Awards recognize original marketing campaigns and innovative travel agent training tools   CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. – Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, once again raises the bar within the travel agent business by winning a total of seven coveted Magellan Awards from Travel Weekly. The awards honor the best in the travel industry and are bestowed upon travel organizations that represent the highest standards of excellence in hospitality. “When developing and creating our trainin...

  Wyland to promote environmental awareness and ocean preservation aboard Princess Cruises Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, is selling select Princess Cruises as part of its 2011 CP Cares initiative, allocating $50 from each booking made by a Cruise Planners/American Express agent to raise funds for the Wyland Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and preserving the world’s oceans, waterways, and marine life.   Renowned marine wildlife artis...

  Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, was one of 52 travel companies presented with the coveted Globe Award from American Express Vacations, one of the country’s premier private-label tour operators selling destinations worldwide. Award recipients are selected based upon business growth, innovation and partnership.   The awards were presented at the tour operator’s annual “Best of the Best” celebration held at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Punta Cana, in the Dom...

  Partnership with the Wyland Foundation promotes environmental awareness and ocean preservation     Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, today announced it will be partnering with the Wyland Foundation for its 2011 CP Cares initiative, a program created to support charitable organizations in the U.S. and around the world. Wyland Foundation, founded by renowned marine muralist and environmental advocate Wyland, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting, protecting, and pres...

Cruise Planners is proud to announce a new feature just added to our website, cruise-plan.net.  This convenient booking tool offers you state of the art technology to research and book your air, car, hotel and vacation rentals.  This new tool will make your travel planning, with or without a cruise, much easier, and if you require additional service or help with the reservations, I’m just a phone call away. This new technology includes over 100,000 hotels worldwide, many of which offer specially negotiated rates.  Plus this will include Trip Advisor, the most popular...

Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, was recognized by three top travel companies with awards reflecting dedicated corporate partnerships and support to the cruise travel industry. The awards include the “Globe Award ” from American Express Vacations; the Globus “Top Producing Premier Partner” award; and recognition in Oceania Cruises'Cruise Connoisseur Club. Recognized for delivering outstanding customer service and booking unforgettable trave...

MIAMI , FL – Cruise Planners/American Express, the nation’s largest home-based travel agent franchise network in the cruise industry, donated $18,000 to the Fisher House Foundation as part of its CP Cares initiative. The funds were collected at the company’s annual convention late last year through Cruise Planners t-shirt sales and a silent auction. “Cruise Planners has shown their commitment to improving the quality of life both locally and nationally by donating such an impressive gift,” said Mary Berrocal, director of the U.S. Department of Ve...

      The newest edition of our Cruise Planners Insider Online Newsletter has just been posted to our website. This new Winter 2010 edition features stories on the new class of ships from Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and Celebrity and current trendy traveler hot spots.  Check it out here!        

CORAL SPRINGS, FL, October 12, 2009/PRWeb – For the month of October 2009, Cruise Planners will join thousands of cruise-selling travel agents in World’s Largest Cruise Event, an exciting event designed to showcase the incredible choice, diversity and value of cruise vacations—an excellent chance to improve anyone’s CruisitudeSM. Travel agencies across North America will team up with 24 member lines of Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) to provide consumers with information on cruise vacations and exceptional offers. If they choose, area residents can fi...

Important in business, real estate and even on cruise ships.  How can you make sure that you pick the best location in your chosen stateroom category?  A good answer for this question is to view the ship’s deck plans in the cruise line brochure or on the web.  While the plans are often not exactly to scale and cabin size is not always in proportion to the drawings there are a few things that are very helpful.  First, locate your cabin on the plan and then look up, down, left, right, and forward of your cabin.  What’s there?   And knowing what t...

Another “cutting edge” travel website was just announced.  It leads to the question of “how many websites does a person need to visit to get information about travel offers?”   Since we focus on the cruise business, let’s take a look at this particular segment to see if we can shed some light on the question. The first thing to understand when you let your fingers do the shopping online is that virtually all cruise travel sites develop their prices from the same “feed”.   For the digitally challenged, this just means that t...

