SCCruisinCrazy

Congratulations!  I also booked my wedding for April of 2021 on the IOS!   

I've done the pre-planning stuff and waiting on communication from the ship coordinator.  I'd love to share experiences if you're willing! 

On 7/15/2019 at 4:54 PM, backofentb said:

Hello -

 

I am currently planning a cruise wedding aboard the Independence of the Seas and I have a few questions about your experience: 

 

1. Were you required to get married in the chapel, or could you select a different on-board venue?

2. Did you have the option of utilizing a wedding guest to be the officiant (if wanted?) 

3. How did you handle not having the ability to have a proper rehearsal with your wedding party?

4. Did you use your own personal music, or the music the venue had on board? 

4. If you had the chance to do it again, would you say the reception is worth the additional cost? (I have read some that cut the cake and have the champagne toast at formal dinner, instead of having a separate reception.)

5. What would be your suggestion to avoid missing your reception to have photos taken? I was thinking of having a photographer there to photograph the wedding, and the reception party, and then going back the next day to take photos around the boat, but I wanted to hear if this was a feasible option. 

 

Thanks for all your insight!

 

HI backofentb! 

When are you planning your wedding on IOS?  I was looking at it for my wedding in 2021.  Please let me know if you do have your wedding on board the Independence and any advise along the way you may have gathered! 

Thanks! 

Amy 

Ashley! 

You're an Angel!  Thank you so much! 

I have a feeling this won't be our last conversation! 

Amy

HI Ashley! 

You are an absolute dream to post all this to let other people know what to expect. I am planning a wedding for April 2021. So far away, only so that family and friends have time to plan and save. 

I am planning on doing a Symbolic- "AT SEA" wedding on our first Sea Day.  Getting the basic package, with no reception. (this is me and my fiance's 3rd wedding so we've been there done that on the whole GRAND wedding.)  Then later have reception festivities later at 'happy hour' and dinner around the ship. I plan to invite around 30 ppl to join us.   I do have a couple of questions. I know I'm picking a different package than you but your experience working with the Ship is what I'm interested in. 

1. I plan on initially purchasing the smallest AT SEA package for 10 persons and then upgrade later when I find out how many persons are ACTUALLY coming.  Would you suggest this? 

2. You mentioned "Group" bookings.  Is the $50 per fare the only discount or benefit you received for having so many rooms booked?  Were there other benefits?  Free packages, discounts for the Wedding couple?  

3. I noticed that in the contracts that in your package you get "pre-recorded ceremony music" included.  However later they state that if you want to use their music OR bring your own you have to pay a $75 Audio tech fee.  This seems kind of sneaky.  So basically you HAVE to pay $75 extra for music no matter what.  Am I interpreting this correctly? 

4. During the cruise, other than formal Wedding events, Did the dining room accommodate you and your 32 guests and seat you all together for dinner during the length of the cruise?   

5. I have a very close friend who has a professional camera and her hobby is photography. She will be attending the wedding as a guest. If she is seen with her pro camera do you think the cruise line automatically try to bill me the $500 because she "LOOKS Like a pro"? 

6. How were the flowers they provided you on the ship.  I noticed that a dozen roses bouquet  in their wedding package is $150.00 however you can get a dozen roses delivered to your room for $65, tie them up with some green floral tape and a ribbon and Boom... you've got $95 bucks to spend somewhere else.  I'm not a cheapskate... but heck... I do realize they mark things up just because it's your wedding.  

Anyway... this is great you're available to answer questions. 

Thank you so much! 

Amy

On 8/29/2018 at 12:45 PM, Ashley8053 said:

If you've come across this thread, you are probably doing exactly what I was doing a year ago - frantically searching the internet for some detailed glimpse into a "cruise wedding." I was not very successful in my search and ended up booking a cruise wedding feeling pretty blind. Royal Caribbean makes you put down a lot of money BEFORE they provide you with any details or options for your wedding. It was a scary experience that I don't think any bride-to-be should have to deal with, so I've decided to post a VERY detailed review of my experience, as well as links to all the documents I was provided through the process. If you have any questions at all, let me know and I will answer them based on my experience! All in all, I got married onboard RCCL's Anthem of the Seas on August 4, 2018 and it was wonderful. Read on for more...

