Preliminary Wedding Review -- May 14, 2005 Caribbean Princess

[MentalVacation]

May 14, 2005 Eastern Carib Princess Review and Thoughts (includes review of Wedding)

 

The cast:

 

20-something non-sailing guests, including 5 children/babies

9 sailing guests

 

DH and I arrived in FLL on Thursday – NWA from Sioux City to MSP to FLL. No problems other than torrential rain in Sioux City and NO jet way. SC is VERY SMALL so we had to make a run for it with ‘the dress’ – the staff at the airport were extremely helpful and approached us with a huge trashbag to put over the garment bag, ‘just in case’….and on each leg of the flight, there was plenty of room for the dress in the closet up front. I didn’t even have to ask or play the “this is my wedding dress” card.  Nice.

 

Transfer to Hotel (Hyatt Pier 66) – quick and easy taxi ride – 15.00 including tip.

 

Hotel – booked via priceline for 92.00 per night. It seems that “third party” bookings have started to develop a third class citizen feel. Family that had already arrived were relegated to the less choice location of the Lanai area (almost a separate part of the hotel, not in the tower you see in the pics – very pretty greenery and near the pool but the rooms and public areas were in SERIOUS need of updating…..which was going on in some places). We lucked out and the desk clerk gave us a 12th floor tower room when we asked. It was smoking, but that was no big deal. Great view of the port…….and the surrounding marina. The room was slightly nicer than the Lanai area rooms, but overall the Hyatt was really not up to the standards I was expecting for a 4 star hotel, and for the prices I saw on their website (or even what we’ve paid on priceline). It looked very dated in the halls and the rooms. We did have a nice bathroom. Unfortunately, the faucet broke, leaking water everywhere on Friday morning. They couldn’t replace it that day and offered to move us to another room. We declined due to our imminent departure the next day. I have to say, the staff was wonderful. The bell staff took charge of the dress and made sure it got pressed and returned and they stored it so DH didn’t see it, and the front desk helped us with a variety of problems that arose with our large group. Of course, the concierge was also helpful with transportation arrangements and restaurant recommendations! I give the Hyatt a C- for look and style but an A+ for service. (Outdoors, the pool areas were very pretty and green)

 

Thursday night we headed down to Las Olas Blvd – about a 10 minute drive. Had no problems getting around by rental car. One note – valet parking is 18.00; self parking is 14.00 at the Hyatt. Just a thought if you are renting a car. My mom did b/c we had toddlers and needed car seats, etc. The concierge suggested “Cheeburger Cheeburger” for dinner b/c we had kiddos. Good choice. It was precisely the environment we needed for kids, fun and not too quiet! **Note – they cook in peanut oil – glad we saw that on the menu before DH took a bite of FFs!** He was still able to eat the burger, but no sides.  Alas…..still fun.

 

Afterwards we went back to the hotel to sit in the hot tub and relax. Very nice. Good daquiris.

 

We made use of the Walgreens that is just over the bridge (could probably walk if motivated) and there is also a liquor store right across the street, and a gas station for little things……..

 

Friday – went to the beach in the afternoon. Lots of waves and not a huge crowd. Those of us who remember Vanilla Ice had a giggle about A1A – beachfront avenue………sad, I know…..

 

FRIDAY NIGHT: Many more guests start arriving……..rehearsal at 6:00 by pool at hotel. Then we were off to the Riverfront to Dan Marino’s Fine Food and Spirits for our rehearsal dinner – catering was 26.50 p/p, gratuity included. Gave us 5-6 menu options and non-alcohol beverages. It was REALLY lively and noisy but good food and a nice restaurant. The Riverfront is at the very end of Las Olas Blvd – lots of nightlife, some shopping and a theater….more on that later. I’d give Dan Marino’s a B – good food and service, but a little rowdier than we had hoped. We had been advised we would be in the “back room” and I guess we thought it would be private. That is what we get for assuming. But again, great wait staff! Back to the hotel and the hot tub to relax and catch up with friends and family.

