Blessings on board.

Anyone done the "Blessing" thing?

How was it?

We're on the Dream in August and I'm considering booking it.

We did one last year on the Celebration & I know Topsey has done one on the Spirit. It was a lovely afternoon/evening - worth every penny. We were lucky to be able to chose where we could have it done & we chose Istanbul so it was magical with the backdrop of the Topkapi & all the mosques!

It is like getting married all over again - it was so special; we were lucky to have our teenage children & my parents with us & they spoilt & looked after us all really well.

Was there anything specific you wanted to know about it?

We did one last year on the Celebration & I know Topsey has done one on the Spirit. It was a lovely afternoon/evening - worth every penny. We were lucky to be able to chose where we could have it done & we chose Istanbul so it was magical with the backdrop of the Topkapi & all the mosques!

 

It is like getting married all over again - it was so special; we were lucky to have our teenage children & my parents with us & they spoilt & looked after us all really well.

 

Was there anything specific you wanted to know about it?

So you can choose the day/port?

Is it on the Bridge for the "Ceremony"?

How does dining with the Captain/Senior Officer work?

So you can choose the day/port?

 

Is it on the Bridge for the "Ceremony"?

 

How does dining with the Captain/Senior Officer work?

We got a letter in our cabin on arrival advising us to meet with the Social Hostess which we did; there were several Blessings the week we went & I think we saw her first so got first choice of time & date! You can't have it on the Gala night as the Captain is busy for obvious reasons :)

We had a choice of ports although we were told we couldn't do it at a Tender port - this may be due to having people on the Bridge when 'at sea' which probably after Concordia they don't allow - they certainly didn't on the Celebration anyway!

We also couldn't have it on the Day At Sea which wasn't Gala Night on the cruise we did. I had heard that they don't do Gala Night on the cruise to/from Istanbul as they are having to navigate the Dardanelles.

We had a choice of 3 ports so we chose Istanbul and yes, they do it on the Bridge; on the Celebration there is an outside Bridge but and we went out there after with our glasses of Champagne & had photos & spent some time out there in the evening sun; it was gorgeous; something I will never forget!

We declined the dining with the Captain - not really our thing and they won't allow anyone under 18 on the Captain's table (fair enough!) and being as we were with our teenagers & my parents, we didn't want to spend an evening on our own without them!

Topsey might be able to help you with that question but I believe you are invited to the Captain's Table on the Gala Night?

Hi Bds1958

Julesmiles has covered most everything, we were the only ones having a blessing when we were onboard, so we were asked if we wanted a specific date ( with the exception of Sea Day) and they would try to oblige, which they did. We had our blessing on the Bridge, on the sail out from Venice :)

We had an invite through for dinner on captains gala night, we were met by the social hostess, and seated with the captain and his other guests. After we were also allocated seats in the Theatre.

It was a wonderful experience, go for it :D anything else ask happy to help. if you are on FaceBook there is a Thomson Cruise page, there are some photos on there of both Julesmiles and my blessings, if you want a look. It's a closed site so you have to join, but very helpful and friendly like on here :D:D

Many thanks for the information. Looks like I'll be booking it. Sounds like a great experience. Off to join the Facebook page now.

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Hi ,Wife and I had blessing 2 years ago on the Spirit,much the same as Jules, except it was kept secret from D/W till the last minute [literally] our daughter was with us, and through her getting really friendly with all the entertainment staff and cruise director Ray,we arranged to get her on the Captains table,which is part of the blessing, by sending her an official invite saying as old cruisers [just 5 times] we were going to be on the table, this she believed,it was a lovely experience,the Captain had been told what was going on,next problem was how to get her dressed up for the blessing,so once again thanks to Ray and the hostess we got an invite to have drinks with the captain in Horizons,this she also believed, once in Horizons although lots of staff new about the surprise the waiter asked us if we were there for the Blessing! my daughter and I could have strangled him, but the D/W says 'oh no were here for drinks with the captain'!! must explain that the Wife was in a wheelchair and when her back was turned, as arranged I was given a bouquet of flowers,these were promptly put underher nose and I said were having a blessing,form there we went upto the bridge for the ceremony,where there was a violinist playing for us,the capt did the ceremony and cut the cake with us,one of the singers sang for us elvis The wonder of you as he was our favourite,photos were taken on inside and out of the bridge,all this was done ou our anniversary date cruising out from Pireus, just wonderful.

