How Advisors Run Successful Travel Businesses from Anywhere

What if your travel franchise was so flexible, and the tech behind it so solid, that you could run your entire business from your phone while exploring the world? 

That is exactly what Cruise Planners franchisees Deborah and Tony do. They've sailed over 116 cruises across 30 cruise lines, visited 107 countries, stood on every continent, and kept their business thriving the whole time. In this conversation with Franchise Business Review, they explain how Cruise Planners makes it possible to build a profitable, mobile-friendly travel business from anywhere on the planet. 

A Surprising Path from Retirement to a Global Travel Business 

Deborah and Tony did not leave law enforcement expecting to build a travel empire. They simply loved exploring the world and wanted to understand the industry from the inside. Their first agency partner lacked training, technology, and support. Those are things someone new to the industry truly needs. 

Everything changed when they discovered Cruise Planners at a major travel event. They joined almost immediately, attended STAR University training, and learned the systems, sales skills, and supplier relationships they would rely on if they ever wanted to treat this as a business. At that time, they still did not plan to. 

Then everything shifted during an eighty-one-day cruise in 2020. When global shutdowns cut the trip short, passengers began asking them for help rebooking their travel. By the time they disembarked, Deborah and Tony had seventy-five real clients and a reason to take their franchise seriously. 

Today they operate a Millionaires Club level agency, all while continuing to travel full time. 

The Tech That Turns a Phone into a Floating Office 

People always ask how they manage to pull this off. The answer is Cruise Planners proprietary technology ecosystem, anchored by CP Max, a platform that works just as reliably on a ship in the Arctic as it does in a living room. 

CP Max allows advisors to: 

• Book cruises, hotels, tours, and insurance
• Take payments securely
• Access client profiles and trip histories
• Build itineraries and pull confirmations
• Automate marketing through the CRM
• Manage everything from a phone, laptop, or desktop 

As Deborah likes to say, “This is my office,” while holding up her phone. Whether they are trekking with mountain gorillas in Rwanda or bouncing across Antarctica in a small boat, they can still run their entire business. 

Cruise Planners also handles the heavy lifting behind the scenes, including supplier contract negotiations, national marketing, continual tool updates, and a Care Team franchisees can call anytime for technical support. Even simple features like Snippets, which let advisors save quick insert email templates, help them reclaim hours each week. 

A Tech Team That Actually Designs for Advisors 

Many franchise owners share the same fear. What happens if something breaks? 

Cruise Planners CIO, Brian Schultz, does not pretend that issues never happen. What matters is preparation, transparency, and responsiveness. His team builds redundancy, communicates clearly, and focuses on designing systems based on how advisors actually work rather than how software teams imagine they work. 

Advisors can suggest improvements through the internal idea inbox known as the sandbox. They can share feedback at Tech Days, during regional events, at conventions, and through advisory boards that review upcoming features. When Cruise Planners introduced a new itinerary builder, the tech team worked for months with top producing advisors. They reviewed prototypes together and refined the tool based on every piece of feedback, even the tough ones. 

If a feature will not make a franchise owner’s day easier, it does not launch. 

Practical AI That Saves Time Instead of Creating More Work 

Cruise Planners uses AI in a practical and advisor-centered way. Max Intelligence helps advisors create content quickly. Internal chatbots trained exclusively on Cruise Planners information offer accurate support at any time of day. 

The goal is to remove friction and free up time, not add more complexity. 

Training, Coaching, and a Community That Feels Like a Crew 

Technology makes it possible to work from anywhere. Training and community make it possible to grow. 

Every Cruise Planners advisor begins with online onboarding, followed by a Foundation Coach who helps get the business set up properly. STAR University provides a week of in-person, hands-on training. Coaching continues long after training ends, adjusting as the business grows. 

Advisors also benefit from a strong community. The Cruise Planners Facebook group is constantly active with real time help and encouragement. Conventions, boot camps, and regional events give advisors time to connect with leadership and each other. Since Cruise Planners does not use territories, advisors do not compete for specific zip codes and can collaborate freely. 

A Culture You Can Feel 

One of Deborah’s favorite moments happened at a Cruise Planners convention in the Dominican Republic. Vendors had set up cabanas around the pool and music played over the speakers. Advisors chatted and networked in the water, enjoying the relaxed energy. Suddenly, CEO Michelle Fee stepped onto a small poolside platform, grabbed the microphone, and started singing and dancing with everyone. A nearby hotel guest had no idea she was the CEO and could not believe it once he learned the truth. 

Moments like that show who Cruise Planners is as a brand. Leadership is visible, approachable, and genuinely connected to the community they serve. 

Is Cruise Planners the Right Franchise? 

Only you can decide, but here are a few things to consider: 

• The business is flexible enough to fit your lifestyle
• You do not need a travel or sales background
• The technology truly supports a work from anywhere model
• You receive strong training and ongoing community support
• Franchisee satisfaction is consistently among the highest in the industry 

If you are looking for a business you can run from home or from wherever your next adventure takes you, Cruise Planners is worth a closer look. 

Ready to Explore the Opportunity? 

If Deborah and Tony’s story sparked your interest, this is a great time to take a closer look at how the Cruise Planners system works behind the scenes. If you want to understand the travel technology that makes a work from anywhere business possible, explore Max Intelligence, the platform’s AI powered content and workflow tool. You can also review everything that is included with a Cruise Planners franchise, from hands on training to marketing programs to the ongoing support that helps advisors grow. 

The more you learn about how these pieces come together, the easier it becomes to see how this low-cost franchise opportunity can align with the lifestyle and business you want to build.