Our cruise wedding - oasis review and wedding tips

[robandshona]

We just returned from our cruise wedding! It was amazing! We had 28 people who sailed with us. We were on Oasis of the Seas with stops in Nassau, St. Thomas and St. Maarten.

 

It was out second cruise we had previously gone on Carnival Liberty and loved it so much we decided to get married on a cruise.

The Thursday before we left on the cruise we were offered an upgrade for $100 each to a Junior Suite. We jumped at it. We were not sad by this decision at all!

HOTEL: I like to get a big bang for my buck so we stayed at Sleep Inn in Dania. Sleep Inn provides free shuttles to and from both the cruiseport and the airport. It also has a complimentary breakfast which was decent. The hotel has a pool and hot tub and a fenced in pool area. Our group sat out there both nights we stayed. The hotel itself was reasonably priced if you book well in advance. The suites were roomy. Our king room on the main floor seemed a bit musty.

RENTAL CAR: Book way in advance! We landed in Tampa Airport and spent a few days in Florida first. So we rented a car at Dollar. We were really happy with our Ford Fusion – Sirus Satellite Radio, leather interior, only 300 miles... Dollar is located right outside the cruiseport and they have plenty of shuttles to bring you right inside. Someone met us right away to drop off the car and then we got right on a shuttle.

 

EMBARKATION/DEBARKATION: Getting on the ship was super easy and fast. We decided to get off on our own and it was very fast.

Don’t get off the ship when the ship docks at port. It’s crazy!

The busiest time I experienced on the ship was the first day when no one had a room yet. The Windjammer also got pretty busy at breakfast time especially on Port days.

STATEROOM: Junior Suite with Ocean View Balcony – definitely a great upgrade. We had 8-10 people in our room before dinner each night and we ordered room service appetizers. There was plenty of room including a large walk-in closet which fit all of our clothes and suitcases nicely. The bathroom also had a tub!

SHOWS: We didn’t make all of the shows. You really have to sign up way in advance online for the shows especially the comedy club unless you want to stand in line. The comedy club is super small. Even though they have 2-3 shows a night there is still a line up starting 45 minutes before and half of the people don’t get in.

Hairspray was excellent! Even my husband liked it. The songs, costumes and dancing were fabulous.

Oasis of Dreams – sucked. Unfortunately, I just came back from Vegas and Cirque du Soleil “O” and had to compare the two. I would have thought that because the Aqua theatre was signature to RCL that they would have spent a lot more on this show. The costumes were simple and at no time was anyone in the show synchronized. The ship slowed right down to a crawl during the show and the dives from high up were heart stopping but they really need to put a lot more work into this show. Everything else on the ship was so elaborate (even the parade had super fantastic costumes) that I would expect the same from a show that has the ships name in the title. I didn’t see it but I guess the comedy show at the Aqua theatre was quite good.

Frozen in Time – I loved this show. The costumes were great the skating was good, there was plenty of room for everyone (even those who didn’t sign up in advance) and the stories were really fun. They had a guest during the show, who did sand art on a projector and it was truly amazing. She created a story with art that was jaw dropping.

Comedy – Lots of laughs – decent

Up in the air – a fun show, loved the plane – worth seeing

CRUISE DIRECTOR: Richard Spacey has so much energy! I don’t know how he does it week after week. He is excellent. I don’t much to compare to but from the reviews I’ve read his is probably the best around. He’s funny and very in tune with his body..

ACTIVITIES: Zipline was fun and so was rock climbing. I had a wardrobe malfunction on the flow rider – wear a full bathing suit! The lines for the flow rider were decent. We waited an hour for the zipline and only about 15 min for the rock wall. We had a rain day and we spent it in the Schooner lounge playing card and every few hours they had trivia.

RESTAURANTS:

Johnny Rockets: My sister-in-law had a bad experience for breakfast a Johnny Rockets. But lunch there was fattening but delicious.

Main dining room: Food and service were really good but 2 hours for dinner is way too long.

Windjammer: Really busy at breakfast - always lot of choice. Enjoyed dinner there – just as good as dining room, more choice and only 30 min.

