Cruise Holidays of Northwest Austin

Diana was selected to organize a destination wedding party for my wife’s daughter. The property was nice and the people were friendly.
My opinion is that with a little time and the Internet you can make the same reservations and receive the same pricing. Never seen much value in travel agents.

After getting overwhelmed by trying to find Great Vacation spots out there on the internet, I decided to stop in to see a Travel Agent. I looked on Unilocal to see if there were any by my home with good reviews and I saw Diana! From the moment we walked in she was very helpful and knew a TON of information about every question I had! In the end, after all was said and done, she did GREAT! We ended up going on a Cruise with Royal Carribean aboard the Navigator of the Seas! She even suggested an AMAZING Zip Line Excursion in Jamaica, that we wouldn’t have even heard of had Diana not suggested it. Thank you for an amazing Honeymoon Cruise, Diana! We highly recomend using Cruise Holidays of Northwest Austin!

I had never traveled to Europe and after much consideration my boyfriend and I decided a cruise was the best way for me to see a lot of places in a short (two week) period of time.
We reached out to Diane and the rest was taken care of. She advised us on cruise lines, where we would want our room to be, how to obtain the best deals, places to stay before and after our trip, transfers, excursions… everything. She is a full-​service travel agent and I can’t rave enough about personalized attention to our trip and us.
She was even kind enough to take a lot of time out of her schedule to sit down and answer all of our questions (think: practical shoes, attire at night, should you ride a donkey, etc.). She did it with a smile, sense of humor and even was gracious enough to share her own personal photos of her trips to the locations she had been with us.
Even in the midst of political instability in Turkey, Diane was quick to communicate when itineraries changed and was available even as we had questions boarding our flight overseas. She took such amazing care of us and I can’t imagine planning another trip without her.
The time she invests and the attention to details is more than I could/​would have ever done for this trip and it would be ridiculous not to work with her if you were planning a trip. I can’t wait to call her again, as it will mean I’m ready to make even more lifetime memories.
Thank you Diana & Cruise Holidays of Northwest Austin!

My family is on a year long travel adventure and we wanted to start it out with some easy, laid back, vacation. We have a 4 year old and we were going to be near Venice, so we thought about taking a cruise. We’d heard they’re great for people with kids because of the activities for kids onboard that allow you to go have your own fun. Though we’d been on a cruise once years ago, someone else had arranged that for us so we had ZERO idea of how to go about choosing a cruise line, booking passage, etc. I can’t remember now how I found Diane but once I wrote her and told her what we were thinking, I knew I’d made the right decision about who to contact. Though we were both in Austin, I never needed to actually meet her in person. We did all of our correspondence in email, which is what I prefer, and she presented us with two itineraries that both sounded great, and we chose one. After the first initial contact, she helped us get some special deals — free beverage program, for example! Woot! And she answered all our logistics questions that we had up to the travel day — what she couldn’t answer herself, she was able to call on her extensive network to answer and did so promptly. I feel like we would not have gotten such a great experience (and it was great — a two week cruise down the Adriatic from Venice to the Greek Isles then to Croatia, and Turkey) without her efforts. So, kudos to Diane. I would actually refer her to anyone looking for a cruise vacation, not just someone living in Austin since, as I said, we never even met in person yet I felt entirely taken care of. And if we decide to take another cruise, I’ll call on Diane first.

We booked an Alaskan cruise to celebrate my dad’s 80^th birthday — started with 18 of us going including an infant. Diana was not only experienced in having personally gone on the Alaskan cruises with her family, she was very helpful in choosing the right cruise line, and had good insight on everything from excursions to staterooms to insurance. With a group as large as ours and many moving pieces (we were spread out among 4 states with military members), it was extremely helpful to have someone else helping me (as the point person) keep on top of everything. Our only real snafu was when the limo service picking us up in Vancouver only sent 1 limo instead of 2, leaving half of our party stranded — but I’m confident that Diana will not be booking them in the future. (She also did fight and get a refund from the limo company as it was a prepaid reservation.) Diana is a hard worker, follows up on whatever issue you may have, returns phone calls and/​or emails and knows her industry. I recommend her for planning your family cruise so that you can enjoy it to the fullest and make irreplaceable memories. Read less

We have used Diana to help us book three fabulous vacations! A northbound passage Alaskan cruise with a few days in Vancouver and two separate air and hotel trips to Hawaii, one of which was our honeymoon! All three trips were wonderful and effortless! I’m so thankful that in the age of researching and doing it yourself online, which I tend to over analyze and don’t always have the time for, you can get incredible service with wonderful insight at excellent values! My husband and I will always come back to Diana at Cruise Holidays for our vacation needs:)

I worked with Diana to book our Seabourn cruise. She was extremely personable and easy to talk to and always very responsive. Since booking the cruise she has continued to follow-​up with suggestions on bag forwarding, trip insurance, and more, all without ever being pushy. Would definitely recommend her to friends and family.

