RCI vs Carnival Wedding

[vateacher]

Hello everyone,

This site is great. It is my goal to lock in a date and a cruise this week but, I can't decide which one to go with. I just want something simple with under 20 people. I have never cruised before and want the best overall experience! We would probably want to leave out of Florida during summer 2009. Any suggestions are GREATLY appreciated!

Thank you! :D

[ErinD92]

If you want simple I would suggest Princess. You can get married at sea (during one of your sea days). No one has to leave the ship - you can have a fun and relaxing morning before the wedding. You can have the wedding a day or 2 into the cruise (or th last day if you wish) so there is no worries about boarding and get ready before you're unpacked. I would highly suggest it to everyone! It was perfect!

[flyerso6]

I did Carnival, I cannot recommend them over another because this was my only cruise. I did have a great time and so did my 22 other sailing guests. Its not the bad having the wedding first thing on the cruise, yes that morning is a little crazy but it wasn't horrible or even that stressfull. I would rather get married first thing so I can enjoy my cruise/honeymoon without stressing over a wedding that will happen later in the cruise (which can be the case if you choose on Princess). Doing it first thing you also will have your marriage certificate from The United States which may make things easier for you in the long run. ( I was just reading how the couple Brides from New York had to get married again in NY because of this).

[J's Gal]

I'll add in favor of Carnival... If you are looking for simple and under 20 guests, Carnival will be your cheaper option. They have a couple of packages that are for up to 20 guests and basically include everything, ceremony, basic flowers, reception with open bar, cake, etc... From what I've read (and let me stress that "From what I've read" because I do not have first hand experciene with RCI), on RCI you pay for everything individually.

Someone posted a spreadsheet comparison a while back, if you can search and find that, it could be quite helpful!

Happy planning...whatever you decide!:)

[pearl667]

We have not yet gotten married, however, we are going with Royal Caribbean. The reason why we chose them was that the time of year of the sailing, the ports we would visit and where the cruise is leaving from fit what we wanted to do. My family also enjoys RC and has sailed with them several times. That said, they are fairly expensive because of how their wedding packages are structured. Everything is a la carte in comparison to Carnival. Have fun planning, I'm sure everything will be beautiful no matter what you decide!

[tamster808]

We went with RC. My family has alot of cruiser and they all prefer RC to Carnival. Carnival is cheaper. I am looking forward to getting married right away then we can just enjoy the cruise.

[Prinycesa07]

Carnival was our choice because it was a lot cheaper than RC. Also carnival is just a lot of fun and was a better match for us and my guests. I didn't want to get married at sea or on an island because i wanted it to be done first thing and then relax for the rest of the cruise. I'm also glad that i got married in the US as I live in NYS and i've been reading about problems this has caused.

[vateacher]

Thanks for all the advice. We decided on Carnival (as of now)..just trying to decide on a cruise and boat. .... And I thought I picked a cruise to have the least amount of decisions :eek: We definitely want to get married at port then enjoy ourselves the rest of the trip.

[vateacher]

Ok now we are thinking Royal Caribbean because we don't want so many kids. Have those that went with Carnival had issues with the ammount of kids on the ship?

[Prinycesa07]

I think it totally depends on the time of year that you go. We went on carnival and i can count on my hand the number of kids that I saw on the entire ship (maybe 8?). However, we went in February. Honestly, if you are going in summer there will be A LOT of kids, on both carnival and RC.

[Cruisintink]

Yep I agree...it really depends on what time of year you go. We've cruised during March, April, and June and they have all varied. The one time we cruised out of CA was in March and I swear the whole ship was elderly (we were always the 1st ones in line)! :D JK! If you're looking at going in summer you may possibly have fewer kids if you can go at the end of August cuz many schools start just prior to that but you're also looking at hurricane season. We are taking the kids this year in August for the 1st time...not sure what to expect. I wouldn't worry about the kids - pick the best itinerary, ship, and price for you.

[mara93]

I was the one who posted the Comparison Sheet for Carnival & Excel. If you search for threads I've created, it will come up for you.

[mara93]

Found it. Here it is. ---> Click here

[miyucruises]

We researched all of the options and chose Carnival based on price and accomodations. The wedding package was cheaper, and the overall cruise was more affordable, so more of our friends/family would be able to join us. I echo what others have said about kids, depends way more on the time of the year than on cruise line.

[vateacher]

Found the spreadsheet very helpful..Thanks! :)

[soon2bbride]

I too have been a little undecided about which CL to go with. I've cruised RCL b4 but never CCL. I know that CCL is cheaper and we are leaning more towards them, but we are going to cruise with them first to get the overall customer service base that they have.....If anyone has pics that they can post from there wedding on CCL would be kinda of helpful.

 

I did go dress shopping yesturday and I found the perfect one :)

[soon2bbride]

Check out this website if your looking for a Budget Spreadsheet..

 

http://www.miamiweddingplanner.com/weddingbudget-planner.htm