My Experience with The Wedding Experience

[Mich1121]

I have read mixed reviews about "The Wedding Experience" and I am coming up with my own review. In my experience they are not very helpful. I am cruising on the Norweigan Gem on March 22, 2008 and I plan on renewing my vows while in port in Port Canaveral. I have been speaking with Cassandra and she advised me there is no vow renewal package, my only option is to pay for a wedding which would be $1100 plus 8% sales tax. After reading reviews on this forum I come to find that NCL does offer a vow renewal package and it is only $450. I then called Cassandra back and she said she was not aware of this package and when she looked in her system she was only then able to locate this. Any smart person who is renewing vows would choose $450 instead of $1100. Cassandra informed me a photographer is not included in this price and they are very expensive. She told me I was probably better paying the wedding price because this was included. I asked her for prices and she said I would have to call NCL myself and they could help me. I called NCL and they gave me the phone number for the photography agency they use. The cost is $50 per hour and they have photo packages you can purchase which are not that expensive. I then called Cassandra back and advised her that the cost was only $50 per hour which is all I need them for and she said they must have gone down. I felt like TWE was not trying to go out of their way to make my day special. I felt like she was trying to get me to spend more money than I wanted to and was not giving me all of the options that I had. I felt it was like pulling teeth to get her to go out of her way. Please make sure you check everything out before paying or booking anything through TWE. Especially if you are only doing a vow renewal. I have read that people have had pleasant experiences with them but I think it depends on the rep who handles your wedding. All in all I will have my special day but it is not thanks to Cassandra.

[sas80]

Try to take some reassurance that even those whom have had the most wretched experience with TWE/RR, during the planning process, have actually has their special day turn out really nice.

[Mich1121]

Thank you! I know my day will be special. I think I am going to ask for another rep at TWE. I think maybe it's the rep I have been speaking with and do not want to bash the entire company on the fault of one person. I have read that plenty of people have had good experiences with them and I'm sure in the long run I will too.

[clcdrie]

Try to take some reassurance that even those whom have had the most wretched experience with TWE/RR, during the planning process, have actually has their special day turn out really nice.

 

 

The person who wrote this has responded to many reviews on TWE I think they are an employee....:mad:

[clcdrie]

I am having a bad experience with them too! Will you tell us how it went?

[clcdrie]

I think we should post reviews on the wedding sites rather than cruise sites. This was hard to find.

[DNineMoons]

The person who wrote this has responded to many reviews on TWE I think they are an employee....:mad:

 

I find this post very funny. CLC - if you had read any other posts by SAS, you would notice that she is probably the most anti-TWE person on this board, since she had such a bad experience with them!

[royalwedding]

I find TWE has been a really inconsisnent as well. If it weren't for this board then I would be really lost and more frustrated than I already am. They have been really unhelpful and it makes me uneasy that every time I call them with a question I get put on hold for about 10 minutes while they look for the answer. I have spoken with three different people and they have all given me different answers to the same questions. I wish I didn't have to wait two till my wedding to see what I actually end up getting.

[goodlife 2]

I agree. I haven't had much help from them either...i'm not getting married until January, but i have alot of guests booked, and some are non-sailing guests too. therefore, i obviously have a few concerns/questions. i have paid for the wedding, and i still have to send in the rest of the paperwork (the pages that require # of guests, colour of flowers, cake etc..)

i have sent 2 emails, and had no reply. i have also tried calling on numerous occasions, but have not been able to get through. so thankful for everyone's help and suggestions on this board!

:confused:

[ShedQueen77]

The person who wrote this has responded to many reviews on TWE I think they are an employee....:mad:

 

I've been around this board for almost a year and I can tell you she's not. She had a "not so good" experience with TWE and isn't even close to being a TWE "fan" yet alone an employee. Although she could probably go into TWE and do a better job than they seem to do! She's been flamed in the past for being overly critical of TWE so I doubt your accusation would ring true.

[sas80]

The person who wrote this has responded to many reviews on TWE I think they are an employee....:mad:

 

LOL, with 3500 some odd posts on cruise critic, and a bachelors in Computer Science from UC Santa Cruz, California, I can assure you, I am happily ensconced in my position as a software engineer! :D

 

RR/TWE sucks big fat donkey balls, BTW;)

[sas80]

I've been around this board for almost a year and I can tell you she's not. She had a "not so good" experience with TWE and isn't even close to being a TWE "fan" yet alone an employee. Although she could probably go into TWE and do a better job than they seem to do! She's been flamed in the past for being overly critical of TWE so I doubt your accusation would ring true.

thanks girl!

 

true....why would I post negatively about TWE if I worked for them...makes no sense...

[sas80]

I find this post very funny. CLC - if you had read any other posts by SAS, you would notice that she is probably the most anti-TWE person on this board, since she had such a bad experience with them!

 

they suck big fat hairy donkey balls.....:D

[sas80]

If I had to do it all over again I would use a wedding coordinator out of one of the port's of call that we were stopping in.

 

It would have cost the same but we would have had MUCH less headaches all around.

[hollidaygal]

LOL, with 3500 some odd posts on cruise critic, and a bachelors in Computer Science from UC Santa Cruz, California, I can assure you, I am happily ensconced in my position as a software engineer! :D

 

RR/TWE sucks big fat donkey balls, BTW;)

 

they suck big fat hairy donkey balls.....:D

 

We all know you had a terrible experience with them and you are not alone, but is this language entirely neccessary?? Not to mention immature...Please forgive me, but some people might be offended. Let's keep it clean...thank you.

[sas80]

We all know you had a terrible experience with them and you are not alone, but is this language entirely neccessary?? Not to mention immature...Please forgive me, but some people might be offended. Let's keep it clean...thank you.

