Has anyone gotten "group rates" on a cruise? Is there a significant discount or just a few dollars per cabin?

Question

Trying to determine what it would cost to take our whole family on a cruise in January '08 (Caribbean or Bermuda or Bahamas). Carnival seems cheapest, how does it compare to Royal or Celebrity? I've been on those. Thanks for your input.

Answer 1

I will keep this one short.

Booked a conventionon a ship. I did the difference between group and regular ates, the discounts were so amazing. I guarentee you. you also may get private dining rooms just for your party. But you do need to book about 8 rooms or more. Have fun.

Answer 2

Besides a Group rate, if your group is large enough you'll get a free berth. If very large you'll get a free cabin.

Answer 3

Carnival has a best price guarantee.  They will refund the diff if you find a better price on-line w/i 24 hours of booking.

Prices go up and down based upon number of days until the cruise.

For this size group, Carnival is a good option.  This line will have things for all ages groups to enjoy.

You will likely not get a great discount for a group booking.  However, what you need to ask for is other perks for booking such a large group.

Priority embarkation and debarkation (like the Carnival Vacation Club members get) comp'd soda cards, some comp'd pictures from the photo studio, be sure to discuss special dining room seating.  If you have a large number of first time cruisers, you may want to request cabins close together.

In planning costs, be sure to ask about up front when using those vacation sites...

* port fees and taxes

* know the tip schedule (for Carnival, $10/per day/per person)

For large groups, I recommend getting some of the 2-way radios to keep up with each other on board.  This is especially good to keep tabs on those teenagers!

*reminder....passport requirements for sea travel take affect in Jan. 2008.  All members of your party will need a passport.  Backlog is about 6 months long!

We hosted a 19 person cruise in 2006 and a 14 person cruise in 2007 on Carnival.

Be sure all of your guests understand the cashless system on board.  They will either need a credit card or a cash deposit for on-board purchases.  Carnival charges your on-board account for tips the moment you step on the ship.  So for those folks using a cash deposit, they have to deposit more than $70.00 per person in the on board account before they can buy anything on board.

Answer 4

Your group may not qualify for a group rate unless you book a large group of cabins, but there are other options to get some great rates.  Are there members of your group that are Veterans?  Carnival & Costa offer discounts to Veterans that have served a minimum of 2 years, all you have to do is fax them a copy of your DD-214, and they are huge discounts.  I looked at 7 day Costa Cruises and they were $299 per person at the Past Military rate.  Carnival runs similar specials.  The biggest drawback is that the specials normally are not available until around 90 days before the cruise.  Another option is if anyone in your group are police, firefighter, or a teacher.  Some of the lines give huge discounts to these folk as well.  Unfortunately these discounts are not normally posted, you have to ask for them.  You can check VacationsToGo for them, which is how I found out about them.

Answer 5

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