Planet Cruise
Planet Cruise is a Portsmouth-based online travel agency that aggregates cruise inventory from 30+ cruise line partners and sells cruise-only and bundled Cruise and Stay packages direct to UK and Irish consumers via its website and phone sales team.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersPortsmouth, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Planet Cruise does
Planet Cruise is an independent UK-based online travel agency specialising exclusively in cruise holidays, operating from Portsmouth, United Kingdom, with a headcount of 51-100 employees. Founded in 2009, the company has served over one million cumulative customers and describes itself as offering 15 years of cruise booking experience. Its core product is a direct-to-consumer website (planetcruise.com) that aggregates inventory from 30+ cruise line partners spanning the full price spectrum from budget operators (Costa, Carnival) to ultra-luxury brands (Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Seabourn, Crystal, Explora Journeys). Customers can search, filter, and book cruises online or via a seven-day-a-week phone sales team, with a self-service Manage My Booking portal and Help Centre for post-sale support.
The platform's product surface extends beyond pure cruise bookings into bundled 'Cruise and Stay' packages that combine cruises with flights, hotels, and land tours (e.g., India's Tigers and Golden Triangle tour), capturing incremental margin on the full holiday package. Pricing is per-cabin/per-person on a transactional basis, with sample price points ranging from £377 for budget inside cabins to over £4,000 for luxury expedition sailings. The company holds ATOL and ABTA financial protection certifications and achieves WCAG 2.2 AA website accessibility compliance. Marketing is driven by a content-heavy blog, SEO-optimised destination and ship landing pages, organic social media (Facebook, X, Pinterest, YouTube), email newsletter, and TrustPilot review display.
Planet Cruise earns revenue through cruise booking commissions paid by partner cruise lines on each transaction (transaction fee model). Its customer segmentation is horizontal across personas including families and groups, solo travellers, luxury seekers, value seekers, and destination-focused travellers. Distribution is exclusively direct-to-consumer via website and phone for UK and Irish consumers. The company appears operationally consolidated with the wider Iglu travel group, sharing a loyalty programme, careers portal, and cross-promotional deal infrastructure, though no formal parent-subsidiary relationship is disclosed. No AI/ML capabilities, APIs, or proprietary technology stack are publicly disclosed.
Planet Cruise firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Planet Cruise
- Legal name
- Planet Cruise
- Website
- https://planetcruise.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Planet Cruise is a Portsmouth-based online travel agency that aggregates cruise inventory from 30+ cruise line partners and sells cruise-only and bundled Cruise and Stay packages direct to UK and Irish consumers via its website and phone sales team.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Planet Cruise industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Cruise Travel Agency
- NAICS
- Travel Agencies (561510), Tour Operators (56152)
- SIC
- Water Transportation (4400)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cruise Aggregators & Online Cruise Agencies (THAKAAAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms (THAKAKAB), Cruise Booking Platforms (THALAFAG), Cruise Travel Agencies & Specialist Cruise Consultants (THAEAFAB), Cruise Planning & Booking (HSACAKAE)
Keywords
Where Planet Cruise is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portsmouth
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Planet Cruise business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Cruise booking commissions: Planet Cruise earns commissions from cruise line partners for each booking completed through its platform. The site aggregates cruise deals from dozens of cruise lines and earns a transaction fee per booking.
- Cruise and Stay package margins: The company sells bundled Cruise and Stay packages that combine cruise bookings with hotels, land tours, and flights, capturing margin on the full package price rather than just the cruise component.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Per-cabin cruise booking with dynamic pricing by cabin type, cruise line, and itinerary |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Fly-cruise and Cruise-and-Stay bundled packages priced per person |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Planet Cruise product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Planet Cruise is an online travel agency that aggregates cruise deals from 30+ partner cruise lines, enabling consumers to search, compare, and book cruise holidays through its website and phone-based cruise experts. The platform offers cruise-only bookings, fly-cruise packages, and bundled Cruise and Stay holidays combining cruises with hotels, flights, and land tours, with all bookings protected by ATOL and ABTA financial guarantees.
Product overview
Planet Cruise is an online cruise booking platform that aggregates cruise deals from over 30 partner cruise lines. The platform offers cruise-only bookings and Cruise and Stay package holidays with hotel extensions. Core features include a cruise search engine with filters for destination, date, and cruise line, plus the My Booking customer portal and Help Centre support resources. The service is protected by ATOL and ABTA certifications and serves UK-based cruisers seeking Mediterranean, Caribbean, Alaska, and other international cruise destinations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Cruise Deals Featured cruise promotions and special offers from partner cruise lines covering itineraries across multiple destinations and price points.
- Cruise and Stay Packages Bundled holiday packages that combine cruises with hotel stays and land tours such as India's Tigers and Golden Triangle Tour or Tokyo and Mount Fuji packages.
