We are booking a cruise for toward the end of this year. There will be 5 couples total. I figure it is probably not a large enough group to get a discount but just thought I'd check with you ladies to see if you had any experience getting discounts for cruises. We do already have a Carnival cruise/date/location/etc picked out. Also, wondering if there was a way to set up a payment plan where we could pay some per month or something till then. We want to get a balcony room or a suite and also get our rooms all next to each other as well. Not sure if I should book through the cruiseline directly or try a travel agent to do those sort of things. Any experience you have with booking a cruise for a small group is appreciated.
We went through a travel agent when we went on a cruise with 3 other couples and we were allowed to make payments.
Hope that helps,
C. H.
vacationstogo.com gave us a big discount. there were no mistakes.
on our honeymoon we paid full price so the agent would make sure there were no mistakes and everything was prepaid. it was one mistake after another. we have had friends use vtg as well. they all stopped using travel agents.
It never hurts to ask about a discount as they want your business. I would call the cruise line direct. Carnival is based out of Miami. Give them a call. Then you can always check around and see what a travel agent offers. I used to be a travel agent before the internet took over :( It was fun while it lasted. Personally I would book direct with Carnival. Ask for all kinds of discounts, like AAA, Group, etc. Maybe you will get a room upgrade. Ask about shore excursions and see if any discounts apply.
I am a Travel Agent who specializes in cruises. I sell Carnival cruises the most especially groups. I see that the majority of people commented are telling you to avoid travel agents because they are under the misguided notion that we can't get you the same rate as dealing directly with Carnival. That is completely wrong, Carnival Cruise Line prices are the same whether you book with a Travel Agent such as myself or if you book directly thru Carnival. I can get the AAA discounts, military discounts, early saver fares, etc.
I love doing things online however when I am paying my hard earned money for a trip then I want to make sure that there is an individual that I can contact with any questions, comments or concerns if anything should happen. I highly recommend using a Travel Agent as you will pay the same either way plus it keeps that person employed.
Just my two cents worth.
We have used Corporate Travel (Dearborn Heights, Mi) for group cruises (20 + people) and our single family cruises. They deal with all types of travel there, but they have a specific Cruise Department. VERY helpful and they do not up the charges because you are booking with an agent. They are a family owned business. We did get some perks with the group cruise, but we did have a fairly large group. We went on a Cruise in November and we noticed 5 months after booking that the price had gone down (when we booked, we got the same price Carnival website displayed and then saw it go down and back up on the site). I phoned the agent and we got the $30 lower price!
I know you are not close to this area, but you can do it all over the phone, I never stepped foot in their office.
We did have to make a deposit, a 2nd payment and then pay in full I beleive. I think this is a Carnival policy, so not sure you can make monthly payments.
Have fun!!! We have started looking for our next cruise. Once we decide, I will be calling Corporate Travel!!
Corporate Travel Service
23420 Ford Road, Suite 1
Dearborn Heights, Michigan 48127
###-###-####
###-###-#### (fax)
800-727-1999
My sister always gets great rates through Carnival directly. Unless things have changed in the past 2 years, their travel agents don't work on commission, so there is no incentive to oversell you. Do you have an Entertainment coupon book. I know Carnival is in there, I just don't know the discounts. I don't think they have payment plans. However, when I talked to the Carnival rep when I was thinking of a cruise, you had to put down a deposit and then had some time (don't remember how much time) to make the final payment. You can look into that as well.
You should book directly through Carnival. They have a discount for booking early, they have a discount for being a Michigan resident. Who knows what other goodies they have.
I use Terry Rodriguez and you can call her at 800819-3902 extension 82644.
she is wonderful!
we were also able to put down a deposit and make payments, I think it was $250 down, then whatever you wanted to pay, as long as it was paid off 90 days before sailing.
I would call a local travel agent, find one that specializes in cruises to see if this is a big enough group. Use google. Sometimes they can also put two groups together to get the rate. Our travel agent did that for us a couple of years ago, we didn't have to do anything special but she happened to be going with a group on the cruise we wanted and just added our small group to theirs. We ended up getting an extra night of cocktail hour out of it as well, :) Not to mention we got a great deal on the cruise!
