HELP! Planning a cruise for 12+

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

I am planning a cruise to celebrate my 40th birthday. It will include all my siblings and their spouses. It isn't until June of 2008 so I have more than enough time.:p

 

But I was wondering about the best way to go about this. We are cruising in 2 short weeks by ourselves and was wondering if it's best to talk to the Future Cruise desk or do this with a travel agent. We are looking to pay for everyone to have an inside cabin and then they can pay the difference if they want to upgrade. And if they want to bring their kids, they have the option to do that too (they will have to pay for them.)Also, since it so far away, the specific cruises are even available yet.

 

Since we are cruising soon we will set up the booking for ourselves to get the future cruise credit. But do we get anything for booking all these folks who have never been on Princess before?

 

Do you think the folks on the ship would honestly help us get the best deal or will they look out for Princess?

 

Any help is appreciated.

[DesrtDrmr]

Be sure and sign them up for the referral award through Captains' Circle. I think that you all would get $25 credit, with you getting it for each of those booking. Someone will come along and tell you how it works.

If you are an experienced cruiser, you can discuss with Princess............if not, do go to your travel agent, so you have someone to discuss with, and to help you with all the details.

[Toto2Kansas]

I would definitely find a good travel agent to handle this for you. That way you won't be the one trying to coordinate every little detail. You also, depending on the number of total cabins book, might get a price break for one of the cabins. (group rate).

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Thanks for the reply. We are experienced cruisers and will be platinum with Princess for this trip. I know the ins and outs of the grand class ships and how they are run (anytime dining, etc) but have never booked more than just the two of us for any cruise.

 

Thanks in advance for any other advice!

[Pam in CA]

I agree with Toto on this completely. Even if you're an experienced cruiser, your family will drive you nuts no matter how much you love them. I have seen so many posts by people in your situation who, as they get more and more involved and there are more and more requests, changes, etc., regret that they tried to handle it on their own and wish they'd turned it over to a TA.

 

IMHO, there is no such thing as a "simple" booking. I'm quite experienced and when I book, I know exactly what I want. But every single time, I find myself asking my TA about other options here, what about this there, etc. If you're dealing with inexperienced cruisers, this is magnified 10-fold. And if there's the slightest thing wrong, you'll be the bad guy.

 

Let a TA coordinate this for you and be the one your relatives call with questions, upgrade requests, special requests, etc. and be the one to work with the TA to make sure it goes smoothly. You'll save yourself a lot of time and aggravation.

[calikak]

I also agree about finding a good travel agent. I recently planned a trip for my 30th birthday with 8 other women, and I definitely couldn't have pulled it off without our travel agent. If you're going to go on Princess, it probably helps to have an agent who is very familiar with Princess and how their system works. You want to find an agent who is really good about getting back to you in a timely manner, so I would avoid any of the faceless internet agencies out there. It's worth it to pay a little more when you're planning for a group.

 

I also recommend a website called triphub.com, it's a free site that works like Evite, only for travel, so it tracks the hotels and the flights everyone is on. It also has a blog feature so everyone can chat about the trip, and you can even track how much money everyone owes you. Between that website and a travel agent, you should be able to keep everything organized.

 

I also agree with the tip about doing a referral for anyone in your group who hasn't sailed with Princess before. To do this, go onto the Princess website, log into the Captain's Circle section, and go to the Referral Rewards area. My travel agent says to be sure to do the referral by snail mail, NOT by e-mail, because the e-mail ones always get messed up. Then just let the travel agent know about the referrals and they should be able to take it from there. You'll get $25 off your cruise fare per person you refer (and you can refer both halves of a couple), and they'll each get $25 off as well.

 

I would also definitely do a future cruise credit when you're on your next cruise, just as an open booking, not for a particular sailing. Then when you're ready to book through an agent, just let your travel agent know that you want to use your future cruise credit for your deposit.

 

One other thing to keep in mind: If you book 16 people in 8 cabins, you get one cruise fare free. Something else to discuss with your travel agent.

 

I hope you have a great trip! :)

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

This is awesome feedback!! I am fairly anal retentive about this type of planning so I thought it would be easy for me to do but am going to heed your advice and let an agent help out! We don't have our own travel agent as we usually book through Princess. We will be on the lookout for one.

 

Thanks all!

[juliejoe]

Our upcoming family reunion cruise will be our 4th and it has been a breeze each time to organize everything.

 

First - DO use a TA. You can do the initial call to book those you are paying for. Then, give them each the phone # of the TA. If they decide to upgrade to an outside room, they can send you the difference in cost when you make final payment. Any extra cabins for their kids etc. they can book and pay separately. If you want cabins near each other, it's a good idea to book early - also, that's when we've found best prices.

