About Cruise Norway
Cruise Norway offers small ship expeditions to Norwegian Fjords, Antarctica, Spitsbergen, Greenland, Iceland, Northwest Passage, Arctic Canada, Alaska and even the North Pole! Since 1999, thousands of happy customers have relied on our expertise to select the best trips and ships at the lowest prices. Cruise Norway's volume and long-term relationships provide consumers with excellent pricing and the best service available, through a staff dedicated to helping you find the right cruise at the right price. Our head office in USA is located at 373 Broadway, New York City. We have representatives in many parts of the world, including the USA, Canada, Central America, Norway, India and Estonia.
ANNE TAAL
Managing Director
Anne is mesmerized by the seas and nature. ‘’My grandfather sailed the world on old merchant ships and told us bedtime stories - - really fairy tales to us children about the seven seas and adventures ashore’’. In the footsteps of her grandfather, she is passionate about the seas and the most remote areas of the world. She has crossed the Antarctic Circle twice and sailed to 80 degrees north on expedition ships visiting many destinations in between the poles. She has led an international sales team and been the product manager and trainer for Hurtigruten teams for over 11 years. Anne is of great value to Cruise Norway and its customers. If you do not know which expedition is suitable for you, she will give you expert advice. Anne takes pride in finding the best suitable expedition cruise for families and solo travelers alike. In her spare time, she treasures time with her family, and the Estonian wilderness with its unique moors and beautiful lush forests. Anne speaks English and German and her team handles all inquiries for the entire world. She is excited to hear from you!
DANIEL PLISKE
Senior Expedition Advisor North America
Daniel is a highly experienced professional and enthusiast in the travel and tourism industry, with over 10 years of experience. He previously served as a Personal Expedition Advisor at Hurtigruten for 2.5 years, where he assisted guests and travel agents with new bookings, customer service, and travel preparation needs. Prior to that, he was the Sales and Marketing Manager for Access Asia Tours, a boutique luxury tour operator specializing in private custom tours throughout Asia. He also has experience in copywriting and consulting for International Experiences, as well as organizing a major promotional event for the China National Tourism Office.
Daniel holds a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a master's degree in tourism management from Colorado State University. He has studied abroad in Japan, South Africa, and Europe, and has taught English as a foreign language in South Korea. He has extensive personal travel experiences, having visited more than 42 countries on 7 continents, and has a vast global knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
Daniel currently resides in Seattle, Washington with his wife and cat Khaleesi. He enjoys traveling and exploring Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, and likes to take walks on the beaches and in city parks. He is also fond of hiking, skiing, kayaking, and camping. As the Senior Expedition Advisor for North America, Daniel is dedicated to serving your travel planning needs and arranging outstanding and memorable world-class travel experiences.
ANN SINCLAIR
Senior Expedition Advisor North America
Ann is from Sydney Australia and has travelled extensively though Australia, South Pacific, Asia, Middle East, Europe and North & South America. She is a cruise industry veteran with over 15 years of experience in the industry. In Australia, Ann worked with the Carnival Corp brands Princess, P&O, Cunard and Carnival as well as the Norwegian Cruise Line’s luxury brands Oceania and Regent Seven Seas. In her outbound sales role, she worked with direct customers and matched their lifestyle and interests with the best suitable cruises. Since moving to the U.S. four years ago, she has worked with Hurtigruten Expedition and Norway Coastal cruises assisting, both travel professionals and direct customers with bookings and customer service. When Ann is not working, she is either traveling or visiting family in Canada.
STEVE CAPPA
Senior Expedition Advisor North America
Steve is a passionate travel professional with over 25 years of experience in the Travel Industry. After growing up in Tacoma, Washington, he attended travel school in Minneapolis, Minnesota where he excelled. He later went on to work for Holland America in various positions (Reservations Lead; Tour Inventory; and Ship Inventory Specialist) for almost 11 years. Since leaving Holland America, he’s owned his own travel agency and has worked for Hurtigruten as a Senior Agent for 2 ½ years. Steve has enjoyed traveling to Norway, Europe, Tahiti and numerous tropical destinations. He currently lives in Central Florida with his husband of 8 years with their three dogs. Steve is very excited to be working with Cruise Norway again to create amazing guest experiences, Steve enjoys traveling, playing games and hosting friends and family in Florida.
DANIELLE WULF
Senior Expedition Advisor Australia, South Pacific & Latin America
Dani comes from a wealth of Travel and Tourism Industry knowledge offering a broad range of experience for over 20 years. She has experience in luxury resort management and she owns a large scale event company catering to over 1000 delegates, alongside handling airline ticketing and chartering.
Dani has a vast sales and marketing and business background ranging from retail travel management to owning a small boutique travel/café in Guatemala. She is an avid travelling Australian with a passion for culture and experiences, and she thoroughly enjoys sharing her own travel stories amongst her clients to enrichen their own travel adventures.
Dani lives between Guatemala, Fiji Islands and Australia, with the ease of online communications making it all possible. Dani has voyaged to all continents including Antarctica, and she is ready to tailor your exact travel needs and dreams.
MATTHEW GRAY
Senior Expedition Advisor Europe & ROW
Matthew was born in California, but grew up in the mountains of Montana where there are more cows than people. He spent much of his youth exploring, camping, backpacking, snowboarding, and getting lost in the mountains. Matthew’s sense of adventure was inspired by his father’s stories of riding his Harley on the vast open roads in western United States. Matthew also noticed that there was more to the world than just the back yard when traveling back and forth to California for family reunions. His adventures took him even farther, and today Matthew lives in Tallinn, Estonia. He enjoys city life and on the weekend his family escapes to their summer house in the countryside. Here he and his wife teach their two children about nature while exploring the ancient Estonian forest. After a day in nature, sauna awaits. Matthew has been a rafting guide, and he has worked for Hilton Hotels and Hurtigruten as a U.K. & APAC Team Leader.
