Nice To Meet You!
Jeremy Hales
Hi, I'm Jeremy!
I was born and raised in Tasmania, Australia, and I've always had an inquisitive mind and passion for new experiences. I caught the travel bug at an early age when I traveled to Indonesia. The beautiful culture, people, and nature swept me off my feet, and I realized I wanted to shape my life around travel.
After exploring Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific, I was fully hooked on travel. So when I came across a job ad for Holland America Line, I immediately applied, and got my first contract offer soon after.
Little did I know, that first contract would start a ten year (and counting!) career full of exploring the world. I've spent over 2,500 days at sea, traveling across 6 continents, visiting 75 countries.
I've worked as Cruise Director and Travel Guide / Port Lecturer. Through the evolving nature of the industry, I now work under the title of Cruise and Travel Director.
Helping passengers make the most out their travel experiences while getting to travel myself has been an incredibly fulfilling livelihood. And I look forward to living out my passion for years to come!
NOTE: The ideas, opinions, views and suggestions on this website are my own, and do not necessarily reflect those of my employer.
Katie Askegaard
Hey there, I’m Katie.
While Jeremy is your man for port information and detailed traveled instruction, I am the woman behind the words.
I graduated Summa Cum Laude from George Mason University with a BS in Economics, BFA in Dance, and insatiable curiosity for the world. I worked onboard ships as a dancer for 3 years, and am currently working as a digital nomad while exploring the world.
From Wagyu Beef to Alaskan beer, I am your travel source of interesting facts, useful tips, and quirky points of interest that shouldn’t be missed on your journeys.
If you have any burning travel curiosities, shoot over an email with the chance for the answer to be featured in some of the written travel articles!
Why Start a Website?
The most common comment I have gotten after presenting port information over the last decade is “if only would have known that beforehand!”
This accompanies three common travel frustrations:
1. Not preparing as desired for cruise ports due to information not being available prior to the cruise.
2. Booking a tour without knowing the full range of options available.
3. Reading online forums/blogs with inaccurate and/or out of date information.
You see, as a travel guide, I have given countless port talks on what travel opportunities await on the other side of the gangway, ranging from major points of interest to hidden gems I’ve discovered over the years. I’ve made the travel mistakes and I've seen all the monuments, temples, museums, parks, and buildings myself to know what is and isn’t worthwhile to help travelers make the most of their trip.
Embarking with a plan and knowledge as to what each port holds is key in maximizing your experience in terms of saving time, lessening travel stresses, lowering the costs, and having experiences tailored to your specific interests.
The problem is that a comprehensive resource with up to date, accurate, first-hand experience doesn’t exist. Online forums, whilst with the best of intentions, are often riddled with inaccurate information from people who went to a port one time six years ago.
One day as I was pulling my hair out reading wrong information on a cruise travel forum, a light bulb went off. Thus, the birth of Docked Discoveries. For too long I have felt for people who wished they'd used their port time differently in destinations they may only visit one time in their lives. I got disheartened seeing that look of angst written across faces, so I decided it was time to do something about it!
As you may have noticed from the photo above, I am not doing this alone. My partner in crime is my fiance Katie. Whilst I will be taking care of the port information pages, some practical how-to articles, as well as our video channel, Katie is combining her writing talents with her love of food and travel to give you a range of written content, from fun and informative to eye opening and thought provoking.
The goal is for Docked Discoveries to become your one stop resource to embarking with a plan. Whether it be informing you as to what tour suits your interests or aiding independent travelers, we're here to help through port guides, blog posts, videos, tips, and tricks, so you can arm yourself with all the information you need before traveling.
Docked Discoveries is being built from the ground up, based on feedback and requested information from readers, so be sure to subscribe and leave your comments and reach out on our contact page.
It is also important to mention that whilst i am a proud Holland America Line employee, and much of the information across our various platforms will relate to Holland America Line experiences, Docked Discoveries is a complete seperate entity. It is a platform for us to share our own views, thoughts, suggestions and advice.
We look forward to you being part of our journey!
Our Vision
The world is a pretty big place, and building the content takes time. This website is ever-growing and changing as we work towards building out port pages, guides, videos, and interesting blog posts to help travelers make the most of their cruise vacation.
Be sure to subscribe to the email list at the bottom of our home page to be the first to know about new, exciting information.
Comments, questions, concerns, thoughts, feelings? We want to hear it all to make Docked Discoveries you number one resource for cruise-based travel information. Simply leave us a message on the contact page!
- Jeremy & Katie