Booking as a group ????

[angelsfort]

I was just wondering if, when you book as a group, does each cabin get a separate booking number or is there just one booking number for the entire group??

 

I was thinking about getting a group together (at church) and wondering if everybody got their own separate booking information...

 

it would make things much easier (for me!) if everyone had separate information.

[GoinCruisin]

Both...

 

There will be a group booking number, but each individual will have one as well... I have had a TA that put the group booking number on the confirmation, and a TA that put the individual... so I guess it depends on the TA?? Not sure...

[greenboi]

You can do a group booking or do individual bookings for each person. If you do the individual bookings for each person, then each person will receive their own documents and information. But if you you have a group booking, you may get a better rate depending on the sailing and may get some additional ammenities. You may even get to cruise for free, but, all of the documents will go to the person cordinating the group sailing. If you are not interested in doing that cordination, it might be worth your time to contact a travel agent that specializes in handling groups because of the potential for better rates and the possibility of cruising for free.

 

We are going on the Holiday next month with over 100 people. Our agent got us an onboard credit and something else four people got to go for free. They saved our group a lot of paper headaches and money.

[mprucha]

I agree with what both these people stated. The most important thing is that if you are new to booking group cruises, make sure the TA you are using is well versed in handling the in's and out's of dealing with the large numbers and the differences in it because some people use TA's who aren't used to dealing with Carnival's group procedures and things have gone wrong.

 

We're on a cruise in Nov. 08 with a large group and the TA I use has over 200 cabins booked for that cruise. As the last person stated, we also are gettng some additional amenities like OBC, etc.

[bobandidnas]

As we were new to group bookings but not to cruising it has been interesting to find out what you can do with the group booking. Our March booking on the Liberty began in June, and since then we have become very familiar with our Carnival Rep who has been very attentive to our requests and questions.

 

Depending on the boat and time that you want to cruise you will get a range of incentives. The earlier you book the better the rate and if you are past guest you can get the advertised discounts from travelocity or expedia (even though carnival may not want to).

 

The biggst benefit is locking in on your room or category rate. The rate we initially got was available to us (through some amount of pleading for guests booking up to five months later. As long as the rooms were open.

 

When you initially register try to book more rooms that what you think you may need because as the prices go up those naysayers in the crowd will look for you to help out.

 

The other monetary perk that we were able to secure was the free 16th person which comes after you have booked 8 cabins. This does not include the port taxes though so the value is somewhat less than what each of the first 15 people pay. On some ships you may get points per person which could be used towards all kind of on board credits. Given we were booking during Spring Break we think that they did not have to be as aggressive to attract travellers.

 

When the fuel surcharge came in we were looking at the value of the 16th person credit entirely being wiped out. but again talk to your goup representative and they worked their magic.

 

It really hasnt been that much work for us as the group is relatively small (30) and right now with the cold weather we are all looking forward to March.

 

Good luck and dont be afraid to ask then ask again if you dont like the first answer.

 

Bob

[angelsfort]

Thanks for your answers! Now I'll have a bit of information to pass along to the elders in the church and hopefully we can organize this and actually do it! (that'd be great !!)

[beccadoby]

As stated above, there are many "perks" to booking a group.

 

EX: for a 4 night cruise

$25 deposit

$125 due 4 months before you cruise.

Final due 2 months

This gives people time to save for the cruise but have the low rates locked in.

 

Everyone in the group has their own booking number that they use to sign into Carnival.com and see their info. Each cabin will complete their online docs.

 

Use a TA so you can get the most "points". These are used to get every cabin OBC or other "goodies".

 

If you need more info, let me know.

[angelkisses]

I organized my first group and it was very easy to do. Everyone took care of their own bookings and received their own individual documents ... none of that came to me although I did get a print out and copies of all the invoices. Since this is for your church you might also be interested in the fact that carnival does fundraising and will donate a portion of the cruise fare back to your church in lieu of some of the free amenities. I actually have a list of what the cruise amenity points can be used for if you would like to email me I will be glad to share it with you. I've really had alot of fun with the planning .... only 11 more days before we sail!!!

 

angelkisses28025@yahoo.com (Put CruiseCritic in the subject line)