life_dizzy

Hi life_dizzy,

 

Thanks for the review. I also read your detailed review here and it was very helpful.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=258054

 

I am planning to get married May 2016 at Ocho Rios (either beach site or Shaw Park) and want to go through Carnival Breeze. Only thing I am worried about is the photographer and the quality of photographs. I have read mixed reviews and mostly negative.

 

Would you please share some pics that your got through Carnival?

 

Did they take pre wedding pictures of bride and groom, getting ready with the wedding party etc ? How about reception pictures? How were the decorations for the wedding site and reception? Did they provide a videographer for ceremony and reception?

 

Oh and how about makeup hair artists? Did they have that on board?

 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

jdb

Here is a link to some photos:

http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/HaleyJane26/library/

Most of the wedding ones on this site were taken by Carnival, but not all of them. They did pre-wedding pics of ME getting ready, but not the groom. I did not have a reception, but they allowed me to take pictures after the wedding on the beach AND back on the ship. The ceremony decorations were done through a 3rd party vendor. The color was not exactly as I had specified, but we were happy with it. I had picked out a photo and sent them for the chair covers and alter, and they did it exactly as I had specified. They were a little hard to get hold of, but they always called me back in a timely manner. There was an option for a videographer with Carnival, but we could not afford that expense. I know you can also just go straight through the 3rd party for everything and it would be a little cheaper. However, for me, it was not worth the hassle or worry!! Also, Carnival got with me during the cruise twice before the ceremony to square away details and times to meet up and explain the process.

I did my own hair and makeup. I believe there was some information in the package about paying for them to do it, but I am not sure. You could also contact the salon on board to see what their prices would be for a trial and day-of option.

The photographer followed me from getting ready until we were completely done. They did a few candid photos, as well as directed photos. They printed most of the photos, then we chose what we wanted to buy. Not sure when you are getting married (beginning or end), but since we waited until the last day to purchase the photos, they gave us a big discount.

Feel free to ask me any more questions!

I was on Carnival last year and I'm using their size restrictions for measuring my bags for Royal. Last year, my bigger carry on was 24L x 16w and the port handlers tried to tell me it would not fit. It fit in the scanner with room to spare. I only carried on a bigger one last year because it had all my wedding stuff. But I am not a light packer at all, so may end up bringing the bigger one again next month!

I hadn't checked in a while, but I noticed today when I looked that they finally changed the FAQ online and it no longer includes the statement about the doctor's note. I am glad, because now I don't have to bother my doctor with it for my sailing next month!

I know Royal is probably different from Carnival...but we were on Carnival for NYE last year. They did NOT change NYE to formal night...they called it an "optional formal" night. Most people dressed up though, so there were basically 3 formal nights instead of just two.

Thanks everyone for the replies! I may just wait until we get there to see how I feel at that time.

I will be on the Allure docked at Crown bay. We booked an excursion to go over to St. John, but I am wondering if that long boat ride from the ship to St. John is really rough? I will be 13 weeks pregnant, and not sure if I want to go all the way over to St. John if it will be too rough. Will it just depend on the waters that day?? Can anyone share their experience if they thought it was fine or if it was pretty rough?

I'm sure we can help. List off the steps you take and what happens

I just called them again a little while ago and she said they are having some website issues today (what's new)...but that she would send an email to an administrator because she can't get into it from her end either (which has been the same for every person I've talked to).

When I was able to get in my reservation before, I always logged in and went to My Cruises. Since I haven't been able to get in (it started Sept 26), 3 different reps have told me not to login anymore, but only to use the "before you board" tab and select online check-in or countdown to cruise instead. Each time I try to login, or go to the links on the Before you Board tab, I get one these two errors:

"We're sorry, but we are unable to retrieve your booking information at this time. For assistance, please call 866-562-7625"

and

"We are currently unable to process your request. Please try again later"

I get the first one more often.

Today, she asked me to create a new login name and move the reservation to that account, and it gave the same error (top one). That's when she said she would send the email to an administrator for me...

Clear your cache on your browser or use a different browser. Yes, I know a major pain but this usually will fix the issue based on past experiences.

If you are sailing in 2 months and can't get on your reservation online, something is wrong. Try dumping your cookies first and if that doesn't work, a different browser.

I've done all of the above! I have tried 3 different browsers, and I always clear out all my history, cookies, cache, everything! I can't think of anything else to clear at this point. Thanks for the tips though

Don’t know if this info was discussed in another thread, if so, just ignore it.

 

We’re on the December sailing of the Allure and on our roll call, a cruiser from Australia said they received an email from RCI stating that the sailing time for Allure has been moved from 5 PM to 4:30 PM for all future Fort Lauderdale sailing starting in mid-November 2014 until 2016. No-one else from the roll call received the same email from Royal (including myself) and just today as I went into my account to complete the check-in cruise info, I now see that our December sailing time has indeed been moved up to 4:30 PM.

 

As a final test, I also checked Oasis with some other sailing dates in 2015 and they all say 4:30 sailing time.

 

In theory it should have minimal impact on most cruisers as everyone should have been aboard way before the new all aboard time of 3:30 PM but just a heads up for those brave souls that have a flight into town the day of the cruise, now you have 30 minute less window to get on board. Or it might also impact those Allure cruisers that flies in the day before the cruise and walking over to the inlet to watch the Oasis sail off, you now need to be there earlier.

 

Guess the benefit would be there is less of a rush to get ready for the early dinner after the sail away party ends.

I am on the Dec 7th sailing. I got an email the other day saying the time was changed from 5pm to 4:30pm.

