Welcome to my cruise travel blog!

Hello, my name is Cheri and I am a travel agent who specializes in Cruises! I have been an agent with Cruises Inc for just over 4 years now. Cruises Inc is the worlds largest cruise only agency that is owned by WTH. With over 450 independent and 400 franchise owners we are offer our clients not only the best rates available but unpresidented customer service! I truley take my personal service very seriously. Whether you are booking a 3 night Bahamas cruise or a world cruise, whether you are a first timer or have cruised hundreds of times; I give my clients first class service each and everytime!
I was born and raised in New Jersey(exit 18,PKWY) in a town just miles past the GWB, called Cliffside Park. On February 26, 1983 I married Artie, just after that we moved to Key West Florida to run my Dad's hotel business. Then after 7 years and 3 sons later, we decided it was time to move back to NJ to be closer to our family and friends. Our fourth son was born and we raised our children in the same town I grew up in until 2004. My oldest son, Patrick graduated and attended his freshman year at East Stroudsburg University. This is when we decided to make a major move and found ourselves a wonderful community about an hour away in Freehold Township. The people are very nice and the schools are fantastic. Of course my #2 son, Ryan was not happy about our timing. Being a Jr in HS and having to move was not the greatest thing for him. However, #3, Tyler was to be a freshman and #4, Evan was to start middle school, 7th grade. I felt bad, but it was time to move, CP was not what it used to be and I could see a lot of changes happening that I wasnt particularly crazy about. Anyway, back in 2001, Artie and I took in to live with us my grandfather; Stephen. He lived with us until the day he died; this past January 22. We all learned a lot about him and ourselves, it was often difficult and trying at times, but I wouldnt change a minute of it. I miss him. That is how I partially come to tell you how I came into the cruise biz.
Artie and I took the boys on our first cruise in February of 2001. It was RCCL Explorer of the Seas! Of my! What a beauty she is! We sailed the Eastern Caribbean out of Miami and had a glorious time! I had always wanted to take a cruise, and for the same reasons I still hear today, I thought it was too expensive, too boring, too many people, not enough time on land... I learned very quickly on that cruise, that it was none of that! Shortly after returning home I started thinking about the next one!!!
Well, long story short, I did two more cruises, and found this company Cruises Inc and made a call. The rest is history. I flew to Florida several months later and attended my training and certifications. This was the perfect fit for me, with Grandpa needing constant attention, raising four sons and keeping my husband happy, this was perfect as I was able to do this and book dream cruises all from the comfort of my own home! It was a match made in heaven!
The first year was truley a learning experience and juggling all the things that needed juggling it wasnt as easy as it seemed it would be. There was so much to know about cruises, still today almost 5 years later I still spend most of my day reading and keeping up with the constant itinerary changes, new ship deployments, becoming an expert and keeping up with the certifications of each cruise line, also the constant changes to the cruise industry as a whole. It is not as easy as I thought it would be, however, it certainly fulfills my desire to stay involved with all that is "cruising"!
I start this blog by giving you a little background about myself and tell you that my plan is to give you important cruise info and updates. I hope to add pictures and links to websites that will help you stay on top of this ever changing world of cruising. The best tid bit I can share as a final closing is to tell you that 83% of the world has still not taken a cruise; I intend to grab a small portion of that business, and keep them coming back to me year after year!!!
Cheri
www.cruisesinc.com/cdiekhaus