How does the room block deposit work? 

Below you will find example terms, but please bear in mind that terms can vary based on the resort, how many rooms you require and seasonality. 

Resorts will typically require an initial deposit of $100 per room for an *average size wedding. For example, if you would like to carve out an initial room block for 20 rooms, the initial downpayment would be $2,000. With this, the wedding couple receives one room for themselves and 19 rooms for their guests. The wedding couple will select their personal room category, travel dates and optional travel insurance and they will receive an invoice showing their deposit and remaining balance on their room if there is one. If the cost of the deposit exceeds the cost of their own room, they can either opt to have the overage refunded to them after the room block is complete (usually in the few months leading up to travel) or they can apply their deposit to family member or friend's rooms.

How do the guest deposits work?

Guests will then have their own deposit to place in order to secure their room. For an *average size wedding, the guest deposit is typically $100-$200 per person depending on the resort. We always try to make the guest deposit refundable prior to the final payment date; however, there are certain resorts where the guest deposit is non-refundable. The final payment date for all rooms is typically 3-4 months pre-travel, again depending on the resort and size of the group. 

If a guest does not pay for their room by the final payment date, does the wedding couple get charged?

The short answer is that with Coral Tide Travel as your travel agency, you will never be charged for any of your guests unpaid rooms. You are contracting us to manage your room block, and we work individually with each guest to make sure they are comfortable with their payment plan. In the event that a guest(s) is not able to pay for their room, that room will be released back to the resort prior to any attrition deadlines in your room block contract. However, it is important to note that if you book a room block directly through the resort or with certain travel agents, they might not assume this responsibility and therefore it is not uncommon to see other couples (not Coral Tide couples) who end up footing the bill for unpaid rooms in their room block contract. 

What is the minimum number of rooms to form a group booking/room block? 

Depending on the resort and seasonality, there is typically a minimum of 10 rooms to form a room block. There are resorts and seasons that will allow as small as 6 rooms. If you drop below the minimum number of rooms by the deposit date, we would simply cancel the group booking and re-book you and your guests as individual travelers. Please note you may be subject to different rates/ inventory and you would lose your room/ flight comps in this scenario. It is extremely rare for a group to not meet their minimum and we are always able to work with the resort to come up with a solution. 

*In most cases, an average size wedding is referring to up to 30-40 rooms. If you require more rooms than this, some resorts will require a larger initial downpayment. Please discuss with your Destination Wedding Specialist if this is the case, as there are workarounds.