There was recently a rather large dust up when it was disclosed that a major cruise line had given away some free cruises to a core group of its fans who posted regularly on a large cruise community site.  There were many cries of “foul” and “reverse censorship”.  While this may have been blown a bit out of proportion, it does open the door to a question lots of novice cruisers ask.  And the question is “Should I trust the reviews I read on sites like Cruise Critic?”  The answer is Yes and No. Why the ambiguity?  Because the most...

Ask anyone who has been around the cruise business for several years about the low prices being promoted right now.  They will all probably agree that we are seeing some of the lowest prices ever for some destinations that previously commanded premium pricing.  Take Alaska for example.  This week NCL is offered cruises during a one day sale to Alaska for as low as $379.  And Celebrity followed suit with Alaska voyages starting from $429.  Perhaps the most enticing deal is a Celebrity CruiseTour – cruise plus land at only $989. Europe has also been on &ldqu...

Don’t look now but Fort Lauderdale’s cruise port is more than tripling the size of one of its cruise terminals in time for the arrival of Royal Caribbean International’s 5,400-passenger Oasis-class of ships, the largest cruise ships in the world. When completed, Terminal 18 will become the largest single-ship cruise terminal in the world.   Guests will be treated to the Oasis experience as soon as they enter the terminal according to port officials.   The grand opening is planned to coincide with the arrival of the ship in November 2009.  Oasis of ...

If you love cruising and want to stay informed about the latest things happening at sea, then you will love the Cruise Talk Radio Show.  It’s an online show that you can hear on demand by clicking on the link below. The show, well as the web site covers both contemporary cruising as well as discussions and information about classic cruise ships from the past.  This is an industry that is steeped in tradition and history.  While there aren’t many of the old style ocean liners still sailing a small group of supporters keeps the memories of these great ladies al...

If you’ve vacationed with your children you know the look - a couple of bleary-eyed, bedraggled parents returning back to the hotel at 6 p.m..  In tow, are 2 hyper-active offspring wearing mouse hats or whale t-shirts sporting cotton candy hair extensions.  Next it’s the big choice:  wash them up and suffer through another dinner or collapse in the hotel room with another room service or take-out pizza meal.  And today’s receipts for all this fun?  Well,  let’s just say it cost more than your first car did? If this is how you define vac...

Cruise Planners/American Express is making room in its crowded trophy case for its second Home-Based Partner of the Year award from Royal Caribbean International. With the win, Cruise Planners/American Express remains the only company to receive the prestigious award. It's a tremendous honor being the sole recipient of this great award, said Michelle Fee, CEO of Cruise Planners/American Express. All the praise goes to our wonderful agents and the strong team we have here at headquarters that provide an unmatched level of training and support to make this kind of victory possible. T...

All cabins are created the same, right?  Not so fast, world traveler.  Experienced cruisers have learned a few secrets about determining the best stateroom choices.  It’s true that most  contemporary and premium class ships being built today offer “cookie cutter” cabins that are very similar in dimension and layout.  But even if they all appear to be the same according to the deck plan, there are some things you can do to make sure you get the best bang for your buck.  The prime consideration is location, location, location. Carefully view th...

Just returned from a one week Caribbean cruise.  In the elevator during the early part of the trip, I overhead two middle-aged ladies chatting about dining on board.  The gist of the conversation was about the alternative restaurant options on board.  One comment that struck me was “You should not have to pay for your meals on a ship”.   But thinking about this conversation, it became apparent that the comment was not really correct.  You don’t HAVE to pay for dining on any ship as each cruise line offers included dining in the main dining roo...

2009 program lets customers pay for cruise vacations with AMEX rewards points.  Coral Springs, FL - (February 20, 200) Cruise Planners/American Express, one of North America’s largest cruise retailers, recently unveiled the “Cruise for Free” program allowing American Express card holders to use their accrued Membership Rewards points as partial or full payment for any cruise vacation departing world wide. Cruise Planners travel professionals provide exceptional personalized service, priceless sailing tips and advice, and complete handling of all aspects of their drea...

