Wedding Advice: Esp LGBT or "Symbolic Wedding" as NCL calls it

[Way]

Hello Everyone!

 

I am planning a wonderful wedding adventure and currently have 68 people with deposit in...which I find 100% nuts. We are expecting that we may level out at 75 people. We will be sailing out of Tamp to Western caribbean on the NCL Dawn (4/20/2014).

 

I am curious if anyone has had experience with the wedding services. I personally find some of the packages to be a tad pricey as well as more geared to the "traditional-legal" wedding.

 

I do plan on using some of our group amenity points in conjunction with wedding activities, but does anyone have any suggestions of things they loved and things they wish they would have done differently?

 

Even though we should be at about 75 people, we are still planning a pretty low-key-party/reception type environment for the ceremony and post nuptial celebration.

 

I would love any suggestions and feedback you have can provide.

 

(Side note: I personally have been on several cruises and my fiance has been on 1. I am pretty familiar with NCL practices and room).

 

Thanks :)

Waylon

[Sauer-kraut]

Hey Waylon!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I can't really help out for your wedding advice HOWEVER Cruise Critic has a "HONEYMOON & WEDDING CRUISES" thread under Special Interest Cruising.

 

I do know there were 2 ladies that got married on NCL a year (or two) ago. If you do a search for Lipz you can find out her posts. Her embarkation day wedding on NCL can be found in this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1462186

 

Good luck with the planning! Have a great cruise and congratulations to you and your future spouse!

[Way]

Thanks! I got lost in the threads sometime and never pick the right words to search :)

[SissasMomE]

Hello Everyone!

 

I am planning a wonderful wedding adventure and currently have 68 people with deposit in...which I find 100% nuts. We are expecting that we may level out at 75 people. We will be sailing out of Tamp to Western caribbean on the NCL Dawn (4/20/2014).

 

I am curious if anyone has had experience with the wedding services. I personally find some of the packages to be a tad pricey as well as more geared to the "traditional-legal" wedding.

 

I do plan on using some of our group amenity points in conjunction with wedding activities, but does anyone have any suggestions of things they loved and things they wish they would have done differently?

 

Even though we should be at about 75 people, we are still planning a pretty low-key-party/reception type environment for the ceremony and post nuptial celebration.

 

I would love any suggestions and feedback you have can provide.

 

(Side note: I personally have been on several cruises and my fiance has been on 1. I am pretty familiar with NCL practices and room).

 

Thanks :)

Waylon

 

Congrats on your wedding! We are looking at this cruise. Also looking at the Getaway .... big price difference though. Anyway, if we're there, we'll toast ya

;)

[DMLyons]

I am curious if anyone has had experience with the wedding services. I personally find some of the packages to be a tad pricey as well as more geared to the "traditional-legal" wedding.

 

We were discussing renewal of vows the other day on another thread in this section. What some people do, if they aren't looking for the traditional legal ceremony at sea, is have a beloved family member or friend "officiate." Technically speaking, you can get a private room/venue on board the ship for a period of time and perform your own ceremony, but you'd probably still need some of the catering associated with a wedding/vow renewal. It really depends on how much of the pomp and circumstance associated with a wedding you want or don't want. That is entirely your call, of course.

 

Also, if it appeals to you, you can do little touches for your partner and yourself...romance packages, couples massages, the bon voyage or congratulations party package (under bon voyage gifts...but that's just for your personal room, not for everyone)... Oddly, though they have an anniversary party package, they don't have a just married package, but the other two are appropriate.

 

Congratulations and good luck!

DML

[Lipz]

Hello Everyone!

 

I am planning a wonderful wedding adventure and currently have 68 people with deposit in...which I find 100% nuts. We are expecting that we may level out at 75 people. We will be sailing out of Tamp to Western caribbean on the NCL Dawn (4/20/2014).

 

I am curious if anyone has had experience with the wedding services. I personally find some of the packages to be a tad pricey as well as more geared to the "traditional-legal" wedding.