 

My Experience Overview:

Much like many people on Cruise Critic have said, the Royal Celebrations/Royal Ocean Events company is a big hot mess (I'm really not even sure what their official name is because I saw both names used throughout the planning process. I suspect they may have re-branded since so many brides have ripped them apart on the internet.) My original wedding planner (Laura) left the company about three months into my planning and I (along with all of Laura's other clients) were basically handed off to Larissa. She was NOT great to work with - very unresponsive, often sending me questions that I've answered several times prior in our email chain or contradicting herself. She never once offered a phone call to go over anything; she only communicated via email. (She is getting a very low score from me on my post-wedding evaluation.)

 

So, the basics - We went with the "Embark on Romance" package, fancy talk for an embarkation day wedding. It was great for us because we had a lot of people we wanted at our wedding, but knew not everyone would go on the cruise and this way, our local guests could get off the ship after the ceremony/reception. I started by downloading the brochure posted online and then calling the company to inquire about what dates were available. (I think I called in early November 2017.) They only allow 2 weddings per embarkation day, so I got lucky that there was a 2018 date available for us. They will hold your date for three days. In that three days you need to book your cruise and pay their wedding fee. The forms you need to fill out are as follows: (1) the coordinator agreement and (2) the payment authorization. I was originally charged $5,992 USD (package is $5,600 plus tax) and it was split into two charges: one for ROE (Royal Ocean Events) and one for RCCL (Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines). Note: My card denied this charge and thought it was fraud three times, so you may want to give your bank a heads up before they process it. I quickly received confirmation that they received everything from me, but it was then at least two weeks until my coordinator was assigned to me. Once that happens, they send you over the full wedding choices document. In my pre-booking research I had found an old wedding form posted online, but a lot has changed since then. They no longer offer a sit down meal, and there's no pre-wedding hair and makeup services or tux rental.

 

Basic rundown of the day:

9:30 am - Everyone (guests, cruisers, wedding party, etc.) need to be at the cruise port, for me it was Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ. Note: Everyone is going to see you, and you will see your fiancé, there's no way around it. Myself and my bridesmaids arrived in casual wear and changed inside. Everyone else - minus the groom - arrived dressed. You will be met by the on-site wedding coordinator, walked through security and checked in for the cruise. Non-cruisers will check in and receive a lanyard with their entry pass. Another huge thing to mention: When you turn in your final paperwork you will need to hand in all your non-cruisers' full names (as it appears on their ID), date of birth, and ID number (passport or drivers license.) This was SUCH a pain to collect from everyone, so think about incorporating this information in your RSVP.

10:30 am (Approximately) - Everyone boards the ship; guests are taken to the venue. Wedding party can select two cabins for getting ready in. For us, we didn't get on the ship until 11, or maybe a little after. They said they were having issues with the ship sanitization. For us, this was an absolute MESS. The coordinator took EVERYONE to the Music Hall first, which caused mass confusion to the guests and my wedding party who were all supposed to be getting ready but somehow got dispersed into the Music Hall with everyone else. Please make sure you tell the coordinator you want the wedding party taken directly to the rooms to get ready and NOT stop off at the Music Hall. We all got changed into our dresses and had some time for a few quick photos before the coordinator came up and got us to go down to the ceremony. (Note: Hair and makeup must be done before you get on the ship. Our getting ready that morning started at 5 am.)

12 pm - Wedding/Reception begins; mine actually began around 12:15 because we got on the ship late. The length of the ceremony is up to you, mine was about 10 minutes, and I brought my own officiant. I HIGHLY recommend doing that. If you use the boat's officiant it will be "Captain Arnold" - note, he's not the real captain of the ship. He's a very sweet old man, but he's a very slow talker and I think if he did the ceremony it would have dragged on and been very dry. If you do have your own officiant, be aware you will need to take care of the marriage license yourself; they won't help at all. In NJ, if you don't live in the state, you have to appear in person to apply for the license. We're from PA, so this was a bit of a pain. For the wedding, there is an aisle and folding seats set up in standard wedding format. After the ceremony, I was promised that the wedding party could go up to the top deck and take a few photos, but it raining, so we all just went into the casino nearby and got a group shot. During that time, the seating on the dance floor was removed. We then went back in for introductions and first dances. Then, the food was served. I do have a few notes about the food which I will get to more below.

