CCMS14

Typically 15-18 months before the sailing dates.

Thank you! I’m more accustom to Celebrity and they seem to have them out a bit earlier. Guess I’ll have to calm my anxious planning for a bit longer!!

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I have never cruised DCL before, but now that I have kids it is on my radar. Anyone know roughly when to expect the early 2020 itineraries to come out?

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Thank you all for the advice and suggestions, definitely lots to think about :)

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I have only ever sailed Celebrity but I am thinking about booking a trip on the Mariner April 4-18, 2018. It doesn't seem to be a popular sailing, does anyone have any clues why? I know it is the first sailing after the refurb. We are choosing between a Penthouse suite and the Horizon View, Any comments would be helpful. Thank you

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Interesting no Aqua Class offerings, which I guess means no Blu.

 

 

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I was looking for AQ too -- the deckplans seem to show the colouring that was previously used for Aqua, so I wonder if this is part of the limited release. On the sailings I looked at (Feb 19), I also couldn't see the bulk of the new suite classes and I find it hard to believe they've sold out.

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Wow finally I found Ya'll :)

 

I was all set on a cruise wedding but now I'm not so sure.

 

My main questions are do all the cruise lines have the weddings between 10 am and till around 2pm?

Here I was romanticizing about a late afternoon wedding making pictures and a nice dinner in the evening, well I guess that wont happen.

 

Also, I do not care much for getting married inside a room, do any cruise lines perform the ceremony outside?

 

Also, what do ya'll think is a bigger ship better?

 

Thanks in advance I hope somebody can help :)

I got married 3 years ago on the Celebrity Reflection, for an at sea wedding they will not do an outdoor venue, we were in the sky lounge which is at the front of the ship, top deck. It is the room that I walked into on a cruise about 8 years ago and said "I'm getting married here" to my Mom. We did not do a traditional reception either. The wedding was at 1 or 2, we had the ceremony, went and did photos for an hour or 2, or guests did whatever (swam, drank, ate), and then we had dinner in the Tuscan Grille at 6pm (we had 50-60 guests), after that we hopped around (wedding dress on), had drinks, socialized, it was exactly what we wanted.

We got everything we wanted, and part of this was facilitated because my mom and I booked a trip in December before our wedding to meet with the coordinator onboard (she basically receives an email with your package from the contracted wedding company), we hit it off with her, I told her about what I hoped for (the sky lounge), and she made it happen even when I was told by the wedding company it likely wasn't possible).

As for bigger being better, I think it depends on your numbers, and what your hope is. We wanted our guests to enjoy their vacation, but also be able to spend time together without being on top of each other. The ages ranged from 3-90 and we had a blast on Celebrity's S class ships.

Hope this helps a bit!

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The one thing I will hazard that I forgot to mention in my review- we only got our location 4 days before the wedding. The at sea wedding was very relaxed for us, no worries with embarkation etc. whatever you decide I'm sure it will he great!

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CCMS14

Was wondering how your wedding cruise went? ;)

I just booked the "wedding at sea" on the Constellation for next year :D

It was perfect - everything we wanted. I just posted a quick review!

This is a little late, but better late than never! We were married on the Celebrity Reflection on February 16 with 48 guests. I will give a quick glimpse of how everything went for us, and am happy to answer any questions.

Planning:

We started our experience working with Christine at The Wedding Experience, once we had signed all of our papers (just over 1 year in advance), I didn't normally have many questions, but when I did, I would fire them off in spurts, sometimes 3 in a week, followed by months of nothing. Christine was always great about answering my questions, or pointing me in the direction of a person who could.

In the summer, Christine left TWE, or possible just wasn't working on my file anymore, and I began working with Denise. Denise handled all of the licensing, and all other questions. We had a few hiccups with the licensing (we are Canadian) and didn't quite understand one of the seals that had to be on our documents, so after having them couriered to Miami, we found out they were incorrect. At the time I was in Florida getting ready go go on my December cruise to "check out" the Reflection. My fiancé requested the documents be couriered back to us (at our expense), unfortunately they were mistakenly sent by regular mail. This meant that we were going to be past our deadline to get the documents to Malta for the license! Unfortunately, the documents had to be under 90 days old when they were sent, and then had to be received by a certain point (I can't remember the exact date).

