Planning a large group cruise? Group cruises offer an excellent value and have become very popular for groups of families, reunions, weddings and business meetings. It appears to be a simple process. You hear about the cruise, sign up, pay, pre-register with the cruise line and wait for the day to arrive and just hop on. The group organizers and leaders know that it is much more complicated than that and there are so many details that go into planning a group cruise that things can easily be overlooked.
Our travel agency has hosted cruises for over 1,500 people, and the planning began over a year in advance. The interesting thing is that to get the best benefits, even for a smaller group of 16 cabins, the planning process requires the same amount of time. We have helped plan over 400 successful group cruise, with a mix of cruise lines, tour operators and hotels. We handle your entire group vacation from concept to completion and we focus on the details that makes your event unique and using our knowledge to create the perfect event for you every time.
Here are some basic steps and things to consider when booking and planning a large group cruise:
Step One: When Planning a Large Group Cruise, Pick a Group Leader
Of course there can be more than one group organizer, but it’s important to have a point of contact and someone that is able to reach out to the group easily with ship options and pricing.
Step Two: When Planning a Large Group Cruise, Pick a Ship
Seems simple enough – find a cruise ship you like and go with it. What you may not realize is that cruise lines often offer amenities (also known as GAP points) to large groups. Sometimes by just moving your cruise by one departure date can get you a lot more points or lower pricing. A cruise group specialist can take the time to shop the various cruise lines and chips for you.
Step Three: Plan in Advance
By planning in advance, you have the advantage of getting better pricing from the cruise lines, and the best cabin locations. You can also set up an easy and convenient payment plan for participants, with deposits as low as $25 to $50 per person, and then installments every few months. The further out you begin planning a group cruise, the lower the payment requirements will be. Don’t worry about prices dropping. As long as final payment has not been made we monitor cruises 24 hours per day to ensure you are getting the best pricing and perks for your cruise group.
Step Four: Contracting for a Large Group Cruise
Once you have chosen a ship, there are contracts to negotiate with the cruise line. Cruise Lines let us hold a certain amount of cabins and then money is due. A travel agency will often front the deposits needed to allow you time to promote your group without having to put money out of pocket. It’s also important to review the contract carefully for the cabin allotment, group amenities and cancellation penalties. Let us help you shop for the best ship to suit your needs, provide you the time you need to get the word out about the cruise and take care of all the details. There is no charge for a travel agent’s services and expertise when it comes to planning a group cruise.
Could you contract your large group cruise with the cruise line directly? Yes, but why? Travel agencies, particularly those that plan large cruise groups often, will be able to negotiate better perks on your behalf than if you worked with the cruise line on your own. Travel is one of the few industries that it costs you nothing extra to have expert advise on your side.
Step Five: Promoting the Group
If it’s a family reunion perhaps Facebook will work, but with High School reunions and other events, not everyone may be a part of social media, so you will need to sit and call each person or send out emails or letters. Sending out 500+ emails is very time consuming. Again, this is where we would step in and take care of notifying interested travelers. All you need or the group leader to do is get us a list. Picture sending out 1,000 invites and your phone starts ringing for the next several days non-stop. We have a dedicated staff and toll free number just for groups so that we can easily handle all the calls. Guests will be working with the same team of travel consultants throughout the entire process so they can feel comfortable. We provide a free customized website for your cruise group that people can visit to get information, and even book online.
Step Six: What events do you want to schedule for the group?
Do you need a conference room, and AV equipment for presentations – no problem. How about a lounge for private use, or a 1 hour open bar cocktail parties? You can deliver on-board gifts to all of the participants, schedule a group photo session or a private group shore excursion. You would be amazed at all of the things you can arrange when planning a group cruise including buying out a restaurant to treat guests to a VIP dinner, or covering the ice skating rink to convert it to a dance floor to throw an amazing private dance party. You can also have team building events including private basketball games, rock climbing, mini-golf or a karaoke session hosted by cruise ship staff. We can also coordinate private shore excursions, beach parties, yacht parties for your group members and so much more.
