Agency Owner, Distinctive Voyage Host

I fell in love with cruising watching  “The Love Boat” TV show 'back in the day'. My first cruise was on my honeymoon, on Princess (of course) to Alaska.  I was thrilled to meet & chat with Gavin MacLeod (Captain Stubing) a few years ago on a Royal Princess inaugural cruise.  

To date I’ve sailed on almost forty ocean & river cruises on eleven different cruise lines including Carnival, Celebrity, Cunard, Disney, Holland America, Norwegian, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn and Uniworld. These cruises have taken me to the Panama Canal, British Isles, Greenland, Iceland, Alaska, Norway, France, Canada/New England, Bermuda, Bahamas, Hawaii, the Mexican Riviera, and just about all the ports in the Caribbean.  

I'm often asked what's my favourite cruise line or destination - but it’s hard to pick a favourite.  Of course, it’s always the best cruise when sailing with family regardless of the ship or destination.  It's so much fun sailing with our wee grandchildren (6, 6 & 3) who are already discovering the joys of cruising.

Other than cruising, I've stayed at Sandals St. Lucia, spent a week touring the sights in London, England and in March 2022 took my first post-pandemic trip, spending a week in Las Vegas celebrating my husband's 65th birthday.

In 2019, I was approved as a "Distinctive Voyage" host for this Travel Leaders program. My first hosting gig was on the Seabourn Quest to Eastern Canada. Although my next few hosted cruises were cancelled due to COVID-19, I was thrilled to host a large group last summer on a Celebrity cruise sailing from New Jersey to Eastern Canada, Greenland & Iceland.  My next hosting job is on Holland America on a 22-day cruise to South America & Antarctica in January 2025.

On a personal note, I was born in Welland and moved to Etobicoke when I was 3 years old. My husband & I were high-school sweethearts and bought our first home in Bolton where we lived for four years before moving to Lindsay thirty-eight years ago.  I am a graduate of York University's Business Administration program.  Robert is retired from the Toronto Fire Services where he worked in Etobicoke as a Professional Firefighter for over 35 years.  

Raising our family, we always managed to set aside time for family travel and cruising. We’ve passed this love of cruising on to our two sons who have each been on multiple cruises as well. Our grand daughter was the youngest passenger on her first cruise when she was just 9 months old.  

In 2003 I combined my business background and customer service experience with my love of cruises for a career change from the financial services industry to the travel industry as a Cruise Specialist, eventually opening own cruise-specialty agency in 2006 in the Whitney Town Centre in Lindsay.  The years have gone by so fast and it's hard to believe that we are in our 18th year of operation! In 2016 we moved to downtown Lindsay and in November 2021 moved to our current location behind the Lindsay Square mall.  The move was a good opportunity to re-brand the business and we changed our name to CRUISE HOLIDAYS PLUS to better reflect the fact that although we remain cruise experts, we are a full service travel agency. 

When it comes to cruises, I’m proud to say that I am an expert – there’s nothing about cruises that I don’t understand thoroughly and deal with daily.  I have the answers to the questions you haven’t even thought about asking.  I strive to ensure that your vacation is perfectly planned, hassle-free and exceeds your expectations by efficiently managing all of the travel-planning details from the moment you start dreaming until the moment you return home.  I’ve achieved the designations of Elite Cruise Counselor and Luxury Cruise Specialist from the Cruise Lines International Association, and I am also a Princess Alaska Expert. 

In addition to the delights of being out on the ocean on a big beautiful cruise ship, ten years ago I achieved a life-long dream of living full time on the water, when we bought our family ‘cottage’ on Balsam Lake from my father, now our permanent home. I’m also considered a bit of a “speed demon.” I simply love being in motion: on our Seadoos, or on a sailboat, ATV, Segway or dune buggy in the ports of call. 

In my spare time, I am thoroughly enjoying being a Grandma to our two five-year old grand-daughters and our 3 year old grandson. I’m putting my hobby of scrapbooking to good use, creating books of memories that I hope they will treasure for years to come. 

It’s important to me that we provide our clients with our personal experience and insights as they rely on our “been there, done that” insider knowledge to help create personalized dream-come-true vacations. With so many cruise options out there, it can be overwhelming - but that is what I'm here for. After all, your vacation is an investment of precious time and money - why not consult an expert and make sure you get it right?