Newbie planning wedding

[pnwgirl164]

Hey there everyone! I'm new here and my name is Halsey. My fiance and I just decided that an at home wedding is just way out of budget, so we decided on a cruise wedding! We will not have any guests, all of his family lives too far away from Seattle to be able to make it. So, I guess we'll technically be eloping, lol. We would only need a basic package, I'd like to have photography.

 

I was wondering if you all could share your experiences with me, and tell me the pricing for a wedding on board? At this point, I'm open to any cruise lines that leave from the Seattle, WA port. We'd like to do a 5 day cruise, if not longer. We're also planning on going on April, so we'd be in offseason. Thanks in advance everyone!

[CruiserJess]

Hey there everyone! I'm new here and my name is Halsey. My fiance and I just decided that an at home wedding is just way out of budget, so we decided on a cruise wedding! We will not have any guests, all of his family lives too far away from Seattle to be able to make it. We would only need a basic package, I'd like to have photography.

 

I was wondering if you all could share your experiences with me, and tell me the pricing for a wedding on board? At this point, I'm open to any cruise lines that leave from the Seattle, WA port. We'd like to do a 5 day cruise, if not longer. We're also planning on going on April, so we'd be in offseason. Thanks in advance everyone!

 

Most of the cruise lines have their price list on their websites. As far as most affordable cruise line for a wedding I would have to say Carnival but I'm not sure if they go out of Seattle.

 

Check out Princess.com

Carnival.com

RCCL.com

 

and search weddings on their websites, a good place to start.

[swalton85]

congrats!!! you've definitely come to the right place to find answers to your questions about ship weddings! everyone here is really helpful. i'm getting married in 4 days aboard the carnival liberty in miami! we have 21 guests plus us. carnival has just bride & groom packages available. their info is available online http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/weddings/pdf/wedding-info.pdf

you can also e-mail carnival's wedding department. they were really helpful & sent me pictures of things i inquired about.

good luck & ask questions like crazy.. we're all willing to help :)!!

[Artemis908]

I am getting married on Princess and for what you want, it'd be around $2k. That also depends on if you want to get married at sea or onshore. The package comes with just about everything.... flowers, photographer, champagne, cake for two, etc. The cool thing about having it at sea is you get the captain to perform your ceremony.

[pnwgirl164]

I am getting married on Princess and for what you want, it'd be around $2k. That also depends on if you want to get married at sea or onshore. The package comes with just about everything.... flowers, photographer, champagne, cake for two, etc. The cool thing about having it at sea is you get the captain to perform your ceremony.

Is that price including the cruise itself?

[Artemis908]

Is that price including the cruise itself?

 

sorry, nope. the lowest I saw was a 7 day seattle to Alaska for $699 a person (interior cabin). Unless you do a 1-day to Vancouver (I can't believe they do ONE day cruises...).

[soon2bmrsspd]

Carnival has an extremely reasonable intimate package for just two people. It also would include the officient, the cake, the champagne, the flowers, the music, and the photographer. The pictures themselves are extra of course. I was married on Carnival, and I would not go back and change my mind for a second. Part of the fun for me was being married in a foreign port, with a foreign license. Not everyone can say they were married in another country. There are lots here that can, but not your average bride. ;)

 

Anyway, check out your options, then when you pick your line and your package be sure to come back here. Everyone is always willing to share their advice and experiences. Congrats!!!!

[soon2bmrsspd]

Here are the packages for Carnival, the cheapest is 1195.00. This literally would include everything you need for just the two of you, except for the actual pictures. If you had a few friends that decided to come, it would also include up to 6 other people. But I do want to tell you that if you are planning on this April, not next, then no matter which cruise line you choose, you should make a decision fast. Each cruise line will only allow 2-3 wedding per sailing, and when I booked over a year in advance, I was not the first one booked.

 

http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/weddings/pdf/wedding-info.pdf

[Lipz]

What's listed in NCL's Wedding Aisle Brochure is this:

Seattle

On board: $2150

On shore: $2550 Harbor View

Wedding Aisles can assist you in obtaining a Washington license ($214)

On board includes:

Coordination with a Wedding Aisles Planner prior

to the wedding (three (3) hours maximum)*

• Priority check-in and boarding for bridal couple

and guests**

• Snacks and refreshments in couple’s stateroom

upon embarkation**

• Ideal ceremony location on board

• Non-denominational Officiant***

• Wedding Coordinator in attendance during

ceremony

• Pre-recorded ceremony music

• Romantic vows

• Traditional round bouquet†

• Six (6) white roses (embarkation ports)

