What group ammenities can we expect?

[kreeves1112]

I am planning a large group cruise. We are planning to take the group discount (20.00 per person in our case), and I know we will get 1 free berth for 8 rooms booked. What other points or ammenities are we eligible for? I expect there to be about 160 people in the group. Do you get the same group benefits if you book with a travel agent as opposed to booking with Carnival direct? I've read posts about groups getting points which I understand to be like a spending account on board the ship for drinks or pictures. I've also heard about the cruise holding a welcome party for a group. Does the travel agent negotiate for these benefits or are they automatically offered?

[MrPete]

Make sure you do your homework.

I was of the impression I would get a free cabin with 8 cabins and save some money. It turned out it was only one free pax passage with 8 cabins booked, and they threw in some pictures and some other stuff.

Then, I checked with another TA, and her price was better W/O the one free passage, and I saved $2100 on top of that.

Same week, same ship.

I still got all the amentities on board being the group leader.

[lunyma]

For group cruises... Agents get what I would call a Chinese menu. Choose one from column A, B, C, etc... Depending on the number of cabins and/or pax, there are a lot of things for them to choose. Keep in mind that one of those choices is increased commission, or extra $$ to the agent. check around before you book... For 160 peoople. you should get a LOT! One free berth for every 8 cabins booked... Maybe some onboard credit or rebate, per pax.... cocktail party..... free photos... there are a lot of choices, but they do change from cruise to cruise...

[klfrodo]

Make sure you under stand that you don't really get 1 free berth for every 8 cabins booked at double occupancy.

I found out the hard way. What happens is AFTER everyone pays and goes on the cruise, the group leader is reimbursed about 30 to 60 days later. Also they reimburse at the lowest cabin rate that was booked. In other words, if some in your group get 4A cabins, some get 8E cabins, some get cat 11 cabins and some get cat 12 cabins,,,, the reimbursement is at the 4A rate.

It might be better to just negotiate what the free berth rate reimbursement will be and ask the TA to spread this around to all parties as an additional discount.

Also as a group each cabin will receive some sort of gift in their room, a comp welcome aboard party (this is not a private function for your group. ALL groups booked on this cruise will be at this function). You will also have a group photo.(All booked cabins receive 1 comp photo..NOT every person, just 1 per cabin)

Also understand that once booked, the price is set and fixed in stone as a group. No future discounts if or when the price drops. You are booked as a group receiving additional amenities and will not be considered for future discounts.

Other than that,,,,have a great time.

[Sailfish]

I too am looking at doing a group through Carnival and have checked into doing so with an agent and going directly through the cruise line. NOt sure which way I will go, yet. Pricing and amenities seems to be identical, but Carnival has emailed me information outling our amenitites, which my agent thus far has not. There is something to be said for total disclosure and control. If you email me, I would be happy to forward you the information Carnival recently sent me and address your questions as best I can.

Good luck.

[Knights on the Beach]

[QUOTE]Also understand that once booked, the price is set and fixed in stone as a group. No future discounts if or when the price drops. You are booked as a group receiving additional amenities and will not be considered for future discounts.[/QUOTE] This is a big one for me. If the price drops quite a bit and Carnival adjusts for individuals, I would not be happy if I were booked as part of a group and ended up paying more in the long run. Just make sure the benefits of your group booking will outweigh the price drop issue.

[Sailfish]

The point about prices drops also is a big deal for me, but I guess I was with the understanding that unlike Royal Caribbean, Carnival does NOT refund the difference if the price of the cruise goes down. They most likely will either upgrade you to a slightly better cabin or give you a samll amount of ship board credit.

We have had several instances where the price of our Royal Caribbean cruise dropped by quite a bit and after our agent was notified, the difference showed up on our credit card. However, all of our Carnival voyages which were booked about a year in advance, kept going up, never down. The Carnival group representative said the pricing system is structured in such a way as to encourage early booking; the earlier you book, the better the deal.

I can't say this is typical, but our cruise aboard the Pride next month (over Thanksgiving) was booked individually back in April or May 2003. SInce that time, the prices have consistently gone up. Today, our stateroom is $250pp more than it was last year when we reserved it.

