Travel Advisor
Dana Stone Woodward
Travel Advisor
Serving Greater Sacramento
Recently inspected: Disney Magic Cruise Ship
Specialties
My Why
Why I plan travel
I have been an avid traveler since childhood. I took my first cruise when I was about 8 years old and still love sailing and cruising. I have experience with all types of travel from cheap backpacking or bike-packing to luxury cruises. It's easier to tell people where I haven't been than where I have gone. I enjoy the planning almost as much as the trip and since 1994 I've been doing that for my clients and groups.
Approach
Planning philosophy
My goal with every client is to make the planning as relaxing as the vacation. My attention to detail and experience allow me to provide a thorough itinerary with all the elements in place to make a smooth and enjoyable trip.
Difference
The Exquisite difference
I realize with tools on the internet people can book their own trips so I try and make sure I have provided them with a time saving, stress saving alternative, along with any extra perks, discounts, and luxury touches I can negotiate on their behalf. Almost all the trips I book have some added benefit to my clients that they wouldn't have otherwise gotten from booking themselves. Sometimes its simply extra onboard credit to spend on their cruise, restaurant recommendations or an excellent guide that I know personally for their tour in Italy. I know how important it is to get the travel arrangements exact so everything goes as planned, so I take my job very seriously to make that happen.
In the moment
A save-the-day story
Clients missed their connection from Rome to Venice and I was able to get them on another flight that night. Although it was quite late in the night and they were jetlagged, exhausted and overstressed by the experience in Rome when they arrived, I personally met them in San Marco Piazza, guided them onto the water-bus to where our ship and the rest of the group were in time for a few hours rest and our early morning sail-away.
Insider tip
What I tell every traveler
Use a vetted guide company like "Walks of Italy" to skip the line and get a real look at places like the Vatican/Sistine Chapel/Colosseum etc. Standing in line for 2+ hours can ruin your enjoyment of some of the most beautiful sites and leave you too tired to appreciate the art or the rest of your day in a city.