- My Booking Customer Portal Self-service portal for customers to manage their cruise bookings, view itineraries, and access booking details.
- Help Centre Online support resource providing FAQs and articles for booking management, travel documents, and cruise information.
- Cruise Calendar Searchable calendar for browsing available cruise departures by month and date with filtering options for ultra-luxury and other cruise categories.
Quantifiable outcome
- 1 million+ happy customers served since founding
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use Planet Cruise
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Planet Cruise technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Planet Cruise partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
33 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Royal Caribbean CruisescoreRoyal Caribbean is a major cruise line partner listed prominently on Planet Cruise's website. The site features Royal Caribbean ships (Anthem of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, Harmony of the Seas, Legend of the Seas, Star of the Seas), deal promotions (Royal Flash Offers), and dedicated ship profile pages.
- Princess CruisescorePrincess Cruises is featured as a key partner cruise line, with ships such as Sky Princess and Sun Princess listed, and cruise deals including Caribbean itineraries available through the platform.
- MSC CruisescoreMSC Cruises is a partner cruise line on Planet Cruise, with ships such as MSC Virtuosa and MSC World America featured, alongside promotional deals including Far Away Sail promotions.
- Celebrity CruisescoreCelebrity Cruises is a featured partner with promotional campaigns such as Celebrity Summer Sale. Ships including Celebrity Millennium are listed with cruise-and-stay packages.
- P&O CruisescoreP&O Cruises is a key UK-focused partner cruise line with ships such as Ventura and Britannia profiled on Planet Cruise.
- CunardcoreCunard is a partner cruise line featured on the site, including ships like Queen Mary 2, with summer sale promotions listed.
- Norwegian Cruise LinecoreNorwegian Cruise Line is listed as a partner, with ships such as Norwegian Luna featured on the new cruise ships page and promotional deals available.
- Marella CruisescoreMarella Cruises (TUI-owned) is a featured partner cruise line with ships such as Marella Discovery profiled in detail, including onboard facilities, deck plans, and specific cruise deal pricing.
- Holland America LinecoreHolland America Line is listed as a partner cruise line on Planet Cruise, with promotional deals and Alaska-focused itineraries featured.
- Fred. OlsencoreFred. Olsen is featured as a partner cruise line with launch promotions and UK departure itineraries available through Planet Cruise.
- Azamara CruisescoreAzamara Cruises is listed as a partner cruise line with promotional offers such as onboard credit deals featured on the platform.
- Disney Cruise LinecoreDisney Cruise Line is a partner featured on Planet Cruise, with ships including Disney Destiny, Disney Adventure, and Disney Treasure referenced, and promotional launch deals listed.
- Regent Seven SeascoreRegent Seven Seas is listed as a luxury partner cruise line on Planet Cruise, with new ships such as Seven Seas Prestige featured.
- Silversea CruisescoreSilversea Cruises is listed as an ultra-luxury partner cruise line on the platform.
- SeabourncoreSeabourn is listed as a luxury partner cruise line, with ultra-luxury cruise categories and new ship features available on the platform.
- Virgin VoyagescoreVirgin Voyages is listed as a partner cruise line with adults-only positioning and promotional deals including Brilliant Lady featured.
- Explora JourneyscoreExplora Journeys is a partner cruise line featured on Planet Cruise, with ships including Explora III and promotional Invitation deals listed.
- Oceania CruisescoreOceania Cruises is listed as a premium partner cruise line, with new ships such as Oceania Allura featured on the platform.
- Crystal CruisescoreCrystal Cruises is listed as a partner cruise line with 'Exceptional Savings' promotional deals featured.
- Emerald Yacht CruisescoreEmerald Yacht Cruises (Emerald Cruises) is listed as a partner, with superyacht-style vessels such as Emerald Kaia featured on the new cruise ships page.
- Windstar CruisescoreWindstar Cruises is listed as a partner small ship cruise line, with new vessels such as Star Explorer featured.
- Carnival Cruise LinecoreCarnival Cruise Line is listed as a partner cruise line with new ships such as Carnival Adventure and Carnival Encounter referenced.
- HurtigrutencoreHurtigruten is listed as a partner cruise line specialising in Norwegian coastal and expedition voyages.
- Seadream Yacht ClubminorSeaDream Yacht Club is listed as a boutique partner cruise line on Planet Cruise.
- Ponant CruisesminorPonant Cruises is listed as a French luxury expedition partner cruise line on the platform.
- Scenic Discovery YachtsminorScenic Discovery Yachts is listed as a partner luxury small ship cruise line.
- Star ClippersminorStar Clippers is listed as a partner sailing ship cruise line offering tall ship experiences.
- Paul Gauguin CruisesminorPaul Gauguin Cruises is listed as a boutique partner cruise line specialising in South Pacific sailings.
- Celestyal CruisesminorCelestyal Cruises is listed as a partner cruise line focusing on Greek island and Mediterranean itineraries.
