Carnival Destiny: Miami Wedding April 2011 REVIEW

[katieandaron]

We just returned from our 4 night wedding cruise on the Destiny (and subsequent honeymoon trip to the Riviera Maya)! The wedding was AMAZING and we had so much fun! Here is the story of our trip!

 

For those of you that don’t know our background, here is my planning thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1311909

 

First of all, we flew down to Orlando on the Saturday before our Thursday wedding (April 14). We spent Saturday at the Buena Vista Palace (awesome! totally recommend!) and dined/danced that night in Downtown Disney (which is across the street from the Palace). Sunday we spent the day at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and then Monday spent time with family in the area, golfing and tanning by the pool.

 

We were in Miami as of Tuesday night (we stayed in South Beach at the Whitelaw Hotel- do not recommend- way too loud). I arranged ahead of time for my dress to be picked up from the hotel for steaming/pressing- I used Rey’s Cleaners. They picked up the dress on Tuesday and dropped it off at our downtown hotel on Wednesday afternoon. Aside from some last minute confusion over pick up time and drop off location (it seemed as if the driver did not listen to his instructions closely?), it was a great service. We also bought post cards for our “guest book.” The rest of the time we relaxed on the beach!

 

All of our guests (we had 45 sailing and 2 non-sailing) were in Miami as of Wednesday and we stayed at the Holiday Inn-Port of Miami (“early saver” rates were $127 per night). My husband’s parents hosted a Rehearsal dinner at the Rusty Pelican for immediate family members and we used that time to give our wedding party (2 bridesmaids and 3 groomsmen) their thank you gifts, along with gifts to our parents. It was great to be able to welcome our families and thank them for coming all the way to Miami! The Rusty Pelican was beautiful- great location and wonderful interior. They took excellent care of us.

 

After dinner we went to the Bayside Marketplace to meet the rest of our friends at “Let’s Make a Daiquiri” for drinks. There was a great band and we stayed up pretty late!

 

Day 1: Port of Miami and Our Wedding

 

Alicia Couri of AC Beauty arrived at the hotel at 6:30am to do hair and makeup for my two bridesmaids and me. Alicia was a pleasure to work with- I booked her back in the fall, she reconfirmed with me in January. We signed a contract and I paid ahead of time with PayPal. She did a fantastic job and I would totally recommend her. She charged $200 for me and $120 for each bridesmaid, including both hair and makeup.

 

We took shuttles to the Port at 10 and all 47 of us were ready to board by 10:30am. The TWE coordinator, Norkis, met us as we unloaded our suitcases. I had my dress and a small rolling suitcase and my husband had his tuxedo and a small box of wedding stuff. The coordinator helped with the box and the dress. Upstairs we met Barbara, the officiant. Both Barbara and Norkis were great- they walked us through the whole day and were really reassuring. Barbara spent 10 mins making a speech to all our guests too, telling them what to expect and where to be.

 

We waited for only about 20 mins and were on board by 11:15 or so. Norkis guided us to our cabin where the groom and I finally separated- he went to his parents’ cabin with his groomsmen to get ready and I stayed at our cabin with my bridesmaids.

 

We rented the 3 groomsmen tuxes through Carnival- the “contemporary” tux style with long black tie and black vest. We gave them pink ties and matching pocket squares to wear instead (with the black vests). The shade of pink matched the bridesmaids’ dresses… (“watermelon” from David’s Bridal). The tuxes were waiting in our cabin when we boarded.

 

Also, I ordered real flowers (boutonnieres, corsages, etc.) through TWE so they were delivered while we were getting ready. I had a list of which flower went to which person and Norkis and I went over that together earlier before we boarded.

 

We paid for the 2 non-sailing guests to eat at the buffet. I think everyone grabbed food and wandered the ship. My bridesmaids grabbed some buffet munchies for us in the cabin. The ceremony started at 1pm and was in the Criterion Lounge. 2 weeks before the cruise, when our time and place were confirmed by Carnival, I sent out brochures (Vistaprint) to our guests with everyone’s cabin numbers listed, a map, etc. I had them printed out ahead of time and then just handwrote the time and place. Everyone was able to find their cabins and drop off their carry on luggage before the ceremony.

 

Bernard, the photographer, came by the cabin about 15 mins before the ceremony for some pictures. He did a great job all day and his photos turned out wonderfully. A coordinator came down to give me my bouquet for the photos too, a sweet touch. Then she walked me and the bridesmaids to the ceremony! Where my dad was waiting.

 

We didn’t bother bringing CDs for the ceremony; we just used Carnival’s options. To be honest, I don’t even remember music playing- I was so distracted by walking in my dress and being nervous! My brother-in-law gave a reading. My bouquet had white roses and light blue hydrangeas and my bridesmaid carried light blue hydrangeas. Barbara did a really wonderful job with the ceremony. She said sweet and funny things and gave lots of reassuring looks and helpful cues. For brides in the Criterion- LIFT your dress when you go up the stairs to the stage!

 

After the ceremony we went back on stage for some family and bridal party photos. The reception was at 1:30pm in the Down Beat Lounge, right next door. This was the perfect-sized room for our party. We booked the 4-piece band for the reception, which was an hour and a half of open bar and hors d’oeuvres (and ice sculpture, two turtledoves). We brought CDs of our first dance and mother/son and father/daughter dances. The bandleader announced us and we went right into our first dance, Elvis, “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” Then we segued right into the parent dance- we did both at the same time to Ray Charles, “Ain’t That Love.” Then we cut the cake and did toasts. Then it was time to eat and drink! Both the food and the drinks were wonderful. The waitstaff was awesome. I always had a drink in my hand.

 

We loved the band- they played rock and roll, Motown, disco, etc. Great for dancing. We gave out personalized koozies as our favors (from barrypromos on Etsy)- they turned out perfectly! The coordinator had them arranged on all the tables, along with our guest book post cards. The reception went by so quickly! But I loved every minute of it.

 

After the reception the photographer walked with us to a couple of locations on the ship for pictures. We took photos at the Cheers Wine Bar and then in the atrium and then up on deck. We skipped the Muster drill. By the end I was very hot in my dress! And totally ready to take off my veil.

 

I originally planned to keep my wedding dress on through dinner (early seating) but it was tooooo hot. So I changed into a short white dress and my husband changed into khakis and a Hawaiian shirt! We were all seated together (all 45 of us) at dinner, even though I didn’t set up a group booking. What I did instead- I emailed the Group Dining Department (groupdining@carnival.com) in February and gave them a list of names and cabin numbers to group together. They will do this if it is a group of more than 21 cabins. I was able to plan the seating arrangement and have it confirmed over email. I also printed out everything and one of the coordinators double-checked with the maitre d’ before the wedding…

 

Day 2: Key West

 

We booked the Catamaran Sail and Snorkel, which started at 9:30am. A few friends and family joined us. I had a new underwater camera that I was psyched to try out! The waves were really choppy but we saw some cool fish. The excursion ended at about 12:30 and we grabbed lunch before running back to the ship.

 

Back on the ship we relaxed. This was the “elegant” night so my husband got to wear his tux again! We met friends and family for drinks before dinner (we told them when and where in the Vistaprint brochure).

 

Day 3: Cozumel

 

We booked the Clear Kayak and Snorkel at Chankanaab National Park. This was a great excursion. We saw lots of fish and the Park was beautiful. When we got back to the pier we showered on the boat and then spent the evening at Fat Tuesdays with friends.

 

Day 4: Fun Day at Sea

 

We went over our photographs after lunch. We originally planned to buy the $750 package but it was pretty much impossible to choose which photos we wanted. They were all so great. So with some finagling with Bernard and last minute help from my folks, we came to a different arrangement and ended up with all the hard copies and digital copies, plus a canvas and the slideshow. I can’t wait to make photobooks next!

 

Day 5: Miami again and Flight to Mexico for Honeymoon!

 

Disembarking was a breeze. We left my dress and my husband’s tux with my parents (they had their car) and took a taxi to the airport. Then we flew to Cancun for our Honeymoon! We spent 6 nights at the Royal Playa del Carmen. It was heavenly to be alone! And that is a heavenly resort.

 

Final Thoughts

Things that went perfectly:

1. I loved having real flowers. I didn’t have to worry about getting fake ones down to Miami in my suitcase and then I had roses in my cabin for the next 4 days.
   
2. I’m glad I arranged for my dress to be steamed down in Miami. I had originally planned on buying a hand steamer, but then read that taffeta is really difficult to steam, so I dropped that idea. Then I considered dropping the dress of the David’s Bridal in Coral Gables for a few hours but I had a really hard time communicating with them over the phone and I was not reassured they could do a rush job… So having Rey’s Cleaners pick it up from me and bring it back was awesome.
   
3. I’m happy I was able to get us all seated together in the Dining Room, even though we didn’t use a Group Booking. Everyone loved being in our big group and our waiters were fantastic.
   
4. I loved having so many days with friends and family. I feel like we really got to spend time with everyone and do some fun things together. I think everyone will remember this cruise for a long time.
   

Things that I wish had gone a little differently:

1. I didn’t need to plan everything so meticulously. The coordinators had everything under control and they did a great job. All I had to do was show up in my dress.
   

Things that I would advise other brides to do/not do:

1. Do have a cruise wedding!
   
2. Do have a separate honeymoon later, if your friends and family join you on the cruise. It was awesome to see everyone for 4 days but it was also exhausting. You can’t be everywhere at once.
   
3. Don’t stress about the small stuff. It will be beautiful. I promise.
   
4. Do realize that people are going to wait until the last minute to book. And to cancel. You’re asking them to come a long way and spend a lot of money, so be flexible.
   

Here is a link to our photos: http://photobucket.com/katieandaron

Password: wedding

 

These are just what friends have uploaded so far. I'm going to start uploading mine tonight (hopefully) and there are hundreds of pro pictures too...

[mrsgomez2011]

Congrats!!! Your photos are great! You looked beautiful!! Thank you for your review. The more reviews I read the calmer I get even though I'm super anxious to go already!!

 

Thanks again!

[Denise2000]

Thank you for your review. Your pictures look great, I have to agree also that the more reviews I read the calmer I get. Counting down the days until May 4th!

[mountainbreeze]

Thanks for the review! Looks like you had a wonderful time!

CONGRATULATIONS!!:)

[Lipz]

Yippee!!

Another fabulous review.

I especially love your pointers at the end and to be honest you sound like you were optimistic from the get-go!

Congratulations...Mrs!!

[HeatherC430]

Congratulations! I'm glad to hear everything turned out as you had hoped! It seems like only yesterday we were both planning and a year out!