2:30 pm - All non sailers need to be escorted off the ship at this time. They let me know that since we were late getting on the ship, they would extend our reception a bit, so they didn't start pushing people to get off the ship until around 2:45 or closer to 3. Please plan ahead of who will take your flowers/decorations home, since you will be cruising and don't want to be stuck with all that stuff.

 

When I first submitted my paperwork, I was planning to have the full allotment of 150 people attending. (75 non cruisers, 75 cruising.) That caused some drama because Laura told me I could only have 100 - AFTER I had already sent out 'Save the Dates'. I begged and pleaded and with some convincing I was granted 150 people, but it was very frustrating because all of RCCL's information says 150 is allowed. At the end of the day, we only ended up having 102, so it wasn't a big deal, but be aware of this, since the website info is incorrect. Also, it's good to know that kids don't count towards your final count. In their words: "Anyone under the age of 12 does not count in your total numbers count. For the bar and beverage package any guest under 3 does not get charged for beverages. Ages 4 to 20 would be the soft drinks/juices option and 21 up you can make the choice with beverages."

 

As far as wedding location goes on the ship, if you look up past photos and brochures, you can see they used Two70, which is an absolute gorgeous location. However, they no longer allow this for a wedding - and trust me, I begged and pleaded for it. If you have more then 25-30 people, they will put you in the Music Hall. Any less, they put you in Boleros. I was a little disappointed to hear that they don't do any additional decorating in the Music Hall for weddings - what you see is what you get. However, the space is absolutely gorgeous and it turns out, I really didn't need anything additional. I did bring single flowers in a candlestick onboard to put on each little lounge table, just to add some color. I also asked about the ceremony decorations and I was told that on Anthem they do a wedding arch and not the two "pillars" that you see in a lot of photos. I thought the arch was hideous so I told them I didn't want that. At some point, I saw a picture of pillars on the Anthem so I asked if they could bring them to put on either side of my fiance and I for the ceremony. I was told yes, but when we arrived it was just small round tables, no pillars. I would have preferred pillars, but at the end of the day it was a minor hiccup that didn't really matter that much.

 

I mentioned above about the food, which I have a lot of feedback on. Right off the bat, they will tell you the cake feeds 50 people. Since we were having at least 100 people, I requested a second cake. The additional cake is about a $400 add on. Please note - this is NOT necessary. I wish I could get that $400 back because we had an entire cake that no one even cut, so trust me, one cake is enough. You will notice in the wedding packet, it doesn't have desserts, I guess they think the cake is the dessert, but I requested a dessert station, which they granted, for $17 per person. The desserts were good, I'd recommend those. For food, we went with the Tier One Hors d'oeuvres, a salad station and a pasta station. Honestly, all the food was GREAT. However, the set up was a big huge pain - probably the biggest disappointment in the day. They had three stations set up in this order: [salad] [Pasta] [sides and Dessert]. The pasta station is manned by two chefs who are making the pasta as people come up and order; it's not pre-made. So basically, it took FOREVER. The issue was that people would get in line, get salad and then get stuck behind everyone backing up at the pasta station. I guess I just had polite guests because no one was skipping around the pasta line to continue to get other food, even if they didn't want pasta. This caused a huge back up that wrapped around the entire room. I actually had a few quests who didn't get to eat because of the line, so please - if you get the pasta station, ask them to set it up at the END of the table arrangement, or, by itself. The other thing that worried me was the "No bartenders" situation. Even thought the Music Hall has a great bar, they don't man it during weddings. All the drinks are bused. So people walk around and ask what you want, go back, make/get the drink and bring it back out. I thought this was going to be an issue, but I will say they were ON TOP of it.

 

As far as the cruise itself, the wedding company does nothing regarding reservations and travel planning. I have a friend who is a travel agent and she was able to create a group booking (you need an 8 cabin guarantee for that). I think we got pretty standard pricing, maybe $50 or so less per person then the cheapest online site, so I guess the group rate was a slight break. The great thing was that we all got onboard credit, so that was a plus.

 

Since the reception absolutely had to end by 3 pm, I decided to have a private reception that night for my friends/family who were cruising. Essentially, they let you do a "buy out" of one of their specialty restaurants. We decided on Wonderland, which cost $4,400 for the food, and $1,500 for drinks for a total of $5,900. Honestly, this was a GREAT idea and I highly recommend it. The food was absolutely amazing, but unfortunately, I was SO exhausted that about halfway through the dinner I thought I was going to fall asleep in my food, so I went to bed and missed dessert, lol. (I highly recommend taking a nap in-between sail off and dinner. I didn't do this, and I regret it.)

