Need A TA for some basic information

I'm going to attempt to form a group for 2010 for Christmas on Crystal. I know Crystal is pretty strict with it's group and this might be a futile attempt but, I need to at least try. The worst that will happen is no one will be interested.

My question is how hard is it to get group approval for a Christmas sailing?

Interesting proposal 4 Leaf, I might be interested

It will depend on the size of the group and ship chosen. This far out it should not be difficult to get a group request granted especially for a midsized group of say 25 cabins. But I would start to get an agent involved and talking with their sales manager (all requests have to be approved by the sales manager) soon as the early you can get an approval the better.

A few things you should know:

You only need 12 full fare adults to receive a tour conductor berth.
Children under 12 sail at 1/2 price when travelling as the third passenger in a cabin.

There are limits to which cabin categories can be held in the group space and singles/triples/quads are on an availablity request basis. The nice perk for singles when they are granted is that they only pay 125%,135% or 150% depending on category rather than the standard 200% of most cruise lines.

Some things you should know: Crystal is very strict about their re-call of unsold space so those who want to go should book early as the first recall date is 150 days prior to sailing. Once unsold space is gone they rarely ever give it back!

Deposits are 20-30% of fare depending on category booked.

Hope this helps you!

4 Leaf, I'm not saying not to give it a shot BUT, you might have better luck with a shorter, less pricey cruise. I've cruised Crystal and enjoyed them but, there isn't much of a Crystal following on this board yet. If you were to perhaps try a 7 night Thanksgiving cruise vs. 14 night Christmas cruise, you might have better luck.

But, in all honesty, and I am only speaking for myself, I wouldn't put out that much money for a Holiday cruise, not when Cunard offers a similar experience for much less money. It's going to be a very hard sell, even though Crystal sells out year after year for the holidays.

I'll be watching this thread with a lot of interest.

Yes, I see your point...

This is something we'd consider if not in 2010, certainly in the future. We sail Crystal nearly every Christmas/New Year's so for us there would real benefits to joining a group and, since our travel agent, AHEM, Tina has left the business to pursue this board and travel writing, we're looking for a new agent anyhow.

So if this group does form for '10 or '11 or even further into the future, you will certainly earn our business.

You know, if you guys want to give this a shot for 2011, I'll start blogging. Heck, I got over 360+ people to sign up for Oasis, this gives a two year window to get people interested in Crystal. While it's a much smaller, tougher market, I bet we could do it.

Let me know!