kycruiser87

Do you happen to recall how much their pictures were in Chankanaab for the manatees?

My parents are cruising today, and I ordered them a bottle of Spumante, and a fruit&cheese tray to be delivered tonight. I know they could easily go upstairs to get cheese and fruits, but I wanted them to not have to work for it. ;) Hopefully they enjoy it.

This is JUST what I needed! I have been chipping away at homework all night, and needed a little pick me up. We will be on the Dream in January and I CAN NOT WAIT! Thanks for sharing. I love the video, especially the slides! You are very talented, Carnival should consider hiring you out!

Absolutely go for it; I am! We are getting married in Key West, on the beach and celebrating on Duval St then back to the ship for a reception and you bet your bippy I'm wearing my dress ALL day and throughout the evening!

We got married in Key West too, had lunch at Bagatelle, and then stayed in our wedding attire for dinner on the ship. We docked at Outer Mole, so we had to take the conch train to Mallory Square, and we got so much attention! It was great, it is definitely a memory you won't forget. Everyone we passed on the ship and the island, wished us well and celebrated with us! Enjoy it and congratulations!

To the OP, DO IT! Enjoy the attention and well-wishes that you will inevitably receive. Get some mileage out of that dress! Congratulations!

How much of an OBC do you get on the lifeboats, should they be used?

 

 

Also, what is the proper procedure to make demands to J.H.'s blog from the lifeboat? Do they all have WiFi with free connectivity to his blog so you can make demands, as is your birth right?

All good thoughts, but what about chair hogs? Will there be an enforced time limit on how long you can be gone from your seat? Inquiring minds need to know!

http://www.keywestcity.com/eGov/apps/document/center.egov?view=item;id=9494

Looks like you'll be at Outer Mole

The Martini Braised Basa. Good Lord I freakin love that dish and look forward to it every cruise. My fiancée and I try replicate it all the time but with Tilipia instead of Basa. Something like sundried tomato, olive, fennel, chili, tomato, chive all on top of potato. Goodness my mouth is watering now just thinking about it.:D

So sounds like enjoyment on a cruise is more of way of thinking like it is what I make of it. The same people telling me that booking carnival was a huge mistake are same ones who have good jobs and go on more fancy vacations. I've never been on a vacatiin before so maybe will enjoy carnvial as a new experence.

You absolutely hit the nail on the head. Vacation is the same as any other aspect of life...its what you make of it. If you go in looking for the pitfalls or bad parts, you will never see the good. Focus on the good. My Dad always told me when I was younger that a bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work, and that's my vacation motto. You will have a great time. There are so many things to do/see on the ship. The best part is you can do all of it or none of it. The food is good, especially if you are happy just to go to applebees or chilis as you said. Have fun and don't listen to the naysayers.

I'm doing my own hair and makeup, mainly because I'm cheap like that ;) and I feel confident enough in my abilities. I have been practicing what I want to do with hair and makeup for awhile now. I think it is definitely in the realm of possibilities for you to do your own makeup. Just measure for yourself if it would be easier or not to have someone else do it for you. It may make for a smoother, less stressful situation if someone else were to do it for you (especially if you say you don't normally do such things). But you may be a control freak like me and not trust anyone with your vision. If you think you want to go it on your own, I would suggest looking up a lot of "looks" online and then try to recreate them. You can find all sorts of interesting beauty tutorials on youtube, and reddit along with which products to buy etc. You can also go to Sephora/Ulta/any makeup counter or salon and get a makeover. They can give you a customized look for weddings/photography and point you in the right direction. Take note of what you see/learn from that and apply on your wedding day.

We did the same cruise a few years back and we always travel in January too. We braved the pools a few times, the water was pretttttty cold as there are no heaters. I prefer the aft pool much more so, as you can avoid the kiddos. But the slides midship are a lot of fun. My very favorite part of the Freedom is the serenity deck. The top deck has three? hammocks. If you can get one of these at any point in your cruise I highly suggest it. So many times we would snuggle up in our robes on one of those at night and just gaze at the stars. Also, the hot tubs on the serenity deck are phenomenal, you get the best aft view. Have fun, you're in for a wonderful cruise!

We have 8 more months to wait and I'm getting antsy! Right now there's not a whole lot we CAN do so not doing anything is driving me crazy. haha

 

How early do you plan to get your dress? My BFF is coming to visit in a few weeks to go dress shopping with me but I'm wondering if it's TOO early to actually buy it. Should I wait?

 

Anyone want to post pics of the dresses they are thinking about?

Today I have less than two months until its our turn to get married! I'm really excited but I am occasionally having nightmares where I don't have my stuff together. I just took my dress to get altered this week, and I will have it Dec. 4.

I purchased my dress at 5 months before the wedding. But I didn't have to order it. I got it at a local bridal store. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my dress consultant was gone for ten minutes because she knew of a dress that was tucked away in the far recesses of all the dresses, that would be everything I wanted. And it was! It was the only dress left, it was discontinued, and was 3 years old. Which was excellent on two levels. 1. That dress was marked down so low from the original. 2. There was no ordering this dress, it was take it or leave it. I have heard of other girls ordering dresses and it can take a while to order and come in. It just depends on what you are looking at. You can wait to find a dress, but you may be limited in what you can look at if you don't have time to order the dress. So it is not too early to buy. If you are financially able to, and you love the dress without a doubt, buy it!

http://http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com/dresses/33226/Private-Label-by-G-1426-Size-10.html

This is my dress. I love love love it. I had them add in a corset in the back,so my dress will be a tiny different from what is shown.

