Group Travel Considerations

Travelling with a larger group of friends or family can go one of two ways:

1. A fantastic experience that creates memories to last a lifetime.
2. A dumpster fire of mismatched expectations that ends in hard feelings.

To be clear, I’m NOT talking about two couples travelling together, or a multi-generational trip with grandparents, parents, and children – those usually go fine.

Those that go astray are trips that start with an abstract idea (“Let’s go to Europe”), with a large group of people that usually came up with the idea after drinking several glasses of wine (“Let’s all 20 of us take a cruise to Europe”).

The problem at this point is obvious:  In a typical European summer season, there are upwards of 2000 cruises on ocean, river, and expedition ships.  Europe is a big place, and the Norwegian fjords are very different than the Greek Islands.  You can pay $100/night or $2000/night on a ship depending on what you want.  Some people like the idea of a week-long vacation; others think when you’re flying that far, you should stay longer.

And all these variables are before anyone brings up the fact that they really don’t like THIS country or region, and they travelled on THAT cruise line in 1995 and hated it.

These are just a few of the things that can quickly throw group travel arrangements into chaos.

In our experience, there are some things you can do up front to make group travel work – and a trip like this can really fun when it goes well.  Many of these ideas have to do with attitude and mindset, so it may force some awkward conversations in the planning stage.  I can assure you these awkward conversations are far preferable to the angry and bitter conversations that occur during or after travel if things go off the rails:

1. Only travel with those who are capable of flexibility and compromise.  It will not be possible for every single person to be perfectly happy about every decision point, so set the expectation up front that some compromise will be required.
2. Don’t travel with control freaks.  You know who they are… get out of travelling with them.  It is inherent in their nature, and despite their promises, they won’t be able to supress this impulse, no matter how many meds they take.
3. High anxiety complainers also need to be eliminated from the guest list.  You should expect things to be different when you travel and have a good tolerance for when things go wrong (and they will).  Don’t subject yourself to those who inflame the drama.
4. Agree on a region.  “Europe” is too broad, and “Spain” is probably too narrow. 
5. Agree on an approximate budget.  Everyone will need to be flexible in all aspects of your trip planning, but a ballpark budget will help you quickly determine whether you’re going on a mass-market mega-ship, as opposed to a small luxury ship or river ship.
6. Leave flexibility in the plans. If you’re going on a cruise, allow people to choose the best stateroom for them (you don’t all need to be side-by-side).  Some people may want to do pre/post extensions, and those personalized plans should be encouraged.
7. “Come-along” trips work best.  In our experience the groups that function best are those where a smaller group of people (maybe 4 or 6) decide “we’re going to do THIS, you’re all welcome to join us for whatever part of the trip appeals to you”.  This avoids many of the negotiations at the front end that sometimes make people feel they’ve compromised too much. 
8. Set up a closed Facebook Group.  This is an easy way to have a forum where ONLY those in your FB Group can talk to each other and share information prior to the trip.  You can also post photos to share during and after the trip.

What About Group Pricing?

When we’re talking about cruise vacations, the term “Group” has a variety of definitions, so here’s a quick guide.

1. Group Amenities.  This is one of the big advantages of booking through a good travel agent, because you won’t get these on direct bookings. Travel agencies set up groups to get their clients extra goodies.  Many times, clients don’t even know they’re in a “group”.  Often the amenity is an additional onboard credit, but can be other things as well, for example Specialty Dining or a special Shore Experience.
2. Group Discounts.  The cruise lines discount based on the number of “berths” a group buys.  Usually this means if you book 8 cabins (i.e., 8 berths), then you get one “free” berth (called a Tour Conductor Credit).  If you like, the value of this berth can be divided amongst a group to take everyone’s price down a little.  Some cruise lines offer this free berth with only 5 cabins booked.
3. Group Pricing.  Normally, the price of a cruise is the same regardless of where you buy it.  Some cruise lines increase the cost the closer you get to departure.  In this case, travel agents can pre-purchase a block of cabins in order to lock in a price.  Then, after the public prices goes up, you can benefit from a lower group price if you book through the agent who blocked the group space.  Bob and I blocked group space on several Explora Journeys itineraries before they increased prices last month, and now we have a big price advantage to offer our clients.  See the examples below (save up to $3300 compared to publicly available fares). Some of these group prices will expire on Feb. 28th.

