GROUP CRUISE ADVICE FOR FAMILY CRUISE????

[RCARD]

After 40 cruises, my better half would now like a family cruise in July.  18 in all,  10 adults, 8 children (7-14) so we'll need 8 rooms:

•  2 adults (over 55) - 1 room
•  2 adults, 3 children (13,10,10) - 2 adjoining rooms
•  2 adults, 3 children (12, 7, 7) - 2  adjoining rooms
•  2 adults, 2 children (14, 11) - 2 adjoining rooms
•  2 adults - 1 room

I'd appreciate any advice out there that might be helpful?

What am I getting into?  

Any special perks or restrictions?

I'm afraid I don't know what I don't know .....

[WAAAYTOOO]

Congratulations !  That sounds like a fun cruise.  I wish I could get my family to commit to something like this but they are WORSE than herding cats.

My one piece of advice is USE A TRAVEL AGENT !  A good TA will be able to keep everything linked that needs to be linked (think meals), help you decide on how to book your rooms to maximize value and avoid potential problems.  There are just sooo many details that need to be considered.  Let a TA do this.

I guess I have one more piece of advice...don't try and force everyone to do the same thing at the same time.  Just ask @Ampurp85.  Be together without being bound together.

[smokeybandit]

Try to have dinners together and maybe 1-2 other family events. Otherwise, let people do their own thing.

[RCARD]

16 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Congratulations !  That sounds like a fun cruise.  I wish I could get my family to commit to something like this but they are WORSE than herding cats.

My one piece of advice is USE A TRAVEL AGENT !  A good TA will be able to keep everything linked that needs to be linked (think meals), help you decide on how to book your rooms to maximize value and avoid potential problems.  There are just sooo many details that need to be considered.  Let a TA do this.

I guess I have one more piece of advice...don't try and force everyone to do the same thing at the same time.  Just ask @Ampurp85.  Be together without being bound together.

Well, when I offer to pay, they tend to line up!!!  But I wouldn't have it any other way  

 

[Ampurp85]

I echo @WAAAYTOOO, try not to force too much.

If you are paying then definitely use a TA to help make things easier. I believe 8 rooms would get you some sort of discount.

A July sailing will be exempt from KSF, so you will be paying the full price. Also decide on the best rooms and try to secure them within proximity of each other. If all balcony rooms then on most ships you can open the dividers and make a long area to traverse rooms.

Definitely make sure everyone is linked and maybe only require dinner of everyone.

The important thing is to be flexible and enjoy yourself. As the "TA" for my last group I would go to the Crown Lounge for my peace.

[JimnKathy]

As others have mentioned, use a good TA and have a great time!  

[HeWhoWaits]

At 8 rooms, you qualify for a group discount. There is a one person credit, so you'll "only" be paying for 17. The credit is the value of one full-price adult in whatever class of staterooms has the most rooms.

[OCSC Mike]

Another vote to use a TA given your needs.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

We did this on the Oasis out of Bayonne in late July early August.  There were 17 of us in total with 7 rooms so I missed out on the group discount .  I did the booking myself through Royal (I like control and being able to call Royal myself any time I found a lower rate or whatever) and had 5 rooms all next to each other so we could open the balcony dividers.  My family totals 13 and the other 4 people were in-laws but since they booked after us their rooms were down a bit from ours.  
Your room choices sound great…especially doing adjoining rooms for the kids and parents.  
I have to say this cruise was my dream and I am sooo glad we did it.  Just being able to see the kids (15, 14, 12, 11, 10) be on their own and enjoy their independence was awesome.

They continue to ask when we are doing it again…I guess once I can save up another $20K ?  

 

[DoomSlayer]

As many have said, use a good Travel Agent!  Not only will they help herd the cats for you; they know how to handle situations where someone backs out, repricing, or something else.  Also, by not using a good TA, you are leaving a lot of money on the table potentially.  I just booked a group trip for a trip in Dec. 2024 using my TA and each room got $100 OBC and a $90 Spa voucher.  This adds up considering the number of rooms.

[Pattycruise]

Definetely use a TA

 

Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   do a little research on the ships you are interested in to see about availabilty.

              If all the adults are buying the alcohol dirnk packages great.  If you have couples who are not interested in booking 2 alcohol packages the second adult must get the refreshment package-  If you wanted to avoid that then book 1 adult in each cabin with a child. You can get extra keys when you board.