Giovannis: Excellent – worth the $15 – better to go with a group though as you’ll get way more food. It’s family style Italian. You can get a few appetizers and main courses to try.

Park Cafe: Didn’t go there until the last day but wish I had discovered it before. Lunch was terrific. They make a salad for you with whatever you want in it – the paninis are terrific and I had a bite of the roast beef which was good but salty

Wipeout Cafe: Good for a fat filled lunch – everything was in the wrong order though

Solarium bistro: Good, healthy (not as tasty as other places but you get that with food that’s not fried)

GROUP: As for being on a cruise with so many people it was a bit difficult to meet up and find each other so I'd suggest everyone bring walkie talkies.

I found it difficult to book group dinners before hand with RCL. You can’t book tables more then 10 and 2 people weren’t in our group so I wasn’t allowed to book dinners from them online. I wasn’t able to book all 28 of us in the dining room before the cruise but it was no problem when I got there.

For the wedding day I booked us in Giovanni’s. They had said they weren’t able to book more than 20 people at once so they made us book half at 5:30 and half at 6pm – and they made a huge deal about it. The restaurant had no problem when we all showed up at 5:30 – no one said a word. So if you are booking large groups for dinner and RCL is giving you a hard time – when you get on the ship it’ll all be good.

NASSAU: Nassau didn’t seem like a very nice place. We did a dolphin swim at Blue Lagoon which was fantastic. Buy a picture though, not the video. The video is only about 5 minutes long. The interaction with the dolphins was plenty and a lot of fun. We now wish that we had bought an underwater camera before we left not the cheap kind but a regular digital camera that you can bring in the water. My brother had one and it was a great idea for the beach.

ST MAARTEN: When you get off the ship and there are places to get drinks, souvenirs, jewellery but I'm told if you take a water taxi ($4 or $6 all day) the shopping downtown is better. For a beach would also suggest Orient Beach. It was fantastic!! (We didn't want to leave). You shouldn't have to pay more than $9 a person depending if you can hook up with others you can get if for $6. On the other side of the duty free shop there is a taxi stand with names of all of the beaches on it. There will be others waiting to go too. There were plenty of taxis to take back when we wanted to leave. If you can get the taxi driver to stop off at a convenience store on the way you can get a cheap cooler with beer and ice. Our uncle paid $28 for a cooler, ice, 30 beer and a 40lb of vodka on his way to the beach. On the beach beer is only $2! There's parasailing ($40), jet skis ($50 for 30 min), trampolines. You can rent a chair for $7 and get a free drink.

PLACES ON THE SHIP:

SOLIRIUM: I thought that it would be super busy being the only adults only place but it wasn’t too bad.

VIKING CROWN LOUNGE: a great place to go for big groups. Not too busy, not too loud, great service.

SALON: I got my hair and makeup done in the salon before the wedding. They did an excellent job. My cousin came in to take pictures and my hairdressers said she should put a few pins in her hair. She’s a student and decided before the trip that she wasn’t going to get her hair done she would do it herself. It took me 40 minutes to get my hair done and then I went on to makeup. He put a small bun in her hair and it took 10 minutes. He charged her the same as me L We went back the next day to get her a refund but they made it really difficult and they wouldn’t do it.. It was costly too... $86

WEDDING: The weddings the ship provided seemed expensive, short and unchangeable so I decided to find one myself. I picked St Thomas to get married in as they seemed to have the best wedding planners there. I used cruise critic boards to find my wedding planner - Leslie from Perfect weddings - there wasn't one think bad about her on the boards. I got a cruise package for 25+ people that included everything - decorations, transportation, food, drinks, photographer, videographer etc..

 

A good tip for getting married in the Caribbean is to look at bride's maid dresses. They are nice and light and easy to travel with. The men wore Hawaiian shirts and shorts. We got lots of compliments on their outfits! We all went bare foot!

 

We got married at Magen's Bay Beach in St. Thomas. The weather was beautiful, the water nice and warm. We had a pavilion, to block us from the sun and to eat under. It was perfect!

