Your calls always answered within 5 rings.
Very many thanks to Ash for organising our trip to Malta which was excellent in every way.
Just keep doing what you are doing!
Fabulous hotel
Fantastic trip, all went very smoothly, great transfers as always. Karl is a great asset to DialAFlight.
Oscar is fantastic! I have total confidence in his guidance in overseeing all my travel arrangements
Always great personal and brilliant experience from DialAFlight. Thank you Kylie for taking the stress out of travelling abroad
Hassle-free, no issues. Had a great trip
Great service from Kylie as always
We had to pay for food in the bar and the lunch was replaced with an evening meal. Overall not good
Robert booked exactly what I asked for - a perfect hotel in a lovely location. Really lovely holiday. Excellent.
A great hotel and resort. We thought we'd only booked B & B but in fact we were 'half board.'
A variety of food but disappointingly it was bland and tasteless. Not much choice for minority customers not even local Maltese food
The return BA flight from Billund was 35 minutes late arriving but got us to LHR 20 minutes ahead of schedule!
Travel by air is an increasingly overcrowded and unpleasant experience.
All went very well including hotel and flights.
100% efficiency and helpfulness. Couldn’t be better!
Oscar and Ross found us a beautifully located hotel at the last minute.
Thank you for a very well planned trip to Iceland. We loved it and really appreciated the support of George.
Very good as usual. Many thanks
Your expert guidance was invaluable. We had fun because you took the stress out of the travel arrangements
Good service. Keep going!
Fabulous accommodation but maybe organise transportation to and from pick up points?
Ace company. Five stars!
Best flight in 35 years of business, all carriers should look at the way Norwegian operate!
Fantastic service as always. Thank you.
Fantastic service from both Sam and Howard. Thank you.
Always available even while abroad, ready to resolve any issues or respond to any queries.
Zoe was really helpful
DialAFlight is the answer to many prayers. Trying to book a flight to Ireland online, I’d been screwed around by RyanAir and Opodo. In despair I tried DAF and Fergus secured my booking with admirable speed and clarity. I know which firm I’ll be using in the future.
As always, peace of mind, knowing that you were there if anything went wrong,
There I was, sailing around the Aegean on a super-yacht... and there wasn't an oligarch in sight.
Crystal Cruises' new Esprit is one of the new generation of smaller cruise ships, and it was the perfect home for a tour of the beautiful Greek islands, the Holy Land and the Jordanian port city of Aqaba.
The Esprit was recently christened in the Seychelles with a bottle of champagne (Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 2004 since you ask), and its 31 suites are spread over two floors.
There are no balconies - it's a yacht, remember - but each suite comes with lovely picture windows.
It felt like I had been invited to a house party - albeit one held at sea - rather than a cruise, and there was a sense of immediacy and familiarity that is not readily apparent on larger ships. It really does feel like you've checked into a fabulous floating boutique hotel.
Boarding in the Greek port of Piraeus, I walked up the gangplank to a champagne reception.
Crystal really does know how to make guests feel welcome. My butler Clarke showed me to my stateroom, unpacked for me, and before long we were sailing towards the party island of Mykonos.
WELCOME COCKTAILS
That evening Esprit's director Harry Ter Horst arranged for the yacht's small crew to meet the guests. It broke the ice and friendships were made over some truly shipshape cocktails. Dinner was also superb. Fine dining at sea is a wonderful experience and the wines were carefully matched. Best of all, it was all included in the price.
Most sommeliers can't wait to show off their knowledge and end up boring you towards a wine you didn't really want, but Ramon made choosing one a pleasure. Still, I decided the time wasn't right to order a £4,300 bottle of Chateau le Pin.
The first night at sea always takes some getting used to: the hum of the engines and the slight rolling of a smaller ship. The stabilisers aren't quite as good as those on bigger vessels but the stateroom technology is certainly better. There were iPads to make in-room dining and communications more passenger-friendly.
As an experienced cruiser, the most important elements for me during a trip are the quality of the food and choice of excursions.
Louisa Kierman was in charge of the tours and she chose the destinations wisely. 'I prefer working on a yacht because everything is far more personal,' she said. 'You get to know people and they aren't just buddies on boats - we feel as though we are welcoming guests into our family.'
One of her excursions during our tour of the Aegean was to Santorini - perhaps my favourite destination. The skies were blue and the whitewashed houses in towns such as Oia sparkled in the sunshine. And if you visit out of the peak summer season, as we did, the crowds have gone and you feel as though you have the island to yourself.
THE HOLY LAND
All of our guides were good but in the Holy Land they were outstanding. One, Barak, was a major in the Israeli army and he helped bring familiar stories from the Bible to life. As for the food, after a week I didn't think the chef, Rainer Buss, could prepare a better dinner, but he did - a sublime lobster with hot butter sauce, and sea bass with asparagus risotto. Everything was Michelin standard.
Crystal Esprit is sleek and nimble, with a shallow draught of less than 15ft. And because of her relatively small size it means a new array of harbours can be accessed, allowing visits to exclusive marinas, hidden coves, and secluded islands where the docking infrastructure - so critical for big ships - doesn't exist.
SUMMER ROUTES
Crystal Esprit sails the Adriatic through the summer, with seven-night cruises between Athens and Dubrovnik, and Dubrovnik and Venice. Included are all meals and drinks, butler service, marina and water-sports activities, a choice of complimentary shore excursions and gratuities.
The only problem is that spending a week on board the elegant and luxurious Esprit spoils you for life.
First published in the Mail on Sunday - April 2017
More articles below...
Not quite what you're looking for?
We can easily customise an offer to suit your exact requirements