I started by franchise in 2011 and have never looked back. I appreciate the amazing support that Dream Vacations provides its franchisees. When I started I didn't have a single customer. The lead programs, marketing, support and training helped me to become a million-dollar plus agency. I love that I can run my franchise pretty much the way I want - I have a storefront with independent agents and employee agents. But the most important thing is that while I am in business for myself, I'm not in business by myself. I have a wonderful network of support, not just from our home office/franchisor, but from a network of thousands of other Dream Vacations owners and agents, who are like family. We help one another to succeed by sharing our knowledge and time with others. It's a recipe for success. I love what I do and I love the Dream Vacations brand.
I would like to add that the last 2+ years dealing with COVID were extremely tough - but I have to say our franchise provided us with much-needed support, encouragement, and hope. The franchise implemented programs to help us in many ways, even financial. Dream Vacations is definitely interested in my success.
I highly recommend Dream Vacations to anyone who loves travel, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and is not afraid to work hard for what they want.
Dream Vacations genuinely wants ALL of their franchisees to succeed!
We were struck during our first National Conference of the genuineness and the passion with which DV helps develop their network by providing limitless tools for learning and growth.
Any time we encounter an issue we can't research and solve on our own, Support Services, or any of the other support departments respond quickly with helpful suggestions.
I started by franchise in 2011 and have never looked back. I appreciate the amazing support that Dream Vacations provides its franchisees. When I started I didn't have a single customer. The lead programs, marketing, support and training helped me to become a million-dollar plus agency. I love that I can run my franchise pretty much the way I want - I have a storefront with independent agents and employee agents. But the most important thing is that while I am in business for myself, I'm not in business by myself. I have a wonderful network of support, not just from our home office/franchisor, but from a network of thousands of other Dream Vacations owners and agents, who are like family. We help one another to succeed by sharing our knowledge and time with others. It's a recipe for success. I love what I do and I love the Dream Vacations brand.
I would like to add that the last 2+ years dealing with COVID were extremely tough - but I have to say our franchise provided us with much-needed support, encouragement, and hope. The franchise implemented programs to help us in many ways, even financial. Dream Vacations is definitely interested in my success.
I highly recommend Dream Vacations to anyone who loves travel, has an entrepreneurial spirit, and is not afraid to work hard for what they want.
We've been a part of the World Travel Holdings' home-based cruise division for over 16 years, and we recently made the decision to become Dream Vacations franchisees. The HQ support is fantastic! They are "REAL" people that you can call and have a conversation with. They care about the entire network and want each franchise to experience their own version of success. We have many fantastic marketing programs, exclusive supplier offers, award-winning technology, a responsive support team and more...all making us look good to our clients!! So happy to be a part of this family!
Ray and I have been with Dream Vacations since its inception, having been CruiseOne since 2011. We truly are happy with our decision. We love promoting travel and guiding our guests to the best vacation choices for them. The support and encouragement and training we receive from the Dream Vacation support team from our Senior Vice President Deb flows down to all the staff. They back us 100% and listen to us. They really care about us personally, and our success business-wise.
This is the best decision we could have made both personally, because we have really enjoyed the travel and the comradery with the staff and other agents, and our success with our clients.
A great company to work with. I have enjoyed the support, the training and the mutual goals of franchisees and headquarters.
We are continually amazed by the amount of ongoing support we receive from our CruiseOne / Dream Vacations franchisor. We owned a franchise in a different industry for 12 years and were pretty much on our own to come up promotions, marketing collateral, email blasts, etc. so we truly know the difference and greatly appreciate all of the help and resources we receive from our franchisor and the entire headquarters team! We researched several different host agencies prior to choosing CruiseOne / Dream Vacations and we couldn’t be happier with our choice!!
People tell me almost daily that they’re so jealous of me. Why? Because I have the coolest job on the planet! What could be more exciting than traveling to fabulous places? I spend every day helping people plan trips to amazing places all over the world. Friends and strangers have told me that I light up when I talk about my business. This is my tenth year in business, and I still love going to work every day.
I did a lot of research before choosing CruiseOne. I spoke with many agents from several different companies. I ended up choosing CruiseOne for several reasons. Their technology was superior to the competition, which was very important to me. CruiseOne agents were willing and eager to answer all of my questions (and now I do the same when I get calls from people interested in a franchise). And I liked the person that I was working with at CruiseOne. He was patient, answering all of my questions honestly. He didn’t pressure me to make a decision. Other companies I called used a more high-pressure approach, calling constantly and pressuring me. For all of these reasons, I knew CruiseOne was the right company for me.
I have never regretted my decision to start this business. Our headquarters staff are a pretty amazing team! But here’s what I love most about CruiseOne. We are all a team, headquarters and agents. We don’t see each other as competition. We all help each other, and cheer each other on. I’ve learned so much over the years and continue to learn from my fellow franchisees. And I pass along as much knowledge as I can. I am proud to be a part of this great family.
- Darci Upham, Franchise Owner since 2006, Hampstead, NC
Would I purchase my CruiseOne franchise all over again? Hands down, absolutely! No question about it. There are so many resources available at HQ to help me when I need it. Support Services is absolutely amazing, and they have gone above and beyond for my so many times! The Marketing department has given me their creative guidance and have been generous in sharing just what has worked for other franchisees. My Business Development Representative (Adam Taylor) has been my sounding board when I needed it most. PR has consistently given me the tools to promote my business and have alerted me to opportunities that fit my niche markets. I’m super excited about World Travel Holdings’ commitment to technology and all of the great tools they give us in the field to be successful. It’s clear that HQ wants us all to be successful. I’m looking forward to many years as a CruiseOne franchise owner, and building a successful business as part of a world-class organization!
Owning a CruiseOne travel franchise affords me the flexibility to set my own hours to revolve around my class schedule, and will give me real-world experience when I start pursuing my business degree next year at the University of Houston. I think being a younger owner will offer my clients a fresh perspective on vacations for a younger crowd and multi-generational groups. My parents are entrepreneurs and along with my business teacher, they encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I didn’t think I was going to get this far, but when I began researching business ideas and came across CruiseOne, everything clicked into place. It fit my personal love for travel, and by budget.
I first learned about CruiseOne from another CruiseOne Franchisee that I met on a ship. I picked her brain probably to the point of annoyance and once back stateside I started to research various franchises and CruiseOne by far had very positive owner reviews about support, systems, etc. I was and still am a district manager for restaurant chain. Prior to working in the corporate world I owned two restaurants. I am at the point now where I am busy enough to do this full time if needed or continue to bring on associates to handle the extra business. Let’s face it, it can be a 7 day a week job but I love it so that makes it enjoyable. You have got to love what you do first and foremost. But knowledge is the key to success in this business; It gives you confidence to answer any of your clients questions. I have been up double digits each year of business but am having by far the best year so far this year (2015) up over 80%. CruiseOne is a great organization that continues to move forward and evolve the tools that we are using. The support staff, if needed, is great and very responsive. Being part of World Travel Holdings provides lots of pricing advantages and influence with our travel partners. I have lots of loyal clients that either were already friends or have become friends that love to travel often. Our working relationship is so close that 4 of them often just text me the ship and sail date to book in one sentence and it is done. It has become a running joke that has actually spread that practice onto others doing it as well.