 

They brought my husband to the court house with the guests, then me with my parents and maid of honour. We did the ceremony, pics, cake cutting, champagne toast. Then we had a really nice lunch. We were going to do speeches after that but it was way too nice so everyone changed into their bathing suits and we hung out at the beach until it was time to leave.

 

We then had dinner at a specialty restaurant on the ship - Giovannis - dinner was only $15 a person and we also bought wine. We did speeches throughout dinner.

I made up a gift bag for every couple coming with us and they we a hit!! I put everything I could think of in them - bandaids, wet wipes, razor, body sponge (puff), body wash, pens, highlighter (every night they give you a schedule for the next day so you can highlight what you want to do), lanyard (guest services can punch a hole in your card and wear it around your neck), chap stick, hand sanitizer, sticky paper, and much more - most of this stuff can be bought at the dollar store. The bags I used I got for $3 - they were colourful bags that fold up and go in your purse but they had big handles - most people were using them as a beach bag. I made luggage tags for every person with my laminator. I gave everyone a welcome letter with all of the activities for the week and a list of everyones room numbers.

OTHERS: Don’t buy souvenirs on ship till last 2 days... things go on sale!

SMOKING! There is smoking in most of the clubs. It was disappointing.

Oasis of the Seas was a fabulous ship - I would recommend it to anyone. I found the service equal to Carnival but the ship is amazing.

[Denise2000]

Great review! Do you have nap pictures to share?

[Lipz]

Congratulations!

You sound like you had a great wedding and a great time overall.

We are actually hoping to book the Oasis for our honeymoon some where down the line.

[JerseyGem]

Congratulations to both of you and best wishes for many happy years of married bliss. Thanks for coming back to this forum and posting all the wonderful information for future brides.

 

And now it's time to start planning the First Anniversary cruise LOL!

[Hinster]

Hey RobandShona,

Congratulations! Thanks for the great review!

 

I'm getting married in Jamaica while we dock on the allure of the seas. Your reviews were very helpful so thanks for the ship details. I just have a couple of questions...

1 - When you and your wedding party ate at the restaurant, did they section you off from the rest of the guests and did they put flowers or some kind of wedding-feel decoration on the table to mark the occasion?

2 - Also, I too have a huge wedding party joining us on the cruise. I have been asked by many of them about, what is free and what isnt regarding the food. If you could help and let me know please that would be great. For example, is Johnny Rockets/hot dog shop on Broadwalk/windjammer/etc. free?

 

Thanks for your help! I hope all will go successfully for me too as your cruise experience did.

[canucme_cruisin]

I am also getting married in St. Thomas in 63 days!!!! How far in advance did you send in your marraige license? I'm sending mine in today. Also, how long did it take at the courthouse, and what did your guests do while they waited?

[robandshona]

Hey RobandShona,

Congratulations! Thanks for the great review!

 

I'm getting married in Jamaica while we dock on the allure of the seas. Your reviews were very helpful so thanks for the ship details. I just have a couple of questions...

1 - When you and your wedding party ate at the restaurant, did they section you off from the rest of the guests and did they put flowers or some kind of wedding-feel decoration on the table to mark the occasion?

2 - Also, I too have a huge wedding party joining us on the cruise. I have been asked by many of them about, what is free and what isnt regarding the food. If you could help and let me know please that would be great. For example, is Johnny Rockets/hot dog shop on Broadwalk/windjammer/etc. free?

 

Thanks for your help! I hope all will go successfully for me too as your cruise experience did.

 

1 - they didn't section off the restaurant but we were on one side and i didn't even notice anyone else - they didn't do anything for us for the tables - they had actually sort of lost our reservation- we got the room upgrade so our room number changed - they had the wrong name for our reservation - I went the night before to check on it and got it sorted out.

You have to prepay for the dinner at the specialty restaurant too..

2- I made up a list of the restaurants that I found online but when you get to your room there is a blue book on your coffee table - on the front cover or second page is a list of all of the restaurants and prices - page 5 has the room service list that was also very helpful ;) I attached the guide I made.. there are some different restaurants on Allure but you'll get the picture..

