Carnival Group Booking Process??

[CruiserJess]

Hello all!

My fiance and I are looking to book our room for our wedding cruise in april 2012 but not sure how the group bookings work. Do we need to call carnival directly to book our cabin with the group booking agent or can we book ours online and call later about setting up a group?
We aren't sure now how many people will actually be cruising, will we have to give them an approx number the first time we call?
Do we need to put a deposit down for all the rooms?
We are planning on getting married in Key West but not through Carnival so we dont need to call the Carnival wedding department.

Just looking to get all the info together so I can answer all their questions when we call.

Thank you!!!

[Lipz]

Originally Posted by CruiserJess

Hello all!

My fiance and I are looking to book our room for our wedding cruise in april 2012 but not sure how the group bookings work. Do we need to call carnival directly to book our cabin with the group booking agent or can we book ours online and call later about setting up a group?
We aren't sure now how many people will actually be cruising, will we have to give them an approx number the first time we call?
Do we need to put a deposit down for all the rooms?
We are planning on getting married in Key West but not through Carnival so we dont need to call the Carnival wedding department.

Just looking to get all the info together so I can answer all their questions when we call.

Thank you!!!

We decided to use a TA for our booking & our group booking. We had the TA block the minimum # of rooms which is considered a group (8 cabins, double occupancy). We then booked our cabin, and our kids cabin, which is already two of the 8 rooms we need for a group. So far two other cabins have been booked by guest. As for deposits, you only have to put a deposit on your cabin. Guest are responsible for their own deposits to book a cabin.

I would suggest using a reputable TA. In that way everyone is booking through the same person and you can have a handle on who's booking. Our TA emails us whenever someone books which is helpful to keeping our guest list organized.

We are using NCL, but the cruise lines don't really do anything different when it comes to group bookings. There are perks to traveling as a group so be sure to ask about those no matter who you book with. For example: our booking is worth 4 points so far (with the 4 rooms booked), and we will probably pick the one hour cocktail party for our sailing guest to be used on one of the sea days.

[CruiserJess]

Good to know- Thank you!

I like the idea of email updates, I LOVE being kept up to date!

[cruisinthemed]

Originally Posted by CruiserJess

Good to know- Thank you!

I like the idea of email updates, I LOVE being kept up to date!

I just called Carnival today...Group dept. and talked to them about it. Go to their site and under search type funpoints. Depending on the length of cruise & how many cabins booked, you can get points to use for things like champagne, chocolates, robes, cocktail party, OBC, etc. The price I was quoted was more than the ES rate, so take that into consideration. But, for instance...if we took the OBC as a perk it would end up less expensive than the ES rate. All cabins must have the same perk. I personally like ES, but for the wedding...considering there would be others who may not feel comfortable with the rules, I would probably book through group sales with Carnival.

[osuchica]

The downside of the ES rate is that it has a lot of restrictions as far as being able to cancel, etc.

Also, the ES rates are typically for cabins on the lower/lowest decks.

We went through a TA who was able to let some of our guests do a payment plan (which helped out a TON), and was also super flexible and helpful with questions, etc.

I'd recommend her to ANYONE!

Mary Celec @ International Cruise Planners... 1-800-506-7791
http://www.internationalcruiseplanners.com/

[alr_2009]

Originally Posted by CruiserJess

Hello all!

My fiance and I are looking to book our room for our wedding cruise in april 2012 but not sure how the group bookings work. Do we need to call carnival directly to book our cabin with the group booking agent or can we book ours online and call later about setting up a group?
We aren't sure now how many people will actually be cruising, will we have to give them an approx number the first time we call?
Do we need to put a deposit down for all the rooms?
We are planning on getting married in Key West but not through Carnival so we dont need to call the Carnival wedding department.

Just looking to get all the info together so I can answer all their questions when we call.

Thank you!!!

I was wondering the same thing. We are planning the same thing. Which sailing to Key West are you looking at? I don't think that we will have enough people sailing with us to book group booking. But what if it goes over the group booking? Can we sign up in the middle of our planning?

