Vow Renewal Ideas. HELP

[Cruising Capones]

Hi I'm hoping someone can help me with some ideas. My husband and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this coming October while we are on the Freedom of the Seas. I am a former travel agent that puts together a large group every year. This year we have a group of about 50 people going with us, most of them being our family and friends. Both of our sons will be there as well as our parents, cousins, aunts & uncles etc. It will be a great cruise.

 

My husband and I would like to renew our vows on this cruise, we are on it for our actual anniversary and we will all be togther so it would be perfect. I'm looking for some suggestions from anyone that could offer some.

I really don't want to use Royal Romance that Royal Caribbean offers. I have heard not so good reviews about them and I think they are way over priced. We have an Aft JS cabin on the 10th deck, so our room is a good size (we have had 21 people in our JR suites before.) Also the balcony is huge because it's aft. What I would like to do is arrange for my brother to do the ceremony (he is a Notary so he is able to) and then somehow have my boys involved. We could do it on our balcony and whoever in our group wants to come can. I would order a bunch of bottles of champagen (getting all the glasses could be tricky) and some cheese platters to be delivered to the room. My problem areas are.....music. Does anyone know of any way we could get a hold of a portable cd player on the ship. Cake.....is there any way to order a large anniversary cake from the ship, instead fo just the little birhtday ones they do. Flowers.....would the ship let me carry on my own bouquet???? Any ideas, suggestions or help in this matter would be greatly appreciated. I really want to make this special. My husband and i got married so young (teenagers) and have had 25 wonderful years when everybody thought it would never last, and raised two of the most wonderful sons...and we want them to be a part of this.

[gonnacruise]

Congrats!!!sounds lovely!!!!I'm sure on someone has an IPOD to bring for the music, not sure about the cake and how about a silk bouquet???

[Cruising Capones]

Great Ideas Gonnacrusie......thanks.

[AF-1]

If u r renewing your wedding vows I don't believe you have to have legal representation such as a notary. You are saying new vows to each other; you already have your wedding liscense. You can say vows and talk about your 25 years together, you can do all that without an official ceremony. My suggestion for music would be; bring an ipod and portable speakers. I carry a portable system everytime I cruise; it is loud and it is good; you can do the same thing; talk to your sons they will figure something out. My suggestions for the cake would be to convince the pastry chef and matre d' of the dining room that you would be willing to pay for a large sheet cake; hopefully they will help out.

[jmf123]

Friends of ours on the Grandeur celebrated their 60th anniversary and their kids ordered a large cake in advance from (I believe), Royal Caribbean's Special Services department.

[Paul65]

I'm pretty certain that you CAN order a large cake (or at least large enough for the party size you're talking about) from the ship. You can also get flowers from the ship. Of course, when you add up cake and flowers and such, it may not seem much more to do the Royal Romance package....But with the package, you get to use the wedding chapel. I've looked at those packages, though, and agree that they do seem pricey.

 

The iPod is a great idea for music. You can load whatever songs you want, and just make sure someone has a decent speaker system to use with it. There are some good ones that are still compact.

 

By the way, since a vow renewal is not really a legal ceremony, anyway, it doesn't matter much who performs the ceremony.

 

I don't know if I was much help, but good luck and congratulations!

[mjyanne]

Another suggestion: If anyone in your group is in a GS or above or if anyone is a Diamond Plus member you should have access to the concierge and they can help with special requests and arrangements.

 

I don't think they will allow you to bring on your own flowers (I may be wrong but with all the other restrictions who knows) but I'm sure the ships florist can put something together for you.

 

I can relate to getting married young (been married 31+ years) and would like to do something like you have described. Maybe one of these years.

 

I concur that an IPOD with travel speakers would be the best way to have the music you want.

[Cruising Capones]

Another suggestion: If anyone in your group is in a GS or above or if anyone is a Diamond Plus member you should have access to the concierge and they can help with special requests and arrangements.

 

I don't think they will allow you to bring on your own flowers (I may be wrong but with all the other restrictions who knows) but I'm sure the ships florist can put something together for you.

 

I can relate to getting married young (been married 31+ years) and would like to do something like you have described. Maybe one of these years.

 

I concur that an IPOD with travel speakers would be the best way to have the music you want.

 

Thanks for all your help....I really appreciate it.

[tracyanns]

We have looked at doing the same thing as we have a group of friends going with us in October. I called RCCL to find out some of our options...not a lot of them. You can do their package but something my TA told me about that I did not know is that if you have a large enough group and 50 should be fine, you can get a private room with a 1 hour open bar(if you want more you just have to pay for it). Maybe you can find a private area on the ship such as one of the bars or clubs and they can do this for you and you can just arrange either a cake or maybe you can do it right before dinner and use dinner as your reception.

 

You cannot bring your own live flowers onboard, you can purchase them from RCCL or you can bring silk.

 

Another option would be to go to one of the beaches on one of the islands and arrange something there...most of the AI resorts offer this for a price and you get more for your money.

 

Good luck and congrats and keep us posted on what you decide to do...I still haven't ruled out some sort of impromptu surprise ceremony for our friends.;)

[waterbug123]

My husband and I will be celebrating our 25th anniversary this coming October while we are on the Freedom of the Seas. I am a former travel agent that puts together a large group every year. This year we have a group of about 50 people going with us, most of them being our family and friends. .

 

I've been in an aft JS on Freedom, and while they are bigger than regular cabins, and the balconies are larger as well, I don't see how you can possibly put 50 people in one. I mean physically I guess you could squeeze in, but they will be packed in there and no one will have room to turn around, let alone walk around, see the ceremoney, etc. As someone else suggested, look into a private party somewhere else on the ship. Depending on how you have booked, you should have group amenity points that you can use for just such a party. Enjoy!

[Cruising Capones]

I've been in an aft JS on Freedom, and while they are bigger than regular cabins, and the balconies are larger as well, I don't see how you can possibly put 50 people in one. I mean physically I guess you could squeeze in, but they will be packed in there and no one will have room to turn around, let alone walk around, see the ceremoney, etc. As someone else suggested, look into a private party somewhere else on the ship. Depending on how you have booked, you should have group amenity points that you can use for just such a party. Enjoy!

 

Certainly all 50 would not be going....only about 1/2 that. And trust me, last cruise on the Adventure of the Seas....we had aprox 25 people in our cabin at one time....and there was still room to move around.

[waterbug123]

Certainly all 50 would not be going....only about 1/2 that. And trust me, last cruise on the Adventure of the Seas....we had aprox 25 people in our cabin at one time....and there was still room to move around.

 

Yes, but again, 25 people is a lot different than 50! But as you say, maybe only half will end up going.