Cruise Planners

Travel agencies
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2025 Franchise 500 Rank
#70 Ranked #122 last year
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Initial investment
$2K - $20K
Units as of 2024
2,962 Increase 11.4% over 3 years

Cruise Planners is a travel agency franchise specializing in vacation planning and creating memorable itineraries for travels in the U.S. and abroad. Cruise Planners is headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, and is now the most extensive home-based travel agent network in the United States.

The fact that its co-founder Michelle Fee is a travel enthusiast and professional has worked exceptionally well for Cruise Planners. When Fee helped start the company in 1994, she had a career as a travel agent and an unstoppable drive to reach the top. When industry retirees Lynn Korn and Marvin Davis joined in, the company's formula for growth yielded great results. 

Why You May Want to Start a Cruise Planners Franchise

Cruise Planners is happy to welcome anyone with Cruisitude, a term coined by the company, referring to a positive, travel-inclined attitude or disposition in life. If you love to travel, are ready to commit to a travel-centric business, and share the company's vision for growth, Cruise Planners could be a good fit.

Cruise Planners seeks to have a family-friendly company with franchisees who come from diverse backgrounds, from retirees enjoying their encore career to young professionals escaping the 9-5. 

Cruise Planners has been ranked in Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 many times in recent years. This ranking is based on an evaluation of more than 150 data points in the areas of costs and fees, size and growth, franchisee support, brand strength, and financial strength and stability.

What Might Make a Cruise Planners Franchise a Good Choice?

Cruise Planners is a good franchise option for many reasons, mainly because of its presence in the travel industry. It is also home-based, which means you can run your business at your place and time. 

Cruise Planners also provides proven, award-winning technologies, tools, and professional coaching for what they believe to be an affordable price. Cruise Planners may be one of the least expensive franchises in the market, with incentive programs for certain groups, such as military personnel, first responders, and independent travel agents. 

To be part of the Cruise Planners team, you should make sure you're financially ready for an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. In addition, you should be prepared for ongoing fees that will include royalty fees. 

Cruise Planners is known to be one of the best franchisees for veterans to open, ranking highly on Entrepreneur’s Top Franchises for Veterans multiple times in recent years. 

How To Open a Cruise Planners Franchise

Once you meet the initial requirements to be a Cruise Planners franchisee, the team may get you on board with a video walkthrough, which gives you an overview of the franchise, its training programs, technologies, and more. 

A more detailed presentation of the Cruise Planners franchise opportunity will come to you via their Franchise Disclosure Document. This will be followed by a mandatory multi-week waiting period, during which they will dig deeper into your financial background. If everything checks out, you can sign your franchise agreement and immediately begin working with the franchise team to get you started on your new venture.  

Find Your Franchise Match

Company Overview

About Cruise Planners

Industry Recreation
Related Categories Travel Agencies
Founded 1994
Parent Company CP Franchising LLC
Leadership Michelle Fee, CEO
Corporate Address 3111 N. University Dr., #800
Coral Springs, FL 33065
Social Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Pinterest, TikTok

Business Overview

Franchising Since 1999 (26 years)
# of employees at HQ 137
Where seeking

This company is offering new franchises throughout the US.

# of Units 2,962 (as of 2024)
Line graph showing the number of units this franchise had for the last 5 years.
U.S. FranchisesInternationalCompany OwnedTotal
100%

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Cruise Planners franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Information Circle
$695 - $10,995
Initial Investment Information Circle
$1,945 - $20,465
Veteran Incentives Information Circle
$4,000 off $10,995 franchise fee
Royalty Fee Information Circle
3%
Term of Agreement Information Circle
3 years
Is franchise term renewable? Yes
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Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

Classroom Training 54 hours
Ongoing Support
Purchasing Co-ops
Newsletter
Meetings & Conventions
Toll-Free Line
Grand Opening
Online Support
Security & Safety Procedures
Field Operations
Proprietary Software
Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support
Co-op Advertising
Ad Templates
National Media
Regional Advertising
Social Media
SEO
Website Development
Email Marketing
Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed? No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Information Circle
Yes
Can this franchise be run part time? Information Circle
Yes
# of employees required to run 1-2
Are exclusive territories available? Information Circle
No
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Franchise 500 Ranking History

Compare where Cruise Planners landed on this year's Franchise 500 Ranking versus previous years.

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Additional Rankings

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Disclaimer
The information on this page is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation of any particular franchise or business opportunity by Entrepreneur Media. Our listings and rankings are solely research tools you can use to compare opportunities. Entrepreneur stresses that you should always conduct your own independent investigation before investing in a franchise or business opportunity. That should include reviewing the company's legal documents, consulting with an attorney and an accountant, and talking to former and current franchisees/licensees/dealers.
Updated: December 12th, 2022