 

 

LOL, I don't think it's necessarily the words that offend....it's probably more the image it conjures up :D:eek::cool:

[Tara818]

LOL, I don't think it's necessarily the words that offend....it's probably more the image it conjures up :D:eek::cool:

 

 

 

Hahaha! When I read that someone thought you were working for TWE I cracked up.. .thats too funny! When i was going thru all that drama you were one of the few people that understood what I was going thru with those clowns! Your description of TWE is right on! :)

[sas80]

Hahaha! When I read that someone thought you were working for TWE I cracked up.. .thats too funny! When i was going thru all that drama you were one of the few people that understood what I was going thru with those clowns! Your description of TWE is right on! :)

 

It's not merely a description....it's mental stimulus!:D

 

I'm glad that you found my posts empathetic and helpful. I do understand the brides that defend, defend, defend do so out of fear that it might happen to them. What I hate are the posts from people who completely invalidate and dismiss the posts from brides whom are having problems as if they are bridezilla's, expected more than is fair, or must be difficult.

 

I am forever jealous of any bride who has even an average experience with RR/TWE and I will always understand the bride that has a bad experience.

[CaribbeanGal79]

I've always wondered why so many people use the TWE/RR/WEI/ and now Imagine with all of the bad reviews?

 

I'm a waitress in St Thomas and I see weddings all day on the beach I bartend at; and the independent wedding planners seem to do a much more personal and professional job.

 

I remember one day when there were 2 groups of about 20 people and the weddings were an hour apart and the second bride showed up while the first bride was still in the middle of her ceremony under the same arch. Why would anyone work with a large company where you deal with multiple people rather than working with one planner the entire time? Plus they have so many weddings in one day since they have the contract why be forced into their schedule and what works for them?

 

And why so many names for one company? Trying to hide from the bad reviews?

 

Just curious to hear from brides that have used them and from brides that are planning on using them.

[fegan01970]

I laughed too when I saw the posting about SAS80 being an employee :p I almost responded, but was too busy laughing!!

 

SAS80 has a lot of great information, though...more than just her experience with TWE.

 

I have to say that after chatting with them a few times, exchanging some awfully confusing emails where it was clear they were ok, but not really caring about my wedding and reading these boards, AND even though a friend of mine used them and had a good experience, I just didn't want to take the chance.

 

I am glad I haven't! Planning my wedding has been almost completely stress free. I have had a hand in everything I have wanted and I know I would have had to give complete control over to TWE and I couldn't do that, not for a second.

 

I know I drive my coordinator crazy with my emails and questions, but she rocks and I know my wedding (18 days from today) in Aruba is going to be wonderful. She cares about what she does. I never felt that from the call center atmosphere of TWE. I was just another bride to them.

 

If anyone is planning on doing a cruise unless you are planning on getting married on the ship-I highly suggest finding a wedding planner on the island. You won't regret you did, they will give you the attention you deserve and you will get what you want and more of it then directly through the cruise line.

 

These boards are the greatest thing I have every found :)

[esbie11]

Personal wedding planners are definitely the way to go. I had written a post a few weeks ago about my horrible experience and got attacked for it...so now I figure people can make their own bad choices and live with the consequences. I do agree with the post above about the TWE weddings being handled in an impersonal and rushed way. My WC had told me how cruiseline planned weddings happen every hour, and it is more or less a drive-thru (minus the car) type of ceremony. That is also why many times when dealing with TWE they don't allow you to pick your own decorations, because they set everything up in the morning and have every couple use the same stuff.

Anyway, I am sure I'll catch heck for posting this too, because "not all of the TWE WCs are bad, blah blah blah" but I guess I am just a glutton for punishment today.

[hmk012]

We feel like we have no choice but to use TWE (we don't want to). We want to do Grand Cayman, but what if the port gets missed? We're afraid if we don't use them and end up with a local company but our port gets missed we won't have a wedding! We honestly have no clue what to do....any suggestions?

[pattycakes]

Why use TWE? because they are the only game in town that allows you to have a wedding close to home where non-sailing guests can attend.

 

They use different names for branding reasons. RCCL wants its name attached (Royal Romance), NCL (This Won't Hurt If You Relax a/k/a Norwegian Weddings), etc.

[esbie11]

Here are my suggestions, although not knowing your specific plans I don't know how helpful they will be :)

 

First, my WC in St. Thomas will refund all but $200 of our money should the cruise itinerary change, even last minute after the cruise has begun. So, at least we won't be out the several thousand dollars we are paying. I realize that that still would leave me without a wedding, however, but I feel that I am better off taking that chance, rather than working with TWE.

 

Also, I would try to plan the date so that it is not during hurricane season, to lessen the chance that your wedding port stop will have to be cancelled.

 

Destination weddings are tough to plan, and there are a lot of "what-ifs," but just keep in mind that anything can happen at anytime, even if you had your wedding at home. It is just impossible to plan for everything that could possibly go wrong, and trying to do so will ruin the planning experience and make you nuts!

Just know that there really are some fabulous WCs around, so I wouldn't feel pressured to use someone you are not confident with. You also might wanna check out the boards on The Knot under Destination Weddings. They are extremely helpful and I believe there are currently some Cayman Island brides-to-be there too. HTH!

[CaribbeanGal79]

Yes this is why I asked the question Hurricanes are rare but most wedding planners will refund your money if you miss the port and the costs are a HUGE savings over the cruiseline company because of all the kickbacks they have to give to the cruiseline and that huge impersonal call center in Florida everyone complains about

 

I just wouldn't want to see another bride standing in the arch I am about to use when I walk on the beach

 

I'd rather save money choose where and when I get married and deal with 1 coordinator the ENTIRE time