Coastal Cruise Tour Guides

What Coastal Cruise Tour Guides does

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides is a Seattle-based private publishing company (operating from Maple Plain, MN) that has produced physical cruise area map/guides since 1983. The company's catalog consists of three core products: the South Central Alaska Cruise Tour Guide, the Western Mexico Cruise Tour Guide, and the Eastern Caribbean Cruise Tour Guide. Each guide measures 12 x 4 3/4 inches, ships in an all-weather vinyl envelope, and contains shaded-relief color maps that fold out to six feet alongside illustrated text covering regional history, customs, and culture.

Revenue is generated through two channels: direct-to-consumer e-commerce sales at a $19.95 retail price via the company website, and B2B bulk/wholesale sales to cruise ships, travel agents, bookstores, and organized travel groups under a published quantity discount ladder (25 guides at 42% off to 300+ guides at 60% off, with title mixing permitted). Pricing is fully transparent and publicly disclosed on the website. The company is headcount 11–50, has no disclosed funding rounds, and operates only in the United States despite covering Caribbean and Mexican geographies.

In 2024, the company was acquired by East View Map Link following the retirement of previous owner Karin; the brand continues to operate independently and is now also surfaced on the Longitude Maps (East View Map Link) e-commerce platform. The underlying technology is entirely physical — printed cartography and illustration — with no mobile app, API, software platform, or digital product surface. Marketing is conducted through the company website, direct email and phone contact, and referral traffic from the Longitude Maps blog.

Name

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides

Legal name

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides

Website

https://coastalcruiseguides.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1983

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides is a Seattle-based publisher of physical cruise tour guides and maps, established in 1983, covering Alaska, Western Mexico, and the Eastern Caribbean for individual travelers, cruise ships, travel agents, and bookstores.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Travel Guides and Maps

NAICS

Tour Operators (561520), Scenic and Sightseeing Transportation, Water (48721)

SIC

Wholesale-Paper & Paper Products (5110), Water Transportation (4400)

akta.pro primary industry

Cruise Wholesalers & Consolidators (Cruise Inventory & Group Space) (THAKAJAE)

Keywords

• Cruise tour guides
• Travel maps
• Cruise planning
• Nautical publications
• Printed travel guides

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Cruise Guide Sales: One-time purchase of physical cruise tour guides at retail price of $19.95 per guide. Sold directly to individual consumers through the company website.
2. Bulk/Wholesale Sales: Quantity discount sales to cruise ships, travel agents, bookstores, and groups. Discounts range from 42% (25+ guides) to 60% (300+ guides) off retail price. Title mixing permitted.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides publishes and sells printed cruise tour guides and maps covering the major cruise regions of Alaska, Western Mexico, and the Eastern Caribbean. Each guide is a 12 x 4 3/4-inch folded publication in an all-weather vinyl envelope featuring shaded-relief color maps that unfold to six feet, accompanied by illustrated historical, cultural, and geographic content. The guides are sold directly to consumers at $19.95 and in bulk quantities (with up to 60% volume discounts) to cruise ships, travel agents, bookstores, and travel groups.

Product overview

Coastal Cruise Tour Guides publishes cruise tour guides and maps covering major cruise areas of Alaska, Western Mexico, and the Eastern Caribbean. The company offers three award-winning map/guide publications presented in protective vinyl envelopes measuring 12 x 4 3/4 inches with maps that fold out to 6 feet. Each guide features shaded-relief color maps with detailed cruise ship routes, islands, bays, and geographic information, accompanied by text content covering history, customs, and culture of the regions. The publications are sold at a retail price of $19.95 per unit, with quantity discounts available for bulk orders to cruise ships, travel agents, bookstores, and groups.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Alaska Cruise Tour Guide Shaded-relief color map/guide covering South Central Alaska cruise routes, islands, bays, and geographic information, featuring history, customs, and culture of the region. Sold in a 12 x 4 3/4-inch protective all-weather vinyl envelope.
• Western Mexico Cruise Tour Guide Shaded-relief color map/guide covering Western Mexico cruise areas with detailed information on cruise ship routes, islands, bays, and geographic features, including history, customs, and culture content.
• Eastern Caribbean Cruise Tour Guide Award-winning shaded-relief color map/guide covering Eastern Caribbean cruise areas with detailed information on routes, islands, bays, and geographic features, including history, customs, culture, drawings, early engravings, and color photos.

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• East View Map LinkcoreOthersEast View Map Link acquired Coastal Cruise Tour Guides as new owners. Karin (previous owner) retired and East View Map Link now operates the company. Coastal Cruise Tour Guides appears to be integrated under the Longitude Maps brand (CCTG on Longitude Maps).

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Fodor's Travel: Long-established travel guidebook publisher producing destination guides across global cruise and leisure markets. Directly comparable as a printed and digital travel content publisher targeting cruise and leisure travelers.
• Insight Guides: Travel guide publisher producing destination guides with detailed maps, photography, and cultural context. Comparable in product depth, regional specialization, and target leisure/cruise traveler.
• Frommer's: Iconic travel guide brand producing destination-focused content for independent and leisure travelers. Comparable product format (destination guides with maps, history, and cultural content) and similar traveler customer base.
• DK Travel (Dorling Kindersley): Visual travel guide publisher (Eyewitness Travel series) featuring illustrated maps, photos, and cultural content. Closely comparable to Coastal Cruise Tour Guides' format of detailed visual maps paired with cultural and historical narrative.
• Lonely Planet: Global travel guide publisher with extensive destination coverage including cruise regions like the Caribbean and Alaska. Comparable as a destination content publisher serving leisure and experiential travelers.
• Rick Steves' Europe: Travel guide publisher focused on curated, content-rich destination guides with maps and cultural context. Comparable as a content-led guide publisher, though primarily European in focus.
• Moon Travel Guides: Independent travel guide publisher with destination coverage including Mexico and the Caribbean. Comparable as a niche, content-focused travel guide brand serving leisure travelers.

Broad incumbents

• Rand McNally: Established U.S. map and travel content publisher with broad consumer reach. Comparable as a larger incumbent in map publishing serving travel and leisure use cases.
• National Geographic Maps: Major cartographic and travel content brand producing maps and travel-related publications. Comparable as a higher-scale incumbent in the geographic content and map publishing space.

Others

• Cruise Critic: Leading online cruise reviews, destination information, and planning platform. Comparable as a cruise-specific content and planning resource targeting the same end customer, though operating in a digital rather than printed format.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coastal-cruise-tour-guides

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coastal Cruise Tour Guides