Bottom line
- Total investment $13K – $21K including a $11K franchise fee, 1.5% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $588K/year (median $227K).
- Rated STRONG with a risk score of 44/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 5 loans (below the industry average).
- System growing at 27.6% CAGR over 3 years with 2175 total units — strong expansion trajectory.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one CruiseOne / Dream Vacations unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
595%
Above typical band (30–60%)
Levered LBO scenario · Yale Crease Capital framing
What would 25 CruiseOne / Dream Vacations units return on equity?
Equity IRR · 5-yr
49.9%
7.57× MOIC
Year-1 DSCR
1.88×
EBITDA ÷ debt service
Equity required
$1.4M
on $6.8M purchase
Total debt
$5.4M
SBA $3.4M + senior + seller note
Overview
About
CruiseOne/Dream Vacations franchisees operate as independent travel agencies specializing in cruise and vacation bookings. Day-to-day work involves client consultation, package quotation, booking processing, handling supplier relationships with cruise lines and tour operators, and managing customer service. Most franchisees work from home or small offices, earning commissions on cruise/travel bookings rather than managing retail inventory.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 14 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Commission-dependent travel franchise with opaque profitability, unprotected territories, and aggressive growth masking structural vulnerabilities in an economically-sensitive industry.
Score breakdown · what drove the 44 / 100 rating
- 01MINORNo net income disclosure (Item 19) prevents ROI validation and profitability assessment
- 02MINORUnprotected territory creates direct competition risk with 2,175 other franchisees in system
- 03MINOR11.3% YoY unit growth masks potential quality issues; expansion rate outpacing market demand
- 04MEDWide royalty range (1.5%-3.0%) suggests inconsistent commission structures and unclear earning formulas
- 05MEDCommission-based revenue model creates volatility; travel industry highly susceptible to economic shocks
- 06MINORLow franchise fee ($10,500) may indicate low barriers to entry/exit and higher failure rates
- 07MINOR5-year term is relatively short; high renewal/replacement churn expected
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
82 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
CruiseOne / Dream Vacations · FDD (2025) PDF