Getting married on board

[macgirl]

We are thinking about getting married on board the Jewel next year. Any opinions on this would be much appreciated. Is it worth the cost? There are only 4 of us going, so I'd like something tasteful and memorable. For what you get, it seems to be costly at about $1500 or more (on RCCL), but maybe I'm not picturing it well, the whole thing looks like it's over and done in less than one hour, and you don't even get food?

 

Still considering on board vs. an island wedding. I'm leaning toward onboard. Does anyone know what the onboard location for Jewel is?

 

Opinions from those who have done both would be most appreciated.

 

I'd appreciate any and all details, advice, opinions and feedback you are willing to share - the good, the bad and the ugly.

 

THANKS!!!!!!

[stephp6]

I got married with 72 guests onboard and it was great! I just didn't want to have to think about the weather and how to get everyone from the ship to the ceremony and of course if there was a change in itinerary due to weather.

Find a Royal Romance coordinator you like and stick with that person the whole way through.

Good Luck!

[bilgeboyPa]

HI Mac Girl,

IMHO a ship wedding is a huge waste of money. You can only get married while in port. An international wedding license is very expensive and very time consuming. You need 2 licenses too.

I know, because I am helping freinds of mine with their wedding. They decided to get married on the beach at sunrise in Ft Lauderdale, eat breakfast, and head to the ship. $300 buck. Quick, easy romantic on the beach and right to the honeymoon

Hope it helps

Jeff

[virgincruisers2]

:rolleyes:

 

We just got back from Voyager of the Seas. We had a renewal ceramony. They had a chapel on the 15th floor & we had about 15 people with us. The actual ceramony was much more than we expected & very personel. They then took us to a very pretty room which we had champagne & a gorgeous cake. We also had use of a photograper who took pictures of us all over the ship for about an hour. All in all I would say it was worth it. Hope yours turns out as well as ours.:rolleyes:

[MandyGirl]

Oooops.... I almost thought you were talking about the brand new Norwegian Jewel. The NCL messageboards are buzzing with words of "beautiful" regarding the new ship.

We had an island wedding while in port... haven't been to a cruiseship wedding although I've seen rooms closed due to private functions (weddings) while on cruises. If cruising on Princess, you can get married while at sea and don't have to be in port to say your "I Do's". Then you don't have to worry about missing your port.

For us, our license was not too costly - $50 (back in 2003) and we only needed one. It was filed and an official copy was in our hands at home within two weeks of our ceremony so I could start the legal process of changing my name (Social Security, drivers license, employment stuff, etc). No problems whatsoever. This was the US Virgin Islands where we married. They also sent one or two more certified copies as well so we would have them. Other costs are detailed in the review linked in my signature (Married on the beach...)

Just don't plan a Caribbean wedding in the middle of hurricane season, which is June 1 - November 30 every year. Some months are more risky than others, but it's still the timeframe of hurricane (and tropical storm) season. That's just my two cents... I know many brides are more willing to take the risk than I was. I was just too chicken to plan it during that timeframe even though it would have worked best with my teaching schedule.

Good luck with your planning! :)

[cruise to alter]

See my review about the RCCL Rhapsody. I think a shipboard wedding depends on the kind of person you are. If you are looking for a white lavish wedding, I don't think this is the right idea. Yes, you are on a time frame and it is short. But keep in mind, outside of some religous ceremonies, most are short. Its the party afterwards that last longer. You can supply your own ceremony to make it longer. With only 4 attending, it doesn't sound like your looking for a long drawn out shindig anyways. This might be the way to go for you.

 

As for the cost, you're going to find hidden costs not matter where you have your ceremony (courthouse JP excluded). You get what you pay for. Keep in mind that there is practically no planning involved. They provide the flowers, the music, the cake & champagne along with other stuff too. If you compare the time spent figureing all that out on your own, the price might just be worth it. It was for me.

