Have you done a family reunion/group cruise on Princess? Would love feedback

[DiazLoves2Cruise]

We're going to be book a family reunion on Grand Princess in 2008. I know there is an 8 cabins minimum for a group rating but, beyond that - how did you like your group experience with Princess?

[scmomofboys]

We had a group of 17 and 7 cabins last year on the Sapphire Princess and our TA was able to get us classified as a group. We had 10 adults in 5 balcony cabins and 7 children in 2 inside cabins across the hall(4 girls in one, 3 boys in the other). We did a 6 night land tour prior to the cruise and the room assignments were the same - kids in 2 rooms, 5 rooms for the adults.

 

It worked fine for us. Other than linking our reservations all together and getting some group amenities, we pretty much did our own thing - no special meetings etc. We had late seating, traditional - kids at one table; adults at an adjacent table. I was the contact person for our group and made all the arrangements with the TA. She coordinated everything though Princess. I think we got one person's cruise fare refunded (inside cabin 4th person rate) and points we redeemed from a list of things like Alaska Cruise Companion book, tote bags, guaranteed traditional seating, etc.

 

We booked at the end of August for our June cruise and I don't think we found out for sure we got the group classification until a month or so later. Kudos to our TA for getting that. Let me know if you have any specific questions (although, I'll be leaving in 3 days for our next trip to Alaska:) .

[willysgrandma]

I can only suggest if you are planning on booking a group, do it as early as possible. Princess sometimes stops taking groups if a cruise is selling well. If you'd like to get a tour conductor credit and amenities, book as early as possible.

 

Princess is fine for groups - but you will all enjoy yourselves better if you don't all feel you have to be together 24/7.

[sodostan]

I was the person in charge of our group of 29, ranging in age from less than one year to 69 years (three generations). We were guaranteed early seating and sat with different members of our group each evening. This was a couple of years ago and was so successful that I am in the process of booking another for June of 2008. However, our group now numbers 33 (one new husband and three new children).

[secretcastle]

We just did the full Panama transit on the Coral this past spring with a group of 18 people. It was wonderful! We had late traditional dinner and had 2 tables. We found that while we didn't want to be doing everything together, it was a nice way to meet up at the end of the day, and we usually went to the evening show together. We all did take a night out to do the Bayou. The photographers were great and we had some group photos taken by the pool one day that turned out really nice. During the canal day , we opened up some of the balconies that we had that were beside each other and had a nice party, we went to the Horizon Court and brought down some snacks, and we had wine and drinks, lots of fun.

Also, I was active in a CC roll call, and since none of the other people in the group were interested in the whole Cruise Critic thing, I had a wonderful group from the roll call that we also met up with which broadened our social time a lot.

We did book our shore excursions in advance online, and we all discussed what we were all going to do, and sometimes we were on an excursion with someone in the group, and sometimes not, which was fine.

All in all, it was wonderful to travel with such a great group, there was always someone out and about. We found the post it notes very handy for leaving messages.

Have a wonderful trip!

Julia

[vickie_bernie]

i think a group family reunion idea would be great, now can you talk my family into it?? They keep saying we should do it, but they never act on it. any recommendations to get the family to go forward with it?

[christinelee]

We took all our children/spouses and grandchildren on the Caribbean Princess in 2004.....the best money we ever spent!........now we are in the process of putting together our high school class' 60th Birthday Bash in 2009 ( we will all turn 60 in 2009. ....with the help of a great TA you should have no problems.

Good Luck......and like the above person wrote ....don't try to be together 24/7.....it is a vacation ......enjoy!

[DiazLoves2Cruise]

i think a group family reunion idea would be great, now can you talk my family into it?? They keep saying we should do it, but they never act on it. any recommendations to get the family to go forward with it?

 

With school schedules taken into consideration and also everyone's work schedules - for us - a holiday cruise made the most sense. We're booking 18 months in advance to allow everyone enough time to notify everyone's jobs about the vacation time. Sure, we're paying more than any other time of the year to cruise during the holidays but, we believe it will be well worth it.

 

As for "talking" family members into it, here are some the things we did to overcome any objections:

 

1) Objection - "I need to give at least 12 months notice of my vacation times" Solution - book at least 18 months in advance

 

2) Objection - "We have to put a deposit down for four people, I'm not sure we can afford that" Solution: We found a travel agent that somehow got us $100 per person deposits

 

3) Objection - "The kids have school" Solution: Book when the kids don't have school, in our case, the kids will have to miss two days of school BUT, it's right before Christmas vacation and we KNOW they won't miss much

 

4) Objection - "We can't afford a balcony or "your" type of cabin" Solution: a group just means you're traveling together on the same ship and date, it doesn't mean everyone has to be in the same category

 

5) Objection - "We're not sure it's going to feel like the holidays if we're in the Caribbean on a ship" Solution - the ships are decorated, there are religious celebrations such as Catholic mass and non-denominational services. Additionally, it's way to spend the holidays together without having to chose between "your family" or "my family" and Santa makes a special visit to the children. Gifts/presents can be brought along unwrapped and exchanged Christmas day - if you decide to do that

 

Hope this helps to get the ball rolling with your family! :D