Contributors
Terri Colby
is an award-winning journalist and a Chicagoan by birth and by choice who is happy to leave her hometown in winter. Her work has appeared in The Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune, and the Los Angeles Times, among others. She has cruised on tiny riverboats where crewmembers outnumbered the passengers, and on megaships with thousands on board.
James Lida
has held marketing roles at three cruise lines, a major cruise port, and a travel agency consortium. A former magazine editor, he has traveled by ocean liner, tall ship, and riverboat on more than 125 cruises. His Fort Lauderdale– based company, LidaComm, provides marketing services to a variety of cruise and travel companies.
Natalie Kessell
has sailed on more than 100 voyages around the world. Passionate about the industry, she’s contributed to a host of publications including Cruise Passenger magazine, Traveltalk, Vacation Goddess, and her blog The Travel Review. She’s also been featured on radio and TV discussing a range of topics from cruising to celebrities.
Dana McMahan
is a chronic adventurer, serial learner, and whiskey enthusiast based in Louisville, Kentucky, where she lives with her husband and two dogs in a home built in 1890. She has contributed to NBCNews.com, CNTraveler.com, the Los Angeles Times, Delta Sky magazine, Fodor’s, Lonely Planet, and other outlets.
Jason Leppert
is a 30-something cruise expert with more than 115 sailings under his belt. He’s been cruising since he was 2, thanks to his parents’ shared passion for travel. He’s the founding editor of PopularCruising. com and producer of the Popular Cruising YouTube channel; senior writer, cruises and cruise travel, at TravelPulse; and contributor to other outlets.
Heidi Sarna
has been writing about travel and cruises for more than 20 years, the past decade from Singapore where she’s been living with her family. Her credits include Frommer’s, Condé Nast Traveler, CNN.com, USA Today, Afar.com, and her latest project, QuirkyCruise.com, which is an online guide to small-ship cruises.