Secrets Guaranteed to Stretch Your Special Events Budget

Budget.  Like it or not you have to have one in order to plan any special event.  While cruising sounds exotic, and certainly grabs the attention of potential attendees, many group organizers don’t realize that a group cruise can actually be less expensive than holding the same event on land.  Let’s take a look at the numbers:

	Hotel*	Cruise – Ocean view cabin**
Room Cost	$1,838.62	$1,435.82
Meeting Room Cost ($300/day)	$900.00	$0
Microphone/Flipchart/Screen ($75/day)	$225	$0
Breakfast ($10/person/day)	$140.00	$0
Lunch ($10/person/day)	$140.00	$0
Dinner ($25/person/day)	$350.00	$0
Cocktail Party ($20/person/day – 2-parties)	$40.00	$20
Entertainment/shows ($15/person/day)	$210.00	$0
Activiities for non-attending family members	$350.00	$0
Total	$4,193.62	$1,455.82

*Room, equipment & meal costs based on  RIU Florida Beach Hotel

 ** 7-night cruise for 2 – oceanview cabin, NCL (December sailing)

Want to extend your budget still further?    Here are our top five suggestions:

1.      Choose an off-season sailing date:  Cruises, like the rest of the leisure travel industry, are at their highest price when children are on school vacation.  “Shoulder season” (just before they get out for the summer and just after they go back in the fall) is a bit lower, but the real bargains are to be had when most people are at work and most children are in school – the first week in December is when you’ll find the best rates of the year.  A cabin that may go for $999  per person during the summer can easily be had for $799 during the first week of December.

2.      Sail from a port close to home:  This one’s a no-brainer, the less travel distance to the port, the less expense.  With cruises now sailing from over 20 different US ports, more options are available every year, ask your cruise planner about ports close to you.

3.      Look for itineraries with lots of competition:  When you have several ships sailing similar itineraries during the same season, the pressure for the ships to fill berths is intense.  In the 2014 winter season there will be over 50,000 berths to fill each week in the Caribbean.  Larger groups may be able to use this as leverage in negotiating rates, cruise lines like nothing better than knowing far in advance that their ships will be filled, but don’t expect to negotiate for groups under 50 cabins.

4.      Take advantage of GAP points:  This is not something that will get you free jeans and hoodies.  GAP stands for Group Amenity Points in cruisespeak (like all industries, we have our own language).  Points are assigned to each sailing by the cruise line.  You can use these points to purchase cocktail parties for the group, bottles of wine in cabin, cabin upgrades, dinners in specialty restaurants, etc.)  By booking well in advance (more than one year) you can sometimes take advantage of bonus GAP points above and beyond what you will normally get.   

5.       Consider 3 & 4-night sailings:  In today’s non-stop world, it can be difficult for people to get away for an entire week.  Three and four-night sailings will save you money, keep the excitement level high, and have guests go home wishing for more!

6.     Take full advantage of “free” berths.  For every eight cabins booked in a group, most cruise lines will allow one free berth for a “tour conductor”.  Book 16 cabins and you get two berths for free (two berths is one cabin).  The cruise line will reimburse the value of these berths after the sailing.

Want more money saving tips?  Contact us to help plan your next special event at sea!



Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys If you would like to learn more about event cruises contact her at dorothy@topsailjourneys.com, to learn about river cruise information please see http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com.
 

Get Together, Have Fun & Even Raise Money!

We've covered weddings, family reunions, business groups, workshops, and so forth, but we're not done yet!  Here are a few more ideas to get you thinking about an event at sea.

Theme Cruises

There are an endless number of themes around which you can build an event cruise, virtually any affinity group that regularly gets together (as long as it's legal!) can have their get together on a ship.  Like-minded people enjoy sharing their common interest and exchanging ideas. Groups may be built around celebrities, sports teams, dance enthusiasts, music aficionados, wine connoisseurs ... you name it.  Three of the most popular themes are country music, ballroom dancing and sporting event cruises.  With all members of the group sharing a common interest, sailing is even more fun!  So whether it's devotees of Xena the Warrior Princess, members of Van Gogh's One Eared Society or alumni of a college fraternity, your group will enjoy the varied activities and the affordable pricing of a group cruise.




