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Carnival Vista wedding review May 14, 2017


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Hello all! My husband and I just returned over the weekend from our wedding/honeymoon onboard the Carnival Vista. I wanted to share some opinions/thoughts, and try to answer questions for any future Carnival Vista brides.

 

First, the back story: My now-husband and I met in 2013, and were pretty much set on each other right off the bat. We got engaged in May 2015, and decided on a cruise wedding shortly thereafter. We booked in late December 2015, when the May 2017 cruises went live for booking. We chose the Time to Celebrate Big package, which has since been discontinued - this included my bouquet, his boutonniere, a nondenominational officiant, basic decorations (white columns, simple flowers), 1 1/2 hour reception (including hor d'ouerves and open bar), signature cocktail, 2-tier wedding cake, a champagne toast, ice carving and the use of a photographer. We planned and paid for most of the wedding ourselves. The "extras" we paid for were some premium fillings in the cake, and the use of the DJ - who made everything special.

 

We got married on embarkation day, onboard the ship while still in Miami. Our ceremony was in the Limelight Lounge, and our reception was in the Liquid Lounge. The onboard coordinator and officiant met us in the terminal, and walked us through everything. When we were cleared for boarding (shortly after 11 am), the bridal party, my mother and I were escorted to our suite (we booked under an ocean suite, and got a call a week before offering an upgrade to a spa suite for about $250 - we jumped at it!), and my husband and the guys went to my parents' cabin, which had been promised to be ready for us.

 

The photographer came to our suite to get a few photos of my girls and I as we got ready. They then had a short rehearsal, and I was escorted to the venue. My father met me outside the ceremony venue, and away we went. The ceremony was short and sweet, and we then hurried off to the reception.

 

Our reception flew by so fast. We got there, did our first dance, the father/bride dance, the mother/groom dance, cut the cake and maybe had a couple songs and a few bites to eat before we had to make our way to muster drill. After muster, we met up with our photographer back at the reception site, and he escorted us around the ship for another hour and a half taking more photos.We met up with him later in the cruise, and selected which photo package we wanted (the premier package - it's what we had the budget for, though I wish I could have paid for everything). Since we were the only wedding that day, our photographer also took video - it looked amazing, but we didn't budget for it since we knew it would be short and have no audio of the vows. It still looked amazing, and I wish we had budgeted for it.

 

A few key things:

***A sweet thing: My father gave us two excellent surprises. The first, my husband and I are large Doctor Who fans - my father dressed in a Doctor Who-inspired suit, which was so touching. Secondly, while we were walking down the aisle, he paused and said "Oh, I think I need a drink first!" and grabbed a drink he'd positioned at a table along the side. It was very "him" and did a great job of making me laugh when I had been crying.

***Our photographer, Florian, was AMAZING. He was so kind and his work was incredible. If you're lucky enough to have him, you'll be very happy with his work.

***Our coordinator and officiant were also wonderful. They explained everything, and were very patient and helpful. I could not have hoped for a better team!

 

My tips:

1) Eat a substantial breakfast, and try and ask someone to pack you a plate from the reception. We had so many canapes, and I think I had two sushi rolls, a glass of champagne and half of a specialty cocktail!

2) Everyone says it flies by fast. Don't underestimate this like I did! It was a beautiful, magical blur.

3) Enjoy it. There will be things that don't go perfectly, there will be stress, and if your family is involved, there's always a chance for tension/drama. Remember that you're doing everything for your love, and keep the love (for each other, for your families, for your friends) at the forefront at all times. Learn some stress-prevention and management tips early and use them often!

 

I will try and figure out how to get some photos posted, but if anyone has any questions, please let me know!

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Congrats! I'm getting married on the Vista in August but I'm doing a Beach Ceremony in Grand Cayman before the onboard reception. Can't wait to see your pictures.. did they offer any wiggle room in pricing? Or strictly off the packages? If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay and how much was "everything" if you went that route?

 

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Congrats! I'm getting married on the Vista in August but I'm doing a Beach Ceremony in Grand Cayman before the onboard reception. Can't wait to see your pictures.. did they offer any wiggle room in pricing? Or strictly off the packages? If you don't mind me asking, how much did you pay and how much was "everything" if you went that route?

 

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Thank you! I still haven't figured out photos - I'm sorry!

 

They did offer wiggle room. We didn't get everything because it unfortunately wasn't in our budget - but he did offer all the prints, the photo books, the canvases - everything - for a little over $3,000. The original cost would have been about $7,000. We had budgeted for the Premier package ($899), and he generously threw in several extra prints (I think close to 20 extras) for no additional cost. We also got two USBs with all those photos on them. If you can at all, by all means put any additional money you can towards photos. You won't be disappointed.

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  • 4 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I’m a vista bride coming up this September 2019!!! As you mentioned Carnival’s packages have changed and become more expensive for newer ships. I am debating if a 1 hour reception will be enough time, we decided to only do our first dance, the cake cutting and toast. I have read to add a 1/2 hour could cost as much as 2,500 for 50 guest. That is not worth it to us as we plan on having a housewarming/newlyweds party once return home for friends, co-workers, and church members.

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  • 3 months later...

I too got married on the Vista May 20th 2017.  This was our 2nd marriage my first I had a big wedding and I thought that was beautiful my husband got married in the court house so he really wanted a wedding.  So we decided on a cruise wedding in the port of Miami as we live in Ft. Lauderdale and we had family that were not going to be able to sail with us.  I have to say the wedding was better then we ever expected.  It was fantastic it does fly by and yes family can add some stress but do not let it..  It is your day and  it is about you and your partner and your love.  I do also agree have them or someone make you a to go plate or several we did not get to eat anything and everyone said the food was amazing we were so involved in dance and cake and pictures. I have to say the pictures were amazing and yes pricey but worth it.  You walk off with albums in your hand, thank you cards etc..  You can negotiate and I mean negotiate they want to sell you everything  but I suggest getting the usb drive with all pictures.  also when you leave remember they throw away all the prints so try to get them from them.  we did get pictures on canvas and to be honest we have not framed it it is still in the tube.   I had the photographer take group shots of everyone with us and we had 1 group shot of everyone which is our favorite as some where going to sail with us and the rest were getting off.  Congratulations to all I hope this is helpful.. 

 

 

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