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Put Your Take-Charge Skills to Good Use

Are you always the one planning activities for yourself and your friends? For example, you find out that there is a wine festival next month, and you think that you would like to go, but you know you would have more fun if some of your friends join you. So, you tell them about it and agree to make all of the arrangement, and in essence, you become the group leader.

Photo courtesy of flikr.com

 

If that describes you, then you are an “influencer.” You probably like to travel and would enjoy visiting more exotic places than just the local beaches. SO— put your skills to work on your behalf. For example, you decide that it would be great to get away to warm weather in February and you think that a Caribbean cruise would be the best way to satisfy this desire. Because you are an influencer, you start thinking of people that it would be fun to travel with.

Unless you have a cruise all picked out and you know that you are getting a good deal for you and your friends, selling them on the idea of cruise could be difficult. The best thing would be to figure out what cruise you want to take and then pursue it. The even easier option would be to partner with a travel agent—because she will do all of the leg work with the cruise line. A travel agent can reserve a block of rooms for your group.Even better, with 411 to Travel, we will even guarantee that if the price drops below what you paid, we will get you the lower rate. So you and your friends know you are getting a good deal.

A travel agent can also secure some “extras” for you, that you couldn't get on your own, as an independent consumer. Perks such as on board credit per cabin, a bon voyage bottle of wine, dinner in a specialty restaurant or your choice of other options. When the cruise line has a group, they add more value to the trip for the participants than when folks book solo or just with one other couple. Of course, cruise lines have their own definition of what comprises a group. The lower priced cruise lines, i.e. Carnival, Royal Caribbean, etc require 8 cabins for a group. The more exclusive lines like Princess and Holland America consider 5 cabins a group.



Our proposal to you Influencers out there is that we will help you pay for your cruise if you book the minimum number of cabins required for a group. We will give you a certain amount for every cabin that is booked to help you pay for your own berth on the cruise. A cabin usually has 2 people but can be 1 person who pays a single supplement. Norwegian does have cabins specifically for 1 person, but few other cruise lines do.

Photo courtesy of cruisecritic.com

 

When talking with folks that you want to travel with, ask them who they like to travel with. We can provide you with promotional materials to give to people with pricing and value-added features. In addition, if you want to book a special cruise to desinations such as Alaska, the Mediterranean, or a river cruise, we may could sponsor a cruise night where you and we invite guests to meet with a representative of the cruise line, tour company, or resort to get an over view of the trip and to ask questions.

If you belong to an affinity group i.e. line dancing, knitting, sports fan club, etc., we can help you obtain space for group activities on the ship. There are event planners that hire musical groups or tribute bands that are popular and work with a travel agent to arrange a cruise or resort venue where the guests enjoy music performed by the group they love. Some of these groups have been doing trips for more than 25 years and every year they get bigger. That’s a huge undertaking, but you might be the person who wants to do it, and we would be happy to handle the travel end of it. One other thing about planning group travel: if you find a cruise line or resort that you really like, you can make it an annual event. Book while you are on the trip for a trip next year. People usually get incentives for putting a deposit on future travel while on a current trip.

Photo courtesy of millcreekranchresort.com

 

And let's not forget family reunions, which totally counts as "group travel." Getting together with family on a cruise ship or resort is a great way to make memories for a life time. Your children may get to meet relatives that they have only heard about, and they may start life time relationships with their cousins, aunts, and uncles. Plus, everyone pays their own way, everyone can take advantage of activities they like, there's space to be together, and space to be apart, so that all family members enjoy their trip together.

Got you excited about planning a group trip?

Let's talk! (443) 852-1330 or (443) 306-7646