That crisis thankfully was averted when my fiancé drove about 6 hours out of his way to get these documents sealed and then re-couriered. Thankfully Denise was able to extend the date they were due by in order to accommodate this.

We ordered white rose bouquets from TWE, as well as corsages and boutonnieres, I will warn people - the corsages were not wrist corsages, so be prepared for that. The flowers were beautiful and lasted well into the second week of our cruise! We were very happy with them.

We had quoted a cake, and it was going to cost about $500 when it was all said and done, so we decided against the cake, and decided to just enjoy the dinner at the Tuscan Grill.

For our reception we decided to rent 48 spots in the Tuscan Grille. We made the reservation as early as we could, and had a few hiccups along the way. This reservation could not be made through TWE, so it was made via our travel agent. We had communications with one gentleman from the Group department, and he would always communicate with me…then suddenly, in about August when I requested a quote for buying out the restaurant, he could no longer talk to me, he could only talk to my TA. So my TA got the quote for buying out the restaurant ($10,000 -- no thanks). At final payment, we paid for the reservation, and got our confirmation - thought there would be no problems. Well, after that, I got an e-mail from Denise in February, mentioning that she remembered me saying we were doing the Tuscan Grille, and that the corporate office had no record of a group of 48?! Naturally, I went a bit crazy, I forwarded all of the e-mails I had to her, and my Mom (thank god) dealt with our travel agent (who is amazing) and finally the reservation was found - but let me tell you it left me nervous!

Guests:

The process with all of our guests was mostly easy and seamless. We made a point of explaining to our guests that we were thrilled that they were there, but this was their vacation and we didn't expect to take up the entire trip. We told our guests what excursions we were doing, and that if they wanted to join us, they were more than welcome. This logic worked out very well for us. Each night we had dinner with a few of our guests, we were in Aqua Class (and so were many of our guests), so we enjoyed dinners in Blu, and a couple of the nights we ate in Specialty Restaurants with our guests. During the day, we would hang out when we saw someone, and in the evening we generally had plans to meet up at the Molecular Bar, and then we we would head up to the sunset bar. This worked really well for us.

The Wedding:

As I mentioned, I had gone on a cruise in December to scope out the Reflection. On that cruise, I was lucky enough to meet Renata who is the wedding coordinator. She was amazing, she explained to me how everything would work, we discussed what she was able to do (dropping off our reminder invites to our guests), and she explained that it didn't always have the same cost that TWE gave us for things (although it involved the cost of and extra cruise, but it was so worth it!). Meeting Renata in December set my mind at ease about the entire thing. She explained they normally had 1-2 weddings per week and they always turned out beautifully.

As we boarded in February, we received an envelope on embarkation requesting that we contact Renata at our earliest convenience to discuss the details of our wedding. From the second we got int the terminal, everyone was so helpful. The check-in lady suggested I take my dress to Guest Relations to store, and that is the first thing I did. Immediately the dress and suit was stored in an office, that way I didn't have to lug it around until the cabins were ready. That evening, we met with Renata, she had our "reminder cards" delivered, and then wanted to confirm with me that she had the right dress! My dress brand was Allure, and she was concerned that it had gotten on the wrong ship! Renata explained how the morning would go, that she would come and get me when it was time to leave, and that the Captain would perform the ceremony, and then we would go for pictures, and if we needed anything, just to call her.

My maid of honour came to my room around 10 (wedding at 12:30), and did my hair, we had so much fun and I wouldn't trade those moments, and that experience for anything in the world. She did my hair, and we got ready, and then my other bridesmaids joined us while my fiance got ready with his wedding party. Unfortunately most of his male friends were unable to join him so his wedding party consisted of his sister, and one of his best female friends (we fought over who got her…). Although this isn't "traditional" it was perfect for us. We had 4 "flower girls" in the form of his cousins and sister, who all got ready with him as well.

