how many?????

[deeolasingh]

just how many cabins is required to be considered a group cruise and are they all needed at the time of booking... when I booked my feb 07 cruise it started with 2 cabins we are up to 6 and still counting. And what are the perk of a group cruise???

[Sue L]

I believe the number of cabins is 8, and then you get one berth free and then usually the discount is applied across the group's cabins, someone will correct me if I am wrong! LOL The only thing we got for a group was a group cocktail party with some free drinks, nothing great. Not sure if we were entitled to more but we had a really awful TA for that one and so I don't know if there should have been anything else.

[cruiseco]

As Sue said the usual minimum number is 8 cabins to be a group booking although there are exceptions. I've seen as low as 5 but those are usually saillings that they're having trouble filling otherwise.

 

As for how the TC (free) berth credit is handled -- it's up to the group organizer. The credit can be divided among the group participants, it can be used for parties, etc, or it can even be used for what it's intended for -- the group organizer can get a free berth.

 

Extra group amenities also vary from sailing to sailing. The more the cruise line is trying to promote a partiucular saliing the better the perks might be. You'll have to check with your TA to find out what's available (if anything) for your sailing.

 

Be aware that since you've already got some cabins booked it might not even be worth your effort to convert to a group booking depending on the difference between what your booked fare is and the current group fare. You may find that the group fare is now actually higher if prices have increased. But you need to check with your TA.

[sa7776]

I've got a group booked right now. I was given "points" that could be used for different amenities aboard ship. Each amenity was so many points. My particular sailing had 6 points. You can choose from a variety of things including shipboard credit, merchandise, lower pricing, pictures, private or shared cocktail parties(with other groups) etc. There are also options that would benefit the leader such as an upgrade to a suite if a certain number of rooms are booked. My price was not lower than advertised rates (something I may look into). Since I am not in it to make a profit(I was booking the cruise for a organization I belong to) I used the points for shipboard credit for my group. They gave me a date that deposits must be made by to guarantee the pricing and the final payment, like regular passengers, must be made 60 days before sailing. I was also told that if someone were to book on their own in order to take advantage of past passenger upgrades, etc. their booking number could be linked with ours for dining purposes but the group would not get credit for the booking and they would not be eligible for the shipboard credit.