Cruisebound
Cruisebound is a digital-first online travel agency that aggregates over 27,000 cruise itineraries across major ocean and river lines, offering consumers zero-fee, mobile-friendly booking with real-time pricing, loyalty rewards, BNPL financing, and embedded travel protection.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2022
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Cruisebound does
Cruisebound, Inc. is a New York City-based, venture-backed online travel agency focused exclusively on cruise booking. Founded in 2022, the company operates a digital-first platform that aggregates over 27,000 ocean and river cruise itineraries across major operators including Holland America, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, Disney, Virgin Voyages, AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, Viking River Cruises, Oceania, Azamara, and Seabourn. The platform offers real-time pricing, a Search by Map interactive discovery feature, zero consumer booking fees, free rate holds, and a price-match guarantee against direct cruise line bookings. The company reports that travelers aged 25-44 now represent 45% of bookings, positioning Cruisebound as a younger-skewing alternative to traditional cruise agencies.
Cruisebound monetizes primarily through travel agency commissions from cruise lines on bookings made through its direct-to-consumer website and iOS/Android mobile applications. Secondary revenue streams include a B2B white-label booking platform licensed to partners such as KAYAK and David's Bridal, a creator affiliate program, and integrated value-added services including Uplift Buy Now, Pay Later financing and Allianz Partners travel protection at point of sale. The Cruisebound Cash loyalty program, launched in May 2025, issues real booking credits to drive repeat transactions. The company has raised approximately $32.6M across a 2021 seed, a 2023 Series A led by PAR Capital Management, an October 2023 follow-on, and an October 2024 Series B led by Thayer Ventures with participation from Alumni Ventures, Flybridge, Link Ventures, PAR Capital Management, and Plug and Play. Cruisebound maintains a dedicated travel-advisor platform and a hybrid segmentation strategy targeting younger consumers, families, couples, solo travelers, the 45+ demographic, and destination-driven international travelers.
Cruisebound firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cruisebound
- Legal name
- Cruisebound, Inc.
- Website
- https://cruisebound.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2022
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cruisebound is a digital-first online travel agency that aggregates over 27,000 cruise itineraries across major ocean and river lines, offering consumers zero-fee, mobile-friendly booking with real-time pricing, loyalty rewards, BNPL financing, and embedded travel protection.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cruisebound industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Cruise Booking Platform
- NAICS
- Deep Sea Passenger Transportation (483112)
- SIC
- Water Transportation (4400)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms (THAKAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Cruise Aggregators & Online Cruise Agencies (THAKAAAK)
Keywords
Where Cruisebound is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cruisebound business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations
Revenue model
- Travel Agency Commissions: Cruisebound acts as an online travel agency earning commissions from cruise lines on bookings made through its platform. The company guarantees rates equal to or better than booking directly with cruise lines.
- Buy Now, Pay Later Financing: Partnership with Uplift to offer financing options for cruise bookings, enabling customers to pay over time.
- White Label Licensing: B2B white label platform licensing to partners like KAYAK and David's Bridal, enhancing partner revenue through higher commissions.
- Affiliate Program: Creator affiliate tracking program in the U.S. travel sector, part of the growing creator affiliate tracking market.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Zero booking fees for all customers |
| Hybrid | Pay-as-you-go | Flexible payment options |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels7 records
Cruisebound product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cruisebound is an online travel agency that operates a digital cruise booking platform enabling travelers to search, compare, and book ocean and river cruises from major cruise lines. The platform aggregates over 27,000 itineraries with real-time pricing, offers a mobile-first booking experience, and earns commissions from cruise lines on bookings. It also provides a B2B white label cruise booking solution licensed to partners such as KAYAK and David's Bridal.
Product overview
Cruisebound is a digital-first online cruise booking platform founded in 2022 that operates as both a direct-to-consumer platform and B2B white label solution provider. The core product is the Cruisebound Online Booking Platform, which aggregates over 27,000 cruise itineraries from major cruise lines including Holland America, MSC Cruises, Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, Disney, Virgin Voyages, and river cruise operators like AmaWaterways, Avalon Waterways, and Viking River Cruises. The platform includes a Search by Map feature for visual cruise discovery and supports flexible payment options including Uplift Buy Now, Pay Later financing. Supporting products include the Cruisebound Cash loyalty program (rewards credits for bookings), a mobile app for iOS and Android, and an affiliate program for creator partnerships. The B2B white label platform extends the technology to partners like KAYAK and David's Bridal. The company also offers Allianz Partners travel protection as an integrated add-on service.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Cruisebound Cash: A loyalty program that rewards travelers with real credits for every cruise booked, which can be used for future bookings without any restrictions.