When I finally made it to the Sky Observation Lounge (time for the wedding!), we had to wait outside of the lounge (which had a large Private Event sign out front of it). This is the part that I hated. I am not a huge lover of attention, I know, I probably should have gone to city hall by myself in a pair of sweats… Anyway, waiting outside we had a lot of people staring at us because clearly I was in a wedding dress. Most people were polite, wished me luck, told me that I looked nice and moved on, a few people kind of gawked and took pictures of me when I wasn't really focused on them (that was the part I found kind of weird). Then after about 10 minutes, it was time to go. My dad walked me down the aisle, and we chatted the entire way (I'm not one to stay quiet, and people staring at me freaks me out, so it was my way of staying calm). In terms of the photos, I love the photos of us walking because there are moments of genuine laughter.

Once I got up the aisle, I started to sweat, it was hot in there. That must be because of all the windows (but hey, I got my preferred location!). The Captain performed the ceremony with the pre-determined vows. It was everything we wanted it to be. We had a few moments of comic relief - the Captains cell phone rang, to which he turned it off and shrugged, "I'm the Captain!", and then my fiancé took the suggestion to repeat after me a little to seriously and mispronounced my name…which was also hilarious. Those are some of my favourite parts because they weren't perfect, but they were fun.

After the ceremony, we had a glass of champagne for some photos with the captain, and signed our documents. Then we spent about an hour taking photos, as you can imagine based on my distaste for attention before the wedding, walking around the ship in a wedding dress wasn't my cup of tea. Again, we had people taking photos of us, and were riding around the elevator to different locations. I felt awful that we essentially took up an entire elevator when people tried to get on. Our photos were great, I cannot remember the photographers name, but he was from South Africa and we were very happy with him. We ended up purchasing all of the photos on a disc to bring home.

Our reception at the Tuscan Grille was great. I have long loved that restaurant since my first trip on the Solstice. The only issue we had was that they had created a pre-set menu which they did not tell us about. I understand the need for the pre-set menu, however I believe this is something we should have been told, and that we should not have been paying full price for a limited menu. That being said, everyone enjoyed themselves, the service was great, the food was great and we had an amazing time.

Shortly after the meal, I had to get out of my dress (much to my mother's dismay), I couldn't stand the attention, it was starting to stress me out. So, one of my friends and I made our way to my room to help me get it off, and found our turndown service! There were rose pedals and towel animal swans and the LARGEST 2 tier cake I have ever seen being served for 2. This thing probably would have served 50, and had we known about its size, we would have brought it to dinner!

All in all, we had an amazing time, our wedding was exactly what we wanted, and we were surrounded by so much love and support. If anyone has specific questions, I am happy to try to answer them.

We were on this sailing as well, and I had the same issue with our room steward and butler in terms of not receiving dailies one day, they didn't pick up our laundry one morning, we also had to practically beg for a comment card. Nothing huge re: the room steward and it certainly didn't ruin our vacation, but it was certainly not what we were used to and seems to be similar to your experience.

I would be very leery of hiring someone whose work you haven't seen do her makeup. I know that in many states cosmetologists only spend a day or two learning makeup. I would recommend going to a makeup artist who specializes in brides in your hometown and getting a lesson and buying the products needed. For hair I would bring a photo of exactly what style she wants.

That was my feeling as well, I went and bought new makeup and had a makeup trial I was happy with at sephora and then did my makeup myself

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TroubleT is right, it is closer to $300 a couple. I want to say $269. If you already have the Celebrity cookbook you can ask them to deduct that.

 

On Millie (M class) we had Chef's Table in the galley. On Equinox (S class) there is not room in the galley and we were told none of the S class ships have room in the galley for a chef's table.

 

Anyway, on Equinox the Chef's Table group met in Cellar Masters for champagne and amuse bouches, then Chef Tato walked us through the kitchen for Select dining, then we had dinner in the Murano wine room.

