Wedding Review, Ruby Princess, 04/17

[greendragon133]

Well here's my review as promised. I won't just be reviewing the wedding, but the overall cruise as well. This might be a little short, I still have sea legs, which makes me feel like I'm constantly spinning.

 

Fort Lauderdale arrived pretty late the night before and stayed one night in the Hilton. It was nice, but we pretty much just slept and left, so can't really comment on it. We took a shuttle to the port, it was easy, can't remember the price but it was reasonable.

 

Embarkation we arrived around 1pm and embarkation was a breeze. No lines. All the staff were super friendly. Our cabin was ready and our luggage arrived around 330pm.

 

The Cruise the staff were all very friendly, and helpful. Although we did notice several times lower staff members being loudly berated by senior staff members in front of the passengers. First off you should never criticize your staff in front of the customer, and secondly no human deserves to be talked to like that. Very unsettling. We never watched any of the Movies under the Stars, so no comment on that. Didn't go cruising to watch tv and movies. A couple of the shows were really good, and a couple were horrible, very cheesy! The club never really got busy, so it wasn't much of a party atmosphere. Pretty laid back.

 

Some of our guests had problems with chain smokers in balconies next door, so they couldn't enjoy their balconies. I'll never understand why you can smoke in your stateroom, but you can't have an iron. Both are fire hazards, and one can give you and everyone around you cancer.........:confused:

 

Sometimes it felt like I was being pulled in lots directions. Wanting to spend time with everyone, but still enjoy myself. It felt like herding a group of children around. There were times when I just made up my mind what I wanted and if people wanted to come along they could, if not see ya later.

 

Food the food was OK. Everyone talks about how amazing the food is, but other than there being a lot of it, we weren't bowled over. The hamburgers were very good. I do have to say that the fries were amazing. You'd expect buffet french fries to be bad, but they were always hot and crispy....so good! If you paid for a latte at the International Cafe they were very good as well. There were a couple items that were very tasty, but nothing that really stood out.....except for the fries....mmmmmm.

 

The Ports We enjoyed all of the ports. St Maarten was probably the best day, $1 beers....need I say more. St Thomas we did a sail/snorkel with Rumbaba tours, and it was amazing! Captain Bobby was great. The food was way better than the cruise. Unfortunately it poured rain on the way back to the island. But we had sun for most of the snorkel unlike all the people who stayed in town and got soaked. If you're looking to snorkel without all the crowds and have an amazing meal and drinks then I HIGHLY recommend Rumbaba! Grand Turks and Princess Cays really have nothing to do but cruise tours and beach. Which was fine by me, just laid out all day and enjoyed the water. My friend did the Stingray swim in GT and he said it was amazing.

 

The Wedding we met the coordinator and photographer on the first day of the cruise (we got married on the last day, at sea) After that initial meeting we never saw them again until the wedding. You must understand that I'm a very no muss type of bride. We didn't want a huge deal of our wedding, so it was very minimal. I was ok with not thinking about it until the day of.

 

My MOH and I had mani/pedi's and our hair done in the salon. The mani/pedi were very good. My MOH got the shellac kind, but I had brought my own color so I just got regular polish. Usually when I get a pedi at home we get more of a leg massage, so that was the only disappointing thing. But no biggie! Gina was the stylist that did my hair and she was fabulous! I had forgotten my picture of what I wanted, but we made it work by talking it through. It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, but I would rather she did a great job at what works for my hair than a crappy job trying to attempt what I had originally intended. My only problem was the salon's choice of hair spray. It was really weak! I don't wear a lot, so I hadn't brought mine with. I think if they are doing to do bridal hair then they need to invest in stronger hair spray! Even Gina said she's told them this! My hair was in waves, and could have used stronger because of all the humidity. It did start to drop into the evening, but I'm not one to fret over it. Oh and even though I was prepared to do my own makeup, they do offer this service they just don't advertise it. Gina did it, and used a combo of my own makeup and hers. She asked that I have my foundation applied beforehand. She did a great job.

 

This was all done by 1245pm and I had a bit of a wait until the ceremony at 330pm. That's the most nerve wracking part.....waiting around. The coordinator came for me at 315 as promised and we walked up to Skywalkers for the ceremony. To be honest I don't remember much detail of the decor. I do remember that they use those fake flicker flames instead of real candles. They might look ok at night, but during the day they are a little cheesy. The flowers were tropical arrangements. The DJ played our songs, that I'd burned on CD, perfectly. Captain Tony Yeomans was lovely and everything went smoothly. We signed all the papers, and he pronounced us then we had a champagne toast. During the champagne we cut our cake and everyone got a piece. It's a 9" cake that's included in the package and it fed all 17 of us with a couple pieces left over.