- White Label Cruise Booking Solution
Products and services
- Cruisebound Online Booking Platform Digital cruise booking platform enabling consumers to search, compare, and book cruises online across over 27,000 itineraries from major ocean and river cruise lines, with real-time pricing and zero booking fees.
- Cruisebound Mobile App Mobile application available on iOS and Android (Google Play) providing a streamlined, mobile-optimized cruise booking experience for consumers.
- Cruisebound Cash Loyalty Program Loyalty program crediting travelers with real monetary credits for every cruise booked, redeemable toward future Cruisebound bookings without restrictions and combinable with existing cruise line loyalty benefits.
- White Label Cruise Booking Platform B2B white label cruise booking solution offering customizable cruise search and booking capabilities licensed to partners (including KAYAK and David's Bridal), enabling them to embed cruise booking and earn commissions on bookings.
- Cruisebound Affiliate Program
Quantifiable outcome
- Younger travelers (25-44) now represent 45% of bookings
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Cruisebound
Customer profileSegments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Cruisebound technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature5 records
Cruisebound partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.
- Allianz PartnerscoreCruisebound appointed Allianz Partners as its exclusive provider of travel protection products. Enables customers to purchase protection plans at point of sale offering reimbursement up to 100% of non-refundable trip costs for covered cancellations, interruptions, and travel delays, plus medical emergencies and baggage coverage. Includes 24-hour assistance services and Allyz mobile app for policy management.
- KAYAKmajorWhite label cruise booking integration with KAYAK's platform, providing seamless cruise booking experience to KAYAK users.
- David's BridalmajorWhite label cruise booking solution for David's Bridal customers, offering honeymoon and destination cruise booking through their platform.
- UpliftcorePartnership to enable buy now, pay later purchases for cruise bookings, allowing customers to finance their cruise vacations over time.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cruisebound competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- CruiseOne / Dream Vacations:
- Expedia Cruises: Cruise-focused arm of Expedia Group, leveraging Expedia's massive marketing and technology platform to sell cruise inventory. Comparable to Cruisebound's cruise-OTA offering but with orders-of-magnitude more capital, brand reach, and bundled travel cross-sell.
Direct peers
- CruiseDirect: Online cruise travel agency offering direct consumer cruise booking with comparison and discounted pricing across major cruise lines. Directly competes with Cruisebound in the same online cruise agency vertical with similar commission-based revenue model and price-match guarantees.
- Vacations To Go: One of the largest cruise-only online travel agencies in the U.S., offering discounted cruise inventory across ocean and river lines. Directly comparable to Cruisebound as a cruise-specialist OTA targeting deal-seeking consumers with similar value proposition of competitive pricing and broad inventory.
- iCruise.com: Online cruise-only travel agency operated by WMPH Vacations, offering cruise search and booking across major ocean and river lines. Comparable to Cruisebound as a dedicated cruise OTA with similar commission-based model and inventory aggregation approach.
- Avoya Travel: Cruise-focused travel agency network combining a hosted-cruise booking platform with a network of independent travel advisors. Comparable to Cruisebound's travel-advisor tool (winner of Magellan Gold) in serving the cruise-booking agent channel alongside direct consumer.
- CruiseCompete: Online cruise marketplace where consumers request quotes from multiple travel agents and agencies. Directly comparable to Cruisebound in aggregating cruise demand and routing it to inventory providers, though differentiated by quote-driven rather than self-serve booking.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cruisebound social profiles
Digital presenceCruisebound financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cruisebound leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Cruisebound funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors7 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cruisebound M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cruisebound
What does Cruisebound do?
Cruisebound is an online travel agency that operates a digital cruise booking platform enabling travelers to search, compare, and book ocean and river cruises from major cruise lines. The platform aggregates over 27,000 itineraries with real-time pricing, offers a mobile-first booking experience, and earns commissions from cruise lines on bookings. It also provides a B2B white label cruise booking solution licensed to partners such as KAYAK and David's Bridal.
Is Cruisebound a public or private company?
Cruisebound is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Cruisebound founded?
Cruisebound was founded in 2022. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cruisebound based?
Cruisebound is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cruisebound make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Travel Agency Commissions are the primary driver. The others are buy Now, Pay Later Financing, white Label Licensing and affiliate Program.
Who are Cruisebound's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are CruiseOne / Dream Vacations and Expedia Cruises. Direct peers are CruiseDirect, Vacations To Go, iCruise.com, Avoya Travel and CruiseCompete.
Does Cruisebound have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cruisebound.
What industry is Cruisebound in?
Cruisebound's product category is Online Cruise Booking Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAKAB, Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms, with a secondary code of THAKAAAK, Cruise Aggregators & Online Cruise Agencies. Its NAICS code is 483112 and its SIC code is 4400.