Jennifer Edelson & Joel Wesseldyke

I discovered my love of travel in my 20's but didn't travel much until we started this business, and at this point I've made up for lost time.

I've sailed on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney, Princess, Holland America, Virgin, MSC, and Cunard on ocean cruises, and AmaWaterways, Avalon, and Viking on rivers. The Caribbean, Mediterranean, Greece, Alaska, and Canada and New England on the water. The Rhine, Rhone, and Danube by river. I've booked hundreds of cruises representing more than $4 million in sales, which sounds like a credential but is really just a lot of conversations about what people are actually looking for.

Here's what I know after all of that: the cruise line brochure is marketing, not information. Every line has a specific type of traveler it's built for, and it's not always who you'd expect. I know who belongs on which ship, and I'm not shy about saying when something isn't a fit.

Jennifer grew up traveling. Her parents worked for British Airways, which meant she saw more of the world before finishing school than most people see in a lifetime. She passed that love of travel to her own kids, and eventually turned it into a career.

Before starting JJ Travel Associates, Jennifer was a sales director, which explains a lot about how she operates. She's organized, thorough, and relentless about getting details right.

Her specialty is European travel and custom land itineraries, which makes her the right person when your cruise comes with a week in Rome before you board, or when you want someone to build out the trip that surrounds the sailing.