Samantha Wolanski set up No Fuss Holidays in January 2024, five years after first falling in love with cruise holidays after booking a Cruise & Maritime Voyages' Christmas Markets sailing with her mum.
When she joined that Christmas Markets cruise in 2019 Wolanski ran a payroll business from her Rugby home and had not considered a career selling cruise holidays before.
However, it wasn't until she started helping people with their cruise bookings online that she decided to take the plunge and launch No Fuss Holidays with homeworking agency, Janine Loves Travel.
"I've been an agent for just over two years," she tells TTG. "I've sold between £4 million and £5 million worth of cruises in that time, but around 90% of that business is Ambassador Cruise Line bookings."
This year, Wolanski made more than £250,000 in sales in March – her best-ever month – before she surged past the quarter of a million pound-mark again in April.
'I pulled the tendons in my hand'
She credits Ambassador Cruise Line's 2028/29 programme launch for the sales surge, but the pathway to becoming one of the line's top-selling agents has not always been smooth.
"On 2028/29 programme launch day, I pulled the tendons in my hand," explains Wolanski. "I literally could not type fast enough trying to make all the bookings. One of my customers booked seven cruises in a day.
"Because Ambassador targets the 50-plus market, guests like somebody to hold their hand."
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Wolanski, who has Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), has started using voice-to-text software but refuses to take on any staff.
"I've thought about getting somebody else onboard to help me, but it's hard enough working for somebody else," she says. "Working on my own means I can take a day off in the week.
"I've noticed I get really busy at 6pm at night, so I don't want to have a team of people from the hours of 9 to 5. I'm not sure having a team would be good for me."
Two-year 'Covid hell'
Nicola Harper, Head of Distribution at Ambassador Cruise Line, confirmed Wolanski "recognises that people buy from people", adding that she works "24/7".
Reflecting on her journey to becoming a prolific cruise seller, Wolanski says her OCD "really ramped up" during the Covid pandemic. "I was scared to touch anybody. If a parcel was delivered to the house nobody could touch it for 72 hours," she adds.
"I did not leave the house for two years during Covid. Being an agent has completely changed my life; but I'm not superwoman, so I've sold my payroll business. I had run it for around eight years, but I feel really positive about No Fuss Holidays."
Wolanski switched to Protected Trust Services in March after being part of Janine Loves Travel for more than two years.
"I think I was top of the leader board at Janine Loves Travel for every month I was there apart from one," she adds.
