Can somebody who has organised a group cruise

[BadJelly]

....lately, give me a brief rundown on what was involved from the group leaders view point and what amenities you got for what number of cabins? I am organising a pre-wedding girls cruise and it may be worth booking as a group, thanks

[MamaParrotHead]

I just basically picked the cruise I wanted and told people they were welcome to join me, LOL. I gave them my PVP's contact info to book or if they had questions. I threw together a word doc with some excursion options for port, first time cruiser info, etc. I scouted out hotel and flight options. Made up a few tshirt options on customink.com and had the tshirts made. I also found that it was easier to just get everyone's credit card info and, ofcourse after informing them of what was going on and getting their permissions, just booking everything (except the cruise) myself.

 

For every 8 cabins you get a free "berth" (cruise fare minus port fees and taxes, which you still have to pay). Free cabin category is that of which you have the most people booked.

[tlund]

I've been booking group cruises for the past 7 years. I learned things over the last several years. The benefits of booking a group is that for every 8 cabins that are booked, you get one free berth (excluding taxes and port charges). That means, you, as group leader, could go for just the port charges and taxes if you have 8 cabins booked. We divide the free berth among everyone as a cruise rebate after the cruise.

 

I also learned that the cruise line offers what is called "Group Amenity Points". The points vary depending upon the popularity of the cruise. The more popular, the less points. You can use your points for various things, like a one hour party with open bar or things like that. We always convert our points to an on board credit for every cabin. This information may not be shared with you by your travel agent. Our first travel agent kept the points for herself and converted them to cash as part of her commission. Once I learned that, we switched agents and I made sure that the new agent was aware that I knew of this benefit.

[aprime23]

Do not use a TA

[BadJelly]

Thank you, this is just the type of info I was looking for :) I guess there is nothing to stop us using the "free" fare for a selected person? The brides daughter would probably not be easily be able to afford to come and it would mean so much to the bride if she was there.

 

I guess the only other question I really have is that as organiser is my credit card up for everything or is each person booking/paying for themselves through the group booking consultants? I think not from reading Mama Parrotheads post.....

[BadJelly]

Do not use a TA

 

Using at TA never, ever, crosses my mind - I'm too much of a control freak :D And because I research the inside out, out of everything I'm fairly confident I know more than most of them unless they are cruise specialists.

[firefly333]

While you can book ES rate into a group, they get no amenities unless they buy up.

 

Carnival to me does not encourage groups with better pricing. The only one who makes out $$$ wise is the group leader, the rest pay higher prices or the same with no amenities.

 

Used to be for instance you couldnt book military rate into a group. Couldnt book a 1A into the group. When they changed the single supplement to 200%, they did change the 1A rule .. but some will want to book lower rates and not the group rate.

 

I think you will be happier and not put yourself in the position of having folks upset with you if you give them your PVPs phone number (assuming she is as good as mine) and saying call this number if you want to book. Here are the prices and print off current prices to give them a idea.

[firefly333]

Thank you, this is just the type of info I was looking for :) I guess there is nothing to stop us using the "free" fare for a selected person? The brides daughter would probably not be easily be able to afford to come and it would mean so much to the bride if she was there.

 

I guess the only other question I really have is that as organiser is my credit card up for everything or is each person booking/paying for themselves through the group booking consultants? I think not from reading Mama Parrotheads post.....

 

Actually its not that easy.

 

First off, take the cruisefare itself for the most booked cabin, usually a inside. Then subtract the port fees which are embedded, $50ish per port. Typically about $159 of the cruisefare for a 7 day.

 

Now remember this is ONE fare, and all cabins are based on two fares plus taxes and fees, so the other person's fare is not included unless there are at least 16 cabins booked.

 

Now this is typically sent AFTER the cruise to the group leader, though I have heard of some who were able to split the money between the cabins, so there must be a way to get it applied to the cruise.

 

If you wind up with $300 for a typical small group you will be lucky. Its one cruisefare minus NCFs (noncommissionable fare, which is mostly port charges included in the cruisefare that a TA doesnt get paid commission on, hence the name). I know group leaders who barely got $150 back. Just depends on how many cabins and how expensive the most booked category is.

