CruiserTB

On 11/7/2022 at 5:39 AM, Chrish2 said:

@Pacoduck your link is the first that spells something rememberable (JoKE)!

 

I've swept the above codes into the spreadsheet

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UaItklpqBLClAiCNxN9I32iSRXM4x0rQWND-jUjwGzc/edit#gid=0

Hi would you be able to add mine to the spreadsheet?

December 11-17, 2022

Western Caribbean Charm
Miami • Roatán • Costa Maya • Beach Club at Bimini • Miami
https://virg.in/JSnF

December 11-17, 2022

Western Caribbean Charm
Miami • Roatán • Costa Maya • Beach Club at Bimini • Miami

https://virg.in/JSnF

Thought I would should show you guys what our invites look like. We decided to skip save the dates and we send these out about 11 months before the cruise. We were worried if we sent them out sooner people would think it was February 2016 not 2017. Let's see if this photo works!

 

[ATTACH]392144[/ATTACH]

 

Todd is in media and designed these based off of someone else's we liked.

Yeah those are nice. I'm looking at something similar for my invitations. that's if i can ever get these STDs finished :D

We just got our Save the Dates! 04/21/2017 on the Carnival Victory!

 

These look great. :D I'm almost finished with mine, the design is done and printed but I need to actually assemble them. It's actually turning into more work than expected so I'm definitely going to order invitations.

I said Yes to the Dress yesterday! :D So happy. I went to stores in NYC & throughout NJ and each time thought I'd just end up settling for something that was ok (although Kleinfeld's had a very nice one that I almost went with). In the end though, this little boutique near me had the perfect dress for me. Sooo happy. :D

Cruise Report Subtitle:

(There are lines for everything, that’s why it’s called a “Cruise Line”)

Cruisers: Me, DH, DD19 and DS19, several cruises under our belts but first time Royal.

 

Drove in from Michigan and stayed in Parsippany (Free night Marriott Rewards) the night before.

 

Arrived at the terminal around 9:40, dropped off luggage, parked, checked in and had our butts in chairs in row 6 by 10:05, very smooth process. Then the announcement was made that boarding was going to be delayed until 12:00-12:30 ugh! The terminal started filling up with no more seats available. The Royal employees asked all the later arrivals to fill in the space toward the back. Well, people had other ideas and apparently rules that just applied to them and they were filling in the aisle ways thinking that when the sections were called they would just file in right behind the folks that were already sitting in the rows. Since this isn’t Royal’s first rodeo they cordoned off the rows preventing the scofflaws from weaseling their way in. When a section was called for boarding they then filled it in with the folks who were standing in the back.

 

We were on the ship by 12:05, grabbed a glass of champs and headed straight to the I-Pads on deck five to book Ripcord. I was only able to get one reservation for this online before the cruise. I had no problem getting three more once boarding. So if you can’t get a reservation ahead of time get onboard early and make it a priority.

 

We then made our way to Café 270 for lunch and witnessed a wedding! After we were done eating we walked around the ship for a few moments ended up at the SeaPlex where we rode the bumper cars. Other than the Puzzle Room this would be my one and only visit to this area. My kids who are 19 didn’t spend much time in there either as they said it was a pre-teen, teen hangout and there were lines for everything. The 30 minute limit for the XBOX was never observed. Apparently there were several kids on this cruise that never learned how to share and were very entitled. It wasn’t that big of a deal to my kids so they just moved on. I think the 18-20 crowd is a hard age because they aren’t in high school anymore but they are not 21 yet.

 

We then went to our staterooms and unpacked, two inside staterooms on deck 10. Good location and felt very little ship movement. The only downside was the ROCK HARD beds. Normally I sleep really well on a ship but those beds are ridiculous. Must have been a cost cutting measure, Royal really dropped the ball here. We changed into our suits and went up to deck 14 for sail-away.

HOT! 97 degrees! It was a scorcher and sail-away was delayed not sure they exact time we left but I have a pic under the Verazzano Bridge at 5:02. After getting by the bridge the Northstar opened up and we rode it. There was some kind of malfunction while we were up and the pod dropped slightly. Operator said it was due to the way the ship was turning. Once we were back down they had a hard time realigning the pod to the docking area. We had reservations later in the week which we then cancelled because once was enough. Sorry Northstar fans but I think it is overrated.

 

We then headed to the Flowrider. My kids have ridden a Flowrider at a waterpark and have taken surfing lessons in Hawaii. They absolutely loved the Flowrider and rode it several times both stand-up and boogie boarding. The crew working the Flowrider were very patient and helpful. My husband did the boogie board on the last day. I enjoyed watching him wipeout!

