I had my travel agent contact Carnival to make a special reservation. I told her the date, time, and number of seats we wanted reserved. She recieved a comfirmation (that she forwarded to me) from Carnival's Group Event Planner who had contacted the ships event planner. I am expecting a call from the ships event planner 5-6 weeks before we sail to re-confirm and collect payment. It wasnt a hard process for me since I had my TA, not sure how it would go without one.