how to tell if special interest groups are booked on a cruise?

[sadiea]

Is there any way of finding out if there will be a large special interest group on board a particular ship before you actually book it? I'm interested in a Feb. 9, 2008 sailing of the Crown Princess and I've noticed that on many online cruise agency websites this cruise is the only one not really discounted with no perks (onboard credit, photos, etc.) or else it doesn't even come up as an option to book. I'm beginning to wonder if the ship is already mostly booked with some large group. My parents accidentally got on a ship once that was packed with the rowdy alumni of a certain university that will go unnamed--as in at least 500+ passengers. I'm not real interested in having this happen to me. Does anybody out there have any experience in this area? Thanks.

[lhall85917]

The only suggestions I've seen posted on other boards are to google your ship and date. Often if there is a group you will find a link. Be sure to do it several ways- Princess February 9, 2008, Princess 2/9/08, Princess Feb. 9, 2008, etc.

[margord]

Maybe you or your TA could call Princess directly and ask. This happened to us once also and it really was not fun. The "booked group" literally took over the ship and even bumped us from our dining time and cancelled one of the evening shows.

 

Marilee

[spongerob]

That's probably Presidents' Week, where a lot of school systems in the northeastern US get the week off. It's a busy holiday week.

[Michele M]

President's week is the week of Feb 17, 2008 so that would not come into play for a Feb 9th cruise.

[willysgrandma]

Our Nov. 4, 2006 cruise was sold out and there were no huge groups that we saw - we saw a few groups of about 50 people, but not enough to sell out the ship.

 

 

Princess may have agencies holding groups that far in advance - if that is the case, you will see cabins opening up in the near future as the unsold space has to be released.

[sanjosebarbie]

You can probably call Princess and ask somebody...or perhaps I am overly optimistic. When we were on Carnival, we had a group of people who sell sex toys (I wish I could remember what it said on their shirts...you could recognize them all over the ship). I know it sounds strange, but they were the most fun group of people I've ever come across. They weren't lewd or obnoxious, but they were always in a good mood (no comments, please:D), and they were the life of the party. I have never been on a cruise where there was so much dancing and nightlife.

[gonna go cruising]

Could be that it encompasses Valentines day. I would try calling to make sure though.

[CZEE]

Maybe you or your TA could call Princess directly and ask. This happened to us once also and it really was not fun. The "booked group" literally took over the ship and even bumped us from our dining time and cancelled one of the evening shows.

 

Marilee

 

We had a similar experience. It was not fun at all. Actually, it might be hard to get that info out of Princess. I asked them a similar question before the cruise we booked for later this year. They would divulge nothing. You might have to search for the information on the internet.