CRUISE HIVE - Key Persons


Catie Kovelman

Job Titles:
  • News Writer
Catie is an experienced, data-driven researcher, marketer, and journalist. She's an avid theme-park enthusiast and cruiser, mostly on Disney, Princess Cruises, and Royal Caribbean.

Donna Tunney

Job Titles:
  • News Writer
Donna is a travel news/feature writer and editor with 20-plus years covering cruise news, luxury travel, and destinations. Formerly at Travel Weekly and at USAToday.

Emrys Thakkar - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Founder
  • Managing Editor
Emrys has more than 17 years of experience working in the cruise industry. Worked for Carnival Cruise Line for eight years and founded Cruise Hive in 2008, a leading cruise blog.

Gillian Birch

Job Titles:
  • Ports Writer
Gillian Birch is a full-time travel writer and author of 12 travel books. British educated with a diploma in journalism she has traveled the world, writing about her experiences with wonderful clarity and eyewitness detail.

Haiyan Ma

Job Titles:
  • Writer / Social Media Manager
Haiyan has been a leading member of the Cruise Hive team since 2012. Worked on several cruise ships across multiple cruise lines and involved in the cruise industry since 2010.

Holly Riddle

Job Titles:
  • Cruise Ships Writer
Holly Riddle is a travel and food freelance writer whose work can be found in print and digital publications all around the world. She is additionally an entrepreneur specializing in content and marketing services.

Kendall James-Vargas

Job Titles:
  • Community Manager
With over 12 years of cruising experience, Kendall has enjoyed traveling on several cruise lines, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Costa, and MSC. Her continued passion can be seen over on the Cruise Boards

Lissa Poirot

Job Titles:
  • News Writer
Lissa Poirot has been covering travel for more than a decade, including sites such as TripAdvisor, CruiseCritic, The Points Guy, Family Vacation Critic, and Family Traveller.

Melissa Mayntz

Job Titles:
  • Senior News Editor
An avid cruiser (35 cruises and counting!), sailed on multiple cruise lines, 20+ different ships, visited ports of call in more than 6 countries, cruise writer for more than 6 years.

Paul Bartlett

Job Titles:
  • Audio / Script Writer
  • Writer
Paul Bartlett is an experienced writer and book author, along with degrees in photography, media and film. Paul can be found over on the Cruise Hive YouTube channel.

Robert McGillivray

Job Titles:
  • News Writer
Robert has worked for various cruise lines as Hotel Director and writes on cruise industry news and insights. Professional travel photographer and been part of the Cruise Hive team since 2020.

Steve Spears

Job Titles:
  • Travel Writer
  • News Writer
Steve is a travel writer with more than 30 years of cruising experience. He is formerly an editor at the Tampa Bay Times, Florida Travel & Life and Islands magazines.