CruiseCompete
CruiseCompete is a privately held online cruise marketplace founded in 2003 that connects individual cruise travelers with competing quotes from 1,100 travel agencies and 3,000 agents, serving over 1.5 million consumer accounts with a free, self-serve quote-comparison platform.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2003
- HeadquartersDes Moines, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What CruiseCompete does
CruiseCompete (legally CruiseCompete.com, LLC) is a privately held online cruise marketplace founded in 2003 and based in Des Moines, Iowa. The company operates a two-sided platform that connects individual cruise travelers with a network of independent travel agencies and agents. Consumers search for cruises, submit a single quote request, and receive competing personalized offers — including pricing, cabin upgrades, and onboard credits — from multiple agencies. The service is entirely free for consumers; CruiseCompete monetizes on the supply side, with travel agencies paying for access to consumer quote requests. The platform has accumulated 1.5 million consumer accounts, facilitated over 5 million quote requests and 20 million agent quotes from 1,100 agencies and 3,000 travel agents, and enabled more than half a billion dollars in cumulative cruise bookings since inception.
The core product is the quote-comparison marketplace, augmented by several modules: a Cruise Search tool with filtering by destination, sail date, ship type, and cruise line (covering 60+ cruise lines and 60+ North American departure ports), a Virtual Cruise Advisor recommendation tool, a Cruise Specials deal aggregator, a Live Help real-time assistance feature, and Shore Excursions for pre-bookable port activities. The technology stack is a standard self-serve web marketplace with global browser access; no native mobile app is currently offered, and the company maintains organic and paid social media presence plus a branded podcast for top-of-funnel acquisition. Distribution is web-direct and self-serve, targeting individual cruise travelers (SMB/consumer) with a horizontal segmentation approach across all major cruise regions globally.
Operationally, the company is exceptionally lean at 1-10 employees, has never raised institutional funding, and has no disclosed parent, investor, or private equity backing. CruiseCompete reports operating metrics rather than financial revenue. In May 2026, the company reported a 31.7% year-over-year increase in cabin bookings despite health outbreak concerns in the broader cruise industry, against a backdrop of a 4% global passenger growth forecast. Long-standing brand recognition — including endorsements from The Wall Street Journal, Kiplinger's, and Travel & Leisure — provides intangible moat in a low-frequency, high-consideration purchase category.
CruiseCompete firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- CruiseCompete
- Legal name
- CruiseCompete.com, LLC
- Website
- https://cruisecompete.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2003
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- CruiseCompete is a privately held online cruise marketplace founded in 2003 that connects individual cruise travelers with competing quotes from 1,100 travel agencies and 3,000 agents, serving over 1.5 million consumer accounts with a free, self-serve quote-comparison platform.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
CruiseCompete industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Cruise Marketplace
- NAICS
- Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (48721), Deep Sea Passenger Transportation (483112)
- SIC
- Water Transportation (4400)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms (THAKAKAB)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cruise Booking Platforms (THALAFAG), Cruise Travel Agencies & Specialist Cruise Consultants (THAEAFAB)
Keywords
Where CruiseCompete is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Des Moines
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
CruiseCompete business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Personnel
Revenue model
- Travel Agency Membership/Subscription: Travel agencies and agents pay to participate in the CruiseCompete marketplace to access quote requests from potential customers and compete for bookings. The exact revenue model is not publicly detailed but is implied to be membership or transaction-based from the travel agency side.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free for consumers - quote comparison service |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
CruiseCompete product offering
Product offeringCore offering
CruiseCompete operates an online cruise marketplace where individual travelers post cruise requests and receive competing quotes from a network of more than 1,100 travel agencies and 3,000 travel agents. Consumers can compare personalized offers including pricing, upgrades, and cabin credits before selecting an agent to book with. The platform is free for travelers; revenue is generated from travel agencies that pay to participate and compete for consumer bookings.
