Carnival Miracle Wedding Review

[Supercoachmom]

Hi everyone,

 

I have mostly been a lurker on this board; however, I found so much here to help plan my November 2013 wedding. I thought some of you might be interested in our recent experience, so here goes...

 

My wonderful husband and I met aboard the Carnival Splendor in March, 2011 and were then engaged November, 2012, also aboard the Splendor. It made sense to get married on a Carnival ship, but with the Splendor moving to New York last year, we chose the Carnival Miracle for our wedding and honeymoon. We were married November 24th, sailing out of Long Beach, CA, on embarkation day. This was a Thanksgiving week sailing and we had 34 guests attend the wedding, with only ONE who did not sail with us!

 

We booked our cruise and wedding in mid-January. It was a good thing that we planned early, as I was told that there would be no more than two weddings allowed on the ship for the date we chose, and only one of those would be able to have a reception. One wedding would be limited to 8 total guests, and we certainly had more than that planned! In the long run, we were the only wedding on board ship that day. ;)

 

I was contacted by Carnival immediately, contract signed, piano player requested, and cake chosen. We knew that we wanted to be married in the chapel onboard (not all Carnival ships have chapels) and we wanted our reception in Sam's Piano Bar, right next door to the chapel. I asked right away what the attendance limitations were, as DH and I were determined to make this plan work. Truth be told, if we couldn't get married in the chapel, it would have been an argument to decide between the theater (his choice) and the Mad Hatter's lounge (my choice). Thankfully, we were successful in keeping our numbers where we wanted. FOOTNOTE ABOUT THE CHAPEL: When Carnival tells you that the chapel will hold no more than 36 people total, they are pretty much right. I'd say maximum is 40, but if this is the location you want, you really need to try to stick to the numbers!

 

Next, I created Save the Dates to send to our potential guests. I made magnets through Vistaprint, and they turned out great. I created a wedding website through theknot.com to keep information on the wedding and cruise up-to-date in once place, as we guessed most of our guests would cruise with us. Everyone love the save the dates and booked their cruises early.

[Supercoachmom]

[Supercoachmom]

Carnival made planning easy. Lissy with Carnival Weddings was great and always put me at ease with everything. I also dealt with Lucy at The Wedding Experience, who was also very reassuring. I really felt positive about the whole experience leading up to the day of the wedding. It's funny, my DH was the one who was asking questions about everything the day of the wedding, and I was going with the flow (not my usual style at all!).

 

The day before the wedding, we arrived in Long Beach. Our group had reservations at the Hotel Maya (http://doubletree3.hilton.com/en/hotels/california/hotel-maya-a-doubletree-by-hilton-hotel-LGBMYDT/index.html). I love this hotel! It is very close to the Long Beach port AND they have a great deal for a one night stay where you can leave your vehicle there for the week of your cruise. I've don't the several times and never had a problem. And the warm cookies they give you at check in are YUMMY!

 

The next morning, I woke up early and got started on my hair. I spent quite a bit of time curling it, only to have it basically fall straight shortly after I was "finished". I didn't take moisture in the air into consideration, and I didn't want to spend money to hire someone to come out and do my hair. I had no time to try again, so I headed to the port with my hair and make-up not done. Thankfully, this was the only "bad" thing that "went wrong" the entire day, and I am resourceful, so I knew I would make something work. We arrived at the port very early, due in part to the hotel needing to make several trips with the shuttle to get all of our guests/luggage there. I was first at the port with my parents, my daughter (maid of honor), and a couple others. Once our checked luggage was taken by the porters, I headed over to the VIP check in area to wait for our other guests and the wedding coordinator. Every guest was there by 9:15, which is more than an hour before Carnival's recommended time of 10:30. By 9:45, DH and guests were getting restless; I however, was sitting patiently, doing my make-up and trying not to panic about my hair. Promptly at 10AM, the wedding coordinator, Lynn, arrived. I knew she would be early, and she took control of everything immediately! Before I knew it, everyone was checked in and waiting to board the ship. At that point, I asked Lynn if she could help me find an outlet. She looked at me strangely, but we walked to a quiet area where we found an outlet. Lynn asked me what was wrong, and I mentioned that I was having trouble with my hair. Lynn just laughed and told me that "today" really was my lucky day. Her regular job is a hair dresser! She then proceeded to curl my hair while we waited! The relief I felt is indescribable!!

