Concierge cruise planning · Since 2009
We are independent cruise advisors who pair travelers with the right ship, suite, and itinerary — then layer in the small details that make the difference between a nice vacation and a story you tell for years. No booking fees. No upcharges. No pressure.
Cruise styles
Most regret in cruise planning comes from picking the wrong ship for the trip you actually wanted. We start with how you want to feel on day three, then work backward to the cruise line, ship, and cabin.
Suite-only ships, butler service, and included excursions on Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Explora, and Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection. We secure the cabin categories that sell out twelve months ahead.
Disney, Royal Caribbean, MSC, and Virgin — sailings where the kids' clubs are actually good, the grandparents have a quiet deck, and you all reconnect at dinner. Connecting cabins held early.
Viking, AmaWaterways, Uniworld on the Rhine, Danube, Douro, and Mekong. Quark and Lindblad in Antarctica and the Galápagos. Lectures, naturalists, and shore programs that earn the days.
Virgin Voyages, Viking Ocean, Oceania, and Saga — calm decks, late dinners, and itineraries built around long port stays. Ideal for honeymoons, anniversaries, and milestone trips.
Destinations
Six regions we travel personally. Within each we know the ships that handle the seas well, the ports worth lingering in, and the dates worth paying a small premium for. We share the trade-offs honestly, then you decide.
Year-round · best Nov–Apr
From quiet Eastern Caribbean private-island days to the foodie ports of the ABC islands. We know which itineraries skip Nassau, which suites have the wide balconies, and which ships actually feel calm at sea.
May – September
Glacier Bay vs. Hubbard, Inside Passage vs. one-way Gulf, small ship vs. large. We pair the route with the right cabin side (port-side, always, for southbound) and lock in shore excursions early — float-planes and bear watches sell out by March.
April – October
Western, Eastern, and Adriatic routes that move at a sane pace. Late-stay Santorini, overnight Istanbul, the small ports most ships skip. Pre-cruise stays in Rome, Barcelona, and Athens arranged with our partner hotels.
May – August
Norwegian fjords, Baltic capitals, Iceland & British Isles. We plan around midnight-sun timing, fjord access at golden hour, and St. Petersburg alternatives that have replaced it well.
March – November
Cherry blossom sailings, Japan circumnavigations, and Southeast Asia routes from Singapore through Vietnam and Thailand. Cruise-and-stay programs in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hong Kong with vetted local guides.
October – April
Tahiti, Fiji, the Great Barrier Reef, and New Zealand fjordlands. Small-ship Polynesia sailings on Paul Gauguin, large-ship Australia/NZ routes, and the rare grand voyages that cover them all.
Why a specialist
Anyone can put a deposit on a cabin. A specialist matches the ship to the traveler, anticipates what will go sideways, and quietly fixes it before it touches your trip. That's the difference — and it's why our clients sail with us again.
Between our advisors we've been aboard 142 ships across 28 cruise lines. We know the deck plan quirks, the loud cabins, and which suites are worth the upgrade.
Cruise lines protect their published fares, so our pricing matches theirs. The difference is the perks we add: onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, specialty dining, and shipboard surprises.
We're not owned by a cruise line. We recommend the ship that fits you, even when it costs us a higher commission elsewhere. The right trip earns repeat clients.
Flight delays, missed ports, dining swaps, room re-categorizations, refunds, FCCs, insurance claims. The plan anticipates common disruptions before they interrupt the trip.
Through our consortium relationships we access amenities normally reserved for groups of 8+, applied to single cabins and couples. Often $300–$1,200 in added value per booking.
We don't charge planning fees, change fees, or service fees. We're paid by the cruise line at booking. You pay the same fare you'd find anywhere — with us in your corner.
Planning process
Our planning process is intentionally slow at the start and intentionally invisible once you've sailed. The work is the detail, not the dashboard. You should feel like someone is paying attention — and otherwise hear from us only when we have something useful to say.
We start with your travel rhythm: what made past trips great, what made them frustrating, mobility, dining tastes, and the calendar window you're protecting. No pitching ships yet.
We send a short proposal: two or three voyages we think fit best, with the trade-offs spelled out. Cabin recommendations, pricing with our added perks, and any flight or pre-cruise stay considerations.
Once you decide, we hold the cabin, place the deposit, and lock in our group amenities. Where useful we secure dining reservations, spa appointments, and shore excursions before they release publicly.
Final payment reminders, document review, embarkation timing, packing notes specific to your itinerary, dietary requests, and the small stuff: anniversaries, birthdays, dietary requests forwarded to the ship.
If a port is missed, a flight diverts, or a dining venue you wanted is full, your preparation notes help you respond quickly without spending the trip on hold with reservations.
Quick debrief — what worked, what didn't, what we should remember for next time. We file the notes against your traveler profile so the next planning round starts smarter.
Clients
“We've taken six cruises with them now. The difference is the small things — the table by the window every night, the right cabin side through Glacier Bay, the dining reservations that were impossible to get on our own. We don't book any other way anymore.”
“I called three weeks before our anniversary panicking that everything good was sold out. She found us a Penthouse on Silversea with a Maine itinerary that ended up being the best trip we've ever taken. Worth every quiet hour of her work.”
“Our flight got cancelled at 4am the morning of embarkation. I texted, expecting nothing for hours, and had three rebooking options back within twenty minutes. They re-protected the entire trip while we were still at the airport.”
Frequently asked
No. We don't charge planning fees, booking fees, or change fees. Cruise lines pay us directly when your booking sails. The fare you pay through us is the same fare you'd find anywhere — typically with added perks like onboard credit, prepaid gratuities, or specialty dining included.
Cruise lines enforce uniform fare pricing across all sellers, so the published fare is the same wherever you book. What changes is the value layered on top. We add group-rate amenities, consortia perks, and our own onboard credit, which often nets out to $300–$1,200 in added value per booking.
All of them. We book Regent, Silversea, Seabourn, Explora, Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection, Viking (Ocean, River, Expedition), Oceania, Crystal, Cunard, Holland America, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Disney, MSC, Norwegian, Virgin Voyages, Carnival, Atlas, Ponant, Hurtigruten, Aurora, Quark, Lindblad, Paul Gauguin, AmaWaterways, Uniworld, Avalon, Tauck, and the smaller expedition operators.
Existing holds can often be transferred within the cruise line's transfer window, typically 30–60 days from initial booking depending on the line. You keep your cabin, deposit, and price while adding a more structured planning process around the rest of the trip.
Yes. We arrange flights through cruise-line air programs when they make sense (and skip them when they don't), and we build pre- and post-cruise stays through our partner hotel programs, which usually include breakfast, an upgrade if available, and a hotel credit.
The planning process includes practical pre-cruise preparation for schedule changes, missed connections, port updates, dining swaps, and room re-categorizations so you know what to do before a small issue becomes a vacation problem.
Suite categories on luxury, expedition, and small-ship lines often sell out 12–18 months ahead. Mainstream lines have inventory closer in but the best cabin locations go early. As a rule: 9–14 months for popular itineraries, 14–18 months for suites, 18–24 months for grand voyages and world cruises.
Often. First-time cruisers are where a specialist matters most — there's no expensive way to learn that you booked the wrong ship for the trip you wanted. Most of our first-time clients become repeat clients within two years.
Begin planning
Share a few details so we can shape a first-pass cruise plan around your route, timing, travelers, and budget. No automated drip campaigns, no pressure to book.