 

The dishes we have had have all been Celebrity dishes from the specialty restaurants. The amuse bouches were Chef Tato's creations. The wine they pour is excellent and they are happy to pour a lot of it.

 

ETA: I nearly forgot, I have the menu from our Chef's Table in January on Flickr. If you view the large version you should be able to read it.

Sorry for my incorrect response, this certainly looks awesome!

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Silhouette does not have glass blowing, it has been replaced by the lawn club grille and the alcoves on the silhouette and reflection. To the best of my knowledge Celebrity does not offer a Chefs Table

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I'm just not a last minute person.. I like details plenty ahead of time. Don't like last minute things.

 

 

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I'm the same way. We emailed daily and were always told the info wasn't available

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My wedding coordinator (we got married on X), emailed me ahead of time offering me hair appts. Looking at the current list of treatment options (currently sailing on the reflection), there are no makeup options however at the onboard stores they have a department store type makeup setup that looks equipped to do makeup

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We didn't get any calls (to be fair on that point, I had expressed from the beginning that unless I call them, email is the best method of communication, I work in a contact centre and cannot take personal calls unless they are an emergency). All of our times/locations were confirmed 3 days in advance, but everything went beautifully the day of

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We got our package via email Thursday February 13, our wedding was Sunday February 16

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just thought i would pop in and see if you had any updates. Our wedding on the reflection went off without a hitch on Sunday with 48 guests. Make sure that no matter what drama, you enjoy it because it is really amazing :)

Hey All....

 

 

 

So....we're legal now...

 

 

 

In the great state of Arizona...it took us a whole 37min from the metal detector to the car.

 

 

 

37 min. to get our Marriage License.....

 

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Final price was $ 293.00....so...after our $ 100 donation to the cause...we are asking for about $ 9 a couple.

 

 

 

That's reasonable, right?

 

 

 

Wish we were over the hump...so I could start looking at the fun stuff!

 

 

 

On another note...I closed on a normal-sized Catbitat sale today! Every little bit helps!!

 

 

 

Off to cook some veggies for my "Legal-to-be-married-in-the-state-of-Arizona" Fiancee!

 

 

 

Later....

 

 

 

D & K

I think $9 is more than reasonable, I would be happy to pay it! Congrats on getting the marriage license!

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I am heading out for my wedding on Celebrity tomorrow, I am happy to answer any questions when I get back

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Thanks for the update, we are 7 days away from our wedding on the Reflection and it is certainly going to be a busy week. It's oddly reassuring that everyone has some pre-cruise drama :S

Hi my daughter is getting married on the celebrity constellation on February 27th 2014 ... 2 1/2 weeks time. We are taking a rabbi onboard. Andrea at The Wedding Experience has been wonderful and we have a terrific travel agent. She is truly amazing and has worked on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean weddings before. You have to work with either celebrity's group department or use a travel agent to work with the groups department. Putting a group and a wedding together is quite complicated and time consuming and our travel agent worked hard to get us what we wanted and some great perks too. I thoroughly recommend her. If you'd like to email me at gillyelf@gmail.com I'd be happy to answer any questions and give you my tel number. It has not been a stressful time at all although the bride has to realize that there are things that cannot be controlled and has to be prepared to go with the flow to a certain extent. My daughter is the opposite of a bridezilla and just wants to marry the man of her dreams on a beautiful ship in the middle of the ocean

Has your daughter gotten her location yet? We are getting married on 02/16/14 and have yet to get our time/location. Our coordinator has been great though :)

We have the nautical nuptials and the license, and we have chosen to book our dinner through the groups department instead of the wedding department, we have a reservation for 50 or so at the Tuscan Grille. The option for cake was to get cake for everyone which would have been expensive, the cake for two will just be sent to our room. So far nothing we have purchased has had any additional taxes… I think the only exception would have been if we had purchased silk flowers because it is my understanding they come from a vendor in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and get sent to the ship.