I should of turned away when I read CRUISE, because apparently they do great for just cruises but not for a hotel and airfare bundle.
I needed a hotel and airfare combo for a honeymoon. I called and they asked for things I wanted. I gave them a short list. I was emailed back with one hotel, that wasn’t even on a beach it was on this cliff that had stairs to go into the water. Ok, my bad I didn’t say I wanted a sand beach, I assumed when I asked for a Caribbean honeymoon that it was a given. No worries, I let them know and was presented with yet again just one hotel. After about a week almost two, my fiancé and I agreed on just a third hotel they looked up. I turned down the 2^nd one cause it was out of my price range. When I called to book it I apparently was given the personal cell of the person I was dealing with and he was off and at home. Now, at this point we had only exchanged emails and phone calls, not face to face. He said ‘no worries I’ll just jump in my laptop, what’s ur card number?’ Whoa, hold on. Your at home on your personal laptop and you want my card number before you’ve even sent me a spread sheet of what I’m about to pay for? I knew nothing about this trip other than the hotel name and that it was all inclusive and had airfare, (not even times/​dates given). I told him I don’t feel comfortable and asked to do it when he’s back in the office and if I can please see the details. He said ok. Emailed it to me and it wasn’t even for the right days.
At this point my fiancé believed we could do better than what we were being offered and in one night he did. Found everything we asked for and for less than what this agency looked up, plus it included a $ 1500 resort credit! Which is one thing I asked this agency for, they said they couldn’t find one! He called to decline their offer and apparently they said ok. But then the owner (a female) turned around and called me to basically chew me out how they spent too much time on us and said ‘we thought you were going to book with us!’ Well I was until yall got the dates wrong and then the price went up when it was changed to the dates we needed. She cut me off and said she was going to send me a bill for their time. My fiancé made clear in his phone call that if they can give us the package that we looked up for the same or less that we would book with them. They told him we don’t know anything about that hotel.
It was a hard rock. :/​
So all in all, it seems that their hotel list is short. Only picking one out of a preferred list they made up themselves. The owner is RUDE to say the least. Bottom line, this company wasn’t able to deliver on what we wanted. Which was a 5 night honeymoon, at a nice hotel with a resort credit around 3k. Thanks for wasting MY TIME.
UPDATE
I was never presented with numerous options. After all the time it was only 3! And they were not to our requests. I wouldn’t expect Diana to have all her facts correct since she was not the one I ever dealt with. I called 20 mins before hand, not after. And never told of policies and rules nor was I asked to sign anything. Which I assume was a mistake on yalls side. Since I never got a bill after I was threatened with one by Diana, RUDLEY I may add. So in summary, unorganized, rude, and unhelpful.

Booked two cruise vacations through Diane and very happy with the level of knowledge, recommendations, and attention she gives to make sure all the details are perfect. Very nice and would strongly recommend.

We couldn’t have been more pleased with the professional attention received by Diana and her staff at Cruise Holidays of Northwest Austin. Diana helped us with every little detail of the trip, even up to the day before leaving on our cruise! The cruise was amazing and our entire family had such a blast from start to finish! What a wonderful experience it was working with Diana, and I highly recommend her!!! She definitely knows her stuff and gives awesome advice! :)

I have used Cruise Holidays a number of times in planning my trips… especially my cruises. The staff is knowledgeable, professional and extremely willing to help make my trip (s) the best possible. Truly always an excellent experience each time plus the trips planned are always superb!

