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What I Like About the CruiseOne (Travel Agency) Franchise Opportunity
1. CruiseOne is a travel agency franchise that specializes in selling cruise packages through more than 650 independently owned and operated franchises. As part of World Travel Holdings, one of the nation’s largest online and offline leisure travel companies, CruiseOne boasts unrivaled buying power within the cruise industry — franchisees receive some of the highest commissions in the business.
While CruiseOne is best known for selling cruise packages, franchisees are not limited to selling cruises. They can also earn commissions on travel insurance, shore excursions, land packages, escorted tours, independent tours, all-inclusive resorts, hotels, and car rentals.
2. Franchisees can run their CruiseOne business from anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. The business can be run from an office building, retail storefront, or (most typically) from home. All the software provided are web-based, firewall protected, and comply with the highest industry standards for data encryption. CruiseOne subscribes to the highest industry standards as it relates to credit card transactions.
With CruiseOne’s proprietary technology, franchisees can access up-to-the-minute cruise line pricing, see live cabin availability and make reservations directly with the cruise lines without ever picking up the phone. CruiseOne’s reservation system called Cruise Control is a Customer Relationship Management tool, Booking Engine, and Franchise Financial Management tool all rolled into one. This proprietary $52-million system was built from scratch and is exclusive to CruiseOne.
3. The franchise fee is only $9,800, which already covers the initial 6-day training course taught at the corporate headquarters in Fort Lauderdale, FL. CruiseOne takes care of the hotel accommodations, breakfast, lunch, and complimentary transportation to and from the training facility. It is also possible to receive reimbursement for airfare and ground transfers.
CruiseOne provides financing, so for as little as a $3,500 downpayment, a qualified applicant can become a CruiseOne franchise owner.
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4. Being a travel agent has its perks. Based on the volume of business, franchisees may be eligible for an IATAN card, which entitles the holder to hotel, cruise, and travel discounts, including familiarization trips. Many programs are in place to recognize top producers with awards such as exclusive invitations to inaugural cruises and a free cabin in CruiseOne’s annual National Conference at Sea.
What I Don’t Like About The CruiseOne (Travel Agency) Franchise Opportunity
1. It should be clear to prospective franchisees that CruiseOne is not the type of business where you get a built-in customer base from day one. CruiseOne is not well known among consumers, and the main CruiseOne consumer website gets very little traffic — certainly not enough to generate leads for all 650 or so franchisees.
A franchisee will have to spend a considerable amount of time and money to market the business through Internet marketing (search engine optimization, pay per click marketing, etc.) as well as traditional direct marketing. This is especially true for most franchisees who run their business from home. There is just no way for them to be discovered by consumers without an aggressive marketing strategy (and budget).
This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme. Just like any other business, to succeed requires a lot of time and effort. Franchisees should view this opportunity as starting their own niche travel agency with the benefit of being affiliated with a large company that has significant buying power and great technology. But they still have to market the business aggressively to win customers because the brand is not recognizable enough to do the work for them.
Thank you for the info. Understanding there is no “typical” what is the common earnings for a franchise or rather how far along is the break even point?
Hi Ryan,
Unfortunately, to the best of my knowledge, CruiseOne does not make any financial performance representations under Item 19 of their FDD. Without that, I can’t speculate on the potential earnings or break even point. When the 2012 FDDs come out, I’ll check again. Thanks for visiting!
Best regards,
Ambrosio
Best regards
Thanks for the detailed info.
Do you have an idea how much they pay as commission and when the commission is paid?
Do they have any intention to sell the franchse to the middle east like Dubai.
Thank you
Hi Rabih,
Thank you very much for your comment. Much appreciated.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any inside information or established contacts at CruiseOne. You will certainly get more detailed information directly from their website or by talking with their franchise development representative. Sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance on this one.
Best regards,
Ambrosio
Dear Ambrosio
I note from your website comment, Franchise Chatter June 30, 2012 at 10:57 pm “CruiseOne does not make any financial performance representations under Item 19 of their FDD. Without that, I can’t speculate on the potential earnings or break even point. When the 2012 FDDs come out, I’ll check again.”
I have today 25 July 2013 registered for Franchise Chatter’s ‘Platinum Membership 10 Month Subscription’ for $97. Within my membership, I cannot find the FDD item 19 financial performance representations for World Travel Holdings Inc & CruiseOne Inc’s U.S. based business franchise, CruiseOne. Has the FDD for 2012 or 2013 been published?
Regards
Sandra
Hi Sandra,
Thank you for your subscription. I have CruiseOne’s 2013 FDD, and they do make financial performance representations in their Item 19. I will post the FDD Talk 2013 for CruiseOne on Monday, after completing the current series on Forever Yogurt. Welcome to Franchise Chatter, and best of luck with your due diligence.
Best regards,
Ambrosio
Dear Ambrosio,
I have been getting a lot of invitations to purchase a franchise from this company. I would like to know your current thoughts on them as an investment.
Thansk
Hi Dolapo,
Thanks for your question.
My main concern with a travel-related franchise (and not just CruiseOne) is the potential impact of the Internet going forward. The Internet has transformed many industries already, including travel. I know that booking a cruise is more complicated than buying a plane ticket or booking a hotel room, and that’s why travel agencies specializing in cruises are still around. But how about 5 or 10 years from now? I don’t know enough about the CruiseOne business to say for sure that they have a legitimate long-term competitive advantage. But talk to the franchisor and see what they say. Perhaps they might be able to lay out a convincing argument for why CruiseOne is here to stay.
Best of luck with your due diligence.
Best regards,
Ambrosio
Knowing from the onset that I need to market myself to make this work; How much can I expect to spend to get the exposure that is needed to get the company moving forward? The $10,000 initial investment is the tip of the iceberg. You could easily spend that much on Google keywords and social media within a given amount of time.
BTW – We appreciate the forum that you’ve created here. When looking for an unbiased answer to these questions, it helps to find knowledgeable sources.
Hi Nicholas,
Thank you for the comment. We appreciate it.
CruiseOne estimates that your initial promotion and advertising expenses will range from $1,200 to $2,400 for the first 3 months (i.e. $400 to $800 per month for 3 months), but with the caveat that your actual expenses can be much higher than the range provided, depending on your region and media market. To be on the safe side, you should budget for at least 3 to 4 times this amount (maybe up to $10,000).
https://www.franchisechatter.com/2013/08/01/franchise-costs-2013-detailed-estimates-of-cruiseone-franchise-costs-2013-fdd/
I’m pretty sure the franchisor will teach you their best practices, as well as the most effective marketing channels, so that your advertising dollars go a lot further.
Best of luck with your research.
Best regards,
Ambrosio