 If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

8 cabins gets you a credit of 1 fare....when I did this I asked my TA to give every cabin a portion of the free fare OBC as opposed ot keeping it for myself. (which is also fine-it is a lot of work to coordinate)

Collect all names as is on official documents and birth dates.  If they have C&A numbers get those too. and defintely an email for all concerned.
I made the mistake of using my email address for my kids as well as myself.  It has been a real pain to have this fixed.  It cuts off promotion emails as well as casino related emails/offers communications.  So I advise creating an email address for you to use for the kids....if that is even a thing.


Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

Finding cabins that are near each other (for the whole group)  at this "late date"  may be an issue.
QUantum class has the spacious ocean view all the way forward in the corner the room holds 3 and I belive the adjacent holds 2.  Problem is THE WALK....you will be walking FOREVER, espeially when someone forgets something.  Dining is aft, so lots of walking.  We did this with a large family.....and heard lots of complaints about the walk,
Quantum also has the virtual balconies on the interiors.  Interiors are typically money savers.

We did a large group on Adventure and to save money adults booked balcony and the kids were in a promenade interior.  This was great for me-my kids being 12-10-8 and I figured if they had a balcony someone's stuff would be going overboard.  Just asked my now adult daughter how I had them and she said she slept on the couch-I guess I booked her in my cabin and then sent her to live with her brothers across the hall! LOL

There are some ships that have family promenade or family interior (very hard to find these).  I honestly do not know if they work out cheaper but keep in mind that means sharing ONE BATHROOM!!

Connecting cabins seem to be more expensive too (where you can open the interior door that connects 2 cabins) but don't rule them out.
Remember every adult can carry on a bottle of wine.  

When I organized a large group booking for family/friends I created a facebook group for us.
I listed all the cost varations  by Type of cabin as well as by # of people in the cabin for the ship I had planned.  This let everyone know the pricing ahead of time.
I also only gave pricing on the cabins that had availablity and did the 'ole  "pricing may vary at time of booking"
BTW-55" may get a small discount (though doubtful in July)...so consider running your costs with that, the state, C&A if anyone has one etc)-if it gives you some decent savings you may consider booking one 55" in one cabin with a kid etc.
It's also great to have dicussions on packing lists, flights (if any), payment dates etc.

Each cabin can bring along a 12 pack of water/soda or combo thereof and one bottle of wine per adult.

Definitely use a Travel Agent but being aware of the restrictions with the kiddies is good to know.  Someone posted here (or it was on a FB page for one of my sailings) that they were looking to change out cabins as they had booked the kids too far away-so I guess there is not "failsafe" to prevent that.

Dinners-when it is just my family we all dine together (rule). and When it was a group of family/friends we all dined together. It was a great way to meet and dicuss the nights plans, what went on during the day and what everyone was doing the next day.
  All reservations must be linked and the same dining time picked.  My kdis knew they had to show for dinner, then were free.

Consider bringing some favorite snacks along.  Great for excursions.  SInce there are no potato chips/pretzels etc most everyone wants them!

Sticky notes were my friend back then.  Now they can communicate via the app free texting to each other-however kids under 13 cannot gain access.
Some report here that they log into their kids devices so they have access but then you have 2 RCARD texting and answering so you would need to specificy in the text this is "kid" or this Is "adult" etc.

Those families with 3 kids each....any chance you can take 2 of those kids and create their own cabin?  It might be easier to find cabins that way. *more 2 person cabins than 3 person cabins sometimes)

 

[Bowen]

We cruise with large groups. I always book myself and link the reservations, but I could see how a TA could be helpful here. I just like having control, COVID burned me on TAs. Anyhow, I second the “Plan some stuff together, but don’t go crazy” train of thought. We have all dinners together and also shows. Other than that we just go with the flow and meet up in smaller groups to do whatever we’re feeling like doing. It’s awesome cruising in a large group, have fun!

[RCARD]

18 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Definetely use a TA

 

Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   do a little research on the ships you are interested in to see about availabilty.

              If all the adults are buying the alcohol dirnk packages great.  If you have couples who are not interested in booking 2 alcohol packages the second adult must get the refreshment package-  If you wanted to avoid that then book 1 adult in each cabin with a child. You can get extra keys when you board.