We went to the Welcome Aboard Show……boring. John Blair (my mom said if you don’t have anything nice to say don’t say it at all….. so we will leave it at that.) We had dinner at the Grande, Surf and Turf which was a filet and two measly shrimp, our filets were cooked perfectly medium. Also we each got a lobster tail. Delicious! Best meal on the ship. Had dessert every night and the scale has reflected that! We enjoyed all the desserts. In general we were happy with most of the food. We went for a walk on deck 5 after dinner. This is one of the things I don’t care for on the Anthem, not a lot of openness to the sea. I get that this was designed for cold weather sailings but the Solarium should have had a retractable roof and the indoor pool’s roof was only open the last day in Bermuda.

 

End of Day 1

Can you tell me more about the wedding you witnessed? Was 270 decorated for a wedding or did it look the same? Were there a lot of non-guests walking in and out of 270? Anything else you recollect. Thanks.:D

I haven't decided on the exact dress but it will be traditional. I went dress shopping for the first time last week and will be going next weekend to Kleinfelds so I'm excited about that. :D

I'm also planning on doing decorations for the venues but it will be minimal, especially at the ceremony site Two70 which is beautiful and doesn't really need anything.

Right now I'm working on the STD's. I'm making luggage tags based off an idea another bride on these boards had. Hopefully they'll be done this weekend and I'll be able to share pics. :D

I think we have pretty much selected the additional options we want to add to the reception. Royal doesn't really give you much with their included wedding package unlike Carnival so it seems like everything is an added cost. :rolleyes:

Hey guys, so I am looking at a May 2017 wedding with RC on Grandeur of the Seas. Every call with them has been nothing but "I'll send you a brochure", I finally flipped out and asked if they want to proceed because I have the brochure and would like to move forward. So now I am working with a travel agent who will hopefully take care of all the communication problems we're having. I am meeting with her today and if all my questions can be answered then I am ready to sign any paperwork.

 

So, my questions are... what should I be asking? What should I be looking for? I've seen so many negative reviews on here, is it worth doing?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!!

The first thing you should do is figure out what type of cruise wedding you want: 1)embarkation (first day in the home part) 2)at sea or 3)at one of the destination ports for your cruise.

Once you figure that out, you need to find an available date. If you're tied to any day in May this shouldn't be too difficult. My suggestion is to call the wedding cruise line after you selected a date and ask them if this date is available for the type of wedding you want. (I did not do this, I picked my date, & booked my room the same day they were released but didn't call the wedding cruise line to book the wedding package til a few days later and by then they were all booked up for weddings so I had to cancel my original booking and re-book for a different date).

After you pick out your date and find that it's available for your wedding, you then need to book a room on the cruise. You don't have to pay for the room in full but you do need to make a deposit. The wedding department will not let you book a wedding package until you have booked your room on the cruise.

After you book the room and have your booking number you then call the wedding department and give them your booking number and they will then send you the contract to sign. Once you sign the contract and send it back they'll review it to make sure they can accommodate you. It typically takes a couple of days.

Once they approve your contract they will contact you and you will have to immediately pay the full price of the wedding package you selected. This will reserve your wedding.

After you pay they will send you a receipt and give you the name of your wedding coordinator who will set up a meeting with you to discuss specifics.

Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions. :D Royal's wedding department doesn't really reveal much information until after you've booked the cruise and can provide them with a booking number.

Well I've been gone for a minute due to spotty internet access at work which I'm happy to say has now been resolved. :D

FH came back, he had a good time & took lots of pictures which I haven't seen yet. I'll go through them this weekend and post some from the venues.

Turns out it's a good thing that I had him take pictures of the venues because they switched us from Two70 to the Music Hall.:mad: When my wedding coordinator Stephanie told me this morning I was upset but then after speaking with her about the switch she informed me that I can still have the wedding ceremony in Two70 and then move to the Music Hall for the reception. After talking it over with FH we are happy with this arrangement, since now instead of changing over the room, we can just walk down to the Music Hall and the reception area will already be set up. :D

I'm also going to attach the Anthem Info Sheet here, which is what Stephanie sent me as my available additional options. The other thing she sent me was a simple excel document where I need to list the names of all the non-sailing guests and their IDs but we have a bit of time left before I need to collect these.

Anthem Wedding Info Sheet.pdf

I have Stephanie. She's pleasant. The difficulty for me has been getting her on the phone. I find she's very responsive to e-mails and gets back to me quickly. However, if you miss your call appointment time or try to call back and ask follow-up questions, it's hard to catch her and often I'm left with her voicemail and she doesn't call back. However she does answer e-mails so that's good.

Well FH returns home from the cruise tomorrow. A heads up to anyone who has T-mobile, he has been able to text me every day. The signal is spotty in some places but it still works. :D

about 70-75 people

 

it seems like extreme low numbers have the library in 270, next amount up is boleros, then music hall, then main 270 (could be wrong on all of this)

 

we have sailed quantum and like the music hall, no idea how they are going to setup the seating for ceremony though

That seems about right. We'll be in the main 270. We saw pictures of people in the library in 270 and they had about 10-15 guests.