Executive Retreats

Your top executives can use a sea change!  Fresh sea breezes and salt air seem to generate new ideas, help clear away the everyday smog and build camaraderie amongst your top team.  (Security & privacy are ensured when you're 12 miles away from the nearest land).  Creative thinking, problem resolution or even training programs – cruise programs are executive retreats your top people will look forward to - and they're frequently more affordable than land based retreats.  Ask us and compare pricing!


Charitable Fund Raising

Think of the last fundraiser you were involved in ... another spaghetti dinner in the school cafeteria, a pancake breakfast at the community center, perhaps a cocktail party at a nearby club?  Tried and true fundraising measures, but limited in the amount they can raise - not to mention repetitive.  The same fundraiser year after year.  Let's go beyond the bake sale ... how about a Cruise to Cure Cancer?  An athletic team campaign?  

Did you know that Universities, hospitals and religious organizations regularly motivate donations by earmarking a portion of the cruise price for donation to their non-profit organization.  This can work for your charity too! And there are an almost endless variety of sailings to choose from.  The Caribbean, Alaska, Hawaii, Europe even Asia, you can change the itinerary every year.  Ask us how charitable fund raising with an event cruise works, you'll be surprised at how much it can bring in to your preferred charity!

Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys If you would like to learn more about event cruises contact her at dorothy@topsailjourneys.com, to learn about river cruise information please see http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com.

5 Event Cruises That Will Draw a Crowd

There are so many popular reasons to host an event cruise that I’m going to break this into two blogs, starting with five popular reasons and adding more in the next installment.

1. Family Reunion Cruises

The all-inclusive nature of cruising and the number of different activities, something for all ages from 3 years old to 93 years old, makes this the perfect family reunion option.  And there’s no worry about who is going to accommodate who in their guest bedroom, whether you need to bring an air mattress, who is cooking what on which night, where should to go for a picnic, etc.  It’s all there for you!

2. Wedding Cruises

Similar to family reunions, weddings on board ships have become increasing popular … look at any

wedding forum and you’ll see thousands of posts.  Carnival Cruise Lines alone has over 1200 weddings booked for 2013.  That’s a lot of happy couples! Some cruise ships have wedding chapels on board, others have numerous venues in which a wedding ceremony may be held.  You may even choose to be married on a beach or in another venue in one of the ports If you’re inviting people to attend you wedding, why not invite them to join you in the Caribbean, Europe, even the South Pacific – what a great excuse to attend a wedding!  (Click here for a true story.)

3. Business Meetings

There is no board meeting, sales conference or business planning meeting that isn’t more creative and more fun on a cruise ship.  Not to mention more affordable.  Remember, on land you pay separately for hotel rooms, meeting rooms, coffee break service, meals, equipment rental and entertainment.  On a cruise ship that’s ALL included!  Today’s cruise ships offer meeting planners complimentary use of dedicated conference centers, flexible meeting space and built-in A/V. Creative spaces, fresh sea air and the limitless possibilities of the ocean will lead to “out of the box” thinking and increased camaraderie. 

4. Continuing Education at Sea

Many professions require CEU (Continuing Education Units) in order that an individual remain licensed in their field.  Legal, medical and finance professionals, realtors, teachers, engineers … etc.   For providers of continuing education a seminar-at-sea will increase attendance while boosting satisfaction ratings.  Many professionals use this as a business deduction and bring their families along for the vacation portion, families love ships and required courses can be held during days at sea to maximize time that professionals have to explore various ports.  Continuing education at sea also builds great networks and repeat business for providers.

5. Workshops at Sea

Here the possibilities are endless.  From workshops on search engine optimization, small business accounting, training on computer platforms such as Microsoft Office or Adobe Dreamweaver.  “How to” workshops are also popular: how to improve customer management skills, digital photography abilities, interior design skills, needlework know how, woodworking tips & tricks, financial knowledge for non-financial professionals, dancing workshops, dieting workshops (YES, you can diet on a cruise ship!), yoga & meditation, cake decorating … the list goes on. 

What kind of an event cruise can you come up with?  How can YOU sail for free by developing your own special event group … contact me … or stay tuned!!

Dorothy Flannery is president of Top Sail Journeys If you would like to learn more about event cruises contact her at dorothy@topsailjourneys.com, to learn about river cruise information please see http://cruisethedanube.com and http://cruisetherhine.com.