Group cruising - dining for 16 people and group rates questions

[flyerfan22]

We are considering an extended family cruise for next summer. We're looking for a cruise line that can accommodate our family of 16 people at one table for dinner. This will be an anniversary present for my parents, and it is really important to my mom that we all be seated together. Last summer, we did a group trip for a wedding, and every night the group had to split up for dinner at tables of 4 or 8. Trying to split up the groups aggravated everyone.

 

1. Is there any cruise line that has extra big tables that could seat everyone together?

 

2. How many cabins would we need for group rates? Can we do this directly with the cruise line, or do we need a TA? I haven't used a TA in at least 10 yrs - hope I can find one!

 

Thanks!

[KEIA]

Hi flyerfan...

 

I can only comment on what we did with our group, and that was just under 2 years ago, so things maybe a little different now. The largest table we were able to get was for 14 and that was on the Freedom of the Seas. (It was a tight fit...it actually looked like the table was meant for 12, but it was the largest table on board)

 

The other group cruise we did was on the Emerald Princess last year and we had to have tables of 8 for our group of 16. On this cruise, we got a "group discount" through our travel agent. The discount was one free cruise price divided by the 16 people. This was before taxes and port fees. It came to be about $88 dollars per person, and was sent in the mail about a month after we returned.

 

I hope this helps answer your questions, but things might be different now! Happy cruising!

[Keith1010]

flyerfan, my suggestion is t that you get in touch with a travel agent who can help with all of the planning for this and can do the research for you. You should be able to realize some nice benefits from this size booking.

 

Keith

[cb at sea]

I really doubt any ship will be able to seat 16 at one table....The most I've seen is 12....perhaps you could do 2 tables of 8, and everyone rearrange the seating everynight....that way, everyone will get to talk to everyone else...

Even if you were to get a table to seat 16, only about 1/2 of the table could converse.....that's just too big for a "full table conversation"!