There’s no doubt that artificial intelligence is a hotly debated topic these days. Some travel advisors fear that AI will take over their jobs, while others embrace it wholeheartedly, predicting that those who don’t will be left behind.
According to a recent edition of TravelAge West’s Need to Know research series that surveyed more than 200 advisors, 35% of respondents say they utilize AI daily, while another 23% report doing so several times per week. Altogether, 58% say they’re “very” or “somewhat” comfortable integrating AI into their business.
For cruise advisors willing to take the leap and incorporate the technology into their practices, AI may actually become the lead protagonist in their narrative rather than an antagonist — unfolding a dramatic growth story of increased sales success.
New AI tools continue to launch seemingly every day, and there are several specific to cruising. In fact, Ensemble just announced its partnership with Revelex, which helps consumers search, compare and reserve cruises directly through the travel consortium members’ websites. But what about agent-centric options?
Here, we’ve rounded up different AI-powered tools to know about, along with tips and insights into how they can help expand and elevate business for cruise-focused travel advisors.
Harness AI and Unleash Your Superpower
No story about AI would be complete without some input from AI itself. ChatGPT identified Rita Perez, host of the Strategic Travel Entrepreneur Podcast, as one of several advisors active in AI education.
Although Perez specializes in cruise ship retreats, she has recently devoted more time to industry work, sharing actionable insights for advisors seeking to incorporate AI into their businesses.
“The biggest things that matter to AI are consistency and depth,” she said. “If a travel advisor wants to attract more cruise bookings and increase their overall sales, they need to go all-in on cruise or, as I like to say, draw the line in the sand and own that lane. They can’t be talking about cruises, all-inclusives, European tours and African safaris all at the same time.”
For cruise advisors, Perez shares that results are even better when advisors narrow in on a niche, such as Alaska, river cruising or expedition cruising. If advisors want to be found by potential clients through AI — as Perez was for this article — it’s crucial that their digital footprint (website, social media, platform biographies and sources in which they’ve been cited) reflects this specificity.
AI can identify ships and features, but does not understand their nuances as an advisor can.
Credit: 2026 zigres/stock.adobe.com“These are all authority signals to AI,” she said. “AI will know exactly when to bring you up in the conversation.”
And that’s when agents can strike with their expertise.
“The superpower of the travel advisor is their matchmaking ability and how they truly know their client inside and out in a way AI never will,” Perez added.
AI is great at identifying ships, itineraries and onboard features, but what it can’t do, she says, is discern all their differences and nuances.
As to which AI sources she recommends cruise agents use, Perez wishes she could suggest Cruisen, which once showed great promise, but laments its shutdown and exit from the market.
Instead, she recognizes individual advisors such as Korrine Johnson, founder of Cruise Business Blueprint, who is creating AI tools within her program to help advisors improve their cruise operations and experience.
Cruise Planners’ Maxx Intelligence Tool
In the Cruise Planners (CP) ecosystem, a suite of tools known as CP Maxx handles management of customer relationships, reservations, marketing and business operations. Within the collection is AI-based tool Maxx Intelligence, which the franchise network’s IT department is constantly refining. It integrates large supplier partners into its application programming interface (API) while using AI to automatically extract and upload booking details from smaller luxury suppliers not currently set up on the company’s API.
The result? Significant time savings, according to CP franchise owner Cayce Callaway.
“ChatGPT is actually integrated into CP Maxx, so I don’t need to leave my screen to go to another tab or browser; I simply hit the Maxx Intelligence icon,” Callaway said. “I find it can do things quickly and easily that I would’ve had to do on my own. For cruise bookings, I ask it which shore excursions it recommends for clients with mobility issues in specific locations, which is helpful, as travel agents often have a hard time finding that information on our own.”
It’s not all smooth sailing, however; Callaway does cite some concerns with AI, particularly when consumers use it themselves for help with trip planning.
“I was a little hesitant about that at first,” she said. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s my job. I am the one to give them that information.’ As time went on, I’ve actually started to like it. I’ve always been one of those agents who worked with my clients to build a trip because everyone is different — there’s no cookie-cutter application that applies to all of my clients’ needs. Now, I just see their use of AI as an extension of that.”
That said, Callaway notes that certain AI content is pulled from sources that are still suspicious or aren’t always accurate, considering it better for factual data versus opinions.
By using AI for their “grunt work,” advisors can focus on selling.