I'm jumping on board here and letting you know that there are plenty of opportunities to get yourself a nice ornament. We cruise in January and always grab an ornament wherever we port. The best ornament I have thus far is actually from Key West. It is an unbreakable ornament. It is hand painted, and the gentleman who was selling them were in one of the little corridors with a bunch of other vendors. It was just off of Duval, close to Front St. maybe? He had a whole display of ornaments, and he even personalized the back of it for us, to commemorate our trip. http://www.keywestwebstore.com/christmas/ I'm fairly certain these are the same ornaments sold.

Same here. We are having a small wedding as well and don't want anyone to cruise with us as it is OUR time. Can't stop them but I have definitely told them that I would prefer to go alone as it is our HONEYMOON. I know it seems to be the trend in cruising nowadays to tag along. I think that a bit inappropriate. I don't believe anyone would be hurt by this.

I don't think it is necessarily inappropriate. It is just a matter of opinion/what the individual couple wants. When my fiancé and I decided we wanted to get married on a beach in the Caribbean we decided that is what WE wanted to do. We love to cruise, and our families do as well. I can't imagine getting married without my parents or his parents there. We told them about our dream wedding and they both loved the idea. We asked if they would like to meet us there or go on the cruise, and they picked the cruise. We are looking at it as a family vacation and wedding. Obviously we aren't going to spend every waking moment with our families. We will have plenty of time to ourselves. It's as much their vacation as it is ours. We also have an extra 3 days in Miami to ourselves afterwards to use that as a honeymoon. By no means do you have to invite anyone to cruise with you, and of course it is fine for you to express that you don't want anyone to tag along. For us, and many other couples, its an ideal way of getting quality friend/family time and a wedding.

Soo pretty! Congratulations!

How long did it take for the "oh s*** I'm getting married soon!!" feeling kicked in???

 

I cannot believe it has been 10 months since we decided on a Caribbean wedding and only 5-6 more months to go! I guess it finally kicked in this weekend since we booked the 2nd leg to our wedding/honeymoon B2B, purchased our "so very us" wedding bands, had our last of the wedding party book; and pretty much finished all four bouquets. It has been a busy wedding weekend! now it is setting in...I'm getting married! :D

I'm so freakin excited for you!! I am going to stay on these boards even after I'm married, cause I HAVE to see your pictures and review! You are going to have an awesome one!

I'm sitting at 93 days, and it hasn't really hit me yet. I've been preoccupied with going back to school and work. I have so many projects that are just sitting in limbo right now. Am I worried? Nope. Should I be? Probably.

My bridal shower is next Sunday, so maybe it will hit then!

Thanks. I keep hearing how beautiful it is. We will see.

 

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I haven't been to Nassau either, but I have been to Grand Cayman twice, and I ADORE it. It's beautiful. Pristine, idyllic beaches. You will love it. My fiance proposed in the water there.

Congratulations! Best wishes to you and yours!

Thanks for the review, glad you had a great experience!

I have never been in a straight aft balcony (have many first timers in them tho, hope they like them!!), but we have done an aft wrap before (and for the wedding) and def worth the splurge! Our best man has the "bowling alley" balcony on the port side of us, and a bridesmaid next to him....which means get the dividers all opened up and we have one majorly long balcony!

 

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That sounds legen- wait for it-dary! You could hold an amazing fun little private celebration for you and your wedding party, and the view will be perfect! I can imagine all the perfect photo ops you will have! Oh so jealous! :)

We want to spend a lot of time with our sailing guests, which is why we invited them along (Well, we basically made it mandatory for our immediate family), but I also don't really want a cabin right next door to my parents (or his) on my wedding night or honeymoon. We will spend most of our time with them and they will know where our room is, but I don't need them staying right next door. But, we also want to actually have some peace and relaxation on our vacation, which is hard with 30 family members around, so we figured the quieter spa deck might allow for that better.

I heard that! I love that our families will be in attendance, but I don't wanna be next door to them...:D They want to be close to us, just so we can all know where everyone is(we have a few first timers) and lessen the chances of grandma getting lost. I originally wanted to tell them to book forward, while we booked aft, but we are splitting the difference, and everyone books aft, but they will be starboard, and we will be port side. Spa deck sounds amazing! You'll have to tell us all about it!

And Bo59rt- We have been thinking of doing an aft balcony...we may have to upgrade.

Good deal! Is it a bad idea to get married independently of the cruise line?