Finally, the larger your group, the earlier you need to start planning.  Cruise vacations are selling out sooner than we’ve seen in the past, so while getting 2 or 3 cabins is usually not a problem, if you want 6 or more cabins on a specific date, you’ll want to be looking a year or more in advance.

Today’s Travel Opportunities

Explora Journeys Groups

Copenhagen to London departing August 15, 2023 (9 nights)

1. Visit Goteborg (Sweden), Oslo, Stavanger (Norway), Hamburg, Rotterdam, Bruges.
2. Special price $5450 per person (Public Price: $5700 pp) – Save $500 per suite!

New York to Quebec City – departing September 25th 2023 (8 nights)

1. Visit New York (overnight), Boston, Saint John, Quebec City (overnight)
2. $4300 per person (Public Price: $5050 pp) – Save $1500 per suite!

Quebec to New York City – departing October 3rd 2023 (10 nights)

1. Visit Saguenay, Baie-Comeau, Havre-Saint-Pierre, Charlottetown, Halifax, New York (overnight)
2. Bob and I are travelling on journey – why not join us?
3. $5350 per person (Public Price: $6350 pp) – Save $2000 per suite!

New York round-trip – departing September 25th 2023 (18 nights)

1. If you’d like to combine the 2 cruises above and stay on board the whole time (NO ports repeated), you get an ‘extended journey’ discount compared to booking the 2 legs separately.
2. $9100 per person.  (Public Price: $10,750 pp) – Save $3300 per suite!

Miami round-trip – departing December 13th 2023 (9 nights)

1. Visit Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, BVI, Guadeloupe, Bahamas
2. $3500 per person (Public Price:  $4700 pp) – Save $2400 per suite!

Bridgetown, Barbados round-trip – departing January 19th 2024 (12 nights)

1. Visit Dominica, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe, Saint Barthe, San Juan, BVI, Saint Kitts, Antigua & Barbuda, Grenadines,
2. $5500 per person (Public Price: $6750 pp) – Save $2500 per suite!

Bridgetown, Barbados to Miami – departing March 1st 2024 (7-nights)

1. Visit Martinique, Saint Kitts, Dominican Republic, Bahamas
2. $3000 per person (Public Price: $3650 pp) – Save $1300 per suite!

Alaska

We get a lot of requests for group travel in Alaska.  Here’s a couple of ideas:

Seattle round-trip on Oceania Regatta departing July 21st (11 nights)

1. Visit Ketchikan, Sitka, Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Wrangell, Prince Rupert, Victoria.
2. Oceanview from $3499 per person; Balcony from $5699 pp.  Air add-on $600.
3. GROUP BENEFIT:  included gratuities.  (You don’t need to bring a group; you automatically get this when you book with me).

Vancouver to Sitka on Ocean Victory departing May 5th (10 nights) INCLUDING FLIGHTS.

1. Visit Kynoch Inlet, Ketchikan, Metlakatla, Misty Fjords, Wrangell, Waterfall Coast, Petersburg, Tracy Arm, Endicott Arm, Frederick Sound.
2. Oceanview from $4469; Balcony from $7269
3. Includes all taxes and fees, pre-cruise hotel night, open bar, gratuities, expedition activities (sea kayaking, zodiac boats) in each port of call, Round-Trip Air.

AMA Waterways Group Program

AMA Waterways has very attractive group program with Group Prices and Amenities available for just 5 cabins.  Here’s what we like about AMA:

1. Ships on every river in Europe, as well as Egypt, Mekong, and Southern Africa.
2. A wellness coordinator on every ship that offers complimentary fitness, yoga, and meditation classes.
3. More active shore excursions for those that like to get out hiking or cycling
4. Daily Happy Hour before dinner with included drinks and entertainment. 
5. If you’re considering a larger group river cruise experience, we’d love to discuss AMA Waterways with you.  Please get in touch as soon as possible so we can reserve group space for you.

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If you’re planning a trip, I’d love to help! Click here or call 800-876-0168 to get in touch today.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sue Bradley