Vow Renewal with Celebrity

[AmberCascades]

Has anyone done a vow renewal with Celebrity? We will likely be cruising on our anniversary next year and wondered if it was worth the cost and what the experience was like (i.e. private or a herd of strangers also doing a renewal or what)?

[AmberCascades]

Nuthin'??? Maybe I should have called it "Vow renewal using walkie talkies while smoking on our balcony". :D Well.....it's over a year away so hopefully someone will come along who's done the vow renewal.

[margeecruiser]

Hi. We had our vow renewal on Summit in 2009. It was our 50th and our actual date was the day we left Santorini. Very romantic! We thought it was worth every penny and all the details were handled very well. The cost was very reasonable compared to the cost here in our little town. I think we paid about $600 that included flowers, cake, champagne, music, and the Captain officiated. The ceremony was held in Michael's Club and it was set up like a chapel with tall flower stands and the backdrop of the wall mural made for a beautiful setting. I met with the on-board event planner the first thing after boarding. I was very concerned about the flowers because they include the bridal bouquet and I did not want it to look like I was trying to be a young bride. The florist understood what I wanted and took me into his flower vault so I could pick whatever I wanted. I chose a pale pink rose as the main flower color since my dress was a deep teal lace. I told him I had some leftover lace from having the dress shortened (it was attached to the dress in a little plastic bag and I forgot to take it off the hanger). He asked for the piece of lace and then he wove the strip of lace into the bouquet! It was beautiful and I think he used all of the roses in the florist-sized bunch. He even sent a large arrangement to our room. The vows the Captain used were beautiful (we did do our own).

 

This was just the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me. I felt so special and loved.

 

The cost was reasonable for all we got. I don't know if the vow renewals are still done this way. We had to trust the on board event planner because they don't promise the Captain as the officiant or that you will have a private ceremony or what actual day the ceremony will be, but for us, it worked out.

 

Any other questions, after this l o n g reply, I'll do my best to answer.

 

Margee

[AmberCascades]

Thanks Margee. That wasn't a long post at all. (Have you read some of mine?? LOL).

 

Did you have other people there or was it just you and your husband? We aren't bringing anyone along on this trip. Would it be weird to just do it for ourselves? I guess we could just stand on our balcony and say "yes, I'd do it all over again", but I'm thinking a bit more hoopla than that is required. And congratulations on 50 years! We are only halfway there.

[SHADOW F1RE]

To celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary me and my husband had a Vow Renewal Ceremony on board the Celebrity Constellation in April 2011.

There are different vow renewal packages. The one we had was officiated by the Captain in Michaels Club. We choose are own vows and music for the ceremony. A wedding cake and champagne was provided with the package.

The photographer was excellent and took pictures of us in various locations on the ship. It was a Carribean cruise and we were in St Lucia on that day which was a brilliant back ground in the photos of us on deck10.

It was an amazing day and it is a lovely way to renew your vows.

[Muushka]

Subscribing to this thread because Margee made it sound so wonderful!

 

The charge for what you received was very reasonable.

 

Our 25th is in 2017, so I have a few more years to plan.

[margeecruiser]

We had several friends and our daughter on the cruise with us. Not a large group, 7 in all. Our son could not be with us; he is not into cruising. But this group all really like cruising and the Italian and Greek ports were wonderful.

 

I forgot to mention the pictures. The photos were just OK and the package only included a few. We bought a larger photo package separately because it was once in a lifetime event (and we won $600 at the casino that paid for it). Some of our friends also bought some the pictures too. I think most ship's photographers would do a good job, we just got a guy without a lot of skill. What I mean is, he posed us with some of the chairs in the way and it looks awkward. I could have them photoshopped to cut out the chair, but that should not be necessary.

 

Margee

[margeecruiser]

I also wanted to say the vows they actually use were just perfect. They are obviously written by a professional. They sound like a Hallmark card and talk about 'sea of life'. You get a beautiful copy signed by the Captain.

 

Margee

[AmberCascades]

Sounds like my wedding pictures, Margee. We all looked like Carmen Miranda...we kept getting posed by the fireplace, but there were vases with huge bouquets in them sitting on the mantle. Everyone had a bird of paradise sticking out of their head.

[margeecruiser]

Wow, I'm laughing my head off! Did you have them professionally photoshopped? Has anyone had this done to correct problematic once in a lifetime pictures?

 

Margee

[olemissreb]

I think I'll have to subscribe to this thread. I'm trying to persuade my DH to go on the Summit in March 2015 to celebrate our 30th. We were on the Connie for our 20th with almost the same itinerary. I think it would be fun to get a new stunning white dress and renew our vows at sea.

[Podie]

My daughter and son-in-law renewed their vows on the Equinox in 2010 (because they eloped a few months earlier and both sets of parents wished they'd been there) and chose the cheaper of the 2 packages - $450 for the cruise director to MC, $600 for the Captain. It was held in Michael's Club with five of us watching and was very quick (daughter's choice) but very nice. The photos ended up costing more than $800 but at least we have some now!

[RedLuvsCruising]

Hubby & I just renewed our vows for our 10 year anniversary on the Celebrity Reflection sailing (March 15-22) - we never had a real wedding with a dress or an aisle & I have been singing at weddings since I was 9 & felt deprived of my "princess day"... All I can say is that Celebrity's wedding coordinator, Renata, went above and beyond to make my day extra special & amazing!! We did the ceremony with the captain, there were 8 of us total, I walked the aisle with a beautiful ivory rose bouquet & the captain did a short ceremony for us. Then the photographer paraded us around the ship taking photos in my wedding dress! We then had a private lunch & afterwards had the delicious cake & champagne.. They had set up a small table next to ours with the cake on it along with some small gift bags we had made for the family. We did bring our own Canon camera to have my uncle take photos but also bought their smallest package so we could have the family pictures as well. The only photo I have on my PC right now is one I took of the photo they gave me (lol) but anyone on the fence about doing a vow renewal, especially if you never had that special day with a dress, DO IT! I highly recommend it! It was in Michael's Club & private, and definitely a day I will always remember!!!