Advice on family reunion cruise

[seasideny]

Has anyone had experience travelling with a group? I want to plan a family reunion cruise for next summer - probably Europe. We'll need 6-8 cabins and our ages range from 9 - 64 years old.

 

Where do I begin?

 

Should I call a travel agent or call specific ships to get fares? We would want to be the most economical but I'm not sure if the cruise lines offer better groups rates. Should I just keep searching for myself?

 

I'm not sure if we should try to book early or just wait and see what boat has room for us later to save money.

 

Thanking you in advance for any advice.

[crusinmama06]

I am organizing a group cruise right now and for us, it's best to deal with ONE travel Agent. I did lots of research on the best week to travel, then the best price. Then I contacted a TA and told her that I was organzing a group cruise. She got the prices from the cruiseline.

 

Then I organized all of the info onto one page that I could send out to everyone in my group.

 

I also added hotel info, shuttle/towncar info, info on tipping and flight info.

 

I see both good points and bad points using a TA. The good points are that we have ONE person to call. All of the people are calling this one person and she is VERY well aware of who we all are.

 

Bad points - can't get instant service. A suite opened up on the cruise and it was after 5pm, and within minutes the suite was gone. We have 2 suites but needed a 3rd (everyone else wants an inside cabin). So if we had been dealing direct, I could have reserved the suite automatically. But you *might* not have that problem if you aren't going on Carnival. The staff a Carnival will NOT talk to you for any reason if you have a TA. :mad: When I am using RCCL, I can put rooms on coutesy holds for 24 hours, then call the TA to book it.

[rebeccalouise]

I think one cost effective way to go would to go on the NCL Jewel. My friend did that one out of Barcelona last year and loved it. It is a seven night. And those that want to extend their stay can

[seasideny]

I'm going to check all avenues and then call an agent. It just seems some can offer great price while other offer no discount. Here's to hunting.:confused:

 

All of us in the group have sailed with at least one of the cruiseline before so maybe they'll offer a deal!:rolleyes:

 

I'll definately try the ships you suggest. I would love Barcelona.

 

Happy sails to you and your group.

[Sale Away]

But you *might* not have that problem if you aren't going on Carnival. The staff a Carnival will NOT talk to you for any reason if you have a TA. :mad: When I am using RCCL, I can put rooms on coutesy holds for 24 hours, then call the TA to book it.

 

HAL is the same way. If your booking is through a TA, they direct you back to the TA on everything....

 

I do want to hear all about how your planning (and the trip) goes off. I organized a land based family reunion/vacation last year. And it was only land based because I couldn't get everyone to agree to a cruise. But I'm working on getting them to agree on one for 2008. ;)