Kiddie5

We are sailing on the NCL Star in June out of Venice, Italy.  We are scheduled to be in Kotor from 3:00pm to 8:00pm.  Kotor is a tender port.  Does anyone know how long it takes for the tender to get from the ship to the dock??  And, more importantly, what time is the last tender back to the ship??  We are trying to plan our day, but we want to make sure that there is enough time to do it.  Thank you for any help you can give me.

We just got off the Aug. 28th sailing of the Solstice. My husband loves craft beers! He had the classic package and loved all of the Alaska brewing company beers, especially the amber and the I.P.A. There is no need to upgrade to the Premium package unless you want Sam Adams or Heinekin or draft beer. He thinks that the Alaska beers were far better than those two. You can get the Alaska beers at all the bars.

I got married on the Paradise on March 8th out of Tampa. We also had to be at the port between 10:00 and 10:15. We stayed overnight at the Holiday Inn Express at Rocky Point, and so did our wedding party as well as the out of town guests. We hired "Beauty Brought Out". She came to the hotel and did hair and makeup for me, and hair for my two bridesmaids. She arrived at 6:00am and everyone was done and ready to board the shuttle for the ride to the cruise port by 9:15. She charges $75 for hair or make up(airbrush with fake eyelashes). But, she had a minimum of 4 services. You will find that ALL of the Tampa hair and make up people that you want to come to your house or hotel will have a minimum. My review of her (Juliesa sp?) is that she was prompt, had everything she needed, and did an excellent job on my hair and makeup. It lasted all day through the wedding, reception, windy deck and dinner. I got a lot of compliments on both my hair and make up. And, my hair is very fine and very straight and I was surprised that it held up as well as it did.

Karen

The cost for the photos goes on your Sign and Sail Card which is connected to your credit card. So, if a guest is paying for them for you, the cost will go on their card. So, if you want anything over what they are paying for you could put the difference on yours. But, maybe you will be able to stay in your budget. I couldn't! LOL

Karen

You put the cost of the photos on your Sign and Sail card. This is connected to your credit card, which you then pay off as the bills come to your house. Make sure you have a high enough limit/space available on your credit card to buy the photos you want. When you see them you will want more than you think!! The coffee table book is WONDERFUL, but expensive.

Karen

We did negotiate the price of the coffee table book. It started at $1800. If it is as well made as ours, it is a must have. Airbrushing and photo layout will make you look beautiful. The quality is also superb. You could always put the difference in cost on a credit card if you want it. Keep you options open. Like I said, I was positive I would not buy it. LOL I will post some photos on Saturday when I get some free time. Check back then.

Karen

Hi,

I just got married on the Carnival Paradise on March 8, 2014. It was fabulous!. We got married in the Normandie Lounge. I would suggest this room because the bride makes a grand entrance down the staircase. Everyone was crying with joy! I was nervous, exicited and trying to be careful not to fall! We had our reception in the Rex Disco. We had the DJ. He was fine, but not anything remarkable or memorable. But, he did get our dance songs correct and that is all that mattered. The reception food was delicious and beautiful and plentiful. There were many compliments on the variety and taste of everything as well as the presentation. Our cake had four layers, and each layer was a different flavor. We had coconut with coconut cream - awesome, lemon with lemon cream- yummy, carrot cake with cream cheese - delicious, and chocolate with chocolate cream - mmmm! There was a lot of leftover cake from the bottom layer and it was served to us in the dining room for dinner for 2 more nights. (then we shared it with other tables around us). We had 90 at our wedding including us. 47 sailed and the rest left the ship. It was so much fun to continue partying and celebrating for the next five days. We felt like celebrities. Doing the Newleywed Game Show with all of our friends cheering for us was a blast. We also planned group shore excursions in both ports. All in all it was a beautiful day, a fabulous wedding, a super fun cruise and I would definitely reccommend it to others.

Karen

Hi all,

I just got married on the Carnival Paradise on March 8, 2014. It was wonderful! The ship's photographer took pictures at the wedding, the reception and after the reception. The wedding pictures were both posed and just captured. The reception pictures were informal. The pictures after the reception were posed. I felt like a model must feel, and the photographer was very professional and knew what he was doing. We took a lot of shots of the two of us. A couple of days after the wedding he called us into the ship's library to look through all the photos and to choose a package that we wanted. The prices were as stated in the Carnival photo brochure. The reception pictures were printed as 5x7's, all others were 8x10's. He also had made a dvd show with music that he played for us! We loved it! Then, he showed us a coffee table book that he had put together with photos of his choosing. We had already decidied on the package that we wanted before seeing the photos, but....the coffee table book was SPECTACULAR!!! So, we decided to buy the photo book for $1000 and went up a level in the photo package so we could get the dvd show as well as two canvases and all the pictures I wanted. It was a lot of money, but I am so happy. Everyone I show the coffee table book to is amazed at how good it is. We received everything the last night of the cruise, so I was able to show off my pictures right away. I compared the cost of my entire photo package including 5x7's, 8x10's, DVD, 2 canvases and coffee table book for $2500 to my friend who recently got married. She paid $1600 for the services of the photographer and $500 for the flashdrive and rights to the photos. So, for $2100 she now has to print everything herself. So, although we spent about $1100 more than we were planning, I am very happy that I got all that I did. If you are getting married on the Paradise, maybe you will get our photographer Michalaus too!!

Only one week and one day until our Carnival Paradise wedding! This next week we will be tieing up all the last minute details. But, all of the big stuff is done. I'm excited but I also have that nervous anticipation feeling. Time is flying by, the engagement has gone by so quickly. I'm looking forward to the big day. I hope everything goes smoothly and that we have a wonderful wedding and cruise.

Please send me the templates as well. Thank you very much!

Karen

kiddie5@verizon.net

Wedding date 3/8/14 on the Paradise