Guinness Vow renewal or bust

[Caribbean Grouper]

I would like to hear other people thoughts on how Princess handled the Vow renewal ceremony.  I have heard others say how well Princess handled the event.  However, for us and many others that was not the case. 

 

Here is our story.....Princess was suppose to send out emails to all passengers sailing on the 3 ships.  However, lots of people never received that email, including us. We only learned of this email by reading our roll call forum.  (post 214)  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2671027-regal-princess-february-9-2020/page/9/  As stated in the post we send a copy of our marriage certificate and required information to prevents@princesscruises.com.  While others received a confirmation, we did not.  We were not worried because the post also stated that you can bring a copy of your marriage certificate with you, which we did.  

 

We boarded the Regal Princess on February 9.  We heading to our cabin hoping to see some confirmation of the event.  No such luck.  We then looked over the Princess patter for details of the event.  Was it listed on the front page as an on board highlight.  NO!  Did it state it was the last day to register?  NO!  The only indication of the event was listed with all the other daily activities for the day by time.  (11:30-2:30 pm and 4:30-6:30 pm Guinness Renewal of Vows - information table)  While still believing that we are already registered and we already knew of the event time and location, we didn't think too much about it.  The next morning we still had not received any information, so we started to get worried.  We proceeded to Guest Services to inquire about why we still haven't received any information in our cabin about the event.  Guest Services informed us that we were not listed as one of the couples to partake in the ceremony and registration was closed. A lady next to us stated she likewise never received any emails.  We explain to GS that we never received the original email, but we did email the required information and documents to Princess.  We also stated that we had a copy of our marriage certificate with us.  She again, said sorry registration is closed and it is up to Guinness to open it again.  As we began to walk away from the counter, my wife's eyes began to swell with tears.  Looking at her face I knew I had to try and do something.  I remembered seeing Kyle the assistant cruise director at the ticket tender station.  Hoping he could help, we proceeded to that location.  Kyle texted the cruise director and made a phone call.  Kyle came back and informed us that lots of people have the same issue and we would be put on a list in case Guinness opens up registration.  This gave us some hope. 

 

The later that day we still hadn't heard anything.  I turned on the tv to watched the Wake show.  In the video Gary (the cruise director) said that there was a second day of registration. I turn to the Patter and guess what, not a single word about event or registration.  Hmm, what to do next.  Let's go find Gary.  So off we went. 

 

After explaining everything to Gary he apologized.  Gary explained that this is not an event being run by his department.  Micheal from Guinness is in charge so lets go find him.  We followed Gary to Guest Services.  Gary disappeared for a few minutes.  When he returned he informed us that the event table was set up near the Vista Lounge and we should speak directly with them.  Gary pointed us in the right direction and off we went.  

 

A few minutes later we arrived at the Event table.  We explained the whole story and showed them a copy of the email and documents that we had sent to Princess.  The gentleman at the table looked up our email in his records.  He apologized and said that they had received the email, but for some reason it was never processed.  He informed us that all of the information would be sent to our stateroom that night and we can partake in the ceremony tomorrow.  Yay!!!  That night we received the letter and flowers for the ceremony.

 

The next day we head off to the ceremony all dressed up in my suit top and shorts.  We finally made to to the check in table and  guess who's not listed on the paper?  Yep, us!  A man pulls us off to the side.  We explain our story and show him the roses.  He said there are several people over there that have the same issue.  He told us that he cannot give us a number right now, but will need to verify our registration with Guinness and would manually add us later.  He then sent us on our way to attend the ceremony.

 

The confusion continues.  On February 13 we received a letter from Guest Services stating, "We understand your disappointment in not being able to partake in the mass Renewal of Vows for various reasons that have been brought to our attention at the Guest Services Desk."  The letter informed us that there would be a second ceremony with Gavin and Jill on Feb 14 and that no registration or marriage certificate was necessary.  Guest Services was then gracious enough to give us some OBC and two small bottles of champagne.  That was very nice of them, but now I wonder if we were counted by Guinness.  

 

Finally, on Feb 14 we received one last letter which was the Renewal of Vows script.  This letter leads us to believe that we were counted, but can't really say for sure.  I really wished that they supplied a certificate signed by Gavin and Jill or did they?

 

All in all we had a great time.  I just wish Princess was a little more on top the whole thing.  I know a lot of people were upset that they were not able to partake in the ceremony.  If it was for our persistence we would have been shut out of Guinness ceremony.  I am glad that Princess did try to make things right by having the second ceremony.  What was your experience?  Did they give out any type of certificates?

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

[Cruiser933]

If you were counted, you will get a certificate in the mail from Guinness.

[Caribbean Grouper]

7 minutes ago, Cruiser933 said:

If you were counted, you will get a certificate in the mail from Guinness.

Thank You  Twice 

It was your post in the Roll Call Forum on where to send the marriage certificate.  If it wasn't for you we would have been shut out of the event.

Thanks Again

[Cruiser933]

I do agree with you that communication could have been better. We were disappointed that they did not sell a DVD of the vow renewal.

[zahav1]

A very similar mess happened to us on the Crown. We met other people with a similar problem. We wasted a whole day trying to straightened it out, the cruise director finally helped, but we were not counted for Guinness



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[caribill]

OP stated that Princess did not run the event, but Guinness did, so the blame belongs to Guinness, not Princess.

 

When the OP checked in with Guinness, they admitted they had received his E-mail and they had not processed it. Princess was not in that loop.

 

Instead of not sailing Princess, no longer drink Guinness.

[AF-1]

So is Guinness a third party operator who only does marriage renewals onboard the ships?  I am glad the OP got to partake in his marriage renewal

[Caribbean Grouper]

1 hour ago, AF-1 said:

So is Guinness a third party operator who only does marriage renewals onboard the ships? 

 Princess was attempting to break the Guinness Book of World Records for the most simultaneous  Renewal of vows.  The previous record was 1201 couples.  Princess's PR department along with Guinness officials over saw the event.  However, Princess fell far short on running an organized event.  Princess failed to send out hundreds of emails notifying passengers of the event.  This lack of notifications left numerous passengers from being able to participate (a marriage certificate was required).  I still dont know if you could register once onboard.  Information in the Daily Patter was lacking.  Cruise staff gave conflicting information on how, where and if registration was still possible.  However the event did go smoothly.

 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/irenelevine/2020/02/12/princess-cruises-vow-renewal-ceremony-sets-world-record/

[AF-1]

Thank you very much for clarifying this for me.  I understand now.  Have fun out there.

[Caribbean Grouper]

21 hours ago, Cruiser933 said:

If you were counted, you will get a certificate in the mail from Guinness.

 

If I read the Guinness website correctly, Princess would get 1 free certificate. Anyone who participated would have to request and pay for a certificate.

 

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/contact/certificates-enquiry/

 

I’m NOT a Record Holder but I took part in an event. How do I purchase a Certificate of Participation?

Visit the Guinness World Records store certificate page and simply click on the ‘add to basket’ underneath the certificate of participation section to bring up the ‘Find your official (Guinness World Records?) record breaking event’ box. 

There you will be able to search for a Record Title by entering the date and country of where the record took place. Once selected, click on continue to bring up the search results of all records that took place in that location and date. Select your Record Title, click continue and then follow the instructions on the next page to purchase.