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Carnival Elation Wedding review (11.9.17-11.13.17 sailing)


futureCPR
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I wanted to give a review (from beginning to end) of our Carnival wedding aboard the newly renovated Elation!

 

Brief overview before I get into the details: the Elation sailed out of Jacksonville, FL on Thursday, November 9th, 2017. We had about 30 cabins in our group (73 people total) and my suite was V2.

 

I’m putting together as many pictures as I can do my review isn’t just a bunch of words but I found that reviews were helpful to my preparation and I wanted to do the same :)

 

 

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I wanted to give a review (from beginning to end) of our Carnival wedding aboard the newly renovated Elation!

 

Brief overview before I get into the details: the Elation sailed out of Jacksonville, FL on Thursday, November 9th, 2017. We had about 30 cabins in our group (73 people total) and my suite was V2.

 

I’m putting together as many pictures as I can do my review isn’t just a bunch of words but I found that reviews were helpful to my preparation and I wanted to do the same :)

 

 

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looking forward to this....

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Back story- my husband and I got engaged in April 2016 and chose to do a cruise wedding. Since we both reside in Jacksonville, Carnival was the easiest option. We chose a 4 day cruise so people wouldn’t have to take too much time off of work.

 

Wedding package- we chose the wedding package that allowed for a top-shelf open bar, 2 hour reception, and 6 hot items and 5 cold items. We also booked the ship DJ for an additional $350. From reading other weddings, I assume that the package options have changed. We also chose to get married on the third day of the cruise (Nassau). To book the package, we needed to book our cabin and pay for the initial package fee (total due was around $3700).

 

Communication- I’d like to start this portion off by saying I am a VERY organized and productive bride and i felt that Carnival’s wedding group could’ve been better organized. Granted, we started our wedding process in June 2016. However, I was assigned to three different planners during the entire thing. All without warning.

Word of advice: save ALL email communications. In February, I was told by “wedding planner 2” that I would be able to bring my own aisle runner but that the dimensions would have to match theirs (runner could not be longer than 30’). So my mom went online and bought an aisle runner. By August, I circled back to now “wedding planner 3” who then said I was not allowed to bring the runner. The runner was only $24, but I was upset that I was told prior that we were allowed. So I attached the email from “WP2” and said that if the runner wasn’t allowed, Carnival would have to compensate my mom for the price of the runner. WP3 apologized and said that they would allow it.

 

Things we brought onboard for the wedding- our favors were gift bags containing the following: glass coasters, a wine stopper with a glass starfish on top, a picture frame, and a nifty luggage tag. We placed those in a carry-on sized rolling bag. I also purchased silk flowers (cascading bouquet for me, 4 bridesmaid bouquets, 2 corsages for the moms, and 7 boutonnières) so those were carried on in a box. (I paid about $300 for the flowers in total if anyone wants the person’s name. I’ll provide pictures when I’m done with the review). My wedding dress was also a carry on, along with the bridesmaid gowns, mother of the bride gown, and suits. The aisle runner and this sign my mom insisted on bringing were also carry ons.

So “how did you get everything onboard?” Well, of the 30 cabins, we had about 5 Junior suites. So some of us had priority boarding. My cabin and my uncle’s cabin we’re ready upon boarding. The steward allowed my mom to place the bulky items in her cabin while they finished getting it ready. Boarding took us about 10 minutes from start to finish, so it was great.

 

 

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Hooray!! A recent review! So looking forward to this.

Congratulations and thanks!!!

 

 

 

Thank you! I apologize for the breaks in between the post, we’ve decided to re-decorate our entire home (living room is complete- bathrooms tomorrow).

 

 

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Embarkation: the usual- fun music, Guy’s burger joint (yum), taco salad (also yum. Warning: don’t be my sister’s boyfriend and eat a pepper, they are HOT), bars. I will say this- compared to cruises in the past, the bar service on the Elation was slow. I am 27 and my husband is 32, so the majority of our guests were late 20’s to early 40’s and purchased the Cheers package. Typically, I tip well beyond the included gratuity, but I only tipped an additional $1.00 per drink during this trip. The Rum Punch they served during embarkation was yummy, sweet, tropical drink.

 

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We had dinner in the Inspiration dining room- 6:00pm dining. Food was good. Nothing spectacular, however everyone enjoyed their meals.

 

 

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Friday was Freeport day:

 

We took some people to Señor Frogs and I enjoyed it. I had more fun at the Señor Frogs in Cozumel, however I loved the bar staff.

 

Here are some random pictures from that day. 4affe161aa488ec5193d6a7b5072add7.jpge0e98db9c70504f729683d238bf2b4a0.jpg825e5b55178189ad3e8fd2a563a5adf7.jpg

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Friday was also Elegant Night, which didn’t make sense to me since we docked from 1:00pm-7:00pm. We were back on the ship by 4:00, took a short nap, (rolled out of bed) got ready, and went to dinner. I’m filipino, so my family became quick friends with the wait staff. They put on a show and my uncles couldn’t help but join in on the fun.

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Saturday was WEDDING DAY!

 

I’m fortunate to have a LOT of cousins, with some of them being very talented. So my photographer, make up artist, hairstylist, and videographer were all related to me. :)

 

My bridesmaids got ready in their respective cabins, my groom and groomsmen got ready in our cabin (V2) and I got ready in my parents cabin (V17, my dad had to get ready in my uncle’s cabin).

 

 

 

We were ready by 10:30 and took some pictures on the ship. This was tricky as our guests were either coming back from Nassau or roaming around. My husband and I decided to do a “first look”, so he wouldn’t be cooped up in the cabin the whole time.

 

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The ceremony took place at 1:00pm in the Cole Porter Lounge. The coordinator corralled everyone (but me, i was hidden in the reception space) together for a quick 5 minute rehearsal. Then boom, it was wedding time! It was quick. I provided the hostess with my requested music on a CD the night before and they were prepping the room around 9am. (The pictures are from my relatives who were guests, not the photographer. So sorry for the cell phone quality! Also- note my mom’s purchased aisle runner taped on top of the ship’s aisle runner. My mom also bought petals from Amazon in the wedding colors). The minister was fun and sincere. We decided to write our own vows, but I believe the whole thing took 15 minutes.

 

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(I just noticed that I didn’t save all of the photos, so I’ll add more to the end!)

 

 

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  • 9 months later...
  • 2 years later...
On 11/21/2017 at 7:47 PM, dani_elizabeth said:

Hello, If you don't mind me asking, how did you handle tipping the officiant, coordinator, bar staff, dj, etc?

I am the WORST. Years later and I happened to stumble upon my profile after booking a cruise. Not that it’s relevant anymore (since it’s been almost 4 years!) but we typically bring cash and envelopes to tip individuals. So we gave the minister, officiant, bartender, and DJ $100 each 

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On 9/12/2018 at 6:26 PM, zip9400 said:

Wait....where is the rest of it. Don't leave us hanging.

I am so, so sorry! Ok. Reception was very fast in my opinion- when they say 2-hours, they mean 2-hours. I’ll add more photos later, however we chose little finger foods that were easy to pick up. Music was great, we had cocktail waiters passing out drinks and a bartender behind the bar. 

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