Ok so FH leaves tomorrow on the 5 night anthem to Bermuda. In addition to taking pics of boleros & music hall as well as scoping out any weddings going on I wanted him to check out some beaches. I've settled on Warwick Long Beach and Horseshoe bay. Hopefully either of those he'll find good for our post-wedding pictures :D

What beach is that in the picture? I'm trying to find a really nice beach location to take pictures.:D

getting married embarkation day 10-20-16 on anthem. have music hall for venue (based on number of people). excited/nervous!

music hall on anthem is so pretty. It has an upper and lower level. How many people are you having?

Sounds cool! Have him take pics of Boleros please! Oh and have him scope out those in wedding dresses...:) Haven't seen any Anthem brides on these boards....

Will do. I already instructed him to check if there's an embarkation wedding on his sailing and also look for a good beach to take pictures on. :D

So a small update.

I fired my personal wedding planner. She's nice and if we were having a land vacation I would have kept her. But she really let me down with the cruise date and as we move further along she really hasn't helped the way I thought she would and because we have such limited options with a cruise wedding I just decided it would be best to end our arrangement.

Sooo, it's just going to be me & FH with the planning. I expect my mom to help as well since she's retired and wouldn't mind.

Also, FH and his mom are going on the 5 night Bermuda cruise next month on Royal's Anthem. So they're doing our wedding cruise only a year early. FH's mom lives in Bayonne only a short distance away from the ship. Soo my plan is to have FH scope out everything in Bermuda so we have a better idea of what to do. I'm happy he's going with her, especially since it was last minute. It will be a good opportunity to check everything out. :D:cool:

Love the pic and the update Mona! Can't wait to hear all about it.:D

Just a quick check in. If you are thinking of getting married on the ship, just do it. Full review when I get back, but this has been the most amazing experience.

 

Awe yay! Congratulations! You look beautiful and happy!:D

Just FYI. Whether or not your non sailing guest will be allowed on the ship that early is at the mercy of customs. I'm surprised she said anything can happen that early...

Ooh thanks good to know. :D

Another update.

I contacted Jillian via e-mail on 5/3 to ask her these 3 questions:

1. How long does the ceremony + reception last?

2. What time will non-sailing guests need to leave the ship?

3. How do we authorize a liaison to speak with the wedding planner on our behalf? We have a wedding planner who is helping us and would like her to be able to speak with the event planner as well?

She responded back today 5/5/16 stating:

Your package allows up to 3 hours for your ceremony and reception. Any non-sailing guests are typically escorted off the ship around 3:30 PM. This means that your ceremony would likely start no later than 11:30 AM.

Once you have your initial meeting with your event planner, she will be able to provide you with the third-party waiver allowing your event planner to contact us directly to make any additions or changes to your wedding plans

Oh. Some pictures. :)

 

Oh wow everything looks great. and I love the dress, you look so happy. :D

Update! Jillian wrote yesterday and apologized but she hasn't been in the office. FH called her yesterday and made the payment so we're all set!. We have a call set up with Stephanie on July 22. :D

In other news my entire house caught a stomach virus over the weekend so everything was at a stand still. We're finally on the mend.

Today I sent an e-mail out to my family & friends with all the details of the wedding and FH will do the same.

Well still haven't been able to pay for the wedding. I tried contacting the lady who sent me the invoice but the number she provided led me to another person's voicemail. I left a message as well as e-mailed her yesterday. Today I've called off and on all day. My FH called and left a voicemail today as well. Tried calling the main number too but the phone just rings and rings, noone is picking up. :(

You won't pay a single supplement on the studio. I booked this once for 5 people and I think the price charged for the single in the studio was the same as the 3rd and 4ths in the rooms.

Great thanks.:D

I did the Family Conected Jr Suite on Anthem - with 2 adults and a child in the Jr Suite, 1 adult and a child in the balcony, and 1 adult in the inside cabin.

 

For us it worked out, if you want privacy - just close the door to the corridor.

 

But, be warned, the interior cabin is a studio interior and is very small, as is the bed. Two kids in that bed might be a problem. However, both the Jr suite and the balcony had a pull out couch (or ours did).

 

Also, when they book it - they actually do three bookings and might not allow two kids alone in one cabin, so you might have to book it differently with one child on a pullout couch, and a grandparent and a child in the balcony, and a grandparent in the interior, which is not such a bad thing as one child would be priced as a 3rd in a cabin.

Ok this makes sense. In actuality the 4 year old will be sleeping in the jr. suite with us. There's no way he's sleeping in the room with his sister. :D I just wanted to avoid paying any sort of single supplement because in total there would be 6 of us but if the interior room is a studio I guess that wouldn't apply.:confused:

Yeah I think you all are right. For the amount I'm saving I can probably purchase drink packages for me and FH and while I liked having a suite before for the extra touches like surprise snacks in the room, it's not worth it. Plus I doubt we'll order dinner in the room either.