We are going to be using Aarons Key West Weddings in FL. He is great and his prices are to die for!! A friend went to FL recently and met with him for us and loved him. He is so laid back, perfect for our beach wedding. We are sailing on April 28, 2012.

[Lipz]

Originally Posted by alr_2009

I don't think that we will have enough people sailing with us to book group booking. But what if it goes over the group booking? Can we sign up in the middle of our planning?

I think it's best to go ahead and cabin block the minimum which on most cruise lines is 8. There is no penalty to you if you don't get the 8 rooms booked. If you go over 8 cabins that won't be a problem for you either. You can either see if they can add some more cabins to your block, and if they can't guest will just be booked scattered. This won't be a problem either because you can just create a list for yourselves of where everyone is. The best thing about the block is the amenities you can get, there is no real discount when a certain amount of people cabins are book. You may get one free berth, but you still have to pay the taxes & port charges so it's not really free! You can sign up in the middle of planning but you may not be able to book the specific cabins and/or locations on the ship if that is what you want. I recommend you finding a good TA as well!

[CruiserJess]

Originally Posted by alr_2009

I was wondering the same thing. We are planning the same thing. Which sailing to Key West are you looking at? I don't think that we will have enough people sailing with us to book group booking. But what if it goes over the group booking? Can we sign up in the middle of our planning?

We are going to be using Aarons Key West Weddings in FL. He is great and his prices are to die for!! A friend went to FL recently and met with him for us and loved him. He is so laid back, perfect for our beach wedding. We are sailing on April 28, 2012.

We havent booked yet but I want to book the Carnival Destiny leaving April 26th from Miami and we would be in Key West on April 27th. I have been in contact with Weddings To Go Key West. They also have great packages and seem like a very sweet couple. Going to go over my plan with the family over Christmas and then make my deposits

Question about booking again: If I book out cabin at ES, can I then call and set up a block? Thats what I was hoping to do, I would love to use the fun points for the hour reception for my guests. Just as another thank you for coming gift.

[Lipz]

Originally Posted by CruiserJess

Question about booking again: If I book out cabin at ES, can I then call and set up a block? Thats what I was hoping to do, I would love to use the fun points for the hour reception for my guests. Just as another thank you for coming gift.

Please school me... what is 'ES'? I've read that in several post.

Using the hour cocktail party on NCL is our first choice as well. We have two back to back sea days and I thought it would be cool to use it on that 2nd day, which would be our last night of cruising. It would be a 'thanks' for sailing get together!

[CruiserJess]

Originally Posted by Lipz

Please school me... what is 'ES'? I've read that in several post.

ES is the Early Saver rate which is usually cheaper then the other rate but sometimes restricts you to be able to select your cabin or be able to cancel.

[Lipz]

Originally Posted by CruiserJess

ES is the Early Saver rate which is usually cheaper then the other rate but sometimes restricts you to be able to select your cabin or be able to cancel.

Ohhhhhhh...okay; I have seen that with Carnival cruise line.

[pinkchucks]

Originally Posted by Lipz

Please school me... what is 'ES'? I've read that in several post.

Using the hour cocktail party on NCL is our first choice as well. We have two back to back sea days and I thought it would be cool to use it on that 2nd day, which would be our last night of cruising. It would be a 'thanks' for sailing get together!

Hi Dana!

I was just wondering if you were able to get the one hour cocktail party for your group and hurn it turned out.
We're wanting to do the group booking, but werent sure how the points work.
We'll be on Carnival Ecstasy to Bahamas for 5 days with about 14 rooms.
Curious to know how many points that would earn.

Thanks for more info!

[Bostoncruiser35]

Lipz~
What are the points you speak of with NCL? I know we have enough cruising to get a free berth or 2 even (we are saving it in case we have a guest not be able to go due to cost- shhhh), but I am interested in the point system as well.If we do not have a need for the free berth can we use the points instead or can we use both? I would have about 16 points if you get a point a room and not include your own room.