I personally don't think it is a bad idea. You run a small risk of not making it to your port, as the cruise line can cancel any port for any reason. Political unrest, disease, weather, over booking ports with too many ships, etc. If you don't go through the cruise line, you should make sure that whoever you book through, is able to work with you if you don't make it to the port. I would hate to lose all that money just because of circumstances beyond your control. Make sure it is in writing , in your contract, that there is a provision...just in case. Our planner offers to reschedule within a year, if for some reason we are unable to make it. Of course, then there is another thing you have to ask yourself, if for some reason something does cause you to miss your port...can you deal with that? I know a lot of people would be completely devastated if that happened.

I don't have numbers or statistics to support my statement(feel free to correct me if I am wrong), but I would imagine that it is on the rare side that you actually miss your port. You may want to do some research though, on your particular port/ sailing month.

Those worries aside, I think it is an excellent idea. I'm getting an amazing price/value, and exactly what I want. Best wishes!

Woo hoo! You are just a couple of days before me! We are getting married on Jan 14th! I started out working with CWP, but changed my destination. I highly recommend them though for the short amount of time that I did use them! Happy planning!

Hello fellow cruise couples,

 

I have been reading on here for awhile and decided to join today. Especially since we booked our cruise today . We plan to cruise on the " Carnival Triumph" and wed in Cozumel on March 22, 2014 . Now I have no clue where to start the planning. We want to get married on the actual beach . Then possibly have lunch in Cozumel or on the actual ship. My mom suggested we just make a reservation at a on-board cruise restaurant . Is that even possible ? Help

Hey Congrats! Welcome to the 2014 club!

Your mom makes a good suggestion, however there is no specialty restaurant (Steakhouse) on the Triumph (unless I have missed it in the deck plans). Of course there is the Main Dining Room that you can eat dinner in every night, and I'm sure you could speak with someone about getting a table or group of tables together for your party. You could even order a cake, if you do want to make it more 'reception' esque, and then even hit the disco or club for dancing! (Thats what I'm planning, since we are doing an on shore wedding, not through Carnival). Are you going through Carnival for the wedding, or doing it on your own? If you do it on your own, just google 'cozumel wedding planner', that is who I almost used for my wedding, and they were very helpful. (We ended up changing our destination) On the website, you can create your own package and kind of get an idea of what you are looking for. They will take care of a lot of details for you, which should hopefully make your wedding planning a breeze!

We are having our RSVP date about 4 months before the cruise, partially because it is in February and we are kind of pretending December doesn't exist because of the fact that it's Christmas. And unfortunately some of our friends/family members are terrible in terms of responses, so we built ourselves a 1 month buffer to avoid problems with people in terms of timing. Some of his family members struggle with time management (think, we have to tell them dinner is at 3 when its at 6...). Anyway, most of our friends and family are aware, and not bothered by it because I think you kind of need to know if you're planning on going on a cruise earlier on in terms of finances and vacation time.

 

As for postage, if it was $4-5 to mail, I would have done the same thing. We have probably committed the same faux pas, but at the end of the day, these are our friends and family and we love them, and hopefully they love us enough to ignore any "errors" we have made...

 

In other news, this made the Toronto news today for wedding info!

http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/06/20/wedding_gift_spat_miffed_bride_guest_both_made_mistakes_experts_say.html

 

its kind of funny but horrible all at once!

That's so funny, I was about to post that too! That made my day! I thought that was hilarious! Its just so hard to believe that someone would have the audacity to think they are owed a monetary gift to cover their wedding expenses.

And we have to do the SAME thing with his sisters. They need a solid 1-2 hours buffer before an event to be there. Which kinda worries me because they were planning on going on the cruise, and now they are planning on just driving to Key West (where we are getting married). Keep in mind, that is roughly an 18 ish hour drive from where we live. AND they have 6 kids between the two of them. I think I will tell them the wedding is the day before the actual date...otherwise I can see them driving up to Mallory Square as we sail away! Oh well. We planned a destination wedding for a reason... fewer worries.

I hope you are right! I'm waiting for April, too. Save the Dates are out. Starting to feel like my worries about the guest list were not necessary. I think it will be a manageable number based on the feedback that I'm getting. Going to attempt DIY passport invitations later this year and I'm not a DIYer. Start praying! LOL

I love the idea of a passport invitation!That is so cute! Pinterest is all about the DIYer, I'm sure you can find help/ideas there if you get stuck! You will have to post a pic after you get them finished!

Just thought I would throw this out to everyone. How far in advance of the wedding did you send out the invitations? We sent out our save the dates at 13 months and probably our invites at 7 months or so...thoughts?

Ha well... We got engaged in January, picked cruise and I immediately made invites at the end of January. I made little message in a bottle invites.Took it to the post office and to my surprise they were going to be something like $4-5 a piece to send locally, and it would cost more the further away I sent them. So I nixed sending all of them and I gave as many people as I could invites by hand. So not all of them were received at the same time. And the people who live further away that I wouldn't be seeing soon, I sent those via usps. I know I probably committed so many faux pas by handing out my invites, but too bad. Atleast I got to see their surprise when I handed it to them, and I got lots of compliments. I sent/ gave them out as soon as I could that way everyone would have time to plan accordingly for vacation requests, financially, all that if they decided they wanted to go.

Now, I'm just freaking out about a dress. I don't know what I want. I try on all of these dresses and I adore every stinking one of them! Its. just. not. fair.!