Do Cruise Lines Offer Group Discounts And What Would Be The Best Way To Inquire About It?
Do you go through a travel agent, or call the cruise line? Any links would be great.
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You could use either a travel agent or the cruise line itself. A group cruise discount often consists of one free fare or cabin when you book a certain number of cabins, so there’s not a huge discount.
There are some group cruises listed at CruiseCritic.com. Click on “Boards” at the top of the page, then go to the “Group Cruises” section. It’s basically different groups of people who decide to cruise together – they don’t necessarily hang out together or even know each other. Some of these cruises have pretty good rates and some “perks”.
I think you may have to try http://www.europeanvacation3.com as its search over 450+ sites for best cruise travel.
Most travel agencies and cruise lines have a separate Group Sales person so it doesn’t really matter who you call. Vacations to Go has a separate division you are transferred too and it’s about 10 rooms to get a group rate. It’s not a big deal. Some agencies offer a free room when you buy 10 or they divide it out by the number of rooms–it came out to be about $50 per room.
I’d call several agencies and see what their rates are. You don’t have to commit. The cruise line directly may offer the better deal. Of course if you are doing this as a present for someone you may want to give a free room to the 10th person, the grandparents.
But right now there are a lot of different ones. I know we just went through Vacations to Go group sales b/c we were right at that line. I think we have 9 rooms and not 10 but if we get that 10th room he is going to take the $50 off each room.
It’s not really a significant discount.