All Reviews

71 reviews
  • 5 stars
  • 4 stars
  • 3 stars
  • 2 stars
  • 1 star

Top Review

July 19, 2020
I started with Cruise Planners in May 2019. I was very new to the industry. (I had started with another home-based company approximately 8 months prior, but received minimal support. In those 8 months, I only had a handful of bookings, and several of them were my own.) While attending the CLIA conference in April of 2019, I saw alot of people wearing the "CP green" shirts. So, I started asking some of them about Cruise Planners. Every single person I spoke with said they absolutely LOVED Cruise Planners and they were very happy with their decision to join the CP family. After more research, I decided to make the switch. I am extremely happy that I did! The support I've received in my first year with Cruise Planners has been fantastic. The technology is state of the art. My coaches have been very responsive to my TONS of questions. In addition, having access to the CP Facebook page has allowed me to obtain a significant amount of information from my colleagues. (Being able to ask a question on our Facebook page and immediately receive a number of responses is very helpful.) The Home Office is very responsive to feedback and to our individual needs. I truly feel that the Home Office wants me to succeed. I set a goal for myself to make the company's Top 50 list within my first five years. I was able to accomplish my goal within my first year- even with the COVID situation in full swing! I am happy to answer any questions you may have about the Cruise Planners opportunity.
May 18, 2020
Old Review

Since the global economy took a turn this year, hearing about Cruise Planners corporate plans to take care of the HOT family touched me and once again re-affirmed that when I bought my franchise 6.5 years ago I joined the right company. #CPStrong

May 18, 2020
Old Review

This was a very happy review today! I was soooo excited about metrics for the marketing videos. That's super great - and speaks volumes to everyone sitting at home anxious to see some awesome #cruisitude news. Our franchise is scheduling several major virtual cruise nights to keep the momentum up. Home Office videos updates have been great since this stay-at-home order has been in place. #cpstrong #justkeepswimming Thanks Vicky, Michelle and Theresa!

May 18, 2020
Old Review

I continue to be impressed with the leadership of Michelle Fee and Vicky Garcia. Great weekly update...great company. Thanks for all your support amidst the pandemic, Home Office Team!

May 18, 2020
Old Review

I have been around a while and i remember going thru 2008. Our Cruise Planners leaders got us thru that, and they will get us thru this. I am so thankful to be part of this amazing family.

May 18, 2020
Old Review

I love the videos Cruise Planners Home Office does on Mondays and Fridays since the lockdown began—they truly help! Cruise Planners keeps all of us updated moment to moment.

May 18, 2020
Old Review

I spent most of my adult life in a well-run financial organization that had emergency plans in place well in advance and could move quickly with changing environments, through 9/11, hurricanes, etc...well-run machines. This response in the travel industry, to include cruise lines, tour companies and yes, our very own Cruise Planners, has been right up there, showing what can be done quickly and effectively, impressive. Thank you Michelle, Laura and the rest of the team at Cruise Planners Home Office.

January 10, 2019
Old Review

I joined based on the research garnered from this webpage, Hostagencyreviews.com, by interviewing Franchisee with other agencies, etc.
I must say the journey hasn't been easy, but well worth the journey. Yes, there is a lot of training because technology is ever so changing. It's great if you ask me. As a new Franchisee, I was so overwhelmed, but since I left Education, after 7 years and have always been a Blogger, I wanted this new venture to work.
Hard work pays off and nothing comes to a dreamer but sleep...So make sure you are working your business.
I am a new Franchisee and have already sold enough to make my investment back, then some ....& I'm still new.

I was concerned about a few comments here, as well as concerned about comments for other brands I was shopping too. My best advise is to due your due diligence --Your Homework.., Make your decision based on such.
When you have if Cruise Planners is your journey..Truly make it your business to run your business.
It may seem hard at first (i.e slow season), but you can do it.
Many people in my graduating September 2018 class are loving this journey, and glad we stepped out to do something new and become Cruise Planners Franchisee selling all things travel as Land and Cruise Experts, not just cruises.

I think a fair synopsis is that I provide a follow up in July 2018, when I purchased, but so far...I am loving it and grateful for this journey.

So do your research, follow your passion, make the decision, put in the hard work, & know It's Going to be a Great Year!
LaTonya

February 3, 2018
Old Review

I started officially with Cruise Planners in November and I love it! My coach was very helpful with training me in the tools and our tools are fantastic. There have been major upgrades since I started. We are fully integrated with Amazon Alexa, our CRM tools are top notch, and our customer interface online is excellent.

The Cruise Planners name is recognizable and has helped me considerably. For example, I was contacted online for a Viking Cruise because the person was impress with my social media page and website.

