there might be some currency challenges but we’re certainly not seeing any impact on sales overall. The business is holding up well and we’re seeing good demand from the UK.”

Elsewhere Rzymowska insisted the line had no plans to look at introducing ships dedicated solely to the Chinese market, as many other lines – including sister line Royal Caribbean – have done.

Instead, she said the new Asia remit added to her portfolio was more about encouraging the Asia outbound market to sail with Celebrity.

“This role is more about attracting affluent Asian customers who want to travel outbound. This is about working with our travel partners in Hong Kong and Singapore, Japan, India and mainland China – it’s not about changing the brand proposition,” she stressed. “It’s an Anglo-Asian strategy.”

“There are no plans for a bespoke ship for the Chinese market, our sister brand does that very well.”