Group Cruises: Become a Group Leader
How would you like to gather a group of your friends and do the thing we all love best…take a cruise? It's easy to start planning and promoting your own group cruise. Here is some advice on how to do it, and you'll be sailing away with a few (or a few hundred) of your friends! We'll even make it easy to find your group onboard by giving the group a special discount on your cruise. And, you can earn yourself a free cruise by becoming a group leader! Just follow these easy steps below to get started.

1. Pick a Ship and Itinerary and see how many people are interested in joining you by posting, advertising with your friends or in newspaper/fliers. Hint: New ships tend to attract the most takers.

2. Select a Month to Travel Once you have a ship and itinerary selected and an initial group that's interested, attempt to select a month that all can agree to travel. Hint: The best group deals are offered in May, June, September, October and early November.

3. Contact our cruise manager Marsha Feldberg at 800-627-8468 once you have an idea of how large your group will be initially and the month and ship of sailing. She will explain the process to you. After you receive your proposal, and checking with your initial group members, it is full speed ahead! . Hint: Being flexible in sailing date may mean a better price and more amenities!

4. Book Your Cruise with Martin Travel Services specialist at 800-627-8468 and introduce yourself as the official Group Leader. At this time Marsha can offer additional advice, information and expertise on your choice of cruise.

5. Promote Your Group Cruise Once you have a group started with us, we will assist you with ideas on how to get the word out. We can even post your group on our website for free!

6. Encourage Purchase of Travel Insurance It's important to remember that there are penalties on a group starting at 70 days prior to departure so please get your group to buy third party travel insurance such as Access America or Travel Guard. Hint: Third party insurance offers more comprehensive coverage than your average cruise line package. Insurance is based on price per person of actual cruise fare.

8. Final Payment Individuals can contact Martin Travel Services directly to make all payments to protect their credit card information. Passengers that are purchasing an air/sea package will have their transfers included from the airport to and from the ship. Hint: For those that are booking their own air, transfers are available to purchase from about $25 round-trip per person.

9. Group Leader Perks All groups must have a minimum of 8 cabins booked to be considered a group and receive all of the group perks. As group leader you will receive a free berth if at least 8 cabins are sold, and two free berths if at least 16 cabins are sold. Group leaders will need to pay for their cruise upfront, but will be rebated the equivalent rate per berth for the category which has the largest number of cabins booked. In addition, all group leaders will receive the group amenities. Martin Travel Services reserves the right to refuse permission to be a group leader for any reason.

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