I’m Sebastián Pacheco, and I’ve spent more than a decade at sea, living inside the world most people only see in brochures. I started in wine and hospitality and worked my way through some of the most interesting names in modern cruising and luxury travel — from classic small ships with Seabourn to the new yachts of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.

Along the way I poured wine for collectors, hosted families celebrating three generations at once, welcomed executives straight off red-eye flights, and watched groups arrive as colleagues and leave as something closer to friends. And somewhere between the welcome glass of champagne and the last breakfast on board, I kept seeing the same thing: people didn’t just want a cruise — they wanted a story worth telling.

What I didn’t see was anyone truly sitting in the middle for them. Someone who understood how these new small luxury yachts actually work from the inside, and who could translate that world for a winery owner, a CEO, a family, a group of friends who just knew they wanted “something unforgettable” but had no idea where to start. No crowded megaships. No call centers. No one-size-fits-all package.

That’s why I created GIFT Voyages.

It’s my way of taking everything I’ve learned onboard — the good ideas, the avoid-this-port advice, the little details that turn a trip into a memory — and putting it to work for the people on the other side of the booking form.