Maximo Armero – Cruiser, Writer, Guy with a Packed Bag
“I held out for years. Told my friends it wasn’t my thing. Then they stopped asking and just bought me a cruise for my birthday. After that trip to Cabo, I knew I was done for.”
Maximo Armero Cruiser, writer, guy with a packed bag
The Short Version
Maximo Armero is a pen name – a natural translation of my real name, Maksym Kovaliov, used with friends in the U.S. and Mexico.
Originally from the former Soviet Union, I now live in Sacramento. I chose to build my life in a free country. I work in advertising and web development – code, numbers, technical projects.
SmartCruiseTips is my outlet. The place where I do something not because a client asked, but because I actually want to. There’s a quiet satisfaction in being useful to people – and that’s what I find here.
How It Started
For years my friends kept inviting me on cruises. I kept saying no. Not my thing, I told them. Too touristy. Too predictable.
On my 43rd birthday, they stopped asking. They just bought me a cabin – and came along. All 26 of us. Families, kids, the whole group. Destination: Cabo San Lucas, two port days.
One day we chartered a fishing boat. I caught a mahi-mahi. It was July. I haven’t missed a quarter since.
Cruising is like that – it gets into you. Especially when you know how to book smart. Especially when there are people around who explain how everything works. Minimum stress, maximum enjoyment. That’s the formula.
It Broke My Pattern
By nature, I’m a wilderness person. The Sierra Nevada, the high desert in Nevada, backcountry camping with no amenities – not the kind of crowded campground you see in every travel magazine, but the kind where the silence is real.
A cruise is the exact opposite of everything I love.
And yet it got me. Here’s why.
People are different on a cruise. Not like they are in the city. No obligations, no status games, no rush. It doesn’t matter who you are on land – on board, everyone is equal. Friends actually unwind. New connections happen naturally. Everything feels easy in a way that’s hard to explain.
I didn’t expect to find that kind of ease on a ship with a thousand strangers. But that’s exactly what hooked me.
Why This Site
What I learn – from other cruisers, from my own experience, from my own mistakes – is what I share here. If someone books a better deal because of this site, or avoids a tourist trap in Cabo, that’s a good day.
I cruise practically every quarter. Five years straight. My bag is packed year-round.
What I Write About
The drive from Northern California to the LA ports. Parking strategies. How to catch last-minute deals before they disappear. Mexican ports – where to eat, what to skip. Phone and internet in Mexico. The practical hacks that actually save money and headaches.
Quick Facts
| Based in | Sacramento, California |
| Cruising | 5 years, nearly every quarter |
| Favorite route | LA – Cabo San Lucas |
| Favorite line | Carnival |
| First cruise | July, Cabo, 26 people |
| Off the ship | Sierra Nevada, high desert, backcountry camping |
| Languages | English, Ukrainian, Russian |
| Day job | Content writer, advertising, web development |