 

Most people see $$$ and think they are going to get a lot more money than they actually will.

[firefly333]

I've been booking group cruises for the past 7 years. I learned things over the last several years. The benefits of booking a group is that for every 8 cabins that are booked, you get one free berth (excluding taxes and port charges). That means, you, as group leader, could go for just the port charges and taxes if you have 8 cabins booked. We divide the free berth among everyone as a cruise rebate after the cruise.

 

I also learned that the cruise line offers what is called "Group Amenity Points". The points vary depending upon the popularity of the cruise. The more popular, the less points. You can use your points for various things, like a one hour party with open bar or things like that. We always convert our points to an on board credit for every cabin. This information may not be shared with you by your travel agent. Our first travel agent kept the points for herself and converted them to cash as part of her commission. Once I learned that, we switched agents and I made sure that the new agent was aware that I knew of this benefit.

 

Note the "after the cruise" part. Typically as I mentioned above you get a check AFTER the cruise.

 

Also, this post mentions my point that you may or may not even have any amenity points available for your cruise. Some cruises, NONE are offered, some may have $100 OBC, some $50 OBC.. thats what you need to know. What is offered for your selected date. Would you want to change to a date if a earlier or later date is better?

 

Also, the perks are only available if folks are paying the higher group rate, or buy up from ES .. so they will pay a HIGHER rate than what they will see advertised for the cruise. This could cause some misunderstandings as folks might think they are due a price drop if they are paying a higher amount.

[SadieN]

Adding on to Firefly's posts---

 

There are a limited Amenity points per cruise that are available for all groups. The points are first come first serve.

 

About using a TA for group cruises---

Sometimes it is better to have someone run interference and save you the headache. Really helpful to handle that one 'needy' person or troublesome booking. Been there, done that.

[johneeo]

Using at TA never, ever, crosses my mind - I'm too much of a control freak :D And because I research the inside out, out of everything I'm fairly confident I know more than most of them unless they are cruise specialists.

 

My personal opinion is that you are putting yourself in a bad position.

 

If everything goes perfectly, no big deal. OTOH, if something goes awry (whether your fault or NOT) you will bear all of the blame.

 

A good TA can work wonders .... handle all the bookings, collect the money, provide OBCs, arrange for great seating in the MDR, etc.

 

You will find that you will do a ton of work, and in return, you shall receive a ton of aggravation.

 

Good luck.

[CPT Trips]

Adding on to Firefly's posts---

 

There are a limited Amenity points per cruise that are available for all groups. The points are first come first serve.

 

About using a TA for group cruises---

Sometimes it is better to have someone run interference and save you the headache. Really helpful to handle that one 'needy' person or troublesome booking. Been there, done that.

 

My personal opinion is that you are putting yourself in a bad position.

 

If everything goes perfectly, no big deal. OTOH, if something goes awry (whether your fault or NOT) you will bear all of the blame.

 

A good TA can work wonders .... handle all the bookings, collect the money, provide OBCs, arrange for great seating in the MDR, etc.

 

You will find that you will do a ton of work, and in return, you shall receive a ton of aggravation.

 

Good luck.

 

ITA! Dealing with the "needy" new cruiser can be exhausting. Our TA provided a cocktail hour (out of his commission, not the group bonus) and also encouraged people to book the same class balcony while letting the non balcony crowd pick their own cabins . . . helped on the "free" berth class. Also arranged adjoining tables in a good location in the MDR. He also got a better price on trip insurance than we could find on-line.

 

As organizers, we asked him to run the cabin assignments by us once the people had selected their class. Some of the locations the cruise line gave him initially were not the best in the class available, so this was a plus.

 

Also, it was the TA reminding people of payment dates, sending out receipts and doing the precruise registrations. Also, if you need to fly to the port, the TA can handle all that for you. Our group was large (16 cabins) and the port was driving distance, so we had the TA arrange a bus (we used the free berth bonus to pay for that).