Cruise Planners Franchise

Cruise Planners, a Cruise Planners Franchising franchise, has been franchising since 1999 - 5 years after the concept was founded in 1994 , currently with 2,600 total locations in the travel-hospitality sector, headquartered in FL. According to the 2024 FDD, the total initial investment ranges from $2K to $23K, roughly a 1020% gap between the low and high end once site size, local market, and buildout scope are factored in. This figure includes the franchise fee of $11K, equipment, leasehold improvements, and initial working capital through the ramp-up period.

Ongoing royalties run 3.0% of gross sales; add the 1.0% advertising-fund contribution and the combined ongoing draw reaches 4.0% of gross sales. Critically, Cruise Planners does disclose financial performance data in Item 19, a voluntary disclosure that only about a third of U.S. franchisors make. The reported average gross revenue per location is $200K, meaning the typical unit pays roughly $6K per year in royalty alone. Remember that revenue is not profit -- what a franchisee actually takes home hinges on rent, labor, cost of goods, and local demand.

The unit count trend here is positive -- Cruise Planners posted 3.9% net growth year-over-year (200 openings, 100 closures). Sustained positive growth is a signal that the unit-economics are working well enough to attract new operators, though late-stage growth can also reflect aggressive sales push rather than operational health.