• Six (6) tropical flowers (on shore and/or

ports of call)

• Six (6) wild flowers (Alaska)

• Matching boutonniere with one (1) blooms†

• Beautiful white wedding cake for bridal couple

• One bottle of NCL’s private selection sparkling

wine

• A keepsake certificate

On Shore includes:

• Coordination with a Wedding Aisles Planner prior

to the wedding (three (3) hours maximum)*

• Beautiful beach, garden or gazebo ceremony

location

• Non-denominational Officiant***

• Wedding Coordinator in attendance during

ceremony

• Romantic vows

• Tropical or wild flower bridal bouquet†

• Matching boutonniere with one (1) bloom†

• Round trip transportation (private taxi) for bridal

couple

• Specialty cake for bride and groom

• Bottle of sparkling wine

• Keepsake wedding certificate

Both packages include the couple only, additional add-ons can be included for a cost of course. Wedding packages do not include the cost of the cruise.

I can't find their most recent brochure link to paste here but can email it to you if you want since I have it on my pc at work & at home. lol

[LizB1979]

I am not sure about anything having to do with your actual location, however we are doing the same thing (eloping on our cruise) and honestly we felt that with it just being the two of us, who cared about all the extras...

 

We booked a minister & a photographer on one of our stops (St. Thomas) and total for both is $400. In addition, there is a $100 fee to the court, so everything we have booked thus far comes to $500.

 

I have yet to decide about flowers, hair &/or makeup...

 

But, it will all be on a beautiful, romantic beach & come in far below the costs of a local wedding & honeymoon even with the cruise costs.

[VM_Mom]

Congratulations! How exciting for you! I was married recently on the Carnival Legend (which I think is a sister ship to the Spirit that cruises out of Seattle). For us, it was the "Just the Bride and Groom" package. The price shown above does include everything you need for the wedding for yourself and up to six others (we took some family members) - even the cake, flowers, champagne, etc. It was wonderful. One very cool thing about the smaller weddings - you get to have your wedding in the ship's chapel.

 

A word of warning- the photographer will take a LOT of photos. To purchase the photos, the charge is extra. Our photographer was amazing, and we ended up spending more than we intended on photos. I have posted a link to my photos elsewhere on this site if you want to see.

 

It looks to me like the only cruises Carnival does out of Seattle are to Alaska - and those don't begin until May.

[JerseyGem]

Congratulations and welcome to Cruise Critic! You have lots of questions; the brides here can help with many, but you'll also have to contact the cruiseline's wedding department for answers specific to that line. So you also need to decide which line! As for Seattle, I don't think any lines start cruising from there until May. The port authority must have a website that will show which ships come and when; I'll try to find more info for you. Does it have to be April? You'll have more options in May (from all that I can find, no 5 day cruises, though). But once summer arrives, several cruiselines move ships up for the Alaskan market.

 

 

As for where to actually marry, your options are onboard on embarkation day (in which case you can have non-sailing guests at the wedding), at a port onboard, at a port off the ship (a local venue), or onboard while sailing only if you sail Celebrity, Azmara or Princess (these are marriages by the Captain while at sea). Some ships have small chapels, or you will be assigned one of the public venues for the nuptials & reception.

 

Are you both veteran cruisers? If not, you may also want to consider consulting a local travel agent to help you find & book a cruise. Once you've decided on a specific cruise, contact that line's wedding department to start the wedding process. And all wedding fees are in addition to the cost of the cruise. Good luck with the planning! Keep asking questions!

[JerseyGem]

The Carnival Spirit has a May 4th, 6 day cruise out of Vancouver (not that far from Seattle!). That's the earliest cruise I can find from your area except for very long cruises (HAL has a lovely 18 day one to Hawaii!).

 

I definitely suggest getting a TA to do the legwork for you!

 

Good luck!

[ORDMan]

Check out your ports of call and keep in mind there are likely many local companies that can perform your wedding.

 

I'm a groom-to-be (looking for tips on this forum myself) and my fiancee and I are going down this same path-busy families far apart and we don't want a traditional home wedding.

 

We're getting married on Grand Cayman this May on a Carnival Cruise, and we are using a local wedding company, not Carnival. I encourage you to check out what Carnival has to offer and talk to them, but we became frustrated with their limited schedule and level of customization. We ended up booking the whole wedding with a lady who specializes in cruise ship passenger weddings, only does one a day, and has a very reasonable package for just the two of us including photos.