Booking a group cruise

[MarkandJen33706]

Looking for advice on choosing to book a group cruise directly or through a travel agents. What are the benifits of either?

 

Thanks!

[MCC retired]

Give all the payment collection , question answering , problem solving

jobs to a good TA experienced with groups.

Costs you $0 .

They can explain the TC's , Amenities and also have contacts

within the cruise line that booking direct won't get you to .

 

May throw in some extras like TA OBC, gifts , ect. also.

Seems everyone is eager to join you until $$ is due so don't collect less than full normal deposit to insure serious cruisers.

[flounder315]

I prefer booking through Carnival. Never had a problem, with either of the group cruises I booked.

[Brenna's Mom1]

I would never be the one responsible for booking a group cruise unless I was prepared to take a lot of static from others. My suggestion is to just pick a cruise, let those who may potentially go know about it and tell them you will see them onboard. Rates DO NOT go down for a group, in my experience. Let everyone do their own thing unless you are personally paying for everyone.

[SadieN]

I would never be the one responsible for booking a group cruise unless I was prepared to take a lot of static from others. My suggestion is to just pick a cruise' date=' let those who may potentially go know about it and tell them you will see them onboard. Rates DO NOT go down for a group, in my experience. Let everyone do their own thing unless you are personally paying for everyone.[/quote']

 

I agree with the above. Pick your date and let everyone book on their own. Remember to link your bookings together for dining assignments. A TA or Carnival can set it up for you, just need everyone's booking number.

 

We do one organized group fundraising cruise a year and it is a pain even though we have a TA who handles everything.

[jakesnana]

I would never be the one responsible for booking a group cruise unless I was prepared to take a lot of static from others. My suggestion is to just pick a cruise' date=' let those who may potentially go know about it and tell them you will see them onboard. Rates DO NOT go down for a group, in my experience. Let everyone do their own thing unless you are personally paying for everyone.

 

While rates may not be less than booking an individual rate right now, there are amenities to be had and a tour conductor for every 8 cabins booked. Also, if someone wants to join the group down the road, the pricing will be protected to what it was on the day you booked. On ALL of my groups, the pricing 3-6 months after I held my space was considerably higher.

 

To the OP - find a TA who is experienced in groups, specifically Carnival groups. Work out which ship/sail date you want and then pass out the sailing information and the name of the TA to everyone you would like to invite. Once you have done that, your job is done, sit back and relax.

[serene56]

I have done groups in the past.

 

Groups rates are not the best rate. Most times the other rates are cheaper- even with factoring in any amenities you may get--

 

Depends ont he cruise. you could get a 100 cabin credit.

 

you need 8 cabins- double occupancy to get a group rate.

for every 8 cabins you get one free berth-- (cruise fare only and you still pay taxes and port charges for the category that you have the most rooms booked in.

[jakesnana]

I have done groups in the past.

 

Groups rates are not the best rate. Most times the other rates are cheaper- even with factoring in any amenities you may get--

 

Depends ont he cruise. you could get a 100 cabin credit.

 

you need 8 cabins- double occupancy to get a group rate.

for every 8 cabins you get one free berth-- (cruise fare only and you still pay taxes and port charges for the category that you have the most rooms booked in.

 

 

While group rates are not always the cheapest, most of the other rates (early saver, military, past guest, etc) are available to groups, you just have to add in the cost of the amenity points. The cost is based on # of nights; ie on a 7 nt cruise each point cost $7.00, on a 5 nt. cruise each point cost $5.00. Therefore, if you have 2 people in a cabin on a 7 nt cruise, 5 amenity points would cost an additional $35.00 per person (or $70.00 for the cabin), HOWEVER, you could use those 5 points to get $100.00 onboard credit for the cabin. An increase in value of $ 30.00.

 

Also, the value of the tour conductor is NOW based on the average of the cruise fares, not the category with the most rooms. You DO NEED 8 cabins booked at double occupancy to get the free berth. The free berth is actually the 16th passenger, as the terms read 1 for 15.

 

 

Finally, many of the amenities, including onboard credit, are available to groups with as few as 5 cabins, although you cannot get the free berth unless you have 8 cabins (see above).

 

Now do you see why you need a TA experienced in Carnival groups? Look at the mis information that is here already, and this is just the first page.