Groups with Carnival: Compare them to Other Cruise Lines

[Sailfish]

I am looking to get group information on Carnival. We have a group of friends that will be sailing with us in 2006 - a Volleyball Cruise. We are at the research stage, and wanted to know as far as groups go, how do they compare to other cruise lines.

 

As we booked a group sailing last year with Royal Caribbean, I know what they offer as far as group perks are concerned. I'd be interested in knowing what Carnival offers and if you have booked a group with Royal Caribbean in the past, compare the two.

 

We have a lot of choices, and several cruise lines to select from. Our experience with Royal Caribbean was okay - cruise was outstanding on the Navigator, but dealing with the booking was a nightmare for us and our agent as we had some special issues - reserving the volleyball court being one of them.

 

Any insight you might have would be valuable.

 

Thanks

[MelBCroozer]

We booked a group cruise last summer on the Conquest with our AAA travel agent. She gave us a price and then when we got 8 cabins booked, we got the price of one booking free so we split that among everyone. That reduced everyones price. We also got a bottle of champagne and chocolates in each cabin. For organizing the group, we got another plate of chocolates and a fruit basket. We were suppose to get a private party, but never did. We are booking another group for next year on the Glory and are going to find out about the private party. I hope this info helps.

[Sailfish]

MelBCroozer:

 

Thanks for your input. I already spoke to someone at Carnival who also is offering us a one hour group coctail party. As we had only 38 people in our group aboard the Navigator (as opposed to the 50 required with Royal Caribbean) we did not have enough people to get the one hour cocktail party. But having that as a perk could sway my decision.

 

I will probably be booking our group through a travel agent. But Carnival recently adopted direct group booking, I'm told. The fact that you did NOT end up with the party concerns me. Do you have any idea why you guys didn't get it?