 

I had upgraded my flowers and they were Jade roses. I was under the impression that we would only get my bouquet and DH boutonniere, but it turned out that they had made a MOH bouquet and the 2 groomsmen boutonnieres as well. So the natural touch bouquet and bouts I'd bought were pointless. Not sure why we got the extra flowers. The bouquets were nice, but I wasn't a fan of the lace they put at the bottom to hide the plastic flower holder. I would've preferred a plain hand tied, don't know why they use the plastic thing. My fakes didn't have it. Also there was a lot of greenery, that I would've preferred to not have, but I also didn't get into a lot of detail when talking to the coordinators so that's ok. The florist had attached those pearl pins into each flower, but that's too frou frou for me so we took them out. I didn't receive the flowers until I was literally about to walk down the aisle, so that might bother some brides that want final approval on everything.

 

After the cake and champagne we organized a meet time for a group shot, and then went with the photographer, Craig, up to the bridge and around the ship. Craig was great, he understood that we didn't want to much cheesy romance. It was the right amount typical shots mixed with fun. My only problem with the photos was that me and husband were being really goofy and not taking it seriously. So as a result a lot of the shots are not that good. Either one or both of us have stupid looks on our faces. But that's our problem not Craigs, he was great. But we did get some really great shots, so overall I'm happy. Craig had to rush to the computer to edit, and told us meet him at 1030pm to decide on our package. This was a little rushed, but it was the last day and we did have the last wedding of the day.

 

Our coordinator, Lani, had made reservations for all 17 of us in the MDR for dinner at 6 even though we were all technically "anytime" dining. I wasn't willing to pay more money for more food, and a typical reception. There is plenty of food already available, so why pay more? Although if you're wanting the feel of a typical wedding you might want to go that route. When we entered the dining room, all the wait staff starting clapping and cheering and all the passenger's followed along. If you don't want attention, and constant congrats then change out of your dress, because it draws a lot of attention. I thought it was fun, and wore my dress until I went to bed :);) We paid for everyone's drinks at dinner.

 

We met Craig in the conference room, and discussed the photo packages. We already knew we didn't want the video. Some people find it romantic, we just aren't those type of people. It looked well done, if you are in to that type of thing. We decided to just buy the disc that contained all of the images, original and edited. He included the hundreds of shots he'd already printed, and the proof sheet, plus one wedding announcement he'd made to show us. It cost $999 for the disc. If we had wanted the video one of the packages would have made more sense. They ranged from $500 to $2000. But we figure as long as we have all the images, we can make and print anything we want ourselves. Also beware that there were tons of photos that didn't make it into the edited pile, and if we hadn't bought the disc with the originals we never would've seen them. I'm also very good at photoshop, and I'd like to retouch some of them myself with different filters than Craig chose, so it's nice to have the originals. We were a little pressured to pick out the shot they would use for the Canvas print that came with our package. That was only downfall to having the wedding at the very end of the cruise. Well that and trying to not burn in the sun. Craig asked us to pick up the disc and photos in the morning before leaving the ship.

 

We met most of our guests in Skywalkers for drinks around 1115pm. The DJ let us do an impromptu garter and bouquet toss. It wasn't planned and he was very lovely and organized it all. Although it did feel like the other passengers were put out that we'd interrupted their drinking.:rolleyes: We left the bar around 1am, and went for a late night buffet snack.

 

You have to have your bags out in the hallway by 10pm, unless you plan to carry them off really early. But the front desk allowed us to put them out later since we were so busy with the wedding. We just called them when they were ready, and they sent someone to pick them up.

 

Disembarkation We picked up the photos as planned. And otherwise getting off the ship was real easy. We had a disembarkation time of 830, walked right off, found our bags quickly, breezed through customs. Don't think the customs agent even looked at the form. Our private SUV shuttle met us out front, All Points Limo, and they were very friendly and great. We got a good deal on a flight from West Palm Beach airport, about a 40minute drive. Our only problem came on our connection in Toronto, our flight was late, the bags took forever, and there was a huge line to get through customs. So missed our connection. But Air Canada got us on the next flight, which was only an hour and a half later. Also they got my mother in law on to a direct flight to Victoria. She was planning on flying with us to Vancouver, and taking the ferry home. But when the agent heard me saying that we were now too late to get her to the ferry, and how the ferry is an hour drive each way from our house, she pulled some strings and got her the direct flight. What a stroke of luck :D

 

Random Thoughts overall I think that a destination wedding might have been a little prettier. I've seen the setups they have at some of the resorts in Mexico for weddings and the decor is usually lovely. The reason we chose a cruise, was because we wanted a legal wedding, not one for show and married at home. Mexico can be difficult on the legal end. I'm also fond of air conditioning, and wind not blowing my hair everywhere. But the decor wasn't anything stunning, just 2 bouquets and some fake candles. I guess though that your wedding is whatever you want it to be. I didn't bother with all those little decor details, so I got whatever the cruise gave me. In the end we had a lovely wedding.

 

Well I'm tired, so I'm gonna go now. Hopefully that's everything. If you have questions feel free to ask. I'll check in to answer.

