GoCruise and Travel with Rich Rochester

I'm proud to share that I've completed the CLIA Expedition Cruise Champion programme, a seven-month deep dive into one of the fastest-growing and most exciting corners of the cruise industry. Expedition cruising isn't mainstream cruising with a different paint job. It's a different way of travelling altogether: small ships, big landscapes, and itineraries built around wildlife, wilderness and discovery rather than fixed ports and packed schedules. Becoming a Champion meant getting under the skin of that world properly, not just learning the brochure version. What the programme involved CLIA's Cruise Champion scheme is a structured, hybrid learning programme run alongside the cruise lines themselves. Over seven months, it combined classroom training, monthly webinars, self-study, knowledge reviews and a final assessment, covering everything from destination and product knowledge to the sales skills needed to match the right client with the right voyage. Exped...

Everything you thought you knew about cruising, and why it's time to think again Let's be honest. When most people picture a cruise, they imagine a floating retirement home - buffets, bingo, and sunburn. But here's the thing: modern cruising is one of the most dynamic, diverse, and downright exciting ways to travel. And I've been helping people discover as a cruise specialist. So whether you've always been curious or you've been actively talked out of it, this is your honest, no-fluff guide to what cruising is really like in 2026. One price, endless destinations One of the biggest draws of a cruise is the value. Your cabin, meals, entertainment, and transport between ports are all wrapped into one price. You unpack once and wake up in a new destination every day or two. No dragging suitcases through airports, no rebooking hotels, no guesswork about getting from A to B. Think about it: one day you could be exploring a sun-drenched Greek island, the next you'r...