Product overview
CruiseCompete operates as an online cruise booking marketplace that connects consumers with a network of competing travel agencies. The core platform aggregates quotes from over 1,100 travel agencies and 3,000 travel agents, allowing users to compare personalized offers including pricing, upgrades, and cabin credits. The main product is the CruiseCompete Online Marketplace, supplemented by a Virtual Cruise Advisor tool for preference-based recommendations, a Cruise Search module for filtering by destination/date/ship, a Cruise Specials section for featured deals, Live Help for real-time agent assistance, and Shore Excursions for port activity bookings.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CruiseCompete Online Marketplace
- Virtual Cruise Advisor
Companies that use CruiseCompete
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
CruiseCompete technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
CruiseCompete partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators6 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
CruiseCompete competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- CheapCruises.com: CheapCruises.com is an online cruise aggregator focused on discounted sailings and last-minute cruise deals. It is a smaller, more price-focused cruise comparison site with partial overlap to CruiseCompete's deal-discovery use case.
Broad incumbents
- Tripadvisor Cruises: Tripadvisor's cruise vertical combines reviews, meta-search, and booking across cruise lines. As a broad incumbent in travel research and booking, it overlaps CruiseCompete's discovery and comparison use cases at significant scale.
- Priceline Cruises: Priceline Cruises is the cruise offering within Priceline's broad OTA. It competes for online cruise bookings with a name-brand, well-funded parent (Booking Holdings) and overlapping consumer-facing functionality.
- Expedia Cruises: Expedia Cruises is the cruise vertical of Expedia, the global OTA giant. It is a broad incumbent with overlapping cruise booking, comparison, and packaging functionality but operates as part of a much larger general-travel platform.
- Kayak Cruises: Kayak (owned by Booking Holdings) operates a cruise meta-search and price comparison product. It overlaps CruiseCompete's price-comparison value proposition as part of a broader travel meta-search platform.
Direct peers
- Vacations To Go: Vacations To Go is one of the largest cruise-only agencies in the US, offering discounted cruise inventory and last-minute deals. It is a direct competitor for cruise price-sensitive travelers and competes for the same agency-participation economics as CruiseCompete.
- Avoya Travel: Avoya Travel is a large independent cruise-focused travel agency network with a hosted marketplace model connecting travelers with agents. It is a direct competitor in cruise lead generation and agent intermediation, sitting on both the agency and consumer sides of the market.
- CruiseDirect: CruiseDirect is an online cruise-only travel agency offering price comparison and direct booking for cruises. It competes directly with CruiseCompete for the same high-intent online cruise shoppers.
- Cruise Critic: Cruise Critic (owned by Tripadvisor) is a leading cruise reviews, research, and price-comparison platform serving cruise shoppers globally. It directly overlaps CruiseCompete's consumer-facing cruise research and discovery workflow.
- iCruise.com: iCruise.com, run by World Travel Holdings, is an online cruise agency selling ocean, river, and expedition cruises. It targets the same customer segment with comparable bundled pricing and competes with CruiseCompete for both direct bookings and agency partnerships.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
CruiseCompete social profiles
Digital presenceCruiseCompete financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
CruiseCompete leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
CruiseCompete funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
CruiseCompete 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 CruiseCompete
What does CruiseCompete do?
CruiseCompete operates an online cruise marketplace where individual travelers post cruise requests and receive competing quotes from a network of more than 1,100 travel agencies and 3,000 travel agents. Consumers can compare personalized offers including pricing, upgrades, and cabin credits before selecting an agent to book with. The platform is free for travelers; revenue is generated from travel agencies that pay to participate and compete for consumer bookings.
Is CruiseCompete a public or private company?
CruiseCompete is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was CruiseCompete founded?
CruiseCompete was founded in 2003. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is CruiseCompete based?
CruiseCompete is headquartered in Des Moines, United States, in the North America region.
How does CruiseCompete make money?
One revenue line is on record: travel Agency Membership/Subscription.
Who are CruiseCompete's main competitors?
CheapCruises.com is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Tripadvisor Cruises, Priceline Cruises, Expedia Cruises and Kayak Cruises. Direct peers are Vacations To Go, Avoya Travel, CruiseDirect, Cruise Critic and iCruise.com.
Does CruiseCompete have an API?
No public API is recorded for CruiseCompete.
What industry is CruiseCompete in?
CruiseCompete's product category is Online Cruise Marketplace. Its primary akta.pro industry code is THAKAKAB, Online Cruise Agencies & Cruise Booking Platforms, with a secondary code of THALAFAG, Cruise Booking Platforms. Its NAICS code is 48721 and its SIC code is 4400.