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Steve described it very nicely.
The best thing is to work with your agent and have them describe all the things that are available to your group.
Sometimes the cruise line will offer group specials to lower the 1 for 15 Tour Credit (TC), depending on the time of year and what's available. Other times, the cruise line is not allowing any groups, which means you can still book the cabins but won't get any group amenities. Or it's possible that they have already sold their allocated group space.
As was stated, the 1 for 15 TC is not really a 'free cruise', as is often misunderstood. And it's based on the major number of cabins sold. For example; if you purchased 4 inside cabins, 6 oceanview cabins, and 5 balcony cabins, the TC would be based on the basic cruise fare for the oceanview cabin (not counting non-commissionables and taxes). This TC can be used towards the payment of the cruise for the group leader or used to decrease the cost of everyone's cruise - your choice, not the agent's.
Each cruise line offers different options for groups, so it's best to check each of them out to determine which one works best for you.
Best advice is to plan as early as possible to insure you get the best pricing and amenities for your group. There are alot of things to consider and it's best to work with someone who has alot of experience with groups as they can often be extremely challenging, especially to those not use to handling groups.
And there are also those who book group space that you can book into and still get all the advantages of a group without actually having a group yourself. For example; (and I'm not trying to toot our horn - just giving an example) but Cruise Planners pre-books over 30,000 cabins annually into group space. Should you book one of those cabins, you get all the group amenities even though you are only booking one cabin. So, sometimes it can benefit you to check around and see who has group space already booked. This can be especially important if all the group space has been sold and you can't get any group amenities because it's too late.
Pete
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