- Costa CruisescoreCosta Cruises is listed as a partner cruise line with ships such as Costa Toscana featured in cruise deals.
- Rays of SunshineminorRays of Sunshine is a UK children's charity that grants wishes to young people with serious illnesses. Planet Cruise partnered with the charity and P&O Cruises to help make a terminally ill child's dream of being captain for a day come true, demonstrating community engagement and corporate social responsibility.
- ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licence)coreATOL is a UK Civil Aviation Authority financial protection scheme for package holidays including flights. Planet Cruise holds ATOL protection, ensuring customer money is protected if the company ceases trading.
- ABTAcoreABTA (Association of British Travel Agents) is a UK travel trade association providing financial protection and a code of conduct for travel agents. Planet Cruise's ABTA membership provides consumer protection and dispute resolution.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Planet Cruise competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Iglu Cruise: Planet Cruise's sister brand within the same parent group, Iglu Cruise is one of the UK's largest specialist cruise retailers. Directly comparable because both sell the same 30+ cruise line partners online and by phone to UK consumers, with overlapping content, deal, and ship-profile structures.
- Cruise1st: UK-based online cruise agency offering cruise and fly-cruise packages from major cruise lines. Highly comparable to Planet Cruise given shared UK D2C focus, multi-cruise-line aggregation, and bundled fly-cruise pricing model.
- Bolsover Cruise Club: Established UK cruise retailer with both online and telephone sales across multiple cruise lines. Comparable to Planet Cruise as a UK-focused cruise intermediary relying on aggregated inventory, expert advisors, and consumer protection credentials.
- Vacations To Go: Large US-based cruise-only online travel agency offering discounted cruise deals across dozens of cruise lines. Comparable to Planet Cruise as a cruise specialist OTA, though serving a US customer base.
- Cruise Direct: US online cruise agency that aggregates cruise line inventory and offers promotional pricing and onboard credit. Comparable to Planet Cruise in aggregator-led cruise-only model and online-only B2C positioning.
- Broadway Travel: UK online travel agency with a strong cruise offering alongside other holiday types. Comparable to Planet Cruise in offering aggregated cruise deals, fly-cruise packages, and bundled holidays to UK consumers.
Broad incumbents
- Hays Travel: Largest independent travel agency chain in the UK, offering cruises alongside package holidays, flights, and hotels. Comparable to Planet Cruise in UK cruise intermediation, but operates a much broader travel retail portfolio across hundreds of high-street branches.
- Expedia Group: Global online travel agency marketplace that includes cruise inventory alongside flights, hotels, and packages. Comparable to Planet Cruise as a competing distribution channel for cruise bookings, but operates at a vastly larger scale and across many travel verticals.
Emerging players
- Cruise Critic (Tripadvisor): Cruise-focused reviews, comparison, and lead-generation platform owned by Tripadvisor. Comparable to Planet Cruise in cruise consumer content and research, and a potential upstream or downstream competitor in the cruise purchase funnel.
Regional players
- Saga Cruises: UK-based cruise operator and travel retailer that primarily targets over-50s with cruise-and-stay packages. Comparable to Planet Cruise in offering bundled UK cruise products, but vertically integrated as a cruise line and a specific demographic focus.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Planet Cruise social profiles
Digital presencePlanet Cruise compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance3 records
Planet Cruise financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Planet Cruise leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Planet Cruise funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Planet Cruise 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 Planet Cruise
What does Planet Cruise do?
Planet Cruise is an online travel agency that aggregates cruise deals from 30+ partner cruise lines, enabling consumers to search, compare, and book cruise holidays through its website and phone-based cruise experts. The platform offers cruise-only bookings, fly-cruise packages, and bundled Cruise and Stay holidays combining cruises with hotels, flights, and land tours, with all bookings protected by ATOL and ABTA financial guarantees.
Is Planet Cruise a public or private company?
Planet Cruise is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Planet Cruise founded?
Planet Cruise was founded in 2009. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Planet Cruise based?
Planet Cruise is headquartered in Portsmouth, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Planet Cruise make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Cruise booking commissions are the primary driver. The others are cruise and Stay package margins.
Who are Planet Cruise's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Iglu Cruise, Cruise1st, Bolsover Cruise Club, Vacations To Go, Cruise Direct and Broadway Travel. Broad incumbents are Hays Travel and Expedia Group. Cruise Critic (Tripadvisor) is listed as an emerging player. Saga Cruises is listed as a regional player.
Does Planet Cruise have an API?
No public API is recorded for Planet Cruise.
What industry is Planet Cruise in?
Planet Cruise's product category is Online Cruise Travel Agency. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAAAK, Cruise Aggregators & Online Cruise Agencies, with a secondary code of THAKAKAB, Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms. Its NAICS code is 561510 and its SIC code is 4400.