Group Cruising ~ Should I ~ Have You ~

[Chucksta63]

Hi Folks

I have had this asked a few times, so I though I would bring it out for discussion.

People have asked what is involved with booking with a group?

Do I have to do what the group is doing?

Do I have to eat with the group?

General questions like this, do you have a question about group cruising?

Here are some basics........

Booking in with a group has several perks.....

Early booking....

payment scheduals....

cheaper prices per person...

group hotel rates....

amenitys...cabin credits...etc....

group activity's & partys....

cheaper shore excursions with a group rate...

free up-grades happen with groups allot of the time...

Knowing people on a ship as to not feel alone....

You do not have to do what the group is doing at all. You are free to choose how you want to spend your vacation. I have some folks that are booked into the group just for the cheaper fair & perks!!!

You can spend your vacation how ever you like....engaged with the group or not....This is the nice thing about booking with a group.

Please ask your questions & post your experiences!!!

No question is a dumb one!!!

[OceanAngel]

With a group cruise you have more people watching to make sure you make it back to the ship before it leaves!! LOL

[teacp]

We have done both and like both for different reasons. We took three cruise with groups and one just Ken and I. The group cruises are a lot of fun. Everybody mostly doesn their own thing during the day unless you are taking the same excursion and then we all met up for dinner and shows at night.

We also liked going alone and having a table for two and just being by ourselves so I am open to both.

[Gregswife]

That would be good for Stephen (SMB) - he has had some near misses and it just cracks me up to read about them. He has posted them here somewhere (sorry, I don't know the link offhand, but maybe he will psot it). It honestly is some of the funniest things I have ever read!!!

[Gregswife]

We have never done a group cruise, but I hope to one day. I am really looking forward to our cruise in Nov. because we are sailing with friends for the first time. When we first started cruising, the kids were younger and went with us, but the past 6 cruises, it has been just Greg and I. Our friends, who live in Texas, have vacationed with us probably at least 15 times over the years, but they have always been land vacations, so really looking forward to knowing someone else on the ship.

[PJnVA]

My first true group cruise was last October with 24 extened family and friends. It was one of the best cruises we ever had. We don't see much of this side of the family so it was nice to see each other every night for dinner (3 tables). The only time the whole group was together was at dinner. We alsways broke off into small groups any other time (shows, ports, pool etc) it all just depended on what you wanted to do and if you wanted to hang with the group or just your sweety

[mercedes]

I have never done a group cruise (not sure if I would want to), it has always been my DH and my 5 girls when they were younger.

[Dan]

Our first cruise was a group cruise. My uncle's company sent 30 or 40 of their top advertisers on this cruise, and one of them didn't want to go, so my uncle sold us the trip very cheap, and we used that as our honeymoon. We all sat in the same general area of the dining room, although we took a table for 2, since we didn't really know what to expect with cruise dining. We were all on the same flights both ways, we had a group bus to get to and from the ship, and there was a cocktail party before dinner one night, but other than that, it was like we were on our own.