 

You can do the onboard booking for yourselves and get the two coupons they'll give you to share with two other cabins on the same cruise you book. The Future cruise consultant onboard can tell you how these work. When you get home (after doing the referrals online) you can use the coupons to get the shipboard credit for 4 of you siblings when you book them and send the coupon in.

 

Regarding the referral credits: Go online at Princess.com and register each of your siblings and their spouses for the referral reward. Follow the instructions they give you and have each of them register too. Then book all of them. Be sure to do the referral registration before booking to make this go well. In fact, you can do the referrals right now (they will each get $25 and you will get $25 for each one of them). If any will add children who live at a different address and will be in other cabins, be sure to do the referrals for them. too.

 

If you have a total of 8 cabins, your TA can give you the price break in your cabin for 1 person.

 

A week before the cruise, e-mail the Maitre 'd with names and cabin numbers of all your group. Tell him/her that you all want to have dinner together and you would like him to choose a fun and efficient waiter for your group. We all choose anytime dining and he sets that up for us in that dining room. We have found that dinner is the best time for all of us to get together. On sea days we gather for lunch outside a dining room and then ask for tables together.

 

We've had t-shirts made and it's fun to wear them on sea days - helps us spot each other. Bright yellow, bright aqua - or another bright color.

 

Be sure they each know their booking number and encourage them to go on-line at Princess.com to complete their own immigration information and print their boarding passes, as well as look at shore excursions and pre-book any they want.

 

We all do our own thing for shore excursions. We e-mail to each other what we want to do and sometimes group together for the day, but not always. If you find a private tour - or you know an easy to do on your own way to spend the day in a port, share that info and let them each decide for themselves. IMHO it would not be a good thing for you to make everyone's plans for ports.

 

You'll have a blast!:D Hope I have made this clearer than mud.:eek:

Julie

juliejoe@swbell.net if I can answer any questions

[calikak]

Good luck, Sox Fan! If you want to hear more about my experience planning a group cruise, you can e-mail me at ejs at u dot washington dot edu.

[roe2ship]

Sox Fan, what a nice treat, if I was one of your siblings, I'll be sure to give you a great birthday present. :) I booked 21 pax for our family cruise and it went real smooth, good luck!

 

Then just let the travel agent know about the referrals and they should be able to take it from there.

Is there a reason the t/a should know about this? Is it because the $25.00 is taken off the price at final payment?? In the Princess acct summary page, it indicates the two referrals we made is applied to our booking, although the third one still says pending booking:rolleyes: TIA

[roe2ship]

A week before the cruise, e-mail the Maitre 'd with names and cabin numbers of all your group. Tell him/her that you all want to have dinner together and you would like him to choose a fun and efficient waiter for your group. We all choose anytime dining and he sets that up for us in that dining room.

Julie, I did not know you can do that, that is good news. How do you find out the Maitre'd e-mail address?

[calikak]

Is there a reason the t/a should know about this? Is it because the $25.00 is taken off the price at final payment?? In the Princess acct summary page, it indicates the two referrals we made is applied to our booking, although the third one still says pending booking:rolleyes: TIA

 

I let my TA know about it because she handles all those kinds of details for me and made sure everybody's referral credits got applied properly, including mine. She's the one that calls Princess if there's any kind of snafu. :) I think if it says pending booking, that means that your friends haven't made a booking yet, or if they have, the referral credit wasn't properly credited. I'd follow up with the TA on that one. If the others show up in your referral summary, then I think you're fine on those two.

 

Instead of e-mailing the Maitre'D, you can also ask your TA to cross-reference the bookings for you, so you and your friends will hopefully be assigned to the same table for dinner. Or I think you can also call Princess directly to do that, but I always have my TA handle it. And if for some reason that didn't happen and you get on the ship and find you have different table numbers (it'll say on your cruise card), then just go to the Maitre'D and ask to be reseated with them. Of course, none of that is a concern if you've got anytime dining, since there's no table assignments.

 

Ditto Julie's suggestions about a shirt or other item of clothing--I was travelling with all women and we had plastic tiaras. They were really gawdy and we didn't wear them all that much, but we did wear them the first day and after that everyone would say, "Oh, I saw your group, you're the ones with the tiaras!" It was kind of like being a celebrity or something. :) And it made a really great (and inexpensive) souvenir for everyone. Not such a good idea for a group of couples, but it worked for us.

[cwtravel]

JulieJoe:

 

How do you email the Maitre'd on the ship? I have my family (12 people) on the Caribbean Princess Christmas/Holiday cruise and while we are in Traditional Seating (and all bookings are coordinated) I would love for the Maitre'd to have everything set when we board.