The price list we received for photos (subject to change) is:

Package A:

1 hour photography session

5 digital or printed photos

$299.95

Package B:

1 hour photography session

15 digital or printed photos

$499.95

Package C:

2 Hour photography session

30 Digital or printed photos

$849.95

Package D:

2 hour photography session

60 digital or printed photos

$1099.95

All Inclusive Package

2 hour photography session

All digital photos

$1499.95

If you want the a la carte options, let me know and I will post them as well.

Wouldn't you think it would be easier to organise? We decided on this option to avoid the stress if organising the wedding at home LOL!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time. Which ship are you marrying on?

 

I read this article written by a Captain's wife http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=261

She writes about the value and reasons for tipping, but states those who should never be tipped include Senior Officers, including of course the Captain. So I guess that simplifies things.

 

I also thought the licence was £500, but the Celebrity woman dealing with our booking said its $700 (maybe its $500 + $200 - because they can ;) )!

I absolutely agree, this was supposed to be simpler than a traditional wedding…not so much. That being said, TWE has been great to work with in the sense that everyone I have been in touch with (my original consultant left the company in October I think) has been great, they respond quickly, and are willing to accommodate us (for example when we were in the process of correcting our documentation mistake, our consultant waited for phone calls, answered e-mails etc. immediately because she knew we were trying to rectify it). When I read these boards, sometimes it seems as though people wait days for responses from the wedding consultant, that has never been my experience, which is nice.

I wonder if licensing would be easier if we were US Residents? Or maybe it is just as difficult for anyone who isn't from Malta? I was expecting $500 and then re-read some document I had and it said $700, I think the "Wedding" pamphlet could use some updating. We also asked for a quote on a cake (which was outrageous, something like $500 for something that in our opinion wasn't that nice, and we would have no idea what it would look like because it would be at the bakers discretion), and had it quoted, asked them to remove it from our statement, and I just about died when we received an invoice telling us we would over $1000 (license+cake). They quickly removed the cake and only charged us for the license though, because obviously we didn't want the cake…there is enough dessert onboard as it is.

That article about tipping was helpful, thank you for sharing :)

We are getting married on the Reflection, hoping to find out where sometime this week!

We are in the process of arranging our wedding with the 'Nautical Nuptials' package on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise in December. I must say, we are pretty shocked at the cost. In addition the the $2500 for the ceremony package which is said to include a photographer, but a small pack of 5 photos is an additional $570 plus tax, so its not really included is it? :eek: The marriage licence is an additional $700! How does a marriage licence cost $700? Regarding the package, there are only the two of us, no guests! More than a bit exploitative we think, but no doubt marrying on the ship will be lovely, so we're trying to laugh about that!

 

I'd be interested to hear/read the views and experiences of other forum members.

We are getting married on celebrity in February, so we will try to report back with our experiences. The licensing fees certainly are hard to swallow, and it can be a lot of stress. We fed-exed all of our docs to Miami, only to be told they were wrong (our mistake, not the wedding company), but when we requested they be overnighted back (at our expense) they were put in regular mail which made it really hard to meet all of the deadlines given that you can only send in the documents/request certain documents within a certain timeframe. It is my understanding that the marriage license is $500, and $200 is the cut that goes to The Wedding Experience (possibly X in some capacity as well, who knows.)

I went on the ship we will be getting married on in December to give it a test run (any excuse to get on a cruise…), and found that by meeting with the coordinator it put my mind at ease about the actual day to day, because although the staff at TWE is great, they don't know the way the ships works. On the flip side of that coin, the wedding coordinator onboard didn't know a lot about the additional options because she only knows what the final order is. I was also able to get a copy of all of the options for wedding packages from the photographer. When I get home I will post that for you, although they highlighted the "subject to change" part, they range from $500-$1500.

We booked the Tuscan Grille for our dinner through the group department, not the wedding department, and that has become a bit of a hassle, but ultimately it was worth it.

The tipping part we will play by ear. Based on our initial meeting with the Coordinator, she has already offered to go above and beyond for us, which would probably incline us to tip her, but I also have a hard time thinking I should tip the captain of the ship… I would much rather tip the waiters at the restaurants etc.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer :)