Wedding on The Dream

[krup630]

Hi I just booked our wedding on the dream 9/28/13. Is there any info out there that may help me get prepared for the day and what to expect?

[jdbmga]

Congratulations!!!!!

 

Check out the Honeymoon & Wedding Cruises board. Have fun planning.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

[demos]

Hi I just booked our wedding on the dream 9/28/13. Is there any info out there that may help me get prepared for the day and what to expect?

 

 

There is a wedding section on CC that you might find some reviews that will help. Both of our daughters got married on Carnival ships I can tell you it is the way to go. All you have to do is make decisions on a few things and Carnival wedding dept will take care of the rest.

 

One of our daughters made all of her flowers and used the bouquet that comes with the package for her toss bouqet. She also made an personal isle runner. Helped pass the time till the wedding.

 

I cannot say enough good things about both weddings. Carnival exceeded our expectations both times. As parents it was nice to have a 7 day cruise after the wedding to recup from all the excitment.;)

 

I recommend getting the video and can tell you photos are pricey but we got some fantastic pics.

 

Both weddings were in port before the ship sailed is this what you are doing?

[jdbmga]

demos,

What ships did your daughters get married on? Was it the same type of experience on both?

[demos]

demos,

What ships did your daughters get married on? Was it the same type of experience on both?

 

 

One DD was married on the Glory out of Port Canaveral and the other the Legend out of Tampa.

 

While both weddings were out of differnt ports but we did book the same type package for both weddings. Weddingwas day of sailing where guests could attend the wedding if not sailing. This was great for us although majority did cruise with us both times.

We did the hour and half reception (which goes fast) one in the disco with a DJ on the Glory and other DD had a piano player on the Legend. Had so much fun on both.

Ceremony was very nice with wording my DD both choose in advance. Everything went off like I said better than expected. Carnival employees were VERY attentive and went out of thier way to make the day special on both occasions.

 

The only hicup we had from either wedding was that I had a hairdresser in Port Canaveral NO SHOW us the morning of sailing. We showed up at arranged time hair in curlers and no one ever came. We waited and waited and finaly had to head to the ship with some including Bride in curlers.:eek: We laughed it off and did it ourselves not what we planned for or wanted but oh well. Don't sweat the small stuff.

 

You do have to give control of your wedding to someone else it is hard for some but we welcomed it. On both occasions we had to wait till short time before cruise to find out our location and time for the wedding. By making choices as to type and legnth of wedding package we pretty much knew where and when it would be held. The longer weddings go first and will only take two on each sailing. The earlier you book the better your chances are for having what you want. By reading reviews of other Dream wedding you can get and idea of where your selection will put your reception. ie Dj is usually the disco which on the Glory we loved White Heat dance club. On the Legend on the other had had and ugly disco (imho) for a reception Meddusa all over the place. So that DD choose to have a piano player so her reception would be held elsewhere.:)

 

I will be happy to answer any questions I can.

Have fun looking forward to your special day it will be wonderful. Congratulations!

[coolson_2000]

My wife and I got married this past June on the Magic. A piece of advice would be to keep in constant contact with your wedding planner. Ours kept making mistakes, all the way up until a couple days before the wedding. However, everything came together in the end and we had a wonderful time. The people on board were EXCELLENT. They were even able to keep me from seeing my bride to be (which they DO NOT guarantee BTW).

 

One more thing. When you are in the dining room and they ask if you want some of your wedding cake, say yes and pass it out to everyone around you. Trust me, by the third day, you are sick of seeing that cake and just want to have the chocolate melting cake instead.

[HeatherC430]

Congratulations! Everyone's correct, the wedding boards prove to be extremely helpful in the pre-planning stages!

 

I was married on embarkation day on the Dream in April of 2011.

Here's a link to my review:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1412134

[krup630]

Thank-you I found the wedding section, I was wondering if any knew about non sailing guests and being able to goto lido deck for $9.95, also do they do this before the wedding or after? any help on this would be great. Thanks

[crusinpsychRN]

I saw wedding guests at the Lido before and after the wedding.

 

It's so much fun to see the bride on the ship!

[Herbaltees]

Thank-you I found the wedding section, I was wondering if any knew about non sailing guests and being able to go to lido deck for $9.95, also do they do this before the wedding or after? any help on this would be great. Thanks

 

I'm getting married on the Pride in just a few weeks. If you pull up some of the carnival reviews on the wedding board, you will find that a lot of brides report their non sailing guests were able to grab some food from Lido before the ceremony.

 

I don't think they would be able to go to the Lido after because it is a tight timeline and all guests must exit the ship by 3:00pm.

 

From what I've read most weddings are either at 1:00, or 1:30 depending on the type (deluxe romance or welcome aboard ceremonies) of reception selected.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Have a great time .....

[Sugaraynh]

I got married on the Sensation in Jan, 2008. It was an amazing day but as another poster mentioned, it does go very quickly and having very little control of the day is a little disconcerting, but it will all work out!

 

We did our rehearsal in the Port Canaveral cruise port. We had 27 guests and 14 sailed with us! Our guests were able to eat at the lido deck and also the promenade bar prior to the wedding. We hired the DJ, photographer and bought the video package. I recommend all of the above. It felt like the day was a blur so it is nice to have those as a reminder.