 

SATURDAY AM (a/k/a – The Wedding Day/Sailing Day): Woke up a 6:30 Before alarm and peeked out on balcony. The ship was in!!!! It is truly enormous and very cool to see! It is literally just across the waterway from the Hyatt, which does make the Hyatt an enticing place to stay, despite comments above…..I ran a while in the fitness center – 10.00 per day charge unless you are a spa guest….thought that was a little cheap considering even a best western or a holiday inn will usually have a treadmill and a bike for guests, but what is a girl to do. I paid it and went on.

 

9:00 a.m.: My makeup artist, Anna, arrived. She did fabulous work and made the morning much less stressful for me. Any FLL brides interested, I can put you in touch.

 

10:00 a.m.: To the lobby to head for the port – bellhops called cabs and got dress ready for me. They even managed to get a limo for some of the guests (I ended up in a VAN) for about 5.00 per person! They were really excited. Panic b/c a guest has left her ID in her hotel –25 minutes away. We decide the only solution is to go get it so she does.

 

10:30 a.m. arrived at port…….had to park rental car (with mom at this point) and trot down LONG parking garage. Nervous b/c we are supposed to be there AT 10:30…..there is a huge crowd of departing guests and others. We are spotted pretty much immediately by Marty with TWE (The Wedding Experience) and directed through the crowd to the crew entrance. There are several other bridal parties already waiting, along with most of our group. It was frankly very chaotic, hot and crowded. Leidys was giving us papers and we had questions in the group and I was still worrying about the guest who was chasing her ID. Turns out we were there in plenty of time, as customs was particularly slow that day. We didn’t board until after 11:30. My hair apt onboard was supposed to be at 11:00.

 

We got our sail/sign cards at this point, without ever showing documentation. We filled out the Bahamas form and a Norwalk virus form and someone scurried away with my dress – they took it about 10 feet inside security and laid it on a table. Somehow these ten feet got greasy dirt all over the bottom of the bag and the very edge of the dress. No one really explained or apologized. I was just thankful it wasn’t worse, but it was just the beginning of the chaos, unfortunately. I had two BMs getting hair done at noon – wedding was scheduled for 1:15 with a 1 hour reception after. We scurried to the salon when we were finally permitted onboard…..another bride was getting her hair done while I was, the girls did their makeup and steamed all of our dresses while I got my hair done.

 

At the same time, DH and his men were taken to the room and shown the ceremony location. The minister (family) came to the salon to describe the new location to me, and how we’d come in. Leidys finally agreed to take me down to see it b/c I was a little frustrated at not being able to visualize it ahead of time. We did this after my hair and while they started on the girl’s hair, before I dressed. I got to see another ceremony going on, which was kind of nice. Back to salon – put on jewelry, took some pictures, got to see flowers. At this point I was asking if everyone else had their flowers and did tuxes fit, etc….I was assured yes, yes, yes. Girls are still getting hair done…..time is ticking away. I finally get dressed and my photog takes some cool pics in the ladies changing room at the spa…….once I am dressed and veiled, my sister is finally done with hair and we get her dressed. Other BM still going…(lots of hair)…..we are now very late due to customs and hair. I don’t realize at this point how late, however……I wish TWE had said “Customs has us way behind – the BMs are going to have to do their own hair” – it would have saved a LOT of grief later…..more on that grief……

 

Finally we are all dressed. We head to the ceremony. Oops. Leidys took us the wrong way. We traverse the entire ship (in heels, veil and all) again, careful not to get dress wet on blue carpeting out on deck……..ceremony was fine…..hot waiting to get down there, but it was shaded once we got there……the best part of the ceremony was DH not being able to push my bands on. Yikes! He got it, but not without a funny look or two.  The other funny/unfortunate/timing problem was the ring bearers – ages 3 and 4. TWE didn’t’ advise the guests of the extent of the delay so the moms/grandmas dressed the kiddos WAY too early and by the time the ceremony was over my nephew had started a striptease out of his uncomfortable shoes, tie and vest…..by the time we did pictures he was barefoot with an unbuttoned shirt! Poor kid. During the ceremony, DH’s nephew and mine decided to destroy the floral arrangement they were standing by……behind me, by the BMs – I see this out of the corner of my eye. I also hear my mom’s cell phone going off! Fortunately they didn’t hurt themselves with the sharp ends of the silk flowers…..we had acoustic guitar…..what I heard of it was great. We sent him sheet music and he played wonderfully. He gets an A. The ceremony overall went fine, except for timing and mid ceremony I found myself thinking “Hey, why doesn’t my mom have a corsage?” I thought maybe she’d taken it off b/c she was holding my 1 yr old nephew. Nope. She never got one, which upset her and me. DH also didn’t get the right color bout, and pretty much all of the flowers wilted immediately upon hitting outside, but otherwise, it was fine. I wasn’t thrilled that all the décor was white when my colors (including my dress) were ivory and pink based. I would mention that if it is important to you in your planning.

 

Post-Ceremony we took some VERY rapid pictures – WAY too rushed and confused and TWE wasn’t very “take charge”……and sadly, during this time, the Best Man’s wife gets a call or took a message or something and finds out her grandfather has died, which was of course very upsetting to her and everyone felt bad. Leidys or someone finally escorted the guests to the Wheelhouse and we took a limited number of bridal party shots and then we waited for Leidys who had promised to come back for us.

 

After what seemed like forever, we just took off ourselves and came down to the Wheelhouse with the photog. He went in and I think they announced us. I’m not sure. The first thing I saw was the cake. I warn you I was VERY disappointed. If you look at my knot.com bio, you will see my inspiration photo (knot id is BrideRedux) – The cake was NOTHING like this….and we paid well over 400.00 for it. I took it in stride, however, b/c what can you do. Iwasn’t about to pitch a fit and ruin our day. We came in and were promptly served drinks. People were sitting down, eating and chatting. We pretty much did the first dance right then……to the music of some sort of Vegas-y vocal act. They weren’t bad or anything. Actually, they were fine, but DH and I both really wanted (and had discussed with TWE, and specifically paid for and requested) an instrumental only jazz combo. Another disappointment. But DH and I had a fun first dance to our requested “It Had to Be You” and then he danced with his mom and we mingled for a very short period.

 

Before I had had a bite of food it was the toast and the cake cutting. At this point I discovered the flavors were all wrong too.  The best man and my sister (MOH) both gave lovely toasts and there was a little more dancing. Next thing I know, the food was all gone – and I really don’t think we got the full hour. Also – we thought the appetizers would be served. It was set up buffet style…..Then suddenly TWE says “it is the last song” and no one has gotten their favors yet (gift bags with toys for kiddos and t-shirts and custom soaps for adults). So they are scurrying to give those out. The BM realizes he has to go get out of his tux and my sister has all her stuff up at the salon (opposite end of the ship) so suddenly people are disappearing and we still haven’t done any family pictures so our photog kicks it into gear….but we were promised about a ½ hour after the reception for more pictures……nope. My sister and nephew never came back to the lounge…..they got escorted off the ship (w/o his ID, which my mom had back at the wheelhouse, where she was told to wait for them – like I said, it was not organized and very chaotic) I didn’t get to tell them goodbye or thank you for being in the wedding.  It left us on a very disappointed note for the wedding. I really think it would all have been solved by TWE saying BMs had to do their own hair b/c of the customs delay. I had taken all the other advice they had given, and I would have taken that as well…..over and over again I had told Leidys that my biggest worry was feeling rushed and disorganized and not getting to spend any time with our non-sailing guests. My worries were very much realized, unfortunately. If I had it to do over again, I would have even done MY hair beforehand, but that was never raised as an issue or a suggestion and I was depending on their experience and expertise.

 

All in all, LESS than impressed with the TWE handling of the wedding. I would caution any embarkation day bride to be diligent. I think all of the problems I had were completely resolvable with some creativity and some planning and some openness about the situation. (Apparently there was also a time where they didn’t think we’d have a band….I still don’t know what happened. I do know no one told me until after the fact, which is probably best, but some stuff should have been communicated)…..

 

Of note, I have articulated my issues to Leidys today. She informed me that their Customer Relations Department will look into each of the issues. I have asked for a refund/compensation for the cake, the band and the flowers and I have made some suggestions for their future handling. I will keep everyone posted on the response I get. She said it may take up to 8-10 weeks. I will finish the cruise review shortly. My hands are TIRED!!!! I welcome questions.

[valorbride]

Thanks for the review. I'm so sorry you were disappointed with The Wedding Experience. You would think that since they do weddings, they could have been more organized. I hope you are refunded.

[Cruising Wonder]

I am so sorry to hear that your experience was not up to the standards you expected. I hope they are able to do something for you. Thanks for taking the time to share your review.

 

Shari:p

[kadiebug12]

I'm so sorry to hear your day was rushed, it's very unfortunate that they were so disorganized. They really should compensate you somehow and if they don't you need to be sure and write Princess directly and let them know (remember they contract TWE to provide this service and Princess could fire them if they want to).

 

Congratulations on being married! I hope despite the negatives it was an amazing day for you and your new husband and if you have some pictures to share we'd love to see them!

[pathubia]

First of all CONGRATULATIONS!!! Best wishes for a great life together.

 

:eek: YIKES, TWE will be handling our wedding too. They do the NCL Weddings. I feel so bad that you had such added stress to your day. Ours (I hope) will be less stressfull. We are cruising out of Boston and we all live in the Boston area. I plan on having everyone dressed and ready when we get to the ship (except me). That saves on the hair time, LOL.

 

This is my second marriage and his first. We are having a BM, Maid of Honor, and 2 bridesmaids. I think the youngest kid at the wedding will be one of my daughters, she is 12. So we dont have the worry of small kids.

 

Bummer about your cake.

 

We are having a luncheon, I hope they are more organized with that. Do you think the disorganization was the ships fault or TWE?

 

Thanks,

Patty

[monkey1]

Thank you so much for sharing your review. It's disappointing that they didn't make your day perfect, but I admire the way you rolled with it! My fingers are crossed that you receive reinmbursement for the items you requested.

 

 

Congrats on your marriage!

[whiskey]

Sorry to hear about your less then stellar experience with TWE. We can relate.

We also were married on that same trip you were on. I (the groom) was dissapointed with the mis-communiation/mis-steps even though we were doing a much simpler wedding.. just the two of us. We had problems with the Lotus Spa & Photographer.

[MentalVacation]

whiskey -- I'm sorry to hear your troubles, too. Were you an embarkation day wedding as well? I felt like that might have been a LOT of the trouble, especially considering such successes like kadiebug's wedding on the same ship, etc......but maybe I was wrong. You aren't the groom that was next door to us in A702 are you? It seemed like there were a lot of weddings onboard, but it could be something you notice simply because you are getting married too? Who knows.

 

we had a couple in our group renew their vows onboard and it went very smoothly, but of course, that is sort of a mass-produced event that has little customization. But it was nice just the same.

 

We were very happy with our photographer, but we were permitted to bring him along. That was one of the good things about TWE -- Leidys really did work hard to help me with that. It wasn't lack of pre-wedding effort I had complaint with, more organization and efficiency on the day of.....along with a blatant disregard by several people (who, i don't know?) of our requests/wishes and such....(cake, musicians, reception, etc)......

 

but we're married now, happily, and that is the important part.

 

If anyone is curious, my photographer has a few of our wedding pictures up on his business website. It is http://www.dustinjonesphotography.com -- go to portfolios then weddings......I think ours are the first ones, mixed in with my pre-bridals....the last one is two little boys facing away from the camera.....the two little guys who pulled flowers out of the arrangement......as someone so scathingly railed upon me for in the other post......argh.

[monkey1]

MentalVacation--you looked stunning in your pics! Your photographer did a fantastic job--thank you so much for sharing. I'm getting married next year on the Caribbean Princess on the second day of sailing, and it's very helpful to hear the reviews from other brides. Again, I think it's truly admirable the way you rolled with the punches, and I'm vowing to do the same. With cruise weddings, it's somewhat out of your control:) And, I read the other post to you and think it's completely out of line, but hopefully it's just pre-wedding stress on that brides part.

 

Thank you again!!

 

Traci

[MentalVacation]

traci- thanks!

 

we will post more pics eventually. he took a lot of great shots after we sailed.....convenient to have your very own photographer along for the entire trip! :-)

 

regarding the other thread -- i agree....i was a little taken aback. ah well. what can you do? it is a stressful time. i probably should have bitten my tongue, but I felt a little attacked.

 

amazingly, i am learning, it is not the most stressful time! :-) the day i returned to work one of the partners sent me an email about a new house going on on the market that i should definitely check out (we are barely unpacked!) so i called. and we looked at it THAT night. and loved it. mind you -- first house we've seen. we got pre-approved before the wedding so we could start looking this summer....a new project to fill the wedding planning void? :-) -- yikes.

 

SO, we ran through a BUNCH of houses the next night, to get some perspective. Turns out the house was a great deal, and we made an offer. It was accepted, and if things go well, we'll be in our new (old) house by mid july!!!!!!!! Exciting!!!!!!!!!!!

 

It is a lot out of your control, by that point, no matter how many pages or hours you've gone back and forth with your consultant. But life goes on. I do hope their customer service/relations department takes my concerns to heart, b/c I do think there were breaches, but in the grand scheme of things we are happy to be married, despite it all. The ship is beautiful and I didn't want to leave. Oh, if only DH had agreed to the Back to Back! You will see those long faces on the Saturday you board. Don't be too smug. It will be you in a week...... :-(

 

If you have more questions I will try to answer. I will post more pics this week. I will also keep you all posted on what happens with TWE's customer relations. I think it may be useful information for future brides.

[whiskey]

whiskey -- I'm sorry to hear your troubles, too. Were you an embarkation day wedding as well? I felt like that might have been a LOT of the trouble, especially considering such successes like kadiebug's wedding on .

 

We got married on the Monday @ Sea Day. We noticed the two rooms side by side that had the Just Married balloons also. I thought it was a double wedding :) We were in A526 with the Weddings Bells hung on the door.

 

-Things I noticed afterwards was that the pianoist was way out of tune and got plenty of notes wrong. I'm not musical, but hey.. even I noticed. How hard is it to play the Bridal march :rolleyes: (I have the wedding on an video avi file if you don't believe!)

-The cake was not delivered on time.. I actually had to call Concierge to get them to bring it. Waited an hour for a cake that should have been delivered on time.

-The Photographer Jennifer rushed through the pics in 50 mins, and then I told her I had TWO hours booked .. she didn't believe and called the office. She had mistakenly read the wrong booking. But, we had already rushed through all her places she knew where to take pictures. The pictures she did take have lots of people in the background. She wasn't very professional IMO.

 

But we're married now, happily, and that is the important part, but alot more organization on behalf of Princess and its staff would have made it better of course.

[monkey1]

Lisa-

 

Good luck with the house--that's sooo exciting! Thanks in advance for posting more pics--always helpful to see.

 

~Traci

[MentalVacation]

Whiskey -- i agree completely. i could totally re-vamp their organization. :-) Ah well.....

 

We saw your door too. At one point we tried counting all the "Just married" rooms. I think there were easily a dozen! Funny. We did see several brides/grooms that week....it is apparently big business for Princess....that and the vow renewal...they really churn those out too!

 

We got our license Tuesday, FYI....fairly prompt, I thought. Now for all the name changing!

[Cruising Wonder]

Wow that sounds pretty awesome to have that many. I wonder how many are getting married on mine? Glad to hear the marriage license was quick. Best of luck!!:p