25th Wedding anniversary on board QM2

[Highly Sociable]

Nothing like a bit of forward planning. Our anniversary isn't until 2009 but we want to spend it on board the QM2. Our immediate family think this is a great idea and are all planning on coming with us and so we are going to open it up to friends also. The brochure doesn't come out until next April, but I thought I could do a rough costing of everything now and then every-one has time to save up. Me included!

 

Question is - has anyone ever done anything like this before and could give me a few hints?

 

If all goes according to plan, there could be around 40 of us. We obviously want to make the day of our anniversary very special. I've thought about trying to block book Todd English for that particular evening. Does anyone know how many it holds?

[scopewest]

Congrats. 2009 is also our 25th wedding anniversary and we're thinking of a crossing to celebrate. It would be our first trip on QM2 so I can't help with any info, alas.

 

It sounds like you're going to have a splendid party!

[travel-to-go]

Nothing like a bit of forward planning. Our anniversary isn't until 2009 but we want to spend it on board the QM2. Our immediate family think this is a great idea and are all planning on coming with us and so we are going to open it up to friends also. The brochure doesn't come out until next April, but I thought I could do a rough costing of everything now and then every-one has time to save up. Me included!

 

Question is - has anyone ever done anything like this before and could give me a few hints?

 

If all goes according to plan, there could be around 40 of us. We obviously want to make the day of our anniversary very special. I've thought about trying to block book Todd English for that particular evening. Does anyone know how many it holds?

 

Work with a travel agent you trust. He or she can get you better prices, most lines will give one cabin free (you pay taxes and fees) with every eight cabins booked and paid for (3rd and 4th person are extra) or you can take the savings and spread it across everyone. In addition, there are other added perks, such as a cocktail party or perhaps a small carry bag for each cabin, or group photo. A good travel agent can work out all the details with you and make the best deal for you and your family and friends. Make sure the agent is someone you trust, who will be able to devote the time to organizing everything for you. They can block book rooms, with several different levels of cabins.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary! (not to mention the one in between!)

 

That's my best suggestions!

 

Karie,

who always wished she could get a family group together like that. So much fun that way! These days I have less and less family, I guess I'd best get busy making another one! <LOL> (Oops, then I wouldn't be able to afford to go on cruises!)

[pnhmrk]

Work with a travel agent you trust.

 

That's my best suggestions!

 

Although I generally despise travel agents there are a few good ones that will organise the trip for you and save you an awful lot of work. They might also save you money on the trip and they should know what extra perks can be provided for your group. I wouldn't go to a high street agent who's only bothered about making commission but Karie is right when she suggests a good agent:)

[nellydean]

we went as a family group in 2004 to celebrate my mother in law's 80th birthday, and for 10 of us it cost around £30,000, so approx £3,000 for each of us. I would suspect you could get it cheaper now, though, as we sailed in her inaugural year

[nellydean]

fingers crossed now for my team in the champions league final :)

[Highly Sociable]

Thanks Karie and Malcolm. I knew I could count on you for advice.

 

I've used a cruise consultant to book both my last and forth-coming cruise and will certainly get her involved. I was just wondering if any-one had done anything like this before and had any specific pointers.

 

Nellydean- although I 'emigrated' to Wigan some 25 years ago I was born and bred in Liverpool and I too will be cheering them on on Wednesday. Though how much of I will be able to watch is anyones guess. I still vividly remember the drama of two years ago.:)

[Kindlychap]

fingers crossed now for my team in the champions league final :)

 

Netball on cruise critic?

 

Whatever next........

 

Matthew

[Kindlychap]

Might it be a good idea to get yourself on board for a short cruise (what an excuse!) so that you can actually discuss matters with the ship? I wouldn't suggest relying too much on Cunard Shoreside, as you no doubt are well aware.

 

This must be something that they have done before, but probably not often enough that people in the general reservations would be aware of the issues concerned.

 

I cannot see why you'd be unable to book Todd English en block, providing you paid the going rate..... But I'm equally sure you'd need to sit the Maitre'D down with his diary before embarkation day.

 

Matthew

[pnhmrk]

I've used a cruise consultant to book both my last and forth-coming cruise and will certainly get her involved.

 

Do you trust her? Does she have a very good knowledge of Cunard Ships and the QM2 in particular? How about the number of times she's arranged groups on cruises?

 

I don't have a foolproof way of discovering a good agent:( I am certain that one who is good on one line need not be so good on a line that they don't book as often. There are some good travel agents who post on these boards (and some very bad ones!); it might be worth trying to contact one of them to see if they can help.

[calikak]

I cruised with a group of girlfriends, not on Cunard but on Princess. We used a free website that kind of works like Evite, only for travel. I was able to keep track of what flight everyone was on (people were flying in from both Seattle and DC), who was staying at which hotel, how much money people owed me, etc. It was a really handy website for helping herd all the cats. :) I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention the name of the website here, since they let you book hotels through their site, so I think they're kind of a travel agent, but maybe a google search would turn them up.

 

Also, I would recommend having your TA make sure your bookings are all cross-referenced so you can eat at the same table in the dining room, although, this would also mean everyone needs to book the same class of cabins, which may or may not work for your group. But, I found that this gave us a chance to do whatever we wanted to do all day, whether it was with the rest of the group or alone, and then at the end of the day we could get back together for dinner and talk about what we'd done and seen.