 

I do plan on using some of our group amenity points in conjunction with wedding activities, but does anyone have any suggestions of things they loved and things they wish they would have done differently?

 

Even though we should be at about 75 people, we are still planning a pretty low-key-party/reception type environment for the ceremony and post nuptial celebration.

 

I would love any suggestions and feedback you have can provide.

 

(Side note: I personally have been on several cruises and my fiance has been on 1. I am pretty familiar with NCL practices and room).

 

Thanks :)

Waylon

 

Hi Waylon...

Nice to meet you!

I saw your post on the Honeymoon/Wedding Thread and replied. I'll be glad to answer any questions you have.

Dana

 

Hey Waylon!

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I can't really help out for your wedding advice HOWEVER Cruise Critic has a "HONEYMOON & WEDDING CRUISES" thread under Special Interest Cruising.

 

I do know there were 2 ladies that got married on NCL a year (or two) ago. If you do a search for Lipz you can find out her posts. Her embarkation day wedding on NCL can be found in this thread.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1462186

 

Good luck with the planning! Have a great cruise and congratulations to you and your future spouse!

 

WOW!!

How sweet of you to remember me.

Thanks for sharing my review as a resource.

This is exactly why I did one, as I remember being limited in finding other NCL brides and/or grooms who shared their experience on CC.

Thanks again!

Dana

[DCT61]

BEAUTIFUL wedding photos Dana, Hope to see Waylon's on here too. CONGRATS!

[Lipz]

BEAUTIFUL wedding photos Dana, Hope to see Waylon's on here too. CONGRATS!

 

Thank you so much. It was such a beautiful experience......

[CruisinMaterial]

Dana - So glad you found Waylan or vice versa! I couldn't think of anyone who could speak more about doing a wedding on a cruise ship! :) Being in the Jewel's Spinnakers on a ship tour late last year made me remember your wedding (and give me ideas for my own some day)!! :)

[Lipz]

Dana - So glad you found Waylan or vice versa! I couldn't think of anyone who could speak more about doing a wedding on a cruise ship! :) Being in the Jewel's Spinnakers on a ship tour late last year made me remember your wedding (and give me ideas for my own some day)!! :)

Why thank you.

It is my pleasure to help other cruise wedding couples, especially those marrying with Norwegian. When it's your turn I'll be here! :D

[Saltbox2013]

Oh this thread is more recent. My partner and I are getting married on the NCL breakaway. It's technically symbolic since we got our license in DC. We wanted to do a ceremony on a cruise ship since we are total ship fanatics. We have 24 guests sailing with us. NCL has been pretty ok with all my needs, but they are simple so not much can go wrong. So yeah in 2 weeks we set sail and we'll see how this brand new ship will handle it. :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Saltbox2013]

One thing I'm curious about is the actual ceremony. What is it like? The vibe is, NCL took all their vow renewals in house so they are no longer using a wedding company to do it like before. I tried asking the group events planners of the Breakaway but they seem clueless so yeahhhhh. And the breakaway is new and our sailing is apparently the first one to do wedding related stuff so I'll cook up a thorough review when I come back.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[valleyvillage]

Why thank you.

It is my pleasure to help other cruise wedding couples, especially those marrying with Norwegian. When it's your turn I'll be here! :D

 

Dana, every time I look at your wedding photos I burst into tears.

My husband and I got married on the Sun Deck of the Queen Mary in 2008 and then had our honeymoon cruise in the Star.

Thank you very much!

[Godiva830]

Hello Everyone!

 

I am planning a wonderful wedding adventure and currently have 68 people with deposit in...which I find 100% nuts. We are expecting that we may level out at 75 people. We will be sailing out of Tamp to Western caribbean on the NCL Dawn (4/20/2014).

 

I am curious if anyone has had experience with the wedding services. I personally find some of the packages to be a tad pricey as well as more geared to the "traditional-legal" wedding.