SARAH ONG
Expedition Advisor Europe & ROW
Sarah is a travel “fanatic” from Malaysia, the land of rich food and cultural diversity. At a young age, she has travelled to more than 25 countries across Southeast Asia, Far East Asia, Middle East and Europe. After years of being in sales and business development roles in the SaaS and FMCG industries, she has joined the Cruise Norway European team in Tallinn, Estonia. Sarah has developed an innate curiosity about diverse landscapes, captivating histories and vibrant traditions in cultures she has encountered through her personal travel experiences. She fondly recalls camping trips with family in the lush rainforests of Malaysia as a child and exploring the ancient temples of Cambodia as a young adult. Sarah is always that “friend that plans the trips” and now she gets to be that “friend” that helps YOU plan your next adventure with Cruise Norway. Sarah speaks several languages fluently, including Mandarin.
IVO BUCHMANN
Senior Expedition Advisor Germany
Ivo grew up in Berlin. From early childhood, he dreamt about becoming a sea captain! He still may become a captain one day, but today he is an avid sailer on small yachts and sailboats. He also enjoys kayaking. He Is a lover of Ocean seafaring, and he has explored Norway, Greenland and the Arctic. He worked for Hurtigruten Coastal and Expeditions for 7 years. He helped clients as part of the Hurtigruten Customer Care Team. Today, Ivo lives in Estonia and his hobbies are travelling, hiking and sailing. Besides German, he speaks English and Russian. Ivo always strive to find the right voyage and cabin for clients. He is very familiar with the layout and special features on the expedition ships. He enjoys speaking with customers and live by the motto that “if you know the beauty of this World, you treat the planet and humans respectfully!”
JOHN AMBAT
Senior Expedition Advisor India
John is from Kolkata India. A post graduate in Physics, he worked in senior positions in Siemens and Philips for many years, marketing sophisticated medical diagnostic systems. During the span of his professional career, he travelled extensively all over India and to many countries around the World. His wife Sushila is a travel professional with over 20 years work experience. It was through his late uncle, Victor Biswas in New York that he met Karl Espen Fjermeros, who was heading Cruise Norway. The cruise bug bit him when he sailed on his first Norwegian Fjord cruise in 2007. After he returned, a press event was organized in New Delhi, where the company was launched. John and Victor did extensive road shows across the country to meet with B2B partners. Espen too visited India to support the new venture. Soon the client base increased with aggressive online marketing and user-friendly website designed by Espen and the web-team. Business grew and more ship lines were added to the portfolio. John has sailed to the Norwegian Fjords several times, Greenland/Iceland, Hong Kong/Vietnam and Antarctica on different cruise lines. His personal experience enables him to guide guests in planning their expedition cruises. He has a great rapport with his clients. Several groups and FITs have sailed through Cruise Norway/Expedition Voyages over the years. Today we get several referrals and repeat businesses from happy clients.
MARI PÄRN
Groups, SoMe, Sales Support Manager
After getting a degree in IT, Mari discovered that IT was not her cup of tea at all. She took a job with Hurtigruten and found her passion in travel. During the next 10 years, Mari took on all kinds of different roles in the travel industry. She was in sales serving direct customers and travel advisors. Mari was a team leader and worked with FIT and group departments. She was also responsible for many IT related tasks as a reporting specialist and invoicing specialist. Having extensive knowledge in different areas of the travel business has given Mari a "big picture view" and in-depth understanding of travel industry operations. Mari is based in Estonia and supports operations and sales teams. When Mari is not working, she is probably chasing after her two little ones and having great outdoor adventures with them.
KARL ESPEN FJERMEROS
Founder & Owner
Norwegian-born Espen is the founder of Cruise Norway. He started his venture in the cruise business in the 90s working for the New York based trade publication Cruise Industry News. In 1999, he purchased several domain names, including cruisenorway.com and incorporated the company in 2000. Cruise Norway claims to be the first company to feature “virtual cruises” on the internet using flash technology in 2003. The virtual Cruise depicted the Norwegian Coastal Voyage/Hurtigruten sailing the Bergen-Kirkenes-Bergen route which is familiar to Espen. (Sidebar: Karl Espen’s grandfather Karl Fjermeros took the route to Kirkenes on the vessel Finnmarken under less glamorous circumstances as a German prisoner in 1942). The internet focused Cruise Norway company with offices in lower Manhattan grew rapidly despite many crises, including 9/11 and the financial
crisis. In 2008, Espen saw opportunities in Asia and inspired by his uncle Emil Fjermeros who lived and worked in India for over 30 years, he started Cruise Norway India (today Expedition Voyages). In 2015, Cruise Norway was purchased by west coast investors headed by the Global Voyages Group. However, Espen continued in the business running Expedition Voyages India. In 2018, he co-founded Epic Polar with Julia Wright before having the opportunity to acquire Cruise Norway back. Today Cruise Norway is once again a thriving entity with the most
talented cruise expedition advisors in the industry relentlessly growing the business despite the Covid pandemic. Life enriching experiences to the remote Arctic and Antarctica will never go out of style, and Cruise Norway once again has a bright future ahead. Espen and his wife, the painter Denise Shaw, have traveled numerous places in the world and on expedition ships in Antarctica, Arctic Svalbard and Far East Russia.
International: + 372 5299832