 

Best of Luck - Andrea

[macgirl]

Hi everyone - thanks so much for the info. I'm certainly not planning a lavish wedding. I did that the first time around, and have no desire to do it this time.

 

I'm still partial to RCCL - does anyone know where on the Jewel the ceremony is performed?

 

I'm also really not wanting to be rushing around on sailing day to get married, that thought just makes me shudder. It doesn't have to be sailing day, does it?

 

Thanks again!

[dcdiva]

macgirl -

 

We were married on board Jewel of the Seas in February. We had 56 guests all of whom sailed with us. We opted to have the wedding while in port at Key West -- which meant we only needed a Florida marriage license. That made things much simplier.

 

Both the ceremony and reception were held in the Safari Lounge, which was closed for the duration to ensure privacy. It's a very large space, so even with 58 people, we had tons of space for the ceremony, lunch and dancing. My guess is that with a smaller group, they might use a different space. The Hollywood Odessy is one option. It's on the top deck of the ship would be ideal for a small wedding and would be easy to close off for privacy. I understand they sometimes use this space for weddings. But to be honest, the public spaces on the Jewel are all lovely, so almost any of the lounges could be lovely.

 

We had originally hoped to do the wedding on shore in Key West, but with 56 guests the transportation to and from the ship became problematic. We opted for the "Harmony" package, but made several upgrades. We had a buffet lunch, open bar for two hours, and a DJ. There was plenty of time to enjoy the wedding and the party. The ships photographer did the photos and we were really pleased with how they turned out. The minister, who came on board in Key West, was wonderful. She made a real efffort to make the ceremony personal and special.

 

The wedding was on the cruise's first formal night. So we all changed back into our wedding clothes for dinner. We were all seated together at dinner, so it was much like a second reception.

 

Since you are traveling with only a few people, the cost of a two hour reception like ours might be prohibitive. You might want to consider just doing a champagne toast and having cake (which is pretty much included in the RR packages.) And if you plan the ceremony for a formal night, you can have a nice celebration in the dining room that evening.

 

If you have specific questions about the ship or our wedding I'd be happy answer them.

[macgirl]

Hey DCDIVA, thanks for the reply. I have a few questions - was the photography professional and were you pleased with your pictures?

 

I was thinking of Key West as well, so I'm glad that worked out for you. I like the idea of getting married on formal night and then wearing your dress to dinner. Esp. since I'm not wearing a real wedding gown, just a nice dress, I won't call too much attention to our table.

 

Were you pleased with Royal Romance overall?

 

Thanks.

[dcdiva]

macgril -

 

we loved our photographer. he was one of the ships photographers (Jazz) and was on board all week. we had a list of the photos we knew we wanted and he took care of all those. he also took us to some spots onboard that he thought would work well. I found him very professional and the quality (and quantity) of photos was wonderful. I have hundreds of photos in both color and black and white. Here is a link to some of them...

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=oy4pb0z.6i8y4ahv&x=1&y=vc44uy

 

royal romance was great on the day of the event. but they were sometimes difficult to deal with in the planning stages. I had lots of special requests, so that may have been part of it. in any case, my advice is to follow up on everything and then follow up again. keep copies of e-mails and once you've made decisions, confirm them and then re-confirm. If you are pro-active, you should have no problem.

some highlights...the room was lovely, the staff for the wedding was extremely responsive and accomodating, and the cake was both beautiful and yummy. We had chocolate cake with buttercream filling. Thick fondant icing decorated the outside of the cake. For just the four of you, the heart shaped cake that comes with each package will be more than enough. one note, the flowers in my photos are not the ones provided by RR. My sister did silk flower arrangements for the entire wedding party (which saved us quite a bit and gave each of the girls a lovely souvenir)

 

and I can't say enough about the Jewel and how lovely she is. beautifully and tastfully decorated, big enough to never feel crowded, but not to big that you'll ever feel lost. I did not use the hair salon on board, but one of my bridesmaid's did and she was extremely pleased.