letscruisegd

Thanks for your review and Congratulations on your marriage. I'm getting married on Horizon in a a few weeks. I'm hoping we have better luck with photo's. Thanks again for your review.

Congratulations on your wedding!

I'm getting married on Horizon exactly 1 month after you (on boarding day). So far the communication with the Wedding Experience has been good. I even received a couple of unexpected calls from my wedding planner asking how things were going. When I send an email I'll put my wedding planners' name in the subject line so it will be directed to her. She usually responds in a day or two.

I just thought of another question in reference to the reception. Did you have to provide the song for the bride/groom first dance? Also, were you able to request specific songs you wanted for the reception or was a standard lineup provided?

...I'm going to put the funds back on the cc when my refund is processed. The savings alone was worth rebooking the wedding.

Thank you so much. This is exactly what we plan to do.

Our wedding is in November so we're far enough out. Thank you so much.

Thank you SOOOOO much HappyCruiser25!! I just saved over 800 bucks!! Made my Friday!!

Congrats on the savings! We're they able to transfer what you already paid to your new package?

...I was able to cancel the wedding without penalty since I am outside the penalty period and rebook with the new package.

I saw the new packages but I haven't called to make the switch yet. The new packages are much better.

When you cancelled, were they able to transfer original payments and refund the difference or did they refund your original payment in full? If you were not able to transfer, did you have to make immediate payment in order to hold your spot?

...What really helped me become comfortable in doing my own hair, is by watching tons of youtube videos on protective styles for natural hair, then giving them a try. So far everything I've tried has turned out well! ...

I learned how to do my own crochets by watching YouTube as well. It's a great resource.

Sorry for so many questions and thank you for taking the time to answer them for me ❤️❤️

No problem at all. You're welcome.

Ok ... so it appears synthetic hair will hold up as long as you keep it washed and conditioned. Did you let your crochet air dry afterwards? I’m assuming there is no other way to get it dry ( is a blow dryer a no? )

Mine held up great. I've worn crochets on multiple cruises and never had any issues. I only washed it on beach days or the very few times I got into the pool. If my hair didn't get wet at the beach or in the pool, I just sprayed it with my water/conditioner mixture when I got out of bed.

As for drying, I would absorb some of the moisture by towel drying then allow it to air dry.

Let me see if I can help? I have attached a price calculator what you have to do is input in the yellow sections...... So in the end I hope this helps everybody make a sound decision.

Thank you so much. This is perfect to help with the drink package decision. Awesome work.:)

...I'd like to find a crochet that I can use that will be fully submersible!!! I'm a swimmer, and refuse to avoid getting my hair wet. I read through the posts (yes! all 17 pages!), and didn't really get a clear answer about whether you can fully submerge crochet hair. Did I miss the answer? Forgive me if I did, but can someone please let me know if you can, and what kind of hair I'd need to get? Thanks!

Yes, I fully submerged with no problem at all (Freetress deep twist hair most often...Freetress tango curl a couple of times). I just made sure I rinsed the salt water out pretty much right away using the shower available at most beaches/pools then washed it when I got back to my room. My plan was to allow my hair to grow enough for crochets for my upcoming cruise but I love my short hair so much, I decided to wear it as is.

Well maybe I will do that bc the human hair bundles are $50 each...If you didnt have an issues I imagine Ill be good with synthetic too. Were you able to wash the synthetic crochet often during your vacation?

I never looked into human hair so I had no idea bundles were $50 each.

I was able to wash my hair with no problems at all. How often I wash it depends on how many beach days I have. I usually wash it 3-4 times on a 7 day cruise.

I use pretty much any 2 in 1 (shampoo conditioner combo). I put the product in a bottle with a narrow tip so I'm able to go through the cornrows and put the product on my scalp. I apply the product prior to getting in the shower. After I wet my hair in the shower, I focus on massaging my scalp then I [gently] rub the shampoo/conditioner on the hair. I don't pull all the hair up like you would for normal washing because that could potentially cause the hair to tangle. I more or less glide the shampoo/conditioner on the hair then rinse. On days that I don't wash my hair, I simply spray my water/conditioner mixture on it. Never had any problems at all.

I've looked into crochet braids using human hair. I feel like it may hold up better than synthetic. I plan to be in the water a lot...so I'm worried about how the synthetic hair will hold up.

I wear my hair really short now but before I cut it, I always used synthetic hair for my crochet braids and had absolutely no problems at all. I used Freetress deep twist most often. I also used tango curl and bohemian wave (I think that was the name). I would put it in a high ponytail for the beach or any other water activities. It worked out great.

Wow....looks like Carnival went that extra step to make your wedding/honeymoon even more special. :)

They were in the stateroom waiting for us,as well as a very nice towel creation on the bed. I can post a pic of it if you'd like. Also during the cruise, and I'm not sure if this was just random luck or happens more often than not, but we got a free 8x10 and photo frame from pixels, and a fruit basket sent to our room from the hotel director.

