I have been signed up with Cruise Brothers for almost a year. I signed up because it was free and I was not sure if I could make a living as a travel agent. I love to travel and now I get paid to travel.
Two minor annoyances:
1. I did purchase the website but honestly, I have found many errors on it so I don't really use it anymore.
2. I don't like the procedure of guiding people to my website and when they put their information in under the "Sign up for deal alerts!" that this request for information is not redirected to me, nor and I given any feedback that someone signed up off my website. I suspect it is because the website does not have that capability.
I have signed up with all the vendors and have completed most or some of all the training provided: for example, NCLU, Carnival & travel agent university. Best reward so far for completing training: The Princess Commodore training(I was able to utilize the reward for completion and sailed 10 days to the Panama Canal in October). I also got some cool pins from Disney--my husband wants to trade them but we are not allowed--nor do I want to--they are neat.
My team leader always gets me an answer when I have questions and has provided some useful tips. If I never sell anything to anyone but myself, it is still a good deal...it was free and I am having fun.
The commission is fair, commission rate is based on agency sales...so it is higher than It would be(% wise)if I was on my own.
I am registered and working towards my CILA certification and will be going to Cruise 3sixty in April to complete the rest of the classes and ship tours. Then all I have to do is sell some cabins..and poof...I have a card, lots of knowledge and this will make me a better travel agent.

I booked a cruise with Cruise Brother's back in November of 2012 with no intention of ever working for them or even in the travel industry, I was a retail woman, through and through. Well, shortly after booking my cruise I had questions about quite a few things, and after talking to my agent on the phone, he was so knowledgeable that I began asking him about his training, and how he knew so much about where we were going, he told me that since working there he had been on a cruise to the same destination and he went for nothing! That was when I first heard of the program but still hadn't actually considered participating in it. It wasn't until about 3 months after my cruise that my brother and his family were considering booking a cruise and asked my advice. I recommended using Cruise Brother's service and remembered what my agent told me. I was able to book my brother's cruise myself and even discounted it for him through my commission. It was the best feeling in the world telling him I could get him a deal! I have been working for Cruise Brother's ever since. I have made plenty of extra money and I've been on one free cruise already! I can't believe I almost passed up this opportunity!

I HIGHLY recommend Cruise Brother's for anything travel related. They were great before I worked for them, and extremely helpful. That same service only got better with time!

I don’t feel there is a huge support system at CB. Yes the person that is my mentor responds to my emails but I feel the information is somewhat lacking in the response. When I call him I always have to leave a message and he gets back within a few hours usually. (Again not real friendly and almost makes you feel dumb)

I have only been with them since Oct. And I feel already that they do not trust their home based agents. Everything has to go through them especially payments. The training is a 2 hour phone call and then all webinars. I was told you learn best by doing it. And the site they offer for info is way outdated and hard to manipulate!

I have also been told and read their website you pay for is not worth having. I am looking into finding another host agency. I am not experienced and need friendlier and more helpful information.

I have been with Cruise Brothers since 7/2013. I have signed up for the website, but have had only one hit. Still I think it is worth having. My clientel are used to me having one. I have booked several group cruises. I am really satisfied with this company. I was signed up with another host agency that charged me $499 to start and $50 per month, so Cruise Brothers is a wonder compared. It also gives you access to lots of training and my team leader John has been very supportive and gets back to me with my many questions in a timely manner. I am very happy with this company.

For the most part, Cruise Brothers has been a good place to learn all about selling cruises. I did pay for the website, but honestly no one has ever booked a cruise with me using their booking engine. If you want a website, I recommend starting with a free blog-type, like Wordpress. I built up a website from there, and after two years, purchased my own domain. With your own domain, you have the freedom to advertise on it, right reviews, post photos, and customize it any way you like. It turned out to be much more useful than the CB website.

Then, the best way to book cruises is to learn and use the booking tools of the various cruise agent booking sites. Cruise Brothers provides all the links to the cruise and land companies, hotel booking site, their insurance booking tool, and everything else you need. My sales manager has always been good about answering my questions in a timely manner. Many webinars and audio-recorded meetings are available all the time, are good learning tools, and agents are encouraged to use them.

On the downside, their website and booking engine is a little archaic compared to most and could use some updating. I wish their outside agent commission was higher, as I feel I am not adequately compensated for the amount of time I spend researching, booking and following up regularly with my clients. Lastly, while I like to make final payment myself directly to the cruiseline, CB is adamant that agents make payment directly with their accounting department. It sometimes takes a week or longer for CB to get a simple credit card payment to the vendor, whereas when I call the vendor myself, payment is made within 24 hours.

Nevertheless, your experience and success with any host agency really does depend on how hard you are willing to work. It takes a long time to build up a client base, so give it time.

I have had nothing but an amazing experience since I starting working as an at home agent with Cruise Brothers. David has answered both my questions and phone calls right away. You definitatly do not need to purchase a website. You can book cruises through the home agent sight. I am now starting to sell lots more after i started exploring the tools and signed up for the passwords for the different links on the home cruise site. You can sell tons of packages to Hawaii, Mexico, Europe ect. I was told I will get a free Princess cruise from Princess Cruises as soon as I finish my online classes on their site. Register with Princess as a Cruise Brothers agent and you are on your way. I'm finishing my classes this weekend. I am also register to be a Disney agent. There are a ton of tools and opportunities if you ask. Disney offers discounts and a free Disneyland ticket after you complete your online classes on the Disney travel agent site. A great big thumbs up from me for Cruise Brothers!
Ashlee Dasilva
Cruise Brothers
Ashlee. Cruisebrothers.com

I have been with Cruise Brothers for about a year now. I have the best team leader you could ask for. She provided me with the best training. She and the people at Cruise Brothers Headquarters have helped me tremendously with my decision to start a new career ti become a travel agent. They are great.

I am gaining a great deal of knowledge about the agencies and travel partners that they represent. I haven't sold a thing. I signed up in September of 2012 and it's now the end of December 2012.

My ability to pay $50 to the State of Florida to sign up as a "seller of travel" as the DBPR agent that spoke to me on the phone insisted has been restricted through no effort of my own.
I do not understand how nor why I have been restricted in this manner, but really would appreciate having the light shined on this ghost.

If you have other questions, please let me know. I am open to communication and still kicking in the ocean of would be travel agents.

Sincerely,

Sara Rodriguez

I've been very fortunate with the assistance that I've received with The Cruise Brothers. I attend the weekly classes online and have done a LOT of studying through the use of their resources.
My team leader has been very helpful any time I've had questions with timely responses and assisting me as needed. Not sure what other reviewers were expecting, but if you develop a good foundation and gain experience slowly, I see good success as a very realistic outcome of YOUR work and their expertise. Anything worthwhile takes work, study and time. You can work as little or as hard as your time allows, and reap the rewards accordingly.

We signed up with CB in the Spring and so far have had a good experience. We paid for the website, but don't use it that much. Our contact person has been a great help and anytime we've had questions or needed help, he has given an immediate response and the matter handled right away.
The initial training webinar was informative and did not seem like a sales pitch at all, as others have mentioned.
This is our second experience with a hosting agency. First time turned out to be mostly an MLM program. So far we are happy doing our own marketing and booking, just using the host agency to gain access to the booking sites with no monthly fee. Has worked well so far and CB has been supportive to us.
Some things in the agent resource site and the main CB website seem rather "clunky." I wish there was some sort of online access to your current sales account so you could see what you have pending. There may be, but I have not yet found it and plan to ask about this. I think other host agencies may organize this better, but again... it's what you get for free.
I would recommend this host agency if you're looking for a "free" experience to get started.