Credit: 2026 ivanko80/stock.adobe.com“I don’t think AI is ever going to replace travel agents, because I don’t see my clients trusting a computer to choose a hotel or tell them if a destination is right for them,” she said. “We will all have an AI assistant doing the grunt work in the background, and that will be incredibly exciting and give advisors more time to focus on selling.”
A Case Study in Simplification
ChatGPT also identified the host agency Fora for featuring AI-powered tools, such as the advisor chatbot Sidekick and the new agent assistant Via. While the tools are not cruise specific, Fora advisor Paolo Melendez was a beta tester of both technologies and has firsthand experience applying them to cruising.
“Beyond data entry, Via is indispensable for navigating complex cruise logistics,” he said. “The industry can be overwhelming, with dozens of partners managing constantly shifting promotions and strict fine print. By using targeted prompts and requiring Via to cite its sources, I can instantly cut through the noise to surface nuanced data, from routine promotions and strict cancellation policies to hyper-specific packing and carry-on restrictions.”
Via even came in handy for Melendez when he was navigating the recent hantavirus scare, using it to pull cited health data.
“This allowed me to immediately cut through the media panic, provide clear-headed guidance and offer the verified reassurance my clients needed to feel completely secure about their investments and their upcoming travel plans,” he said.
In the spirit of giving back, Melendez is also on a mission to help fellow travel advisors — particularly those new to the business or new to AI — look beyond Gmail and calendar apps to unlock the full potential of their software stack.
“To bridge the gap, I regularly create practical how-to guides and cheat sheets designed to simplify both AI and non-AI tools,” he said. “Sharing these resources actively within forums allows me to mentor peers, lower the barrier to tech entry and help others build more efficient, scalable businesses.”
Using AI to Amplify — But Never Replace
Cruise Business Blueprint’s Johnson, who has 20 years of cruise sales experience, notes that she uses AI as a kind of creative partner to enhance her expertise and better connect with clients.
“I use AI mostly as an ideation partner and to write copy that I edit heavily,” she said. “I am doing the thinking and guiding, and AI is amplifying my brain.”
Johnson’s favorite way to use AI for her cruise business is in the creation of port guides for her clients. She also creates ship guides, food maps and other fully customized client experience pieces that she says “look amazing and take no time to create.”
“Instead of using AI in a way that makes my service feel less human, I use it to create more connection,” she said.
AI can find the ship and the voyage; only a human advisor has the courage to say, ‘That
ship isn’t right for you.’
In fact, Johnson has used multiple AI models, from Claude to Gamma, to help create resources for her members, clients and herself, adding that she uses Lovable to create landing pages and interactive worksheets.
“For Cruise Business Blueprint, I built my Cruise Compare Pro tool in Lovable, so that members can build beautiful, side-by-side cruise comparisons to help their clients make decisions more quickly,” she said.
Contrary to Fora’s Melendez, Johnson does not advise trusting AI to output perfect assessments of cruise line policies or entry requirements for a destination, for instance. But that may be dependent on the exact model, she notes, adding that it’s important to always verify sources.
“AI makes things up sometimes,” she explained. “For this reason, you need to carefully check all the emails and guides that you use it to create, for accuracy.”
While Johnson says she is not seeing much in the way of clients using AI themselves, Melendez reports otherwise.
“AI-generated input often complicates the initial conversation, but it also provides a unique opening for me as an advisor to reframe the data, correct misconceptions and demonstrate value,” he said.
He adds that a basic matchmaker program might be able to present an initial tidy list, but AI won’t be able to extrapolate whether a certain sailing actually fits a client’s personality.
“Its recommendations can be biased, based on whichever model is under the hood,” he explained. “It’s also a people-pleaser by design — it tends to tell you what you want to hear, so it’ll confidently endorse a poor match instead of pushing back. AI can find the ship and the voyage; only a human advisor has the courage to say, ‘That ship isn’t right for you.’ That discernment is an advisor’s true currency.”
Considering how fast the technology is evolving, Johnson can’t yet imagine what form AI assistance for cruise travel will take next, but she does foresee bright things ahead for AI enhancing agents’ know-how and humanity — while never replacing either.
“I already teach ways to use AI to take the pain out of building a proposal, and if it can get better at helping us curate the options faster, that will help a lot,” she said. “Buyers are already wary of being manipulated by AI, so I’ll keep using it to amplify my own thoughts and ideas in order to maximize sales — while keeping my humanness at the forefront.”
