Planning group cruises and meetings at sea has always been a relatively simple task. This is largely due to the ease of planning that comes with all-inclusive pricing and the convenience of organizing lodging, meeting space, food and beverage, entertainment and décor in one simple process. However, Seasite.com has now made it even easier to plan corporate cruises and meetings on cruise ships with the introduction of their user-friendly planner guides.

These new cruise planning guides go well beyond the typical ship information available to travel planners and include the information that you really need to know when planning functions at sea. These easy-to-use guides include previously unpublished information, such as:

• Capacity of function rooms
• Information about outdoor function venues
• Meeting space grids
• Information about group dining options

This meeting-specific information that is critical to meeting planners and corporate travel planners has never before been made easily available, until now.

Check out Seasite.com’s cruise planning guides the next time you need to plan a meeting or event at sea, and you will see just how simple these online cruise planning tools are to use.

Follow these simple steps to easily access ship information for your next event:

1. Go to Seasite.com.
2. From the home page, click on Meeting Venues.
3. Select a ship from the A-Z ship directory.
4. When the ship details appear, click on Planner’s Guide.

Site-inspecitons are essential to planning a successful meeting.   Marriott.com offers a meeting planning checklist that is comprehensive and helpful,including site inspection.  Here are some things to consider when inspecting a site:

• Virtual tours – don't let distance hold you back.  Many venues offer virtual property tours.
• Guest rooms – try them out.  Ask to see the different categories of rooms to see the actual differences.
• Meeting rooms – How will your setup work? What is the distance from the meeting room to banquet facilities, restrooms and guest rooms. 
• Food and beverage – where is the banquet kitchen located?  What is the F&B minimum?
• Parking facilities – Is there adequate parking if your attendees are driving? Is it secure? What is the cost per day?
• Safety – Get a copy of the venue's safety plan.  Does it cover all your needs?
• Security – Are there in-room safes?  Do elevators require key access so that only registered guests can access the lodging floors?
• A/V - Do they offer the equipment and technology you need for your meeting and for your attendees?  What are the costs?

Do a detailed site inspection to avoid surprises.