Narrowing down cruiseline for wedding - help!

[seanh]

My fiance and I are trying to narrow down which cruiseline we'd like for the wedding in September 2015. Any suggestions or input would be appreciated. We've gone through the wedding offerings with Carnival, Norwegian, Princess and Royal Caribbean and liked them all except for Royal's pricing.

 

Carnival Valor - San Juan; St. Thomas, USVI; Barbados; St. Lucia, WI; St Kitts, WI; St. Maarten, NA; San Juan.

 

Norwegian Getaway - Miami; St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Tortola (British Virgin Islands); Nassau (Bahamas); DISEMBARK Miami

 

Caribbean Princess - Ft. Lauderdale, Florida | Princess Cays, Bahamas | St. Maarten | St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands | Grand Turk, Turks & Caicos | Ft. Lauderdale, Florida

 

Our guests are pretty equal on the older and younger side. We're early thirties. Any opinions on the itineraries or the cruiselines for our purpose? Thoughts about the wedding services on any particular one?

 

Thanks!

[millerp4]

Congratulations!

 

Are you planning on getting married on embarkation day or were you thinking of getting married at one of the ports?

 

I've done the Carnival Valor itinerary and loved it. sailing out of San Juan is cool as it leaves much later at night.

 

Anyways, if you were thinking of getting married at one of the ports, that could be a big deciding factor. When we booked, Carnival was the best deal for us. I know the prices have changed recently, so I'm not sure what the new packages look like to be honest.

 

Good luck!

[PurnellBabe]

I am facing the same dilemma right now. I am also looking for September 2015. However, I am departing from New York and he only real options I have right now are Norwegian Breakaway or Gem with a Bahamas or Bermuda itenitary.

 

So far I decided to go with Bermuda since it will be dicked for three days. Not sure if I'm going with Royal Ocean Events or a Wedding planner on the island.

[seanh]

Congratulations!

 

 

 

Are you planning on getting married on embarkation day or were you thinking of getting married at one of the ports?

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're not sure yet. What are the pros and cons of those options? I think she likes the idea of a wedding at sea on a deck.

 

 

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[lemansz20]

Stay away from carnival, I made the mistake of using them and I received no perks,nothing. I have over 24 cabins booked and they continue to offer nothing. I've heard good things about royal, maybe try them?

[seanh]

Stay away from carnival, I made the mistake of using them and I received no perks,nothing. I have over 24 cabins booked and they continue to offer nothing. I've heard good things about royal, maybe try them?

 

Do some cruise lines offer perks in the way of discounted cabins or other things?

[mrstriceasnice]

Check each line to see which ones can offer a marriage at sea. it depends on their registered country of origin. Carnival can only do marriage in port.

[Carnival_Brides]

We're not sure yet. What are the pros and cons of those options? I think she likes the idea of a wedding at sea on a deck.

 

 

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For a legal wedding at-sea you need to do a bit of research and for one on a deck, even more. I know there are a few lines (Princess, Cunard, and Royal) that offer at-sea packages, but they tend to be pricier because of the licenses and fees. Many cruise lines won't do them on open decks because of space issues and sound issues.

 

We had an at-sea wedding on Carnival, but worked some loopholes to make it happen. We booked our wedding as a vow-renewal since it included nearly everything that an embarkation wedding did--the caveat was that we had to be legally married before we embarked the ship. It was lovely, the staff was amazing, and we have no complaints.

 

Stay away from carnival, I made the mistake of using them and I received no perks,nothing. I have over 24 cabins booked and they continue to offer nothing. I've heard good things about royal, maybe try them?

 

Did you do it as a group booking with amenity points through CCL? I'm on a board for a reposition and with more than a dozen cabins they're up to almost $200 per cabin in OBC since the coordinator gave up their "free berth". We didn't do our wedding as a group booking since we paid for most of our cabins and we wanted complete control over price drops and whatnot.

Edited March 5, 2014 by Carnival_Brides

[NL2134]

Of those cruise options, I think only Princess and Royal Caribbean do At-Sea ceremonies. The rest would have to be embarkation or at port. So, if you really want wedding at sea, that is something to consider.

 

Each cruise line kind of has it's own atmosphere, so it depends on what you are looking for. And the atmosphere can change based on time of year also. Carnival is known for lots of kids and parties, but it's much more so during summer or spring break time. It's not so crazy during times that kids and college students are all in school. Royal Caribbean seems to be turning more into the party type ship also. Norwegian is known for having an older crowd. But, it's also getting more popular with younger professionals.

 

I've seen good things and bad things for each as far as wedding departments too. I've heard a lot of nightmares about Royal Caribbean Wedding, but I've heard good experiences too. I've seen good and bad about Carnival.

 

We originally were dead set against doing Carnival, because we wanted to do a higher class ship and didn't want to typical tacky, Vegas-y ship décor. But, when it came down to what our guests could afford and the itinerary options, we started to rethink things a bit. In the end we decided that Carnival was acceptable to us, as long as it was one of the new ships that have moved away from the tacky look. And for the cost, we could afford a 3-day cruise on a different cruise line or the 7-day cruise we really wanted on Carnival. So, for us Carnival was the way to go. And so far it has been a great experience with no issues.