Family Cruise

Hi I'm planning a group cruise with my family for next year on the Carnival Freedom. I have some family members wanting to go where as others are still debating any ideas how i can get the ball rolling so they can start paying there deposit to book their cabin. My agent only have so many rooms blocked I don't want my family waiting til the last minute to book. I wanna send out a catchy newsletter any ideas. Some it will be they first and others have cruise before. Thanks in advance.

This post was moved from another forum where it was posted by mistake.

I dont understand your statement of agent only having so many rooms blocked.

As long as there are cabins available to be booked your family will be able to book.

TA's have to release unsold cabins around final payment. After this they can add cabins at current pricing, which may be more than what they originally were.

We've put together many group cruises. You can only give them the info, can't force them to book.

I organized a family cruise a few years back. Best piece of advice that I can give you is: KEEP IT SIMPLE. Choose the cruise, send out an email with all the details and how to book, and sit back and let each person be responsible for their own travel arrangements. Don't make it harder on yourself by trying to be a travel agent to your travel agent.

For us, we had 14 members from 13 months old to 74 years old, divided among 4 families, and flying in from 3 different places (some from almost 4,000 miles away). I was very skeptical when I first sent out the email because of the logistics of the whole trip. We had first time cruisers as well as people who had vowed to never cruise again, yet somehow we all made it to Alaska. Everybody booked their own stateroom, their own flights, and their own excursions. It worked out amazingly well.

Once again, keep it simple, and don't be discouraged if not everybody chooses to join you on this cruise. I told myself that I would have fun on that family cruise even if nobody could join us, and that's the best attitude to have!

@Tapi That's so funny cause that's exactly what i was on my way to doing "acting travel agent". Well I guess I'll pump my brakes and just wait and see what happen I sent everyone a email last week with all the information. This week I just felt the need to touch base with everybody to see which way they were aiming.