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Carnival Saved our wedding from Hurricane Irma


deanrob84
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About 2 weeks ago the panic set in when we realized that Hurricane Irma was going to play a huge role in our wedding for 09/09/2017 on the Carnival Magic. We got a call 2 days prior to sailing after finding out that the ship was going to delay sailing until Wednesday the 13th and that are entire wedding was canceled. Devastated, we went on a mission on how we were going to get married and not let the storm define us or our day. Being locals in Florida we rode out the hurricane with the few guest that made it in (her parents, siblings, and our officiant). We luckily made it through with very minimal damage but 2 miles down the road, it was a different story. There was intense flooding and we spent what was supposed to be the first day enjoying our honeymoon if we were to have gotten married on the 9th, rescuing people from their homes and vehicles. Our wedding took a backseat to helping our neighbors. Wednesday came and we board the ship with no plan or idea how we were going to get married but we did know that we had each other, our officiant and we were going to get married on that ship. We booked a hair appointment for her and went to the photo deck to find someone that could tell us a good spot to have a ceremony and where it would even be allowed. By fate the 1st person we found was our original photographer and he was more than happy to help. After looking at a few lounges that were not what we wanted he showed us a spot that was on the deck overlooking the aft of the ship. He told us that is usually isnt allowed and he has always wanted to do a wedding there but he wanted to try to make it happen. All of a sudden this man is on his phone calling the F&B manager, a wedding hostess, and anyone else that could help. He assembled a dream team that planned an entire wedding in a 2 hours. They immediately went to work and made our cake (smaller than original since our party was drastically smaller), they to our surprise pulled out all the wedding decorations, and they did make that spot on the deck work. This was even more amazing to us because this meant that our aisle went right by the elevators, and to make sure no one interrupted us, they shut down all the aft elevators. This means they shut down a 1/3 of the elevators just for us. The lengths that Carnival went to for us was like something we could have never imagined.

 

Once we did what we could, we ran up to the spa so my wife could get her hair down and OMG they were amazing. After getting ready the photographer introduced another guy and said that he was just helping out. We had no idea that this other person was shooting video of us which turned into the most amazing thing because it was shot so candidly and you see the very real emotion.

 

A ceremony while sailing, on a deck, at the time of an amazing sunset was something that for 1 is not allowed by Carnival, but more importantly for us it was something so beautiful to bring us back together from the nightmare of the week before. I can not think of 1 detail that we would have changed, in fact it was so amazing that we were planning on doing a big ceremony in January when everyone is able to get back down but we know it will never compare to what we ended up with.

 

If you are on the Carnival Magic before October 10th or on the Carnival Dream after December 10th and you need photos for anything find Michael Rivera. This man single-handedly is the most amazing photographer and is actually currently the #1 photographer on Carnival Cruise Lines. He went above and beyond his job as a photographer and become a wedding planner, and we consider him now a good friend.

 

Here is the link to the video they shot for us. It is something we will cherish forever. Thank you Carnival Cruise Lines for truly going the extra mile and turning our nightmare into a picture perfect wedding.

 

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Congratulations to you both. That's the way to take life's lemons and make lemonade! Kudos to Carnival as well. One post like this by far outweighs the complainers.

 

I know that it has been a nightmare for them which is why when everything panned out to be perfect I demanded contact info for any managers and executives I could in order to sing the praise of the company and all the crew involved

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This is probably the best post Ive ever seen on these forums in the 8 years Ive been here. Congratulations to you two! What a wonderful video and GOOD JOB CARNIVAL!

 

Thank you. I give all credit to Carnival. They could have just directed us to do our own thing but instead they took over and exceeded all of our expectations. Earned our business for years to come.

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I forgot to mention the most amazing part of this on behalf of Carnival Before we sailed they refunded us the entire amount for our wedding. They did not charge us for the wedding, the cake, the flowers, the champagne flutes or anything. They even knocked the price of the photos down by almost 50% and as a gift from the photographer he gave us an additional 20x30 canvas print for free. We tried to pay for what we used and no one would take our money.

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I Just watched the beautiful video. Your dress was amazing and you both looked so happy.

 

Carnival was amazing with all the things they did for you.

 

I am sure Carnival has had its hands full with all the rerouting and cancelations in the past week, but they did indeed make your day special.

 

Much happiness in the future and maybe you will be celebrating a milestone anniversary on their ships as we are doing ( Our 50th next year on Carnival Splendor to Hawaii.)

 

Sue

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I'll watch the video when I can grab some tissues (cuz I'm already tearing up), but CONGRATULATIONS in the meantime!

 

 

 

Yep, crying on lunch break at work[emoji24]. Beautiful video, congrats guys! So glad it worked out for you all. You both looked beautiful and happy!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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That is awesome and beautiful! I'm so glad you guys were able to keep your senses about the situation. So many people want to give up, but you didn't!! You both looked amazing! And yes, your bride was beautiful, but I have to say, I love your tie! LOL! I always buy funky ties for my husband, and my dad when he was still working, and now my son. I know it's not really "funky," but purple is my favorite color and I like the bright purple & green! Congrats to you both, best wishes for many years to come!

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