group booking

[tronan]

what incentives do you get with a group booking???

 

we have just added our 8th cabin and have sent a email to request a geroup booking , what perks should we receive???

 

also when the reservation goes to a group booking does this mean there will be only 1 reservation number with a total group price , or will we still be able to view reservations seperatly and how much is owed on each particular resertvation???

 

i know these are silly questions , but anyones help would be appreciated.

 

the sailing is for freedomof the seas.

[twinmom38]

:) ;)

 

we have 7 cabins booked on mariner. tried to get 8. but ran out of family members. my travel agent told me that with 8 cabins, the 16th guest gets a free cabin. the category depends on the type of cattegorys that the other 8 booked cabins are... if there were mostly JS's, then you would get a free JS, and so on. but you have to pay the taxes and port charges. each of our cabins have their own reservations number. let me know if you find out different. we used a travel agent. did you, or did you go thru RCI ?

[tronan]

i booked directly with royal caribbean. i have emailed tem and am wating on a reply.

 

just wanted to know what i should expect really.

[4merlurker]

I have 12 cabins booked as a group. We each have individual booking numbers as well as 1 group number. For every 8 cabins (double occupancy) you will get 1 berth (less taxes and port charges) free. The "freebie" (Tour Conductor) is whatever cabin category you have the most of. A group is also entitled to GAP points which are assigned by RCCL. Make sure you confirm this with your TA.

 

The following is an example of GAP points I don't know how current this list is but at least it gives you an idea. Maybe there is a TA out there that can confirm this list?? (I am not a TA)

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/Royal/General_Info/SL05-121425_GAP_Card.pdf#search='RCCL%20group%20cruise%20GAP%20points'

 

HTH

[tupper]

Be aware that not all dates offer the same GAP points, even on the same ship and itinerary, based on the week. Some weeks are even ZERO points. I was told this could be expected for many of the Freedom sailings for a while too, since they have no problem booking the cabins on a new ship. If I was able to get that many people together on the same sailing, be sure to pick a week that offers at least some GAP amenities.

[mdmourges]

The credit is equal to 1/2 of the LOWEST priced room you have. Just did a goup of 26 and that was what I was told and did actually rec. (on my credit card, not as a shipboard credit). Problem with groups are that you have to deal with the group dept., which is slow. This department is the same group that deals with TA's who have groups, so you can guess who gets priority.

 

Mark

[tronan]

do you think it would be better not to make it a group booking???

 

i dont understand about these gap points...how many gap points should we expect to get for 8 cabins , 6 e2 balconys and 2 promenades????

[alicia68]

Actually you can't expect any GAP points until you check and see if they are available for your ship and sail date. It has nothing to do with your cabins. Call the groups department and have them check if they are available and what you can use them for. Some sailings start at 1 point and go up from there.

[Karencruiser43]

I have 18 cabins booked on AOS. I had 16 cabins booked last year on VOS. Like somebody else pointed out. Depending on the week of the cruise depends on what "perks" you get. Last year my cruise was during spring break, but I was able to get vouchers for everybody and we all received some fruit in our staterooms. I booked through a travel agent. I think it would be cheaper to book through a TA rather than direct through RC. Good luck!

[MszKitty]

The credit is equal to 1/2 of the LOWEST priced room you have. Just did a goup of 26 and that was what I was told and did actually rec. (on my credit card, not as a shipboard credit). Problem with groups are that you have to deal with the group dept., which is slow. This department is the same group that deals with TA's who have groups, so you can guess who gets priority.

 

Mark

 

That is not correct.

• The value of the cruise-only tour conductor credit is determined by the category most sold within the group. If the same number of staterooms has been sold in two or more categories, the value is based on the lowest of those categories.
  

Tronan....if you would like to give me the ship and date of sailing, I can tell you if your sailing has GAP points available.

With that being said though, there are a couple of things.....Not all ships and sailing dates have GAP points. AND it also depends on when you booked the group. For example...last year, another TA and I had a group booked on the same ship, same sailing. She booked her a few months before I booked mine. When she booked it, GAP points were being offered. By the time, I booked my group they were no longer offering GAP points.

[49holding]

Alot of the cruisecritic group cruises have no amenities...no cash back, no cocktail parties,etc, The group cruise coordinator does earn the first 1 or 2 free berths. I wonder why there are no amenities on the CC group cruises. I recently sailed on one and it wasn't much of a group but I booked it more for the locked in rates.

[MszKitty]

GAP points are really for the TA to use. They use them for a variety of different "perks" that they pass on to their client.

[tronan]

That is not correct.

• The value of the cruise-only tour conductor credit is determined by the category most sold within the group. If the same number of staterooms has been sold in two or more categories, the value is based on the lowest of those categories.
  

Tronan....if you would like to give me the ship and date of sailing, I can tell you if your sailing has GAP points available.

With that being said though, there are a couple of things.....Not all ships and sailing dates have GAP points. AND it also depends on when you booked the group. For example...last year, another TA and I had a group booked on the same ship, same sailing. She booked her a few months before I booked mine. When she booked it, GAP points were being offered. By the time, I booked my group they were no longer offering GAP points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

thanks..i dont understand about these gap points..we are sailing freedomof the seas 13th aug 2006.there are 8 cabins booked 6 of them e2 balcony and 2 are promeades.there are 2 adults in each and also a 2year old.thanks everyone for all your help.still no reply from rccl group department......

[saber32]

MszKitty,

 

Could you please tell me if there are any points for the Soverign of the seas 8 May- 12 May 06.We have 9 Cabins booked, Cat L inside.Thank you very much:)

[saber32]

bump up

[mdmourges]

all I can tell you is both the guy I always deal with at RC for non-groups (have done 4 through him and he seems to know what is going on) and the group people at RC told me that the credit is equal to the lowest room. And that is indeed what we got. I can't imagine them trying to do some type of calculation of what is the most prevelant type of room to determine the credit. However if this is the case, please tell me specifically where you got your info about the avg room value being the credit value. We had many more D1's than the inside rooms (which our credit was based) and I would like to try to get what I'm entitled to if I have not already. Thanks.

 

Mark

[glendon3281]

I have a bunch of friends going on a cruise in Nov. 05. Most of us have $100 shipboard credit from booking on a previous cruise. I was told if we want to become an "official" group we'd lose our shipboard credit. We weighed the pros and cons and decided it was better to keep the shipboard credit and NOT become a "group". Although, all our reservations are tied together.

 

Has anyone else been told that?

[marcmedic]

all I can tell you is both the guy I always deal with at RC for non-groups (have done 4 through him and he seems to know what is going on) and the group people at RC told me that the credit is equal to the lowest room. And that is indeed what we got. I can't imagine them trying to do some type of calculation of what is the most prevelant type of room to determine the credit. However if this is the case, please tell me specifically where you got your info about the avg room value being the credit value. We had many more D1's than the inside rooms (which our credit was based) and I would like to try to get what I'm entitled to if I have not already. Thanks.

 

Mark

 

We had a bunch of different room types booked, from inside all the way up to an OS. Most of the cabins were D2's. We got a credit for the one person D2 rate minus port taxes and fees.

[alicia68]

Mark,

 

RCI group policy states " The value of the Tour Conductor Credit is determined by the category most sold within the group. If the same number of staterooms has been sold in two or more categories, the value is based on the lowest of those categories"