 

Thanks for the pics of the reception set up. Awesome pics of the two of you as well. You are a beautiful couple.

Thank you for the kind words.

A pic would be great...thanks. Really nice gifts you received.

If all your guests are sailing I'd say it should be plenty, since you'll be partying the whole cruise anyways. Our guests started trickling out around the 1 hour mark. We also decided not to do the Garter or bouquet toss because there were only a couple of single people there. We also aren't much into dancing, but if your group is, the hour might seem a little short.

Partying the whole cruise....my thoughts exactly. :) We have only 1 single person attending so we won't have are garter or bouquet toss either. About half of my group loves to dance and the other have are pretty reserved. I think we'll stick with 1 hour.

Was the sparkling wine and chocolate covered strawberries delivered to your room or at the reception? I see those listed as included items.

Thanks for the pics of the reception set up. Awesome pics of the two of you as well. You are a beautiful couple.

Our reception was 1.5 hours long. I think the standard is 1 hour, but we paid for an extra 30 minutes. Yes all non sailing guests are required to debark at roughly 3pm..

Do you think an hour is long enough for the reception? We'll likely have only 20 guest and everyone is sailing. May have 2 more who are not sailing.

Thank you again for all of the information you shared. We just booked our wedding on the Horizon in November. All of the information you shared has been so helpful.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. This is exactly the type of info I need. My email is my cc name at yahoo dot com.

The short answer, yes, you are able to add any and all of those to your ceremony. The only downside is, you have a limited time for your ceremony/reception. So you may want to weigh out what is important to you. They provide you with a ceremony outline, and you can pick some of their items or provide your own. We picked one of their poems, provided our own music/vows, and brought on our own silk petals for the flower girl. When providing your own music, your need to bring the music on a phone or mp3 player with an aux cord.

 

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you so much for this info. Due to the time constraints you mentioned, we may consider having the reception later during the cruise. I've cruised with groups who had private parties which we thoroughly enjoyed. As of now, all of our guest are sailing so everyone will be able to attend if it's later during the cruise.

As for the music, did they provide a list to select from or do they have standard songs they use? A couple of the songs I want are popular classical wedding pieces so I'm wondering if they will have either of those songs available.

We plan to book the wedding within the next couple of weeks. I'm just trying to get a feel for what to expect upon making the date official. Thanks again for sharing your experience.

Congratulations!!!

We're you able to add your own personal touches to the ceremony? For example, reading of a poem, your own music, sand ceremony, rose petals before the bride comes in.

Thanks

Here is a link to my comments on Carnival vs. Royal. This cruise was several years ago. I've cruised both Royal and Carnival since then and my thoughts a pretty much the same. I still enjoy both lines but I'll have to say I was most impressed with Celebrity (Reflection). The ship was awesome, service top notch and food (although subjective) either met or exceeded my expectations throughout the entire cruise.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1497474

Another thing to consider. Whether it be the comedy club or Serenity. no matter how mature and well behaved, your under aged darling is taking up a coveted seat meant for an adult.

This is exactly what happened to us on our Celebrity cruise. There were 6 of us and we managed to find 4 loungers then we saw 2 more that were occupied by children/pre-teens. The adults with them saw people looking for loungers but let the kids stay right there occupying seats meant for adults.

We saw a couple of officers close by so I informed them children were in the adult area. Fortunately, they came over and let them know this was an adult area and asked them to leave. Signs were at each entrance so it was clear this area was for adults. At that point the adults they were with left as well. It was great to see the rules enforced.

Carnival and Royal are two sides of the same coin. Same offerings, different coats of paint. But because people innately love to look down on something, I find that a significant number of Royal aficionados sneer and look down their nose and disparage Carnival. Presumably Carnival fans do the same thing to some other line, probably Royal.

 

I've cruised on both, and found the differences minuscule and irrelevant...

I've cruised both and I agree with this. There isn't much difference in my overall experience on both lines. For me the obvious difference is the décor. Royal's ships are much more appealing to the eye than Carnival, although Carnival is improving in this area (Breeze, Vista). Another plus for Royal is they have much more live music than Carnival and I'm a huge fan of live music. I've enjoyed each of my cruises on both lines and will continue to cruise both lines.

...how much was the cost of the taxi from the port to/from the Boatyard? How much does it cost to get in? I read $15.00 per adult which included a drink coupon, umbrella and use of beach...

I was there in October and the cost was $15. It included 1 drink, beach chairs, an umbrella and transportation back to the ship. I'm not positive about the taxi from the ship to the Boatyard but I think it may have been $5. I'm pretty sure it was no more than $5.