BOOKING my CRUISE Wedding

Hello everyone, I think I am in sort of a pickle. Can anyone tell me about there booking experience for groups? I have called Carnival several times and each time I get a different story. 1st Story: In order to book the group I had to put a deposit down on the min amount of rooms which is 8 and my total was $2400 and that would only hold the price for 2weeks. 2nd Story: I could put the group on hold by putting a deposit down on my room which was $300 and that would only hold the rooms for 2weeks.

Anyone that has done this please tell me how you did it. We sent out emails telling our guests that we were in the final stages of planning our destination wedding and informed them that after they recived the formal invite they would be required to put down a deposit. The next issue is that we are doing the passport invitations and they take 2-3weeks to arrive after you order them .

Someone please help me. My next option is to call a travel agent but all of the ones that I've spoken to seem to be intimidated by the amount of knowledge that I have in this area becuase I'm a coordinator by trade.

Hopefully someone has some advice

Thanks in advance!

Hi Teemojo,

The second is true. We put down our deposit and other deposits were due two to three weeks after ours. We went with a travel agency from the beginning. It appears to be some kind of unspoken courtesy that the travel agents ask for deposits extensions and they received them.. We received about 4 extensions in total.

What I would suggest is that you, if you decide to do it by yourself, is to send out an email or letter (save the date) to your guests. Inform them of the dates and payment information, with a due date. When planning the due date, factor inn when you and your FI plan to make your deposit and two weeks after that.. so let's say you pay to make your deposit on February 28, the guest due date will be March 14, 2012. If you send that information out by February1, 2012 you give them a month and two weeks to get their money together and you are adhering to Carnivals guideline. (still do this if you have a travel agent so people don't feel pressure by a short turn around)

If you need a travel agent who you won't intimidate, let me know. Mine deals with the cruise stuff on a regular basis, so she knows her stuff. 

Thanks so much. I met a TA at a bridal expo over the weekend. She seems to be easy to work with but we'll see. I gave her my cruise options and asked her what type of pricing, etc she could get. One thing I didnt anticipate was her asking for the passport information for the group. Hopefully she can hold the minimum (8cabins) without that information.

Hi Ladies!  I used a TA myself.  I actually started this process last year.  Our guests were able to put down a non refundable deposit of $25.00 per person and have the remaining balance due on March 1st of this year.  Of course there are a lot of people who have NOT made any interim payments since the initial deposit and then there are some who have paid the full deposit.  March 2nd will certainly allow us to weed out those who were all for the $25.00 in the beginning but have to come to the table with more money now.  As of today we have a total of 84 people who are "supposed" to be going.  We will see how that number changes come next month LOL. Good luck!

Just wanted to update everyone that's been so helpful. I found a TA and asked her to check out the rates on 2 cruises. She gave me the rates for only one of the cruises which happened to be my second choice plus is was more expensive than expected. I didn't want my guests to have to pay over $1000 for a few days in the lowest category room.

Just when I was about to give my TA some more options I called Carnival and spoke to a specialist that suggested I not go through the hassle of a group booking for a minimum amount of rooms. He wayed the pro/cons of the situation and I decided to let everyone book seperately and link the rooms via pincode/booking #. The specialist assured me that it was the least expensive way to get all of my  "frugal" family and friends on my Wedding Cruise.

Now I have to find a WP in Ocho Rios.  

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We did the exact same thing. We put the deposit down for our cruise and paid for our reception through the Carnival wedding department. We then sent out Save The Dates to all guests with the cruise information. We are letting everyone book on their own, with who they want, because we didn't want to have to deal with calling and hunting people down about making payments. When one of our guest books they usually call or e-mail us and then we call Carnival and link the reservations together. Its been hassle free and very easy! So far we have 25 guests booked and our wedding is in December 2012. There are still some guests that plan to attend which is great, because they can book on their own time and with who they want and I don't have to worry about it. I'd highly suggest going this route.

I'm getting married aboard the Carnival Dream in January 2013 and I booked through a TA, but I have experience booking group cruises for my family and friends. It's way easier doing it through a TA or letting your guests with whoever they prefer and the link them to group booking. The Agent that I am working with specializes in cruise weddings.

Hey Amiris1 we booked our wedding for the dream in feb 2013 so exciting

Have you found a wedding planer in Ocho Rios. I too am lookin to have a wedding there. Which crusie did you decide on . We picked the Carnival Breeze for April 2013