 If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

8 cabins gets you a credit of 1 fare....when I did this I asked my TA to give every cabin a portion of the free fare OBC as opposed ot keeping it for myself. (which is also fine-it is a lot of work to coordinate)

Collect all names as is on official documents and birth dates.  If they have C&A numbers get those too. and defintely an email for all concerned.
I made the mistake of using my email address for my kids as well as myself.  It has been a real pain to have this fixed.  It cuts off promotion emails as well as casino related emails/offers communications.  So I advise creating an email address for you to use for the kids....if that is even a thing.


Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

Finding cabins that are near each other (for the whole group)  at this "late date"  may be an issue.
QUantum class has the spacious ocean view all the way forward in the corner the room holds 3 and I belive the adjacent holds 2.  Problem is THE WALK....you will be walking FOREVER, espeially when someone forgets something.  Dining is aft, so lots of walking.  We did this with a large family.....and heard lots of complaints about the walk,
Quantum also has the virtual balconies on the interiors.  Interiors are typically money savers.

We did a large group on Adventure and to save money adults booked balcony and the kids were in a promenade interior.  This was great for me-my kids being 12-10-8 and I figured if they had a balcony someone's stuff would be going overboard.  Just asked my now adult daughter how I had them and she said she slept on the couch-I guess I booked her in my cabin and then sent her to live with her brothers across the hall! LOL

There are some ships that have family promenade or family interior (very hard to find these).  I honestly do not know if they work out cheaper but keep in mind that means sharing ONE BATHROOM!!

Connecting cabins seem to be more expensive too (where you can open the interior door that connects 2 cabins) but don't rule them out.
Remember every adult can carry on a bottle of wine.  

When I organized a large group booking for family/friends I created a facebook group for us.
I listed all the cost varations  by Type of cabin as well as by # of people in the cabin for the ship I had planned.  This let everyone know the pricing ahead of time.
I also only gave pricing on the cabins that had availablity and did the 'ole  "pricing may vary at time of booking"
BTW-55" may get a small discount (though doubtful in July)...so consider running your costs with that, the state, C&A if anyone has one etc)-if it gives you some decent savings you may consider booking one 55" in one cabin with a kid etc.
It's also great to have dicussions on packing lists, flights (if any), payment dates etc.

Each cabin can bring along a 12 pack of water/soda or combo thereof and one bottle of wine per adult.

Definitely use a Travel Agent but being aware of the restrictions with the kiddies is good to know.  Someone posted here (or it was on a FB page for one of my sailings) that they were looking to change out cabins as they had booked the kids too far away-so I guess there is not "failsafe" to prevent that.

Dinners-when it is just my family we all dine together (rule). and When it was a group of family/friends we all dined together. It was a great way to meet and dicuss the nights plans, what went on during the day and what everyone was doing the next day.
  All reservations must be linked and the same dining time picked.  My kdis knew they had to show for dinner, then were free.

Consider bringing some favorite snacks along.  Great for excursions.  SInce there are no potato chips/pretzels etc most everyone wants them!

Sticky notes were my friend back then.  Now they can communicate via the app free texting to each other-however kids under 13 cannot gain access.
Some report here that they log into their kids devices so they have access but then you have 2 RCARD texting and answering so you would need to specificy in the text this is "kid" or this Is "adult" etc.

Those families with 3 kids each....any chance you can take 2 of those kids and create their own cabin?  It might be easier to find cabins that way. *more 2 person cabins than 3 person cabins sometimes)

 

 

18 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Definetely use a TA

 

Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   do a little research on the ships you are interested in to see about availabilty.

              If all the adults are buying the alcohol dirnk packages great.  If you have couples who are not interested in booking 2 alcohol packages the second adult must get the refreshment package-  If you wanted to avoid that then book 1 adult in each cabin with a child. You can get extra keys when you board.

 If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

8 cabins gets you a credit of 1 fare....when I did this I asked my TA to give every cabin a portion of the free fare OBC as opposed ot keeping it for myself. (which is also fine-it is a lot of work to coordinate)

Collect all names as is on official documents and birth dates.  If they have C&A numbers get those too. and defintely an email for all concerned.
I made the mistake of using my email address for my kids as well as myself.  It has been a real pain to have this fixed.  It cuts off promotion emails as well as casino related emails/offers communications.  So I advise creating an email address for you to use for the kids....if that is even a thing.


Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

Finding cabins that are near each other (for the whole group)  at this "late date"  may be an issue.
QUantum class has the spacious ocean view all the way forward in the corner the room holds 3 and I belive the adjacent holds 2.  Problem is THE WALK....you will be walking FOREVER, espeially when someone forgets something.  Dining is aft, so lots of walking.  We did this with a large family.....and heard lots of complaints about the walk,
Quantum also has the virtual balconies on the interiors.  Interiors are typically money savers.

We did a large group on Adventure and to save money adults booked balcony and the kids were in a promenade interior.  This was great for me-my kids being 12-10-8 and I figured if they had a balcony someone's stuff would be going overboard.  Just asked my now adult daughter how I had them and she said she slept on the couch-I guess I booked her in my cabin and then sent her to live with her brothers across the hall! LOL

There are some ships that have family promenade or family interior (very hard to find these).  I honestly do not know if they work out cheaper but keep in mind that means sharing ONE BATHROOM!!

Connecting cabins seem to be more expensive too (where you can open the interior door that connects 2 cabins) but don't rule them out.
Remember every adult can carry on a bottle of wine.  

When I organized a large group booking for family/friends I created a facebook group for us.
I listed all the cost varations  by Type of cabin as well as by # of people in the cabin for the ship I had planned.  This let everyone know the pricing ahead of time.
I also only gave pricing on the cabins that had availablity and did the 'ole  "pricing may vary at time of booking"
BTW-55" may get a small discount (though doubtful in July)...so consider running your costs with that, the state, C&A if anyone has one etc)-if it gives you some decent savings you may consider booking one 55" in one cabin with a kid etc.
It's also great to have dicussions on packing lists, flights (if any), payment dates etc.

Each cabin can bring along a 12 pack of water/soda or combo thereof and one bottle of wine per adult.

Definitely use a Travel Agent but being aware of the restrictions with the kiddies is good to know.  Someone posted here (or it was on a FB page for one of my sailings) that they were looking to change out cabins as they had booked the kids too far away-so I guess there is not "failsafe" to prevent that.

Dinners-when it is just my family we all dine together (rule). and When it was a group of family/friends we all dined together. It was a great way to meet and dicuss the nights plans, what went on during the day and what everyone was doing the next day.
  All reservations must be linked and the same dining time picked.  My kdis knew they had to show for dinner, then were free.

Consider bringing some favorite snacks along.  Great for excursions.  SInce there are no potato chips/pretzels etc most everyone wants them!

Sticky notes were my friend back then.  Now they can communicate via the app free texting to each other-however kids under 13 cannot gain access.
Some report here that they log into their kids devices so they have access but then you have 2 RCARD texting and answering so you would need to specificy in the text this is "kid" or this Is "adult" etc.

Those families with 3 kids each....any chance you can take 2 of those kids and create their own cabin?  It might be easier to find cabins that way. *more 2 person cabins than 3 person cabins sometimes)

 

 

18 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Definetely use a TA

 

Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   do a little research on the ships you are interested in to see about availabilty.

              If all the adults are buying the alcohol dirnk packages great.  If you have couples who are not interested in booking 2 alcohol packages the second adult must get the refreshment package-  If you wanted to avoid that then book 1 adult in each cabin with a child. You can get extra keys when you board.

 If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

8 cabins gets you a credit of 1 fare....when I did this I asked my TA to give every cabin a portion of the free fare OBC as opposed ot keeping it for myself. (which is also fine-it is a lot of work to coordinate)

Collect all names as is on official documents and birth dates.  If they have C&A numbers get those too. and defintely an email for all concerned.
I made the mistake of using my email address for my kids as well as myself.  It has been a real pain to have this fixed.  It cuts off promotion emails as well as casino related emails/offers communications.  So I advise creating an email address for you to use for the kids....if that is even a thing.


Children's cabins must be booked directly across from or adjacent to the adults.   If you do the "work around" about the drink packages you can consider going 1 or 2 cabins away (comfort level) but be aware if something bad goes wrong and they see the kids are "unsupervised" by being 2 or more cabins away-could be a problem.  I may or may not have booked liked this when we had a large group! 

Finding cabins that are near each other (for the whole group)  at this "late date"  may be an issue.
QUantum class has the spacious ocean view all the way forward in the corner the room holds 3 and I belive the adjacent holds 2.  Problem is THE WALK....you will be walking FOREVER, espeially when someone forgets something.  Dining is aft, so lots of walking.  We did this with a large family.....and heard lots of complaints about the walk,
Quantum also has the virtual balconies on the interiors.  Interiors are typically money savers.