We thought Carnival Valentines e-Card in the link below was just too funny and wanted to pass it along. Who can resist the charms of "Towel Art Theatre?" http://tinyurl.com/c2we2e Check out our own "sweet deals" for Valentines Day: http://www.cruise-plan.net/postcard

What do the “Abominable Snowman”, the “Loch Ness Monster” and “Booking Cruises Directly with the Cruise Line is Cheaper” all have in common?  Answer: They are all myths!  While we may not be experts on the first two subjects, at Cruise Planners we can certainly shed some light about direct booking myths. First of all, let’s face it, a sales representative at a cruise line gets paid to sell only their company whether it’s the right product for you or not.  They will never recommend the competition.  That should be enough ri...

This year will be exciting with the introduction of 9 new cruise ships. The biggest and most discussed new vessel is Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas. Slated for her first voyage this spring, this floating city will rank as the largest cruise ship in history. Weighing in at 220,000-tons, the 5,400-passenger ship has created a buzz ever since Royal Caribbean announced the project. The Oasis will feature neighborhoods that replicate land based sites like Central Park and the Boardwalk.  Other innovations include an onboard “zip-line”, Aqua Theater and a bar that raises fi...

Cruise Planners, the American Express national cruise franchise agency, announced that it has received the President's Elite Award from Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL). This marks the seventh straight year that Cruise Planners has earned NCL's highest production category award. In recognition of the achievement, NCL presented Cruise Planners with a limited edition personalized and framed version of the Versace Plate used in the Le Bistro Restaurants onboard NCL ships. "This award is testimony to the fantastic working relationship NCL enjoys with the entire Cruise Planners team, demonstra...

It's the best time of the year to get the best deals on cruise vacations because October is National Cruise Vacation month.  And The World’s Largest Cruise Event, October 4-10, 2008, is fast approaching. Michael Given, an expert Cruise Planners travel professional, is celebrating by offering clients incredible values and incentives on cruise travel to the world’s top destinations. “The World’s Largest Cruise Event is a celebration where lucky agents like me get to give the gift of great savings on cruises, and our clients are the guests of honor,” sa...

Cruise Planners, a South Florida-based national cruise agency with a franchised network of more than 700 experienced travel professionals, announced today that it has been inducted into Carnival Cruise Lines’ Pinnacle Club. One of the industry’s highest honors, the Pinnacle Club was created by Carnival to acknowledge high-volume agencies that also exhibit excellence in promoting and selling the “Fun Ship” cruise experience. “Travel agencies are an important part of our distribution system, which is why we created the ‘Pinnacle Club’ to recognize...

Michael Given of Cruise Planners today announced a partnership with International Conferences to offer physicians, dentists, nurses, and attorneys an opportunity to participate in an accredited continuing education program in conjunction with cruises on Royal Caribbean International and Crystal Cruises. Through its new affiliation with International Conferences, Michael Given is able to book clients on 21 exciting cruise itineraries worldwide, where medical and legal professionals can earn between 18 and 24 continuing education credits (CME category 1, AMA/PRA, CLE, and CEU). “We&r...

We launched our "Ask A Cruse Expert" tool a few weeks ago and already have had a great response. If you use this great new feature and leave your email, then one of our certified cruise experts will email personally with their response and professional advice. We will also be taking many of the anonymous questions and posting them here on our web log and this is the very first installment. Here is the first "Ask a Cruise Expert" question: "Does NCL have a ship that sails out of Galveston or Port of Houston? If they don't can you tell me which Cruise lines sa...

Coral Springs, FL (March 15, 2006) – A Cruise Planners agent has achieved prestigious Commodore status in Princess Cruises’ Academy training program, certifying himself as an expert cruise professional. As a Commodore, Michael Given of Cruise Planners joins an exclusive group of travel agents who are now recognized by Princess at the Academy's highest level for their unique qualifications and knowledge as a cruise planning professional. Michael Given earned this distinction after completing the minimum 25 courses necessary to graduate from the program. “We at Princess...