Cruise Travel
Ocean cruises or river cruises — planned by a certified cruise specialist who redirects commissions to your church or missionary at no extra cost.
Cruising is one of the best values in travel — and one of the most misunderstood. The all-inclusive nature of a cruise means your budget is largely predictable before you leave home. You unpack once and wake up somewhere new. Meals, entertainment, and activities are included. And the sheer variety of ships, itineraries, and destinations means there’s a cruise for almost every traveler, budget, and family configuration.
The question is almost never whether to cruise. It is which line, which ship, and which itinerary — and those choices matter enormously. The wrong ship for your travel style is still a week away from home, and you cannot fix it mid-voyage.
That’s where a certified cruise specialist earns their keep.
I’m certified in both disciplines — a Certified Ocean Cruising Expert and a Certified River Cruising Expert — which is the practical reason this page can point you either way without a preference. The fare is the fare — nobody has a secret cheaper price on a cruise. What changes is which sailing you end up on, which cabin category is genuinely worth the upgrade, and whether anyone tells you plainly that a ship is a poor fit for the people traveling. I have the same access to group rates, onboard credits and promotional offers that any large agency has, or that you would get booking directly from the cruise line.
So do promotions. Kids sail free. Third and fourth guest free. Free gratuities. A drink package included. Free Wi-Fi. A hundred dollars in onboard credit — spending money loaded onto your account for use during the trip. The Black Friday sale. Those are the cruise line’s promotions. They aren’t the website’s. They belong to the fare, not to the place you happened to click. When a line runs an offer, I book that same offer — same price, same inclusions, same terms.
My Supplier Network
Go price your trip on the supplier’s own site. Bring me what you find and I’ll book it.
Ocean or River?
These are not two versions of the same holiday. They are different products for different trips — and most people disappointed by one would have been happy with the other.
Large ships, often several thousand passengers, with pools, theatres, a dozen places to eat, kids’ clubs and a new port every day or two. Caribbean islands, Alaskan glaciers, Mediterranean cities. There are sea days, which some travelers treasure and others find long.
Choose ocean if you are traveling with children or several generations, you want the most destinations for the money, or it is your first cruise and you want to find out what you enjoy.
Explore Ocean CruisesSmall ships of 100–200 passengers on Europe’s rivers — the Rhine, Danube, Douro, Seine. You dock in the center of historic towns rather than at an industrial cruise port, often walking distance from the cathedral. No sea days. The scenery goes past your window continuously.
Choose river if you want history over amenities, you would rather know 200 people than 3,000, or the thought of a water park on the roof is precisely what you are trying to avoid.
Explore River CruisesIf you are genuinely torn, that is a twenty-minute conversation, not a research project. Talk it through with me
Once you know which one you are, the detail lives on its own page — ocean cruises covers the eight major lines and where they sail; river cruises covers the European rivers and the ships that work them.
Seven mornings. Five minutes each. Take it with you.
A short devotional for the week you’re away — one reading per morning, a question worth sitting with, and something small to do. Take it on any trip.
Every cruise booked through Steward Travel participates in the Gratitude Giving Program. A meaningful portion of the commission goes to your designated church, missionary, or nonprofit — at no extra cost to you.
Sent after your trip is complete. On a typical family cruise booking of $4,000–$8,000, that’s $200–$400 directed wherever you designate. On a group cruise, significantly more.
Same ship. Same itinerary. Same price you’d pay anywhere else. Different destination for the commission.
A free 30-minute consultation will narrow down the right cruise line, ship, and itinerary for your travel style, budget, and group — and get your Gratitude Giving recipient on file before anything is booked.
