Press Releases

CruiseDirect Wins Gold at the 2026 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards for Its Blog, Beyond the Booking

OCTOBER 8, 2026

Recognition marks the company's third consecutive year as a Magellan Award winner

Morristown, NJ – October 8, 2026 – CruiseDirect, a leading online cruise booking platform under International Voyager Inc., has been named a Gold winner in the 2026 Travel Weekly Magellan Awards. The company's blog, Beyond the Booking: The CruiseDirect Blog, earned top honors in the Travel Advisor Organizations – Marketing: Blog category.

Beyond the Booking gives cruisers practical, trustworthy guidance at every stage of planning, from choosing the right cruise line and cabin to knowing what to pack for each destination. Every article starts with a real customer question. CruiseDirect's content team works closely with its cruise specialists to learn what travelers ask most often, from booking and boarding to onboard spending and shore excursions, and turns those conversations into clear, practical guides. The result is a library of more than 80 articles that answer the questions cruisers actually have, often before they think to ask.

This year's Magellan Awards drew hundreds of entries from leading travel organizations and professionals worldwide. The win follows CruiseDirect's two 2025 Magellan Awards for its AI-Powered Cruise Agent and One Tree Planted Program, and its 2024 Magellan Award for Marina, its AI-powered trip-planning tool.

“Our blog was built on the simple idea that the best cruise vacations start long before you book. We're honored that Travel Weekly has recognized the work our team puts into helping travelers plan with confidence, and we're grateful to the readers who trust us along the way,” said John Maguire, CEO of International Voyager Inc.

Winners will be featured in the Magellan Awards spotlight section of the November 16 issue of Travel Weekly. The full list of winners is available at travelweeklyawards.com/winners.

To read Beyond the Booking, visit cruisedirect.com/blog.

For media inquiries, please contact: Sarah Mead, Director of Marketing | smead@cruisedirect.com.

About CruiseDirect

Founded in 2021 and headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, CruiseDirect.com is a leading online cruise booking platform. The company helps travelers book deals across dozens of cruise lines and has received multiple Stevie Awards for Customer Service Excellence and Travel Weekly Magellan Awards, including recognition for its AI-powered trip-planning tool, Marina, and its blog, Beyond the Booking. The parent company has been named to the Inc. 5000 six times: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2019, 2020 and 2026.

About the Travel Weekly Magellan Awards

The Travel Weekly Magellan Awards honor excellence in travel and hospitality across design, marketing and service innovation. Winners are featured in a November issue of Travel Weekly. 

Our Partners

International Voyager and Celebrity Cruises have been working together for the last 10 years, and we have been able to forge a successful partnership, mainly due to them having an elite executive team, cutting edge technology and dynamic booking engine. I am confident that this partnership will continue to thrive and evolve for ten more years and beyond.

Dondra Ritzenthaler

Senior Vice President, Sales
Celebrity Cruises
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Cruise Direct and Costa Cruises have enjoyed a longstanding business relationship driven by their team's passion for the industry, their clients and our guests. They are experts at matching their cruise clients to the appropriate product thus insuring an enjoyable and memorable vacation experience. We appreciate their knowledge and enthusiasm for Cruising Italian Style on Costa which has resulted in outstanding customer satisfaction.

‎Scott Knutson

VP Sales & Marketing
Costa Cruises
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International Voyager continues to evolve and excel in a very fast paced and ever changing industry. John Maguire and his team deliver our brand as well as their customers with cutting edge technology and personal touch service. International Voyager’s team is creative, goal driven and will buck the status quo. It is these attributes that distinguish International Voyager from other travel companies and why we hold them in high regard. 

Adolfo Perez

Senior Vice President
Carnival Cruise Line
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International Voyager is an incredible partner to Royal Caribbean. They know the importance of having a human touch in this industry, even when operating as an online travel agency. Customer service comes first for them and it’s clearly taken them far. Simply by ensuring that each and every customer is satisfied, they’ve built a following of loyal repeat clients. Royal Caribbean couldn’t ask for a more trusted partner to plan our guests’ crusie vacations.

Vicki Freed

Senior Vice President
Royal Caribbean International
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International Voyager has been a valuable member of Vacation.com and we are very proud of the relationship we share with them. They are very passionate about selling travel and are focused on selling Vacation.com preferred suppliers. They also recognize the value of their Vacation.com membership by taking full advantage of programs we offer. We enjoy working with International Voyager and look forward to continued success.

John Lovell

President
Travel Leaders Network and Leisure Group
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Norwegian Cruise Line has enjoyed a great decade long relationship with International Voyager. They have the unique quality of being able to handle large volume with personal, intimate service because of their flexible technology that matches marketing to customers based on their personal behavior.  The International Voyager team is also one of the most nimble teams in the industry, allowing them to take advantage of our ever-changing environment.

Andy Stuart

Former President & CEO
Norwegian Cruise Line
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Vacations Start Here

For over 15 years, more than 33 million visitors and over 500,000 clients have enjoyed our award-winning service here at International Voyager. We’re proud to say that we offer responsive, hassle-free vacation planning for global travelers. Our multi-lingual websites offer rich, inspiring content, but that’s not all. Our interactive maps, smart search filters, and dynamic packaging — combined with our simple planning and booking platform — means you get an industry-best experience.

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