[mountainbreeze]

GreenDragon133 ~ Sounds like you had a perfect wedding! I love the way you took advantage of what was already being offered on the ship (dinner) rather than pay more. It was so nice of the DJ to let you do the garter/bouquet toss too! Sounds like everything went very well!

Thanks for writing a review for us! :)

[Artemis908]

Can't wait to see pictures whenever you've recovered from the trip :). It's interesting how you had the wedding on the last day, it's like your honeymoon came before the wedding!

[Denise2000]

Congratulations, sounds like everything went well!

 

I'm also looking at getting my hair and makeup done, do you remember how much they charge you for this?

[greendragon133]

Yeah, we kept calling it our pre-honeymoon! Unfortunately by the time we booked the first at sea day was all booked up. But other than being super rushed with the photography decisions, the terror of burning myself for my photos, and not being able to lay outside on the last day, it turned out nice having it on the last day. I thought I'd stress in anticipation all week, but that wasn't the case.

 

The hair and makeup came to around $120....I think.....I don't have the receipt anymore. I know I gave her a $20 tip, and I believe that was around 10-15%. I remember I gave the mani/pedi girl a $9 tip, so that service was under $90. Basically it was all the same price I would've paid at home. Very reasonable I felt. Gina was very good about working with me around my makeup, she wanted to look in magazines for ideas, and asking if it was too light or heavy. But I just let her do her thing. It was more than I usually wear, which can feel weird at first, but eventually you get used to it, and it does look better in pictures.

 

I'll try and post some pics soon. Just gotta figure out how! Beware the pics I've posted on my facebook so far aren't very traditional. I've showing people the funny ones, because I haven't had time to sort through and edit the serious ones.

[mrsgomez2011]

Haha those are the best photos! I want to see!!:)

[Denise2000]

Can't wait to see the pictures, LOL!

[greendragon133]

[greendragon133]

[greendragon133]

[greendragon133]

[greendragon133]

[Artemis908]

awesome pictures and what a great dress!

[mrsgomez2011]

I love your photos! haha they are cute! And I love your wedding dress!!!

[Lipz]

CONGRATS!!

.....good to know you enjoyed your cruise wedding.

Your dress is absolutely perfect for it too.

You look beautiful!

[SunshinyLees]

OMG Greendragon, you look beautiful and your dress in gooorrrgeous!!:) Congrats on the wedding and thank you for writing a review! I've been anxiously waiting and hoping you'd post one! Being a fellow Vancouverite, would you mind if I sent you a private message to ask you some specific questions about the wedding/cruise line? That would be awesome, I'd really appreciate it! Thanks and welcome back home! Go Canucks Go:D

[greendragon133]

Sure SunshinyLees! You wanna email me?

 

greendragon_13@hotmail.com

 

Yeah Go Canucks! although they are sucking it hard tonight!:(

[greendragon133]

here are some pics of the ceremony location, Skywalkers, in case anyone was curious.

 

[mrsgomez2011]

I love your arrangments in the back!!! Did you get those yourself?

[greendragon133]

Do you mean the tropical flowers on the pillars? Nope they were just what showed up on the day by the cruise line. I didn't dictate what kind of decor for the ceremony I wanted. So even I didn't know what it would look like when I got there. I thought it might be all white flowers based on other photos I've seen.

 

If I had known that the candles would be those fake ones, I would've asked to not have them. I guess I should've known since you can't have an open flame on board :p In photos they look nice, but in reality they are just these orange tops that in daylight you can hardly see flickering.

 

Like I said I didn't really get involved in organizing and picking details for decor. I tried to make my planning as low stress as possible. And having to fly from Vancouver meant I couldn't bring a lot of extras unless I wanted to pay crazy $ for checked baggage.

[SunshinyLees]

Hi Greendragon, just sent you an email! Thanks so much:)

[ToBeWed]

Your dress is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! You looked so lovely and your husband's necktie on his tux matched perfectly.:)

[cwmjlrjrm]

I just read your review. It was great to read as my wedding was very similar - Ruby Princess, last day of the cruise, in Skywalkers! Our wedding was on 4/2. Have you printed any of your proofs? I attempted to today but the store called and is refusing to print until I provide a copyright release. Did you get one of these on your CD? I don't see where one is provided on mine....and of course have no idea of how to obtain one.

[jeter'sflake]

I just read your review. It was great to read as my wedding was very similar - Ruby Princess, last day of the cruise, in Skywalkers! Our wedding was on 4/2. Have you printed any of your proofs? I attempted to today but the store called and is refusing to print until I provide a copyright release. Did you get one of these on your CD? I don't see where one is provided on mine....and of course have no idea of how to obtain one.

 

You can call Princess and have them send you one. It's a pretty generic looking form. I had to have one sent to me to reprint photos from Formal night after one cruise.

[Collette17n]

First of all - you look stunning! :)

 

I'm thinking about having my wedding on the Ruby Princess as well. Do you know if that ship has a chapel? If so, I wonder if it's a little more decorated than having it in Skywalkers. Do you know? I'm just getting started looking into this, so sorry for my ignorance... lol.