 

I do plan on using some of our group amenity points in conjunction with wedding activities, but does anyone have any suggestions of things they loved and things they wish they would have done differently?

 

Even though we should be at about 75 people, we are still planning a pretty low-key-party/reception type environment for the ceremony and post nuptial celebration.

 

I would love any suggestions and feedback you have can provide.

 

(Side note: I personally have been on several cruises and my fiance has been on 1. I am pretty familiar with NCL practices and room).

 

Thanks :)

Waylon

 

 

I'll be on your sailing!! Cheers to you and hope your ceremony is great! Congrats!

[Lipz]

One thing I'm curious about is the actual ceremony. What is it like? The vibe is, NCL took all their vow renewals in house so they are no longer using a wedding company to do it like before. I tried asking the group events planners of the Breakaway but they seem clueless so yeahhhhh. And the breakaway is new and our sailing is apparently the first one to do wedding related stuff so I'll cook up a thorough review when I come back.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

I can't wait to read your wedding review of the Breakaway. It will be interesting since I just sailed her and you will be one of the first to get married on her.

 

Dana, every time I look at your wedding photos I burst into tears.

My husband and I got married on the Sun Deck of the Queen Mary in 2008 and then had our honeymoon cruise in the Star.

Thank you very much!

 

Aww, thank you. Like you probably know yourself, every time I think about it or talk about it brings back so many good memories and feelings. I also love knowing others will hopefully share in the same kind of fond memories.

[Saltbox2013]

I can't wait to read your wedding review of the Breakaway. It will be interesting since I just sailed her and you will be one of the first to get married on her.

 

Yup 2 weeks! I'm stressing because the meeting rooms where my ceremony and cocktail party will take place is still being used for storage and none of my other cruise critics were able to snap a picture of the room for me yet! I suspect it will be mostly browns like the rest of the ship and I saw what the Epic's meeting rooms look like. Kind of uninspired with the browns and neutrals. I like the colorful Norwegian Gem, but oh well we thought we'd give this new ship a try! btw, I like your pictures, and I am jelly that you got to have your event in the Spinnaker Lounge! I was hoping to get the Bliss Lounge or something cool like that but they aint budging. I will get to have a second cocktail party on the last night of the sailing in the Bliss. Will call it the "End of Bliss Party" lol

Edited May 21, 2013 by Saltbox2013

[gymbomb]

Yup 2 weeks! I'm stressing because the meeting rooms where my ceremony and cocktail party will take place is still being used for storage and none of my other cruise critics were able to snap a picture of the room for me yet! I suspect it will be mostly browns like the rest of the ship and I saw what the Epic's meeting rooms look like. Kind of uninspired with the browns and neutrals. I like the colorful Norwegian Gem, but oh well we thought we'd give this new ship a try! btw, I like your pictures, and I am jelly that you got to have your event in the Spinnaker Lounge! I was hoping to get the Bliss Lounge or something cool like that but they aint budging. I will get to have a second cocktail party on the last night of the sailing in the Bliss. Will call it the "End of Bliss Party" lol

 

 

We did the end of cruise (last sea day) cocktail party on our wedding cruise too, and I'm so glad we did! Was a nice perk for the guests to get a couple of free drinks, but was also great to have an easy way to see everyone toward the end and do goodbyes/disembarkation plans/etc. since we were driving home and most of our guests were going straight to the airport the next morning. Hope you love your NCL wedding as much as I did! We're coming up on both our 1 year and our next cruise -- will leave the Gem a week before our anniversary, so we'll just call it our anniversary trip :)

[Lipz]

Yup 2 weeks! I'm stressing because the meeting rooms where my ceremony and cocktail party will take place is still being used for storage and none of my other cruise critics were able to snap a picture of the room for me yet! I suspect it will be mostly browns like the rest of the ship and I saw what the Epic's meeting rooms look like. Kind of uninspired with the browns and neutrals. I like the colorful Norwegian Gem, but oh well we thought we'd give this new ship a try! btw, I like your pictures, and I am jelly that you got to have your event in the Spinnaker Lounge! I was hoping to get the Bliss Lounge or something cool like that but they aint budging. I will get to have a second cocktail party on the last night of the sailing in the Bliss. Will call it the "End of Bliss Party" lol

