Our Experts

Dick Knoll is our President. With Judy watching the books, he manages the office, the sales and marketing as well as selling to his wonderful client base. Dick’s business experience began after college in the 70’s in the family welding supply company. He also worked in technology sales and design in the ’90’s and began at Cruise Holidays with the able instruction of company founder, Kathy Stacken.
Dick enjoys travel in general and particularly when leading groups on cruises to destinations worldwide.

Judy Knoll handles the financial matters of Cruise Holidays. She began her career in the family business, Martin Tractor Company, where she worked for 29 years before becoming a founding partner of Simply Solutions, a company that offers business services to small and medium sized organizations. She retired May 31, 2018 from there to devote more time to helping the team at Cruise Holidays.
She is an enthusiastic bicyclist and traveler. Judy has cycled across Kansas numerous times and has ridden from Oregon to Wyoming. Judy & Dick have been married over 30 years.

Steve Knoll is a group travel consultant. He enjoys matching his client’s vacation desires with the perfect travel solution for them. Building groups around family or shared interests is most rewarding to him. “I really enjoy the planning part of travel; finding the right itinerary or resort. I also enjoy groups travelling together. I have enjoyed several Caribbean and Alaska cruises and tours as well as Hawaii and New Zealand/Australia. River cruising in Europe is heaven for me and my appetite for good wine, food and cultural history.” Steve and his wife Sally own Spirit Lake Retreat Center north of Perry.

Sara Lively is the Office Administrator for Cruise Holidays and has been with the agency since April 2008. Sara’s mission is giving great customer service. She loves to hear stories from the clients about their vacations. Sara loves the sun and the beach, and has cruised many times to the Bahamas, the Caribbean and Alaska. She has a strong preference for Celebrity Cruises but is always open to try new destinations and experiences For instance, Sara has also led a land tour in Ireland.

Emma Warren has many years of travel agency experience, starting her travel career in Atchison. She has been with Cruise Holidays since 2008. Emma has traveled extensively in: Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, Ireland, England and Brazil. In her spare time, Emma enjoys horseback riding, snorkeling, historical travel, countryside visits and travel in general.

Tim Hersh: Tim recently joined Cruise Holiday Team as a Travel Consultant. He is passionate about travel and wants you to feel special in that each journey takes in to account your interests. Tim knows it is important to ask the right questions, take time in understanding your needs, and to design the travel experience that is just right for you and your budget. Tim retired from USPS after 34 years and is married to wife Denise. They enjoy spending time with their seven grand children and have been traveling extensively for over 30 years.

Kathy Stacken is the founder of this travel agency and ran it successfully for many years. While not actively booking clients any longer, she is a trusted advisor and is part of the Cruise Holidays family.