 

While Lynn, did my hair, my mother and I had a great conversation with our officiant. I am so sad that I cannot remember his name right now. He was so nice and personable! He really wanted to make sure our wedding ceremony went how we wanted it. Before I knew it, he and Lynn were escorting us onto the ship. That's when the rush started. We were literally the first people on the ship, and DH was so sweet to actually take a step back and let me be the very first person on the boat on our wedding day. Then we ran off to get ready. Our cabin was waiting for me, and we requested his parents' cabin to be open and ready as well. It all worked out perfectly. Before I knew it, the photographer was knocking on my door to do a few candid shots, then he was my escort to the chapel.

[Supercoachmom]

[Supercoachmom]

DH and I post-ceremony, and with our wedding party. Pictures are deceiving...the chapel is smaller than it looks!

 

I chose to order artificial flowers for the wedding. It was just more cost-effective, and I was able to get the black and white anemones that I wanted without spending a fortune. The bouquet provided by Carnival came in handy at the reception. It was first used as a cake table decoration (I remembered to pack a $10 vase that I ordered from Oriental Trading), then I gave it to DH's cousin's fiancée, when he proposed to her AT OUR RECEPTION! Yes, it was incredible; yes, DH and I knew it was happening in advance; and YES, it makes for a great story!

[Supercoachmom]

The proposal!!!

 

 

The food was delicious and the ice sculpture was beautiful. So much more than we actually anticipated, and well worth the cost of the wedding.

 

Our wedding cake was red velvet cake with cream cheese filling. I asked for the frosting to be plain, no swirls or decorations. We added the black ribbon, gum paste flowers, and acrylic topper. Flowers and topper were ordered from Etsy (love Esty!).

Edited January 6, 2014 by Supercoachmom

[Supercoachmom]

After the cake cutting...

 

The piano player was a great choice. He was un-intrusive and played a good selection of recognizable songs throughout the reception.

 

We had a guest "book"/favor table. We gave out bubbles (from Oriental Trading) and instead of a guest book, we did a guest record. It was a huge hit!

[Supercoachmom]

Our photographer was Karel Panochar. He was incredible.

 

The wind caught my veil and swept it away. We caught it, replaced it, and this pose was shot with DH holding it in my hair!

 

Our favorite picture...in Nick and Nora's Steakhouse.

[Honeybun25]

Wow! Looks like you had a great day! The suprise proposal is so sweet! Beautiful pictures!

[msargeant]

Congratulations and beautiful photos. Glad you hair worked out fine.

[millerp4]

It looks like it was an amazing day!

 

I am in love with the record guest book. What an amazing idea!

 

Wish you all the best, and thanks for the review!

[millerp4]

Quick question, were you guys able to have a first dance and such? If so, how did that work?

 

Thanks!

[Supercoachmom]

Yes we did! We chose to dance to God Bless the Broken Rode by Rascal Flatts. I asked if the piano player could play it, but that was a big no. So we downloaded the song from iTunes to my husband's iPhone and brought along our Bose Soundlink (wireless speaker). We didn't want to have to pay extra for the in house sound system for just one sonAt the reception, we were introduced and expected to do the dance immediately, so our best man had the phone and hit play. It worked out great. The wedding coordinator had everyone blowing bubbles (our favors) throughout the entire dance. So romantic! We have an amazing photo of us, my parents and my new in-laws all dancing. It was beautiful.

[millerp4]

Thanks for responding~ That was so very helpful. Also love your song choice!

 

It really sounds like you had a wonderful day!

[themommyfiles]

This is a great review! My fiancé and I are getting married in a little over a year. Ok - so a year and 2 day to be exact. We're getting married on the Carnival Miracle out of Long Beach. So excited!!!

 

Oh and congrats! :)

[Supercoachmom]

Thank you. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'm pretty familiar with the Miracle now. You can email me: supercoachmom@gmail.com.