Organizing a group cruise

The idea has come up to plan a cruise for our 30th high school reunion -- this will not be until 2018 so we have lots of time. I have absolutely no experience with organizing a group cruise -- I do have a fantastic travel agent who has experience so I'm not worried on that front. Does anyone have any experience in organizing one and would be interested in giving me some pointers? Traditionally our class reunions have been well-attended; however, our last one was cancelled because of lack of participation. I know we'll have people that will complain about the cost and won't go -- but they wouldn't pay $20 for our last one so I'm not real concerned about them.

The main questions I have is how did you cover getting money for the extras -- a T-shirt for all participants is the main one that comes to mind. Can your travel agent collect that and then pass that money on to you to order stuff like that? Is there a cost to "rent" a room to have a central meeting place for a couple of occasions (on the boat)? And any other input you can give would be greatly appreciated.

You need a TA to handle all the arrangements. We have done a group cruise for the past 7 years and we always use a TA.

The TA will organize your requirements, get you amenities and run interference.

You need a TA to handle all the arrangements. We have done a group cruise for the past 7 years and we always use a TA.

 

The TA will organize your requirements, get you amenities and run interference.

Definitely will use a TA. I don't want that headache!!!

I just didn't know if there were things the "organizer" needed to do -- like ordering any souveniers we decide we want, deciding what meetings we would have, et cetera. Decisions will need to be made to tell the TA what we want, and that's what I'm needing help with!

I'd check with the travel agent about whether or not they can collect the money and rebate it to you, there might be accounting issues for them. Also, if they collect it they will need to collect any applicable sales tax which you would not get back from them.

You might consider a dual payment setup, where the travel agent collects the money for the cruise but you separately collect a small administrative fee to cover the other stuff.

Ask your TA about the 1 TC that the group organizer receives for every 8 cabins dbl occ. (= to cabin fare only for 1 person) That $$ will be returned to the group organizer after the cruise returns.

You can put out that $$ in advance for the thing that you wish , but don't put out a dime until finals are paid and everyone is in penalty period and very close to sailing.

Yes, have a TA do all the work , costs you nothing , and you get the TC $$ to do with what you wish. Many split it with the group .

The TA will also inform you of any Amenity Points on your sailing , for more goodies for everyone.

Too bad it is far too early to block group space.

I would not get into the T shirt biz. I would be more concerned with getting a free berth for each 8 berths booked. All bookings go through the group booking desk of cruise lines. Discuss with your agent. I would talk with several. You are taking on a big job.

There are websites where you can design a t-shirt and let each person buy as many as they wish.

On Princess (and I am sure other lines) there are people who will help you arrange space for a private party. For instance, they help arrange the Cruise Critic Meet & Greets

I would ask your TA to handle all money ...,And yes you can get a room on the ship ..

A couple of years ago we had our 40th:eek: which was a weekend affair: a meet and greet at a popular hangout (they gave our group one area and another school's group got another) on Friday, the main event on Saturday (since I eventually moved back into the general area, I ended up being the closest to the party place, just four miles away) and then a picnic at a park on Sunday. The planners used a reunion site for purchasing the tickets to the Saturday event.

A few weeks later, talk started about not waiting another ten years (I think when people saw the memorial list, it really hit home) so we started talking about doing something at the 45 year mark and some mentioned a weekend cruise out of Long Beach/LA. I went on the Carnival site and noticed that they actually will provide things like A/V equipment and the room for free. But a couple of people pleaded against the cruise (either they have been on a cruise and didn't like it or they'll thinking about seasickness...I don't really know the reasons) and one of the planners for the 40th decided we should stop talking about a cruise (she even PMed me on Facebook as if I was the one who started the cruise talk...all I did was agree it was a great idea). So the current plan to have a meet up this summer at the same hangout.

There are plenty of families, classes, other groups (apparently the marching band my daughter is in did a Carnival 4-day cruise maybe four or five years ago for their annual June trip, and did a performance on board and then in Catalina) have done cruises, but it does seem to use a travel professional who knows how to set these up and will be the point person. That way each person can contact the TA, book and pay for their cabin, and you don't have to get concerned about how many or trying to enforce deadlines.

You can use sites such as Classmates to help publicize and someone can start a private Facebook page at which everyone can discuss ideas and help track down classmates (which seems to be one of the really daunting tasks that your TA can't help you with). Make sure you let your school know about who to contact (maybe someone is willing to use their email address to be the contact person) for general info and someone can send in info to the local newspapers as many will run a free notice in upcoming events for you.

As for tee shirts, check out print on demand sites as Paul suggested. Come up with a clever design/saying (that's a good purpose for the Facebook group) -- if someone was the class artist, even better. Then you don't have to worry about having to collect money or have leftover shirts you'll get stuck with.

Another idea is let everyone know that you all won't be expected to spend all your time together. Depending on the length of your cruise, set up one or more get togethers and then long lost friends will often plan some more activities for them. You wouldn't want to be glued to the hip for the whole cruise.

And if only a small subset of the class goes on the cruise, it shouldn't be a reflection on you. We had many people who had family obligations, already planned weddings they were a best man in, etc. We did have some alums who came from as far away as Florida, Connecticut, Hawaii, Israel.