 

Thanks,

Chris

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

Thanks all for this help. My husband was worried that he would have to do all the planning. You have made him VERY happy.

 

Now, does anyone have a TA that they recommend. We live in Boston but I guess with phones and the internet, location doesn't matter. I don't think you can post TA info on here so if anyone has a TA that they recommend, please send on the info to oraclechris@yahoo.com.

 

And if you gave me your e-mail address for additional questions, I will definitely be contacting you. I'm just trying to get a lot of things done (including losing another 10 pounds) as my 20th high school reunion and our next cruise are coming up!! :D

[calikak]

Sox fan, we're not allowed to recommend TAs on this board. Sorry!

 

Good luck at your high school reunion!!! :)

[juliejoe]

In 2004 we were a group of 18 and I e-mailed grandprincess@princesscruises.com and in the subject put ATTN: Maitre'd. He did not answer my e-mail, but when we boarded he had everything all set for us and called our cabin to have me meet him so he could show me the area he had selected. I mentioned we had children in our group and he had selected a terrific waiter who enjoyed the kids and had "magic tricks" for them.

 

I am only guessing that this will work on other Princess ships (we cruised Royal Caribbean last year). We will be back on the Grand 11/25 but I may not e-mail this time because there will only be 9 of us and they can easily get us all together at a table for 10. If/when we find a waiter we like, we'll make an every-night reservation at that time.

 

By having us all select anytime dining, the Maitre' d was able to give us a different dinner time than one of the traditional times - and I think it was easier for him to make the arrangements. If you send an e-mail, give him a time range. When you are bringing all of your own tablemates, I don't see the need for traditional dining.

 

Julie

[GoodAsGold]

I planned a cruise for our extended family twice in the past 4 years. The latest one was to Alaska. Since I booked 9 cabins (8 qualified for a discount), I got my berth free. So we upgraded to our first balcony cabin. (Probably last unless I can get another good deal!)

 

Anyway, I booked it through my TA, who I have never met in person, but have used his services a lot. I "met" him on a cruise newsgroup. I knew exactly which cabins we wanted, so we e-mailed back and forth and did some calling, too. Since we had the 9 cabins, we also were able to have a free cocktail party in a private room hosted by the cruiselines. We also each got a free 8x10 group photo. I think there was about 23 of us.

 

 

 

 

I would definitely find a good travel agent to handle this for you. That way you won't be the one trying to coordinate every little detail. You also, depending on the number of total cabins book, might get a price break for one of the cabins. (group rate).

[phabric]

When you to your Future On Board booking while on the cruise, do 2 separate bookings one under your name and someone else and one under your husband's name and someone else. This way you will have 2 cabins with onboard credits plus more companion coupons. Later on try to switch names to the proper cabins if they cann't do it, once on board go to the Purser's desk and switch cabins.

[roe2ship]

I let my TA know about it because she handles all those kinds of details for me and made sure everybody's referral credits got applied properly, including mine. She's the one that calls Princess if there's any kind of snafu. :) I think if it says pending booking, that means that your friends haven't made a booking yet, or if they have, the referral credit wasn't properly credited. I'd follow up with the TA on that one. If the others show up in your referral summary, then I think you're fine on those two.

 

Instead of e-mailing the Maitre'D, you can also ask your TA to cross-reference the bookings for you, so you and your friends will hopefully be assigned to the same table for dinner. Or I think you can also call Princess directly to do that, but I always have my TA handle it. And if for some reason that didn't happen and you get on the ship and find you have different table numbers (it'll say on your cruise card), then just go to the Maitre'D and ask to be reseated with them. Of course, none of that is a concern if you've got anytime dining, since there's no table assignments.

 

I think the issue with the referral credit stating pending booking is my sister had paid for my mother's deposit who I referred and they have different last names since sister is married, that is the only thing I can think of. However with Princess's website and confusion among the CSR, who really knows. I will need luck with this issue for sure.

 

We are doing anytime dining that is why I had asked Julie about Maitre-d e-mail address. Thanks anyway.:)

[roe2ship]

In 2004 we were a group of 18 and I e-mailed grandprincess@princesscruises.com and in the subject put ATTN: Maitre'd. He did not answer my e-mail, but when we boarded he had everything all set for us and called our cabin to have me meet him so he could show me the area he had selected. I mentioned we had children in our group and he had selected a terrific waiter who enjoyed the kids and had "magic tricks" for them.

Julie

Julie, thanks for the information. I will try and do this before we leave and be one step ahead.