Hi ,Wife and I had blessing 2 years ago on the Spirit,much the same as Jules, except it was kept secret from D/W till the last minute [literally] our daughter was with us, and through her getting really friendly with all the entertainment staff and cruise director Ray,we arranged to get her on the Captains table,which is part of the blessing, by sending her an official invite saying as old cruisers [just 5 times] we were going to be on the table, this she believed,it was a lovely experience,the Captain had been told what was going on,next problem was how to get her dressed up for the blessing,so once again thanks to Ray and the hostess we got an invite to have drinks with the captain in Horizons,this she also believed, once in Horizons although lots of staff new about the surprise the waiter asked us if we were there for the Blessing! my daughter and I could have strangled him, but the D/W says 'oh no were here for drinks with the captain'!! must explain that the Wife was in a wheelchair and when her back was turned, as arranged I was given a bouquet of flowers,these were promptly put underher nose and I said were having a blessing,form there we went upto the bridge for the ceremony,where there was a violinist playing for us,the capt did the ceremony and cut the cake with us,one of the singers sang for us elvis The wonder of you as he was our favourite,photos were taken on inside and out of the bridge,all this was done ou our anniversary date cruising out from Pireus, just wonderful.

That sounds lovely. Bet your wife felt so special and loved. Thank you for sharing. :)

Hi ,Wife and I had blessing 2 years ago on the Spirit,much the same as Jules, except it was kept secret from D/W till the last minute [literally] our daughter was with us, and through her getting really friendly with all the entertainment staff and cruise director Ray,we arranged to get her on the Captains table,which is part of the blessing, by sending her an official invite saying as old cruisers [just 5 times] we were going to be on the table, this she believed,it was a lovely experience,the Captain had been told what was going on,next problem was how to get her dressed up for the blessing,so once again thanks to Ray and the hostess we got an invite to have drinks with the captain in Horizons,this she also believed, once in Horizons although lots of staff new about the surprise the waiter asked us if we were there for the Blessing! my daughter and I could have strangled him, but the D/W says 'oh no were here for drinks with the captain'!! must explain that the Wife was in a wheelchair and when her back was turned, as arranged I was given a bouquet of flowers,these were promptly put underher nose and I said were having a blessing,form there we went upto the bridge for the ceremony,where there was a violinist playing for us,the capt did the ceremony and cut the cake with us,one of the singers sang for us elvis The wonder of you as he was our favourite,photos were taken on inside and out of the bridge,all this was done ou our anniversary date cruising out from Pireus, just wonderful.

You've brought a lump to my throat. What lovely thing to do.

We spoke to several couples on our cruise last year who had a Blessing and all were delighted with the experience.

We renewed our vows last July to celebrate our Silver Wedding - had the ceremony on our terrace at home rather than on our cruise - and it was a magical experience that, in many ways, was far more personal and enjoyable than our Wedding.

Good luck to anyone hasving a ship board Blessing.

Thanks for your kind replies,just to add to what happened,as it was all hush,hush I had to keep making excuses to dissapear to go and see the hotess Dawn to make all the arrangements,and to speak to Ray and acd Richard. I wanted to tell her a couple of days before but the entertainers said no,no, but I explained d/w has a heart problem and I didnt want to cause too much of a shock to her,but they ALL insisted to do it last minute,the Captain was told of what was going on and he went along with it to the extent that on his table that night there was another couple who had their blessing that day and they were asked not to mention it as not to give the wife any ideas,and she was sat next to the Captain,it went off without a hitch,the bonus was that our daughter was on the Captains table on her first ever cruise. That afternoon we came back to our cabin to find the stewards had decorated it with balloons and streamers. in the evening our wedding cake was on our table,and the waiters serenaded us.following day champers and chocolat dipped strawberries were put in our cabin,they normally do this on day of blessing but for obvious reasons it had to be done afterwards.