Carnival is a popular cruise line for family gatherings and large groups. As such, you might wonder how to link your reservations together for a seamless cruise experience.
While not required, linking Carnival cruise reservations can help make dining arrangements easier and let the cruise line know you're traveling with a large group.
Each stateroom and travel party has a specific reservation number, so Carnival doesn't know which cabins belong to the same group unless they’re linked. The reservation number can be found on the invoice from Carnival Cruise Line or your travel agent.
If you can't find the email, try logging into your Carnival account and going to "Booking & Order Details." The reservation number will be about a quarter down the page below "Your Bookings."
There are three ways to link reservations
Hopefully, getting the necessary information won't take too long, but linking reservations is pretty simple once you have it.
There are three ways you can link reservations based on how you booked. First, you can have your travel agent do the work for you. That's right! Another perk of booking with a credible agent is that they can handle linking reservations.
Not only that but they can make specialty dining and shore excursion reservations on everyone's behalf, giving you more time to focus on packing and handling other pre-cruise arrangements.
If you did not book with an agent, no worries. You can actually link reservations yourself through Carnival's Cruise Manager. To do so, you must know your e-mail address/username and password. If you forgot you either, it's easy to reset through the log-in portal.
Once you've obtained your username and password, go ahead and log into your Carnival VIFP Club account. From, there, navigate to the "Booking & Order Details" tab and scroll down until you see "Missing Someone? Invite them to be your Cruise Companion!"
This will send an e-mail invitation to the other party or parties in your group, allowing them to link their reservations to yours. Your bookings will be linked once they accept the invitation.
Finally, you can call a Carnival representative. One advantage to having a representative link the reservations is that you can verbally confirm everyone's dinner seating.
When you call, make sure you have everyone's reservation numbers and e-mails handy!
What are the benefits of linking reservations?
Let's assume that your family of four is traveling with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents for a summer vacation. Most likely, each group will have their own cabin and reservation number, though you all are traveling together.
As such, Carnival will assume that each reservation is a separate party, which can lead to confusion when trying to sit together in the dining room.
Before your cruise, you may also want to plan shore excursions for everyone or surprise one couple with an afternoon of relaxation in the spa.
Though everyone could technically book the same shore excursion, having one person in charge of making all the reservations simplifies the process and helps the group determine which tours have enough availability.
Similarly, if you’re planning a family dinner at one of the specialty restaurants, linking your reservations allows you to make a single booking for the entire group, rather than dealing with separate reservations for parties of two, four, etc.
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