And what happens when you can't get into your reservation to print off any of your documents? I'm all about electronic documents and all that. But I have not been able to access my reservation online for a little while now. I can't complete online check in. I can't see my cruise planner, I can't print any documents once they become available...I can't do anything online!!

Of course, they tell me every time I call that it's fixed now and I should be able to get in. I have not had success yet, and they seem to have no solution except asking me to call back the next day every time. I understand they have some IT issues, but it's taking away from the fun of planning and getting ready for it when you can't see any of your details! Not the best first impression for RCI for me personally.

I was in the middle of completing my online check-in on Friday but had to call them to change my husband's first name (he goes by his middle name)...when I called, she was able to change his name on her end, but then apparently their system went down suddenly and now I cannot access my reservation at all. I CAN get to the cruise planner via the home page of RCI, but not the actual reservation.

On Friday, they told me the same thing about getting it unlocked by IT(which they did immediately)and then asked me to try to access it again the next day when that didn't work. Well, I tried again today and I'm not able to get in. I just called them again and the guy I spoke with went through the steps and then said he could see where others have stated that their clients can't get into the system. Then he said there was a note that the system is down and IT is working on it.

Has anyone else gotten in successfully in the past few days?? I think it's kind of weird that it didn't happen until I was in the middle of my online check-in, but maybe it was just bad timing...

Mine was a Sottero & Midgley. It is not beachy AT ALL with all the beading, but I just love my bling!! :D

I decided that we need to do an anniversary cruise in a few more years just so I can wear it again for a vow renewal haha!

I didn't do Montego Bay, but we did Ocho Rios. It was beautiful, but I wished it could have been at a different location. I wanted the Grand Cayman myself, but they would not do it on a holiday, so I settled for Jamaica. It's going to be beautiful either way, but The Caymans are my favorite :)

Vote for Stingray City right here...there was rum punch served on ours. Laid back, but fun!

I agree with Stingray City. It was our favorite excursion of our cruise! Laid back and fun. Learned a lot about stingrays!

We did Dolphinaris and had a good time. We booked through Carnival. Getting TO the place was complete chaos. However, once we got there, the place itself was very well organized and laid back. Very fun time for us! We each bought one picture, as they were $30 each! I attached one of the photos we bought. It also came with a few generic dolphin photos that were pretty. I think it was well worth the $150 each.

If it's within a few days after final payment date, you would only lose your deposit. I doubt that they would extend the payment, but you could always call and ask.

Could you consider moving the cruise to January instead? Or later in December for a later payment date? If nothing else, perhaps you could move it to a later date cruise, and then if you find out you aren't buying the home, move it back to the one you want and make full payment right then. Of course, then you would have to pay current prices though.

You will be eating somewhere during the cruise, and my understanding is that the wait staff rotates throughout the cruise at both the MDR and buffet and misc venues throughout the week. By leaving the gratuities in place, you ensure that the wait staff, wherever you eat, is covered.

Are you not planning to eat at all? The waitstaff rotates around to the various venues. If you do not pre-pay your gratuities and have them charged daily on the ship do you remove the ones when you do not eat in the MDR?

I am not planning on removing any of them. I just wondered where it went. I did not realize that they rotate the staff in that way, so that makes sense. Personally, I feel like the gratuities charged are barely enough, so I will always try to give more when I can. These people put in a LOT of work to try to make us all happy. Like I said, I am not planning on removing them if I don't eat at a particular place; I was just curious :)

I understand the rationale behind prepaid gratuities for My Time Dining, as you may end up with a different wait staff every night. But what happens to the $6.80 pp/pd amount if you choose not to eat in the MDR at all during the whole cruise? Or even if you only eat there only some of the nights?

Going on the Allure on Oct 5 and have a chance at taking a D1 Guarantee. I would be moving from a D7 to D1 at a cost of $170 per person, worth it??

If I'm not mistaken, the biggest difference is location and size of balcony. If you want a D1 location, or a bigger balcony and you can afford it, go for it. But if those things aren't all that important, I would stick with the D7's lower price and enjoy!

My first one was just this past New Year's! We got married on Carnival Breeze on New Year's Eve. Cost (for cruise only) was $979pp for balcony and the port fees were about $100pp. We are doing an anniversary cruise that is NOT even on the holiday, but it is way more expensive than that one was because it's on the Allure! Can't wait!!

That makes sense as the other day they moved thanksgiving to the new year.

I saw that one, too. I searched in December and January, and it showed a "Thanksgiving Cruise" haha

I'm new to cruising and Cruise Critic. I posted in my roll call weeks ago and not one person responded to my post, just skipped over, while other posts were talking back and forth.... doesn't feel very friendly to me...

This is probably going to sound weird...but maybe add a signature of some kind...a countdown or something. The reason I say this is that I noticed I started to get more responses when I added mine. And now I can see why...I sometimes find in the midst of all these posts with signatures, I end up scrolling right past the ones without a signature. Not on purpose of course...it just blends in too much sometimes. Just a suggestion. Happy cruising!

Maybe their website uses Common Core to calculate totals.

HAHA!! Probably! :p

I don't know, it seems roll calls digress into chit chat about local weather, family talk, etc.. not about the cruise. Then you have to wade through hoping to find something useful

 

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I agree somewhat. I don't mind it in small doses, but I prefer to learn as much as I can about the actual cruise/ship/excursions, since I've only been on one cruise, and I haven't been on RCCL yet.

Ours for December 7th on Allure has 646 posts...It has been pretty active the past couple of months, and now that we've hit double digits, I think everyone is extra ready!!