As Royal Caribbean‘s Wonder of the Seas sailed to the Bahamas last week, Cruise Planners annual conference — CP World: Rock On — unfolded within the ship’s theater and at several other spots around the vessel. The franchise agency group’s top executives revealed a slew of enticing new technology tools and enhancements for Cruise Planners franchise agency owners, advisors and associates, many of whom cheered as the new options were revealed.
Travel Agent Central spoke to four advisors about what they’d learned at the conference, what they liked best and what new CP tools would be most helpful to their businesses.
Loving CPMaxx Updates
“I needed to be re-energized, and CP World delivered big time,” said Debra Kerper, owner of Easy Access Travel, a Cruise Planners travel agency in Frisco, Texas.
In terms of the most significant technology update for use in her business, she pointed to CPMaxx’s new ability to ingest her agency’s invoices.
“Voila, they’ll be there,” she stressed.
But why is that so important to her, we wondered.
While the intent of this new feature is to allow all advisors to save time, “the impact for me is life changing,” Kerper revealed, as she told Travel Agent Central that she’s “struggling with low vision and reading invoices has become a nightmare.”
Not surprisingly, when this new technological enhancement was announced at the conference, “I was so excited about this new feature that I was practically in tears when it was announced,” she explained.
Kerper told us she’s deeply grateful to Brian Shultz, Cruise Planners’ chief information officer, and his entire technology team
Leading with Change: AI, Personalization
Comparing the conference to “a master class in innovation,” Nick Pena, of Cruise Planners in Orlando, told Travel Agent Central that the “AI focus made it clear that we’re not just adapting to change. We are leading it.”
(Photo courtesy of Nick Pena)
Specifically, he believes that Cruise Planners is equipping its franchisees with the tools and technology to “elevate the human touch in travel through intelligent design and personalization.”
Pena — as well as many other conference attendees we spoke with — specifically expressed high satisfaction with the introduction of Cruise Planners’ new AI-driven Trip Summary Updates. Essentially, the new trip summary approach will elevate how advisors present itineraries to their clients, which Pena believes will both save him time and inspire his customers.
For example, Pena’s clients will receive a trip summary that showcases “visually stunning, fully branded Cruise Planners experiences” with what he described as “good imagery flow and personalization.”
He also told us that it will truly reflect the luxury service he delivers to his clients.
Another plus, said Pena: “This comes at no charge to us, and is equal to and even superior to third party services.”
And Pena, who is a long-standing member of Cruise Planners’ Millionnaires Club (for achieving a million dollars or more in annual sales) added that another top perk of attending this year’s annual conference was his ability to connect in person with fellow travel advisors, travel suppliers and vendors.
Cookie’s Conference Takeaways
(Photo by Susan J. Young.)
Three years ago, Dr. Canidra “Cookie” McGuire began selling travel as a Cruise Planners franchise agency owner in Memphis. But the 2025 annual CP World: Rock On conference was the first that she’d attended.
McGuire believes that the most beneficial part of the CP Conference was discovering both new strategies and existing partnerships that can help elevate her visibility and success within the travel industry. For instance, she told us that attending the Millionaires Club luncheon and having a table talk with Pena (the advisor who is quoted above) were particularly valuable: “I gained immediate insights into specific areas of my CP Maxx database and daily touches that needed attention, which I might not have identified otherwise.”
As for the enhancements that Cruise Planners introduced during the weeklong conference, “I’m especially excited to begin upgrading from CP Pro and using CP Elite and to implement the new technology tools as soon as they become available,” she said.
Those will help streamline her operations and, at the same time, enhance client engagement. Equally rewarding, she said, was last week’s conference opportunities to connect with other franchise owners.
“The atmosphere was one of collaboration rather than competition, which was refreshing and inspiring,” McGuire stressed.
Having only previously participated in Cruise Planners’ STAR (Sales Training to Accelerate Results) University, she was “more than satisfied” with her first annual conference experience, the investment and meaningful connections made.
Updated Websites, Trip Summary Overhaul
Jason Poole, a Cruise Planners franchise owner and travel advisor, has been in business for a decade in Nashville and has been a member of the group’s Millionaires Club. He’s excited to learn about the updated websites Cruise Planners is introducing.
“The modern look and feel will better showcase Cruise Planners travel advisors as more than cruise bookers,” he explained. “We build vacations. We build memories.”
In addition, he told Travel Agent Central that the Trip Summary overhaul will allow him to quickly and easily present a quote — with options — to clients. “I can’t wait to try it,” he emphasized.
We also spoke with many other CP advisors during our week on board Wonder of the Seas. As the conference ended, Pena perhaps summed up the week best: “I felt inspired, proud, and confident that we’re setting the standard for how modern travel advisors will operate in the AI era.”
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