[jcanino]

[quote name='lunyma']For group cruises... Agents get what I would call a Chinese menu. Choose one from column A, B, C, etc... Depending on the number of cabins and/or pax, there are a lot of things for them to choose. Keep in mind that one of those choices is increased commission, or extra $$ to the agent. check around before you book... For 160 peoople. you should get a LOT! One free berth for every 8 cabins booked... Maybe some onboard credit or rebate, per pax.... cocktail party..... free photos... there are a lot of choices, but they do change from cruise to cruise...[/QUOTE]
The "Chinese Menu" is no longer used with Carnival. Each sailing on each ship is awarded a certain number of points that can be used for various things. Mind you that if it is a popular sailing date, Carnival may not offer any points. Another thing that you have to understand with the free berth is that is averaged based on the type of cabins that you are booking.

[Hawaii697]

[quote name='klfrodo']Make sure you under stand that you don't really get 1 free berth for every 8 cabins booked at double occupancy.

I found out the hard way. What happens is AFTER everyone pays and goes on the cruise, the group leader is reimbursed about 30 to 60 days later. Also they reimburse at the lowest cabin rate that was booked. In other words, if some in your group get 4A cabins, some get 8E cabins, some get cat 11 cabins and some get cat 12 cabins,,,, the reimbursement is at the 4A rate.


Other than that,,,,have a great time.[/QUOTE]
Wow, I hope this is not the case. (I'm the group leader) With the extra monies (I have a group of 70) I had planned to purchase T-shirts and host a "Meet & Greet" party. Does anyone know why they wait 30 to 60 days to refund?

I was also told since my group has booked mostly 8A cabins, we would get the extra monies back from 8A bookings. I guess what I should do since my husband and I both planned to pay for our cruise in its full is have the monies that would be reimbursed for the 8th person in a cabin, pay for our cabin and then the monies we were going to pay for our cruise, use towards the T-shirts and "Meet & Greet" party. Does this make sense?? :confused:

[Snowball]

Your free berth reimbursement is based on whatever category had the most bookings for your group. So if the category 8A had the highest number of bookings, then that is what the reimbursement will be based on. I'm not sure why it takes 3-6 weeks to receive the reimbursement, but I know that it really does take that long.

[kreeves1112]

Hawaii 697,

That makes perfect sense. I considered purchasing t-shirts for my group as well. How to you plan the meet and greet party and how much does it cost?

[ArkansasFish]

If a member of your group was wanting to go, and they were looking at your rates for the rooms, how would these compare to what they would find on-line?
I know someone that is going with a church group and I think they are getting ripped off. It seems like the rates are higher so they can cover the "Free" stuff for the leader.

[Hawaii697]

[quote name='ArkansasFish']If a member of your group was wanting to go, and they were looking at your rates for the rooms, how would these compare to what they would find on-line?
I know someone that is going with a church group and I think they are getting ripped off. It seems like the rates are higher so they can cover the "Free" stuff for the leader.[/QUOTE]
If you think your friend is being ripped off, I would call Carnival's group desk and pretend I was booking a group cruise. Get three different categories and compare that way.

On my particular group cruise, Carnival and my TA are offering the same rate for group cruise. When I compared those rates with online TA's, I found there was only a $10 difference in price. Since my cousin is my TA, I figured she can use the commission. :D

[Hawaii697]

[quote name='kreeves1112']Hawaii 697,
That makes perfect sense. I considered purchasing t-shirts for my group as well. How to you plan the meet and greet party and how much does it cost?[/QUOTE]The Meet & Greet will cost approximately $9.50 pp with unlimited drinks, and dry snacks. There is also a service charge which I can't remember how much. Once we make final payment and find out exactly how many are coming in the group, Carnival will assign my group a room like the Onxy Club, etc. Although Carnival claims there is no charge to use the room, me thinks that what the service charge is all about. ;) I do recall it not being that expensive. Of course, if my group is smaller by sail time, I'll make adjustments on what to do with the extra monies.

Some of my friends think feel I should but the monies toward my trip since I'm doing all the organizing, but my feeling is I'm doing it because I want to and I enjoy it. It's also a good feeling to give back to everyone. :)

[jcanino]

[quote name='ArkansasFish']I know someone that is going with a church group and I think they are getting ripped off. It seems like the rates are higher so they can cover the "Free" stuff for the leader.[/QUOTE]
If it is a church group, there is a possibility that they are using it as a fund raiser and have increased the cruise price to raise money. Carnival will match fund raising dollars up to a certain amount.