 

I know in one of the meeting rooms on the Breakaway there were burgundy chairs. Even thought they used a lot of nuetrals on the ship, in some places there was a pop of color. In the Bliss Lounge there is a lounge area with a few colorful chairs and the rest is a huge dance floor, it a fun lookimf space. I know a couple who is hoping to get married in The Manhattan Room on their wedding cruise next year. That's a very classy looking space.

 

I must admit the Spinnaker Lounge was a gorgeous place to get married in. We really lucked out.

 

 

We did the end of cruise (last sea day) cocktail party on our wedding cruise too, and I'm so glad we did! Was a nice perk for the guests to get a couple of free drinks, but was also great to have an easy way to see everyone toward the end and do goodbyes/disembarkation plans/etc. since we were driving home and most of our guests were going straight to the airport the next morning. Hope you love your NCL wedding as much as I did! We're coming up on both our 1 year and our next cruise -- will leave the Gem a week before our anniversary, so we'll just call it our anniversary trip :)

 

We also had a complimentary one hour cocktail party for our group while on our Norwegian Jewel wedding cruise. The cruise line told us when and where it would be. It ended up being in the Madhatter's Lounge, which is gaudy looking to me but it worked!

[williamsanderson]

Oh wow! Wedding on the cruise is an exciting idea! How I wish I could do something like that....! *sigh* Happy for you!But I wonder how hectic the wedding planning would turn out to be. So are you planning to get any kind of help from the wedding vendors? That would lessen the burden I hope. Anyways all the best for the beautiful days to come! :) :) :)

[Saltbox2013]

I know in one of the meeting rooms on the Breakaway there were burgundy chairs. Even thought they used a lot of nuetrals on the ship, in some places there was a pop of color. In the Bliss Lounge there is a lounge area with a few colorful chairs and the rest is a huge dance floor, it a fun lookimf space. I know a couple who is hoping to get married in The Manhattan Room on their wedding cruise next year. That's a very classy looking space.

 

I must admit the Spinnaker Lounge was a gorgeous place to get married in. We really lucked out.

 

 

Oh boy, really burgundy? Ugh I am really starting to think that I screwed this one up... I had in mind doing the ceremony on a Sea Day because I wanted the ocean in the background somewhere. I knew it wasn't going to be on a deck but a lounge with some windows would have been nice. Now it is in a freaken conference room with burgundy chairs. I should have done this on Embarkation Day or in a Port of Call because that would probably allowed for us to have a lounge for the 15 minutes this thing was going to last. I can't see how my second cocktail party can be in the Bliss lounge and not the first one. Both are on Sea days... :mad:

 

 

 

Oh wow! Wedding on the cruise is an exciting idea! How I wish I could do something like that....! *sigh* Happy for you!But I wonder how hectic the wedding planning would turn out to be. So are you planning to get any kind of help from the wedding vendors? That would lessen the burden I hope. Anyways all the best for the beautiful days to come! :) :) :)

 

On a new ship like the one I am sailing on, the planning is like pulling teeth! Understandable for everything is hectic on that ship right now. The group events planner I am working with is not bad, quite helpful. Just can't ask her too many questions in an email, she will answer only the first few and then give up haha! So I learned to write her a question per email and just flood her box that way! I gout most of what I needed out of her, just not to happy about he location they assigned for my ceremony... I may burst into tears when I see it at the rehearsal, and work a deal with the on board staff to change the location!

