Just curious of legal issues

[Steamboatin]

Am married but I read these threads about people getting married on cruise vessels and have seen them doing so on some of the cruises we have taken.

 

Have always been curious about the legal issues involved.

 

Is your marriage licensed in the country or USA state in which the port is in or is it licensed in the country the ship is registered in? And what marriage license would be required if you were to be married on a vessel during a sea day?

 

Simple questions but could be sticky legal issues that could come back to haunt you?

 

Just curious. Any input would be appreciated.

[NATTRAA]

I am getting married at port in Jamaica and our license is with Jamaica. All we needed was notarized copies of our birth certificates, my finace's divorce certificate notarized and a cheque for $145 USD with the application. It also requres you to be in the country for 24 hours but the cruise planners told me they take care of this detail. If we were to marry at any other port it would be of that country. You basically have to meet the requirements set out by each country ie: Mexico (I got the below from itravel2000 website which I used to help consider where we would get marrie):

Civil ceremonies are the only ones recognized in Mexico. A religious ceremony can be had, but it isn't considered official.

 

• Certified copy of you and your partner's birth certificates Birth Certificates - translated into Spanish or international Birth Certificates which include Spanish. Either one must have an “Apostille”. (apostille, is a form of certification, of an American authority, usually the Secretary of State, from the state where they originated, who attaches this apostille to the document.)
  
• Certified copy of passport (in case you are a Canadian Citizen, you must get them translated and then legalized with the Mexican Embassy or Consulate)
  
• A blood test to be done in Mexico, or at least notarized by a Mexican doctor. Must contain; Blood type, R&H factor, Syphilis test and HIV test. They must be done once upon you arrive by a doctor in Mexico, as required by the civil ministry office. Blood test may be obtained also at a local laboratory with a charge of U$120
  
• Copy of tourist card or visa.
  
• Four witnesses. Check with city; some require Mexicans, with others U.S. citizens are fine. Names, addresses, ages, nationalities & tourist card numbers are needed for all four witnesses.
  
• Fulfilling these requirements take 2 to 4 days to be complete.
  
• If you are divorced or widowed, one full year must elapse from date of the following:
  
• Divorced, final dissolution of marriage must be verified with a certified copy of the divorce decree.
  
• Widowed, a certified copy of spouse's death certificate must be verified.
  
• Citizens under age 18 need parent or guardian's consent
  
• Cost is approximately US$230

 

There is only one cruiseline which allows marriage at sea but the license is from somewhere like Liberia which is where the ship is from, not sure why there is the only one that does it but must be a huge issue as no other cruise's allow weddings at sea only vow renewals are allowed and it is done by the Captain.

Hope this helps answer your questions...

[NATTRAA]

If you are more curious here is the website that I mentioned above

http://weddings.itravel2000.com/plunge.htm

 

Just click on the country and it will give you the requirements to legally marry in their country.

[HnJ06]

If you are going through the cruiseline or with most private coordinators, they take care of the paperwork for you to make sure you will be considered legally married in your country of origin. I'm personally am getting married in St. Thomas, which is a US territory, so it's not a big deal. Other people I know have gotten married in another country but haven't worried about it because it is taken care of for them. I know this doesn't answer your curiosity about the logistics, but if you are considering getting married but worried about the legalities, you;d just send in the forms they want and they'd cover it for you.

[sensdncr86]

my "fiance" and i have chosen to bypass the difficulties and just get married in the us legally before we go on the cruise. Our ceremony -vow exchange, and reception will all be on the cruise with 30 of our closest friends and family-but on"paper" we will already be married by a notary before we leave. It makes it much easier to do this when having a US marriage certificate when dealing with the soc security admin, dmv, irs, and insurance companies.

[nikerunner4fun]

Hi,

 

We are getting married next month on RCI's Legend of the Seas. We will get married in port before the ship leaves for the cruise, so we will technically be in Tampa. For some extra $ RCI takes care of all of the paperwork of obtaining the license for you if you do not live in Florida, we don't. Today we received the documents for the license, we take them to a notary and sign them, and return them to RCI. They have the license when we arrive in Tampa and the officient signs it then and wahlah we're married. . .that's what they're saying, anyway!

[MandyGirl]

We had absolutely no problems legally with marrying on St John, USVI. Used the courthouse on St Thomas (since there is not one on St John). Received the official license in the mail two weeks later, applied for my new social security card in person, drove two miles down the road to get my new driver's license, then turned in a copy of my social security temporary documentation that afternoon to my employer and hubby's employer for insurance/business purposes. Maybe took three hours total to do here in Texas with a USVI marriage license - and that included waiting in line. :)

[gointostpete]

I got married on the Golden Princess (by the Captain on a day at sea) and once we booked the wedding package, Princess handled all the paperwork. We just filled out the forms they sent. Our marriage certificate is from Bermuda, which is where the ship was registered. I remember reading up on the requirements before-hand (wanted to make sure it was good and legal myself!) and it was clearly spelled out in the 1999 Maritime Marriage Act (or something like that). One of the requirements was having to have your names posted in a Bermuda newspaper ahead of time - we were checking a website daily looking for our names and were so excited when we saw them in the on-line version! Princess handled everything. I've never regretted doing it this way.

[micheleg]

We're getting married on the ship in Miami before it sails. We had to get our Florida marriage license from the clerk of Miami-Dade County (or any other Florida County) just like we would if we were married on land. We bring the license to the wedding, the officiant signs it, and then the wedding coordinators send it back to the clerk where it is officially recorded while we're off honeymooning on our Transatlantic. :)

 

Just an FYI nikerunner4fun....you're not officially married until the clerk of the county the license was issued in has recorded it. Just a minor detail, but if you don't get your official marriage certificate, you should contact the clerk to ensure they received your signed license. So if it's Tampa..that would be Hillsborough County.

 

Hope this info helps!

Michele