 

Since I had no contact with anyone other than the wedding planner, I wrote a note/list for each "vendor" telling them what pictures were very important to me, and I even made a CD for the DJ with specific songs we wanted played. The wedding planned said this was a great idea! One of my guests delivered them to each. We brought on favors; tiny picture frames in the shape of sailboats (colors were red and blue). One of the staff created a table and arranges linens to resemble waves so it looked like the boats were sailing. I was so impressed with how helpful everyone was!

 

BE SURE TO EAT!!!! If you have the open bar, they WILL replace your beverage with a brand new one each time you take a sip. I barely had anything to eat as I was mingling and dancing and was SUPER tipsy by the time we sailed.

 

Bring extra money for the photos! They are not cheap and when you meet with them, they show you this amazing video, set to music of all the wedding pics. You can only get the DVD if you buy everything which for me was over $1000.

 

Have cash available to tip your vendors (Officiant, Planner, DJ, Photog, Videographer etc). Or delegate a family member or friend to do that for you!

 

I'd be happy to answer any other questions you have! Enjoy your day!

[krup630]

Thank-you so much for your help, I am glad I have plenty of time to plan to try to get evrything right. I can use all the feed back I can get on Carnival sites there not alot of info. I recvd the wedding package but have not heard from the planner. I hope to soon with all questions in hand :)

[Sugaraynh]

Thank-you so much for your help, I am glad I have plenty of time to plan to try to get evrything right. I can use all the feed back I can get on Carnival sites there not alot of info. I recvd the wedding package but have not heard from the planner. I hope to soon with all questions in hand :)

 

 

Sadly, unless things have changed since 2008, you won't have a lot *(if any) of contact with them till about a month before the wedding. BUT, definitely call the wedding dept. That was just about the only place that I could get some answers. That's probably the worst thing about having a cruise ship wedding, but it really all does work out ok in the end! :-)

[mikel24m]

Thank-you so much for your help, I am glad I have plenty of time to plan to try to get evrything right. I can use all the feed back I can get on Carnival sites there not alot of info. I recvd the wedding package but have not heard from the planner. I hope to soon with all questions in hand :)

 

Our last cruise we got married before we cruised in Miami.My wifes parents live in Florida so it was an easy choice for us .Our cruise before we got engaged and met a couple on their honeymoon and hooked us up with a lady to do the ceremony and it was perfect (and cheap too).We took our wedding clothes onboard and got alot of great pictures too and my bride got lots of attention from all the passengers :).Just curious what does a ceremony onboard cost?

[Carnival_Brides]

For an actual wedding through CCL, it ranges from 1200-2000+ depending on location, number of guests and amenities. We wanted to be married at sea, so we're signing paperwork before we leave Baltimore and having a vow renewal at sea with 15 guests and an hour open bar reception--$800.

[mikel24m]

For an actual wedding through CCL, it ranges from 1200-2000+ depending on location, number of guests and amenities. We wanted to be married at sea, so we're signing paperwork before we leave Baltimore and having a vow renewal at sea with 15 guests and an hour open bar reception--$800.

 

$800 for an hour open bar is really expensive for 15 people.I know its including the ceremony.Myself I would take all my guests to the Lido bar and take the bar over :) and not be rushed to drink.Its over $50 pp for that hour and alot of people arent heavy drinkers

[Herbaltees]

I'm sure the $800 open bar includes special appetizers too.

[krup630]

we did the welcome abaord package which includes 1 hour open bar, appitizers, the ceremony , flowers, 2 teir wedding cake, for 20 people it was 1733.00 with tax

[Carnival_Brides]

Should have clarified...it includes:

1 hour open bar

canapes

the ceremony, with the captain officiating

a photo (we're buying an additional package)

2 tier wedding cake and topper (but,we're bringing our own topper)

flutes

flowers (of some kind, but we're bringing our own)

Pianist in the Piano bar for an hour

 

They'll close a lounge and one of the bars for us, so we don't have to take them over. We're thinking having the ceremony in the chapel and we're definitely getting the piano bar.

[SadieN]

we did the welcome abaord package which includes 1 hour open bar, appitizers, the ceremony , flowers, 2 teir wedding cake, for 20 people it was 1733.00 with tax

 

This plus the $1,000 for the pix isn't too bad. Wouldn't be much less at a land based place. Pix are cheaper than landbased professional photographer and videographer.

[coolson_2000]

Should have clarified...it includes:

1 hour open bar

canapes

the ceremony, with the captain officiating

a photo (we're buying an additional package)

2 tier wedding cake and topper (but,we're bringing our own topper)

flutes

flowers (of some kind, but we're bringing our own)

Pianist in the Piano bar for an hour

 

They'll close a lounge and one of the bars for us, so we don't have to take them over. We're thinking having the ceremony in the chapel and we're definitely getting the piano bar.

 

Just an FYI.

 

At least on the Magic, we weren't able to select our venue. We could request it, but ultimately it was based on how many weddings were going on, and the amount of people at each wedding. It was not first come first served. Also, we were told that captains don't perform the weddings anymore as they have too much stuff to do to make the ship ready to sail. YEMV

 

Anyhow, like I said earlier, make sure you keep in constant contact with your wedding coordinator and most of all, don't sweat the small stuff. If something doesn't work out, oh well, just have fun anyway.

[Vitality08]

Just out of curiosity, what's the earliest time you can have a wedding?

 

I'm interested in a wedding on a cruise ship although I'm no where near being engaged. Just curious.