Planning a Family/wedding cruise..Where to start?

[PRlatincpL1]

My husband and I are planning to renew our wedding vows on a cruise with our family and friends. We already spoke to most of them are they are excited about the idea. We picked the week of Thanksgiving 2006 (Nov 19-26) departuring from San Juan, Puerto Rico, since most of our family lives there.

 

I was checking cruises for that week and found that the less expensive cruise is the Carnival Destiny.(we are looking into the less expensive in order to make it easier for everyone to come) We have so far a total of 60 ppl interested (ages from months old to 75 yrs)..

 

Do you think I will get better pricing if I call Carnival directly or should I pick a travel agent? I was told that if you book 8 cabins or more, one is free but not sure about this.

 

Your suggestions and ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

Ari

[serene56]

You will need a group specialist. Carnival has a good group department.

On Cruise Critic they use Cru-con.

 

You get amenities for booking as a group-- lower prices... for every 8 paid cabins you get a berth for free-- which you get AFTER the cruise minus fees for Taxes and port charges...so if you get 16 cabins==2 people with go free and only pay the taxes and port charges.

 

Also-- you can get cabin credit or a coctail party---depends on when the sailing is. Each group gets points... yousepnd the points the way you want. But you can get better information byu talking to a group speicalist

[mrg0433]

I would suggest getting a travel agent. You won't pay anymore and the agent should be able to take care of everything for you and be sure you are getting everything you are entitled to. I've found travel agents can handle any problems and get more action if there are any problems.

[cruisinqt]

With a booking this big, a good travel agent will usually offer to throw in a few extras. I have a friend who will be going on a honeymoon cruise this November with a number of family and friends. The travel agent is throwing in a cocktail party, free champagne for the wedding couple, and each cabin will have a free gift waiting for them. The free gift will probably be very small like a key chain or something. But my friend was still very impressed with the deal she got.:)

 

Also, don't forget that if you have a bridal registry you can include Carnival's online gift selections for the cruise. Anyone can go online to the Carnival website and order all types of stuff for you for the cruise. They can have your cabin decorated in a wedding or anniversary theme. They can order cakes, candy, wine, ball caps, champagne, matching t-shirts, and all types of other stuff to be delivered to your cabin where it will be waiting for you when you get there. My friend is including this in her bridal registry. Many people from out of town like the idea because they can buy her something right from their home and they don't have to worry about shipping, handling, gift wrapping, or postage.;)

[PRlatincpL1]

Thanks guys, all your info and ideas are great.

 

I guess we will have to call a group specialist and a travel agent to see wich one can give us the best offer.

 

 

To those with experience in group cruising... keep those great info and ideas coming..