Step Seven: Accounting is imperative when planning large group travel
So you have people call you to sign up. You have to take their names as they appear on their passport or legal documents, dates of birth, payment information, address and phone number. Then you have to call in each deposit to the cruise line while booking each cabin individually. Next, set up a spread sheet so you know who is rooming with who, what type of cabin they booked, how much they paid and when their next payment is due. Also, keep in mind that there are several payment dates that come up, so each time money is due you would have to go back to everyone that is signed up and remind them individually. When someone cancels you have to check if there is a penalty, and then follow up on their refund if any is due. When planning a group cruise, the amount of paperwork is overwhelming. The better option is to have us handle all of the financial details and individual payments, and we provide you with a weekly or monthly booking report so you know how the group bookings are progressing at all times.
Step Eight: Collect final payments and reconfirm all details with each passenger
Ensuring that they have pre-registered, printed their boarding passes and that they have all the necessary documents in order to travel. Make sure everyone has the dining option they selected and that they are sitting with the people they requested. Did anyone have special dietary needs or special events they were celebrating on board? Provide a final list to the cruise line and then you are done right? No – the closer the departure gets, the more phone calls we receive. What type of calls? Last minute name changes, can I add another person into a cabin, I need directions to the port, what documents do I need to board the ship, what time can I get on the ship? What should I pack? Can I cancel? What excursions do you suggest in each port? It doesn’t stop there. You get on board and the private lounge for your cocktail party is suddenly no longer available, or the space is open, but the ship doesn’t show that you have open bar for an hour. The lounge is ready, but there are no converter cables for your equipment. Someone boarding forgot their birth certificate. You are trying to meet and greet your guests, so who is going to handle these last minute problems? On larger groups we send 2 to 6 staff members to sail with you to handle any of these issues, at no charge to you. Now why go through all of this on your own, when it can be smooth sailing by working through a travel agency that specializes in successfully planning a group cruise?
You can earn free travel based on how many cabins you book. There is typically no limit on the amount of free cabins you can earn. Book 16 cabins (minimum 2 people per room,) and you earn 1 free cabin – book 32 cabins and you earn 2 free cabins and so on. Large groups often earn 10+ cabins. All you have to pay are the port charges and taxes. You don’t however have to be a larger group. You can often receive benefits for booking just 5 or 6 couples. We can price out trips with multiple cruise lines to make sure you get the best deals with the most perks.
What can you do with the free cabins? Not only travel for free, but larger organizations often use them for a special guest speaker or entertainer, you could divide the value of the free cabins and share it among the others traveling so that everyone receives a discount, use the money as a fund raiser for a charitable organization, or you could use the money towards purchasing a gift such as a shore excursion, fruit basket or cocktail party for those that attend.
Planning a group cruise can be incredibly daunting without the help of a reputable group specialist. If you are a group leader Be sure to check out our video below, describes what planning a group cruise is all about! Also, if you are specifically planning for a family, we have some informative blogs including Best Cruise Lines for Family Reunions and How to Plan a Family Reunion Cruise.
We have created a group travel booking and payment solution created by travel agents. Effortlessly manage groups of any size. Ideal for tours, cruises (including charters), vacations, hotel accommodations and shore excursions.
If you have any questions about planning a large group cruise (or a smaller group cruise), destination wedding, we will be happy to help. You don’t have to be a travel agent or a group leader. It doesn’t cost any extra, as a matter of fact, you often get more perks, with a lot less work than trying to do things on your own. Please call us at 866-475-7023 or complete a this brief group request form.
Group Vacation Posts that will help
- Family Reunion : https://blog.atlastravelweb.com/special-interests/family-travel/how-to-pick-the-right-family-cruise/
- For Destination Weddings: https://blog.atlastravelweb.com/cruises/planning-a-cruise-ship-wedding/
- Choose the right cabin: https://blog.atlastravelweb.com/travel-advice/how-to-select-and-enjoy-a-cabin-on-a-cruise-ship/
