Thoughts on planning a Family Reunion cruise

[jdkbrim]

I am shocked that I may have convinced my family to go on a cruise for our next family reunion. Due to price and schedule, it would be the 4 day Carnival Victory sailing out of Miami on Dec. 26th going to Key West and Cozumel. I am looking for advice on the following:

- Should I work with Carnival's group reservations or go with an outside travel agency? My Mom would be paying and I would be doing all the room selections...10 to 12 rooms depending how I divide families. For what it's worth, I just always call the Carnival 1-800 number and book exactly what I want which is always the cheapest room available.

- I am absolutely terrified about some family members not enjoying cruising the way our family has. How has anyone else dealt with that?

Anyway, this is a long winded post. I appreciate any and all feedback on planning a family reunion cruise.

[ssolomon56]

I was in charge of planning our family reunion cruise (it leaves this Sunday), and I set it up about a year in advance. I tried handling things directly through Carnival, but it would have involved too much work from me. Instead, I ended up going through a travel agent. Once I chose the cruise, and let the family know the name/number of our agent, I didn't have to deal with the money aspect or anything.

 

For the most part, for every 8 cabins booked, you get the equivalent of one cabin free. Instead, you can chose to divide that value among the cabins in the form of on-board credit.

 

Have a GREAT time!

[Hoosierpop]

Regarding the fear that someone might not like the cruise, my advice is: you can't control that, so don't worry about it. Do the planning (can't really say which is more efficient, TA or directly through Carnival), but once the planning is done, you shouldn't focus on others having fun. It's a family reunion on a cruise ship. Doesn't get much better than that to me.

[SadieN]

Use a TA. Don't herd cats.

 

Let the family take care of what they want to book. You can arrange with the TA about payment.

 

Since it's busy season there might not be any groups amenity points available.

[cruzin2010]

For our family cruise in December, we used a Carnival PVP that a few of us had used in the past. Everyone is responsible for calling and booking their own room under our group and making their payments.

[BallFour4]

Use a TA. Don't herd cats.

Let the family take care of what they want to book.

 

There is no more miserable vacation than being the intermediary for family and friends on vacation. Trust me, trust me, trust me.

 

You are doing admirable work taking them on the trip, so gather phone numbers and email from all of them and turn it over to a travel agent.

 

The second bit of advice is if you select Anytime Dining then let them all go to dinner at their leisure. The larger the group the longer the wait for a table on most nights. I suggest fixed time dining and with the reservations all together your table assignments will be together too.

 

For shore excursions if you are also paying for them then select a couple in advance or give them a budget per port. I've done both and also was not "the man in charge" when the ship docked. All of them had their instructions and excursion tickets in hand. In my business career I work with groups, so it's easy to become the leader.

 

You will find that a group will most likely have a common meeting place like around lido deck tables, atrium lobby, promenade deck, pool bars, etc where you gather.

 

All this was unsolicited, so I apologize if you have already considered this.

 

Have a great vacation!

 

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Edited February 29, 2016 by BallFour4