I feel that in orientation it was very clear that there is a LOT to travel, so if you are interested in the travel business be aware that there is a lot to it. Focus on what you want to sell first and then gradually branch out. I work full-time (usually until 7PM every night.), but I know that every success requires extra hard work. I come home I pick a vendor and try to learn everything I can about it. I also don't expect to be successful in the first six months, which it is also explained by our coaches that it takes time to build a business and that is true in all industries. I have actually done more in travel activity than I thought I would considering I do not do this full-time yet.

So, overall I am very satisfied with this agency.

May 11, 2017
Old Review

I did my training in July of 2011. Left corporate to start my dream job and never looked back. I'm not going to say it is easy, but it is a labor I love. How great to help someone put together their dream vacation! Cruise Planners has made the process as easy as it can be. The technology they provide is second to none. The Cruise Planner Family support is amazing. If HO is not available to help there is always someone on the CP FB page that is willing to assist with all aspects of the business. I love the Cruisitude! It is widely felt that if one succeeds, we all succeed and most are eager to help. If you decide to become a travel professional I highly recommend you join this winning team. We will be there to help you too.

April 3, 2017
Old Review

It's interesting to me that most of the reviews here are from the top agents at Cruise Planners. It is true that CP offers a great training program, but yes, it is over overwhelming, even to those of us who have been in the business before. It is true that CP offers excellent technology and tools. Where CP failed me, was in the first two years. My coaches seemed to offer nothing more than the same rote advice, there was no personalization. That has changed in the past year, with a change to the people who are coaching and the regions they are coaching. I have had regular conversations with my coach in the past year, and she has been great. Another way I feel CP failed me, was in the customer service department. I can not tell you how many times I called home office to ask a question or get information, and was greeted by someone who sounded like I was the LAST call they wanted to take, and that I was bothering them. I got the impression pretty early on, that because I was not one of the star agents at CP, that my needs were not important. I can think of maybe three people I dealt with that were pleasant and helpful, my new coach being one of them. In general, most people pay a good deal of money to join CP, yet they nickel and dime every tool they can provide to you. I feel that they way they go about some things is kind of sneaky. For example, when brochure rack was implemented. You had to opt out of it, if you didn't want it. Well, as busy as we get, it can be difficult to keep up with everything, so you either miss that memo, or forget about it, and the next thing you know you are being charged for a tool you don't want, and have not used. I was hopeful that things could work out for me at CP, but when my contract came up for renewal, and not one person reached out to me to discuss, or make me feel like a valuable member of the organization, I decided to move on. I don't want to be a part of an organization that doesn't seem to value my contributions, even if they are smaller than some others.

Host Agency Response
April 17, 2017

We can certainly appreciate Jennifer’s feelings and respect her decision to move on.

It’s very important to all of us at Cruise Planners that we support and listen to our franchise owners in order to best support them and come up with individually-tailored programs and tools to help them grow their businesses. As a franchisor, we offer a complete business in a box which includes a suite of technology tools which include a proprietary CRM system with client management, sales pipeline, live booking, group registration, mobile app (B2B & B2C), social media platform with automated posts, along with a professionally designed and fully maintained website. In addition to technology, we offer a fully turn-key marketing program which goes out on behalf of the franchise owners via print, email, web and social media marketing channels on a weekly basis. All of the above programs as included in the monthly technology access fee of $59. We are committed to bringing and actually developing the very best tools and programs in the marketplace, and our guiding principles is to do so without, “nickel & diming” our franchise owners. So I am surprised that Jennifer felt that the “Brochure Rack” program was “sneaky”, however, let me share here that CP Headquarters actually subsidized half of that program which is licensed from Mailpound for our franchisees. We did make it an opt-out program based on feedback from our advisory board of existing CP agents as it would make it easier for most, vs having to opt-in, and since it was such a great value, at such a low cost (under $5 p/month). I do apologize if it came across “sneaky” however that was never our intention, and in fact, we required upon design that the process to cancel/opt-out was built with multiple reminders and ease-of-use. We currently do not have any other like programs, but do consider partnering if it makes sense and offers benefits to our agents.

I am saddened that Jennifer felt undervalued as we strive every day to run this company as a family and EVERYONE is important. We invest a lot into our “human capital” as well in hiring the BEST of the BEST at HQ to be there to help our franchise owners succeed because, in the end, we are committed…we do NOT succeed, if they are not successful. (Period)

Cruise Planners has been named No.1 travel franchise by Entrepreneur 14 consecutive years and has been ranked as the #1 travel franchise by Franchise Business Review for 6 years in a row – both of these accolades take into account franchise satisfaction and demonstrate our strength as a company. We are committed to each franchise owner and want each to be successful by providing them with innovative marketing, booking and lead-generating tools as well as professional development and hands-on training with the industry’s top executives.

Vicky Garcia

COO & Co-Owner

Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative

Sign up for a free account to submit reviews.