I can’t say enough good things about Diana at Cruise Holidays of North Austin! She diligently worked to make sure our Viking Rhine River Cruise in April was the best it possibly could be! We had absolutely 100% success in our travels with regards to air connections, ground transportation, luggage arrival, etc! I have a specialty diet, and Diana and the crew of the Viking Bestla went WAY above and beyond the call of duty in making sure I had unbelievably great food on-​board, and the best that could be had on the flights! From day one we couldn’t have asked for better service from Diana nor a better experience with Viking! When we cruise again, there is no doubt we will go to Diana for recommendations and to book it!

Diane recently booked us a cruise to Alaska, this was our first time to use a travel agent, now I will always use a travel agent! Our trip was fantastic, even that description falls short of the trip, you have to see it to believe it. The information we received from Diana was invaluable. I stopped in on a whim and now have a new friend, I highly recommend Diana and Cruise Holidays Northwest Austin.

Diana recently booked my husband and I a cruise to ports along the coast of Italy. It was the most amazing trip! She took care of all the details and made it so much easier just to truly enjoy our trip rather than worry about taking care of everything ourselves. I will definitely use Diana for all future Travel!

Two week Mediterranean cruise: Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt!!!
A trip of a lifetime! It was our first cruise and it was wonderful! The pre-​trip and post-​trip accommodations were perfect. Diana knew everything about Italy!!! She gave us restaurant suggestions, suggestions on tours, everything!
Here is the ‘part 2′ to the story: We had such a wonderful time on our first cruise we are now booking a European River cruise with Diana! Germany, Austria, and Hungary. But in addition Diana has planned out an 5 days vacation extension for us… after the cruise! We will be touring Hungary and then flying to Czech Republic.
She has taken care of EVERYTHING, plane tickets, private drivers, hotels, tours.
If I am on vacation, I do not want to worry about ANYTHING. I don’t want to spend hours trying to figure out where to stay, or how to get somewhere. I am there to ENJOY! Diana, from Cruise Holiday, makes sure everything is taken care of, so I can RELAX and ENJOY!!!

I worked will Diana to book our recent cruise to Alaska. She did such a great job for us. She was able to visit with me on the phone and gather all the information she needed to make recommendations and book the trip. This was the easiest and smoothest trip because of Diana. She always responded quickly to any of my calls and followed through professionally.
I will use Diana and Cruise Holidays again. Try Cruise Holidays, you will not be disappointed.

Our 1^st recreational cruise experience was made easy, fun and memorable by finding and going through Diana Whiteside at Cruise Holiday’s Northwest.
I was most impressed with Diana’s ability to support our vacation planning efforts remotely via e-​mail and telephone. Meeting with her after making our cruise booking served to reinforce the image of a highly professional expert that we had already established.
Not only did Diana take on board (pun intended) our cruise vacation desires, she offered a range of options and insight to custom tailor our plans.
In addition to the cruise booking, I feel Diana delivered exceptional customer service by following up on our plans and assisting us the additional travel arrangements of airport shuttle, hotel reservations and ground transportation, which made the logistics of actually joining the vessel seamless and stress-​free. Our cruise planning and execution has been the single best customer service experience we have ever enjoyed.
If you are doing cruise vacation research and not sure what details you need to tend to, put your faith in Diana’s expertise. You will not be disappointed.
Cheers, Juan Hicklin

I met Diana through good friends at a social gathering. I had never heard of River Cruises in Europe… and was eager to learn about them. She delivered a magnificent booklet about these cruises and sent me a wonderful link. Within a couple of weeks my husband and I told her we were interested in going down the Danube. She must have worked all night — — because she booked us everything from the air flights, hotels and cruise. She also has given us information on transportation from the airport, places to eat and things to do!
She has followed up several times with any concerns or questions we may have.
We already know we will be booking more through her and this company, and we have referred her to our friends.
Great communication and knowledge!

I have taken well over 20 cruises in my life and most of the time I had to book them either myself or using other tavel agents. But since discovering Diana, my past service experiences cannot compare to the excellent service she provides! Recently we tavelled to Europe on Celebrity Cruiselines and she did an amazing job of planning and executing the trip details. We had guided private tours in many cities, and the guides also provided the highest level of service! You won’t find a better more thorough travel expert than Diana!

Once I found Diana, I’ll never use another agency or company to assist with my travel needs again. She is AWESOME!
Been on one cruise with her and group, another with hubby, and have two more reserved… All through Cruise Holidays.
Diana makes it easy and stress free. Right now, give them a call and book a super cruise or trip!