Headquarter Happenings: Cruise Planners Embraces AI and Other High Tech Tools

When CEO Michelle Fee founded Cruise Planners in 1994, she did so with one overarching goal: to find ways to save travel advisors time. Since then, Cruise Planners has adopted technology at a clip that can be whiplash inducing to the uninitiated. In a typical year, the franchise Host’s senior leadership can make upwards of 20 announcements at its annual CP World conference regarding new or improved high-tech tools, functionalities, and more.

This year’s conference, held this week onboard Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas, was no different, with no less than 15 new technological tools unveiled. Most of the tools and functionality that were introduced are a direct result of feedback submitted from Cruise Planners advisors.

Driving much of the innovation is artificial intelligence, which Fee sees as key to the future of Cruise Planners.

“We’re standing at the edge of a really exciting tipping point. AI is the future and we’re not just going to embrace it, we’re going to lead with it,” she said adding, that harnessing AI amplifies advisors’ strengths, streamlines operations, and frees up time.

“We believe our job is to constantly find ways to streamline your workflow. That way, you guys can spend time doing what you do best, sell travel.”

“Our roadmap when it comes to AI goes well into the future,” added CP’s chief technology officer Brian Shultz.

New AI Tools

New for this year are an AI Confirmation Import tool and an AI Cruise search tool. The first allows advisors to easily import confirmation emails directly into CP Maxx to automatically generate reservations and process pricing and commission data. Previously, this all had to be entered manually.

(The AI Confirmation tool was the clear winner at the conference, getting the loudest response from franchisees and advisors out of all the announcements.)

While the AI Confirmation tool will only work with cruise confirmations to start, the plan is to add hotel and tour later.

“The land and tour confirmations, that is our ultimate goal because we know how tricky those can be. As soon as we launch cruise, our team will pivot to work on land.”

The cruise search tool enables advisors to use natural language to simply type or dictate information for a cruise search, instead of using a form with filters.

“We know that sometimes searching for a cruise can be a little overwhelming. Our advanced Find a Cruise form can sometimes require multiple clicks to filter down to that perfect sailing. We believe that AI can change that, making the process faster and simpler,” Shultz said. 

“We’re confident this is going to save you guys a ton of time,” Fee added.

Both tools will launch Oct. 14.

Full Website Revamp

Another big initiative this year is a full website revamp, both on the corporate level and for franchisees. (The last time the site was updated was 2016.)

Starting with the corporate site, Cruise Planners has completely overhauled the look and feel of the site, as well as the content, including an increased emphasis on search engine optimization.

“We have one clear goal, to highlight the value of working with a Cruise Planners advisor,” Shultz said.

New to the site will be a Find Your Expert Travel Advisor search, designed to link consumers with advisors near them. Advisors will have the option of creating a bio for the search engine. Advisors can populate the bio with a photo, their expertise, favorite suppliers, what languages they speak, and more.

“Our goal is to drive leads directly to you,” Shultz added.

Shortly after the corporate website relaunches in early 2026, franchisee websites will follow, featuring a similar look and feel to the corporate site.

The new site offers customization options for franchisees, and feature travel-inspired animations, streamlined navigation, and easy access to special offers, travel content, and vacation search tools.

Trip Summary 3.0

Another popular announcement was the overhaul of the line’s itinerary builder, called Trip Summary. Last updated in 2021, Cruise Planners advisors have generated more than 35,000 itineraries since then, but the tool has also been outpaced by several third-party vendors, Shultz said. The new version was completely rebuilt from the ground-up based on feedback from an advisory board of Cruise Planners advisors.

Key features of Trip Summary 3.0 will include drag-and-drop functionality; an expanded range of travel components such as cruise tours, flights, and rail; and the ability to bundle multiple itineraries into proposals for side-by-side comparisons.

Cybersecurity Updates

During the opening session, Shultz also introduced a series of new cybersecurity improvements and updates that were greeted with a theater full of groans.

Namely, all Cruise Planners owners and advisors will soon have to complete quarterly cybersecurity training. To force advisors to complete the training, they will be locked out of CP Maxx until it is completed.

Simultaneously, Cruise Planners is rolling out multi-factor authentication and upping the password change policy to three times per year.

More New Tools

Rounding out the myriad of new tools announced at this year’s CP World are:

Maxx Media: A new centralized media management system located in the CP Maxx proprietary CRM system. Maxx Media stores an advisor’s images and videos in one central location making it simpler for advisors to reuse these assets in documents, marketing campaigns, and more across any CP Maxx tool without needing to re-upload each and every time.

Client Tool Enhancements: Several new enhancements are being made to the client management piece of CP Maxx, including the ability to pin currently active clients (mean to be temporary) or favorite best clients (more permanent, designed to help with focused marketing).

Evergreen Romance Brochure: In response to the overwhelming popularity of the company’s evergreen River Expedition Guide, which has been ordered more than 50,000 times so far by advisors, Cruise Planners is creating a Romance brochure. With no pricing or dates, the evergreen brochure (print or digital) is meant to teach clients what the options are when it comes to weddings, anniversaries, and other romantic getaways.

Find a Flight: Cruise Planners has integrated Google Flights data into CP Maxx, providing information about availability, layovers, and pricing in one spot, giving advisors the option to compare flights easily and book from within the platform.

CP Genie Learning: Cruise Planners’ education platform, which launched earlier this year, will be getting a library of bite-sized training modules – all timed to be 15 minutes or less. Also coming soon to the platform will be a new expedition specialist program and a luxury specialist program.

Vacation Wizard: The AI tool that helps advisors narrow down which supplier is the best fit for their clients is getting a handful of new filters to make the narrowing process more precise.