About Linda Coffman
Linda
Coffman is a freelance travel writer who has been dishing out cruise
travel information and advice for more than ten years. An avid
cruise passenger who enjoys sailing on ships of every size to any
port worldwide, Linda spends most of her time cruising the Caribbean
and writing for Fodor's Travel Publications and Fodors.com. She is the author of
Fodor's The Complete Guide to Caribbean Cruises, co-author of
Fodor's The Complete Guide to European Cruises, and
contributes to Fodor's Caribbean Ports of Call, Alaska Ports of
Call, European Ports of Call, Bermuda, Greece, and
Greek Isles guidebooks.
In 1997,
when the Internet was experiencing growing pains, Linda developed and
maintained two travel information web
sites for About.com,
the network of niche-specific sites rated as a top ten digital media/web
property by Media Metrix. Within
that network, the Cruises site consistently ranked among the top three travel sites based on
user preference. Under Linda's expertise until March
2000, the About.com Cruises site was recognized as one of the Internet’s
leading sources of cruise travel information by such publications as The Washington Post, The Montreal Gazette, The New York Times, Porthole
Magazine, Forbes, The New Yorker, Yahoo! Internet Life, The Jacksonville
Business Journal, and USA Today. Cruises was also named a
Top Ten site in 1999 by PR Newswire and the prestigious National
Geographic Traveler.
Sailing
solo, Linda
created CruiseDiva.com in February 2001 to provide unbiased and practical
cruising information to the thousands of Internet users who research their travel
choices online. CruiseDiva.com was
named a "Best of the Web" Leisure Travel web site by USA
Today. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says, "The
Cruise Diva's site has good information, lots of practical tips and
lots of attitude."
As a
recognized authority on cruise travel, Linda is often interviewed by
major national news outlets. She has been called upon to provide
on-air commentary as a cruise travel authority with Peter Greenberg on
his nationally syndicated radio show, as well as making appearances on
Martha Stewart Radio's Living Today, National Public Radio's Savvy Traveler,
Broadcast.com, USA Radio Network, and the Michigan Talk Radio Network.
She has been quoted in outlets nationwide, from The New York
Times to CNN.
Linda
has appeared on ABC News, ABC's
"Good Morning America,"
and has served as
the cruise
expert for The Travel Channel and USA
Today online. A
featured host in
"Cruising Do's and Don'ts" on The Travel Channel, Linda was
profiled as "Queen of the High Seas" in the November 2007
edition of Columbia County Magazine.
Linda's columns and articles have appeared in print
in Cruise
Travel, Porthole, Consumer's Digest, Travel Age West, Travel Agent, Impressions, New Jersey Savvy Living, Vacation
Agent, Freestyle Cruiser, and Marco Polo magazines, as well as the Chicago Sun-Times and
Denver Post.
Cruise
lines Linda has sailed with include: Azamara Cruises, Carnival Cruise Lines, Celebrity
Cruises, Costa Cruises, Crystal Cruises, Cunard Line, Disney Cruise Line, Hapag-Lloyd,
Holland America Line, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Oceania Cruises, Princess
Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean Intl, SeaDream
Yacht Club, Silversea Cruises, Star Clippers, and Windstar Cruises.
Linda is
a member of the Society of American Travel Writers.
When not at sea, she makes her home in
Georgia.