Quick Guide to eating.pdf

[robandshona]

I am also getting married in St. Thomas in 63 days!!!! How far in advance did you send in your marraige license? I'm sending mine in today. Also, how long did it take at the courthouse, and what did your guests do while they waited?

 

 

I don't think I sent mine in until 6 weeks before..

 

I'm from Canada and sent a US money order from Canada and they wouldn't take it. My wedding planner had to pay for me and I paid her back..

 

I was at the court house about 10 minutes...

 

Most of the guests were brought to the beach first and my parents just waited in the van. I'm not sure how long Rob was there for. Not too long as he was gone when I got there. I left about 20 min after him.

[daypet]

Lovely one, Thanks for sharing this wonderful Information and Tips,

 

Nice review, I planned to book Oasis for Honeymoon. You post really very nice Information which are very helpful me, Appreciate from this post.

[canucme_cruisin]

I don't think I sent mine in until 6 weeks before..

 

I'm from Canada and sent a US money order from Canada and they wouldn't take it. My wedding planner had to pay for me and I paid her back..

 

I was at the court house about 10 minutes...

 

Most of the guests were brought to the beach first and my parents just waited in the van. I'm not sure how long Rob was there for. Not too long as he was gone when I got there. I left about 20 min after him.

 

Really? Why wouldn't they take it if it was a US money order? I hope I don't have any issues, I bought my money order at the post office...

[reggiesmommy]

Wow, your wedding sounds like it was fantastic! I am newly engaged and because my fiance and I enjoy cruising so much (as do many of our family members) this is something we're just starting to consider.

 

Can I ask what made you decide to book the wedding through a private coordinator rather than the cruise line? Was there any kind of policy in place in case the ship had to skip that port? I think that would be my biggest fear.

 

Would you mind if I asked for a rough estimate of what that type of wedding package costs in St. Thomas for the amount of people you had? I think we're expecting about the same quantity of people.

 

Thanks!

[Hinster]

1 - they didn't section off the restaurant but we were on one side and i didn't even notice anyone else - they didn't do anything for us for the tables - they had actually sort of lost our reservation- we got the room upgrade so our room number changed - they had the wrong name for our reservation - I went the night before to check on it and got it sorted out.

You have to prepay for the dinner at the specialty restaurant too..

2- I made up a list of the restaurants that I found online but when you get to your room there is a blue book on your coffee table - on the front cover or second page is a list of all of the restaurants and prices - page 5 has the room service list that was also very helpful ;) I attached the guide I made.. there are some different restaurants on Allure but you'll get the picture..

The attached was extremely helpful Thank you!

[robandshona]

Wow, your wedding sounds like it was fantastic! I am newly engaged and because my fiance and I enjoy cruising so much (as do many of our family members) this is something we're just starting to consider.

 

Can I ask what made you decide to book the wedding through a private coordinator rather than the cruise line? Was there any kind of policy in place in case the ship had to skip that port? I think that would be my biggest fear.

 

Would you mind if I asked for a rough estimate of what that type of wedding package costs in St. Thomas for the amount of people you had? I think we're expecting about the same quantity of people.

 

Thanks!

 

I didn't like the packages the ship had to offer. I wanted to be able to do what I wanted. The packages didn't seem to be very flexible. I think it was also a lot cheaper to do it the way I did.

 

We bought seperate insurance in case we didn't make the port. I read someone else's review from Oasis when the ship didn't make the port and somehow they were able to get a wedding planned for the next day in St. Maarten.

 

I changed my numbers a few times but the ceremony part in St. Thomas came to about $6000

[nolacruiser6]

I am also getting married in St. Thomas at Magen's Bay Beach!! May I ask who catered your reception??? I am thinking of having lunch catered for the guests b/c we too want to swim until we have to be back on the boat. If this question is not too intrusive, would you mind estimating the cost of the food after the ceremony?

[NewbieCrsr]

What time did you have your wedding set for? I have mine set for 11am and hoping that gives me enough time to get ready that morning. :)

[nolacruiser6]

The wedding will be at 11 am, just hope that leaves enough time to get ready!!