We did a large group on Adventure and to save money adults booked balcony and the kids were in a promenade interior.  This was great for me-my kids being 12-10-8 and I figured if they had a balcony someone's stuff would be going overboard.  Just asked my now adult daughter how I had them and she said she slept on the couch-I guess I booked her in my cabin and then sent her to live with her brothers across the hall! LOL

There are some ships that have family promenade or family interior (very hard to find these).  I honestly do not know if they work out cheaper but keep in mind that means sharing ONE BATHROOM!!

Connecting cabins seem to be more expensive too (where you can open the interior door that connects 2 cabins) but don't rule them out.
Remember every adult can carry on a bottle of wine.  

When I organized a large group booking for family/friends I created a facebook group for us.
I listed all the cost varations  by Type of cabin as well as by # of people in the cabin for the ship I had planned.  This let everyone know the pricing ahead of time.
I also only gave pricing on the cabins that had availablity and did the 'ole  "pricing may vary at time of booking"
BTW-55" may get a small discount (though doubtful in July)...so consider running your costs with that, the state, C&A if anyone has one etc)-if it gives you some decent savings you may consider booking one 55" in one cabin with a kid etc.
It's also great to have dicussions on packing lists, flights (if any), payment dates etc.

Each cabin can bring along a 12 pack of water/soda or combo thereof and one bottle of wine per adult.

Definitely use a Travel Agent but being aware of the restrictions with the kiddies is good to know.  Someone posted here (or it was on a FB page for one of my sailings) that they were looking to change out cabins as they had booked the kids too far away-so I guess there is not "failsafe" to prevent that.

Dinners-when it is just my family we all dine together (rule). and When it was a group of family/friends we all dined together. It was a great way to meet and dicuss the nights plans, what went on during the day and what everyone was doing the next day.
  All reservations must be linked and the same dining time picked.  My kdis knew they had to show for dinner, then were free.

Consider bringing some favorite snacks along.  Great for excursions.  SInce there are no potato chips/pretzels etc most everyone wants them!

Sticky notes were my friend back then.  Now they can communicate via the app free texting to each other-however kids under 13 cannot gain access.
Some report here that they log into their kids devices so they have access but then you have 2 RCARD texting and answering so you would need to specificy in the text this is "kid" or this Is "adult" etc.

Those families with 3 kids each....any chance you can take 2 of those kids and create their own cabin?  It might be easier to find cabins that way. *more 2 person cabins than 3 person cabins sometimes)

 

Thank you.  Really great input.  Much appreciated

 

[RCARD]

On 11/4/2023 at 1:41 PM, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

We did this on the Oasis out of Bayonne in late July early August.  There were 17 of us in total with 7 rooms so I missed out on the group discount .  I did the booking myself through Royal (I like control and being able to call Royal myself any time I found a lower rate or whatever) and had 5 rooms all next to each other so we could open the balcony dividers.  My family totals 13 and the other 4 people were in-laws but since they booked after us their rooms were down a bit from ours.  
Your room choices sound great…especially doing adjoining rooms for the kids and parents.  
I have to say this cruise was my dream and I am sooo glad we did it.  Just being able to see the kids (15, 14, 12, 11, 10) be on their own and enjoy their independence was awesome.

They continue to ask when we are doing it again…I guess once I can save up another $20K ?  

 

Great.  Thank you

[Linda R]

On 11/4/2023 at 8:06 AM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Congratulations !  That sounds like a fun cruise.  I wish I could get my family to commit to something like this but they are WORSE than herding cats.

My one piece of advice is USE A TRAVEL AGENT !  A good TA will be able to keep everything linked that needs to be linked (think meals), help you decide on how to book your rooms to maximize value and avoid potential problems.  There are just sooo many details that need to be considered.  Let a TA do this.

I guess I have one more piece of advice...don't try and force everyone to do the same thing at the same time.  Just ask @Ampurp85.  Be together without being bound together.

I agree, have a good travel agent book this for you.   And do not try for everyone, or most of you, to do other things together.  Maybe dinners together but most times let people do as they please.  Get up when they want, etc. It gets very tiring to try and organized everyone.