[Lipz]

Oh boy, really burgundy? Ugh I am really starting to think that I screwed this one up... I had in mind doing the ceremony on a Sea Day because I wanted the ocean in the background somewhere. I knew it wasn't going to be on a deck but a lounge with some windows would have been nice. Now it is in a freaken conference room with burgundy chairs. I should have done this on Embarkation Day or in a Port of Call because that would probably allowed for us to have a lounge for the 15 minutes this thing was going to last. I can't see how my second cocktail party can be in the Bliss lounge and not the first one. Both are on Sea days... :mad:

 

 

 

I'm not good with exact color, it looked burgundy but not old school bland burgundy. It was more royal looking so perhaps more in the purple family. It didn't look bad at all. How many guest are you having? The meeting room we saw didn't look very big so maybe it wasn't the one you are getting. Windows would increase decorative look of your wedding but don't let the location be a downer. Think positive and enjoy your wedding, in the end the marriage is the most important thing anyhow. Smile and be happy!

[beachmonkey]

Yup 2 weeks! I'm stressing because the meeting rooms where my ceremony and cocktail party will take place is still being used for storage and none of my other cruise critics were able to snap a picture of the room for me yet! I suspect it will be mostly browns like the rest of the ship and I saw what the Epic's meeting rooms look like. Kind of uninspired with the browns and neutrals. I like the colorful Norwegian Gem, but oh well we thought we'd give this new ship a try! btw, I like your pictures, and I am jelly that you got to have your event in the Spinnaker Lounge! I was hoping to get the Bliss Lounge or something cool like that but they aint budging. I will get to have a second cocktail party on the last night of the sailing in the Bliss. Will call it the "End of Bliss Party" lol

 

We just sailed on the Breakaway (with Lipz!) and are getting married on-board in 2014. We spoke to the Group Service person on the ship and we are looking at having the ceremony in the Manhattan room using the dance floor for the actual ceremony.

 

I can't wait to read and hear more about our experience.

 

http://www.robertralphbreakawayweddingcruise2014.us/

[Saltbox2013]

True true, I shouldn't stress. :) The pressure is on because I have 26 guests, some coming from South Africa, one from Germany, a slew of gay boys from New York and DC, my mom's co workers and family. Lots of $$$ has been spent and we have been looking forward to this thing for 16 months! I even created a website and sent out the sickest invitations to hype up this trip so I just can't disappoint lol. The marriage is the real vibe yes, however the ceremony is for the guests so it better be epic!

 

We are getting both the Atlanic and Pacific conference rooms. I suppose they have a divider that can open up in the middle to make one room. From the deck plans, yeah they look pretty small. I may just have to work with the folks on-board because the reps on land can't guarantee anything really. It will be a matter of some last minute working up a deal kind of thing. I do have a Momzilla who is a serious cruiser and probably sailed NCL 10 times already in the last 5 years.

 

I'll let y'all know how that went and post lots of pictures. I heard Peter Max may be on our sailing. Should be interesting :)

[gymbomb]

 

We also had a complimentary one hour cocktail party for our group while on our Norwegian Jewel wedding cruise. The cruise line told us when and where it would be. It ended up being in the Madhatter's Lounge, which is gaudy looking to me but it worked!

 

 

We were able to request a day/time and they did schedule it exactly when we wanted. I don't know if this is always the case or if we just got lucky? We did not try to request a location, but the location they assigned us (which happened to be the same place for our ceremony and our cocktail party) was great so we had no complaints. It was in the Star Bar on the Dawn, which has lots of windows and comfy chairs.

[Saltbox2013]

We were able to request a day/time and they did schedule it exactly when we wanted. I don't know if this is always the case or if we just got lucky? We did not try to request a location, but the location they assigned us (which happened to be the same place for our ceremony and our cocktail party) was great so we had no complaints. It was in the Star Bar on the Dawn, which has lots of windows and comfy chairs.

 

Wow that sounds nice! We asked for a day and time and they did honor that, they pretty much honored all our requests. I wasn't going to picky about the location, don't care if other passengers see it either. It doesn't have to be all that private. Just one little porthole or something to add that "ship on the ocean" touch, would have been nice. If I was hosting a corporate event, yes give me that conference room, that will work fine lol