 

A few other notes I will point out - The coordinators on-site are downright AMAZING. They more than made up for the awful experience with the pre-wedding coordinators. Tammi - the main coordinator - and her team seriously made the day happen, and followed my instructions to a T. She called me two days ahead to go over everything and completely calmed me because I was freaking out due to my negative interactions with Larissa. The other coordinator there was Sandra, she's in charge of the on-ship activities. She will be your best friend, trust me. She helped me set up everything as far as NorthStar reservations for the group, dinners together, excursions, etc. There wasn't a day on the cruise that I didn't call her for something and she was so, so helpful.

 

The last thing I want to touch on is photography. Their photo packages are ridiculously expensive for what you get, so after some internet research, this is what we did - My maid of honor and her husband knew a photographer who they were friends with. My fiancé and I met with him and his wife and we hit it off. We hired them as our photographers and we paid for them to come on the cruise. As far as Royal Caribbean knew, they were attending the wedding as "guests", not as paid vendors. So, yes, I was a little deceptive on that front, but this way, I had a photographer for everything - including the cruise - and I will get all the photos from someone I trust, not pay piecemeal through a randomly hired cruise ship photographer. Obviously, hired vendors are a BIG no no, but - even if you want to be truthful, they only charge $500 as a fee if you bring a photographer. They won't come right out and tell you this, but at the end of the day, that $500 is still cheaper then their lowest cost package which is over $1,000 for only 1 hour of photos. Do with that information what you want, but I will say that having a photographer with us was so, so perfect.

 

Ok, I think that is literally EVERYTHING I can think of. Like I said, some things were frustrating and some things didn't go exactly as planned, but it all ended fine. I heard from so many people that it was the most unique wedding they had ever been to. And now, I have a reason to push hubby for an anniversary cruise every year! :D:D

 

Files:

Coordinator Agreement Doc: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/coordinator-agreement.docx

Payment Authorization: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/payment-authorization-form.docx

Embark on Romance Package Options: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/embark-on-romance-wedding.docx

Dessert Option: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/dessert-package.png

Wedding on Anthem Picture, from Royal: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/arch-on-anthem.jpg

Wedding on Anthem, Real life, from one of my guests: https://ashleyandgentry.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/our-wedding-set-up-no-pillars.jpg

I saw that option too.  Since your last message I've decided to forgo the reception.  I was wondering.... do you have 10 persons or less coming on the ship for your wedding?  I noticed the $1950 package is for 10 people or less.  I'm pretty sure I'll have more than 10.  I wrote to them ... meaning.... the company that books the weddings for the cruise lines... They told me if I had more than 10 then I'd have to get the $3800 package... AND THE ONLY DIFFERENCE is a 3 tier cake instead of a 2 tier cake.  I was a little chapped about the whole thing.  They claimed that if there were more people they would need more staff to set up and break down and clean up etc....   SO 15 more people would make SUCH A mess in an empty lounge with a cake? 

As you can see I am feeling a bit grumpy about it now....  But...stay tuned!  🙂 

HI jeepster! I did not get a response from whitemoth yet. 

I haven't booked ours yet.  Definitely going on the cruise to get married... however 2nd guessing the wedding packages though. My friends want to know why I would pay no less than $3800 for a wedding ceremony lasting 20 minutes, and THEN over $2500 more for an hour of food and drinks reception.  When after the ceremony we're just going to go to a bar and drink for free on our drink packages?  Why not do a ceremony on the top deck by the pool in the morning or afternoon,  head down to a bar for drinks and then off to dinner?   Spend the $3000+ on flowers, a cake you can buy in the "gift shop", buy a cabana on the beach for one of the Port days or something else like that.  It's not that I don't have a lot of money to spend... I do... but heck...why spend $6000 for 1 hour when I truly, REALLY dont have to.  Right??!!! 

Hi Sarah!  I am at present, considering planning my wedding on the Independence of the Seas for April 2021. yeah... I know it's far away but I just got engaged this week!  Since this post is quite old I'm hoping you've already had your wedding and you can give me lots of advice about the Independence. 

Thank you so much! 

Amy Fletcher 

Charleston, SC