Blue Line

Thank you for sharing!! The pics are great!!

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WOW, thank you so much ccsci and vivalaparte!!! It is very kind of you to hang around and help us newbies!!

Ccsci- I was thinking of doing the western caribbean, because from what I have heard, it is a little calmer this time of year (correct me if I am wrong). Also, last year when I proposed, we were on the oasis doing a eastern itinerary...

Thanks again for all your help, and please keep the info coming! I truly appreciate it!!

-Matt

If you wouldn't mind sending pics or anything else worthwhile to:

Matt c Hilliard at aim dot com

(No spaces). Thanks again!!

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I have lots of info you! We did get married at sea in the pinnacle lounge, its right near the pinnacle chapel. At first we wanted to get married in the chapel and the have party in the lounge but after seeing the lounge on our ship tour we found that we liked it more than the chapel. The chapel is minimally decorated and the "alter" is set up opposite the window so you really lose the view as the guests backs will be the window and the ocean won't be in background of your photos during the ceremony. In the lounge you can set up the chairs and make an "alter" pretty much where ever you want. We chose to set it up with ours guests facing the window. It was perfect we were all able to see the ocean and it made a great backdrop for our photos. Also the decor in the lounge is beautiful, it's important cause you really can't bring much on board with you in terms of decorations. (I only brought an isle runner with me). I only have a few pics on my phone, ill post a what i have on here now. But if you want to post your email ill send you bunch of pics. Let me know if you have any questions! ([ATTACH]284484[/ATTACH][ATTACH]284485[/ATTACH][ATTACH]284479[/ATTACH]

Loves2travel, would you mind sending me some of your photos if you get a chance? Thank you so much!!

Mattchilliard at aim dot Com

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I know this wasn't directed to me but I thought I would chime in. We have 60 sailing guests coming from throughout Canada to Miami, and the biggest motivators in getting them there (I think), was firstly the fact that we did it at a time that a lot of our friends/family take vacation anyway, also, by giving people a lot of notice (13 months), it gave people time to plan financially and their vacation time and possible babysitting for those who didn't want to bring their kids. I would love to say that everyone just wanted to come for us, but I think making it convenient played a huge part in so many people coming.

Wow, that is why I love Cruise Critic!!! Thank you very much for replying!!!! That is great that you have so many people going! To be honest, we were having our doubts about many people showing up. We are hoping to give at least a year and a half notice (just waiting on RCCL to post July 2015 itinerary)

CCMS, if you have any tidbits or advice, I would appreciate whatever you have! Thanks!!

And thanks again for your input!!!!

I hope that anyone else feels free to chime in as well!

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So, I know I am a little late in the thread, but I was hoping to keep this awesome thread alive.

FIRST: PLEASE EXCUSE IF MY POST DOESN'T FLOW WELL AND I JUMP AROUND A LITTLE... I am trying to throw some of my thoughts out there...(and i keep forgetting all my questions)

My future wife is extremely busy going through nursing school right now, I am the one who is pretty much responsible for researching and planning the logistics of our wedding. Our plan is to get married by the Captain while at sea on the Oasis of the Seas in July 2015 (once my FW is done with school).

The dates on RCI are not yet posted for July 2015, so I am eagerly waiting to make official announcements and send out STD's, based on the cruise schedule. Because we live in California (as well as most family and friends), I am not sure how many will be making the long journey to FLL and sailing with us, and how to get the best deals on airfare.

So, basically, I am asking for any additional information that anyone may have, including:

-can we choose anytime for our wedding? (we were hoping an hour or two prior to sunset while at sea, followed by a reception dinner somewhere on the ship (depending on our number of guests))

-has anyone had guests fly on an airline to the wedding? i.e. los angeles to fort lauderdale, etc (any experiences, advice, etc?)

-what is proper etiquette as far as the best man/maid of honor? (do we pay for their rooms?)

-for the remainder of the cruise, did you hang out with your party? i.e. excursions, dinner, specialty restaurants..

-if you choose the pinnacle chapel, can you have the chairs facing the windows? (iirc, i believe FLDOGMASSSAGE did this, but just asking again, in case someone was turned down at this request)

-i really enjoy booking my own cruise and having control over it...can I still do that and have my guests go through a RCCL specialist who will more or less take care of their reservations and link ours together (that way we get any eligible discounts, etc)

-if anyone has been married at sea, do they include the location of your marriage on the certificate (I thought I read somewhere that they document the latitude and longitude of the ship at the time of your marriage)

-I have about a million more questions, but its almost 5am and I need to get to bed already! Thanks in advance for any advice!!

and LEO, I noticed you mentioned having the reception after the ship set sail, and dealing with the cruise line directly (not Royal Romance)... I was wondering, did you get married at sea as well? Also, can you please elaborate on how you dealt directly with the cruise ship? thank you

ONE VERY IMPORTANT THING I WANTED TO SAY: Reading this thread was without a doubt the most informational I have found anywhere online; and I greatly appreciate FLDOGMASSAGE's review; and am looking forward to reading about CCSCI's wedding!!!! I want to thank everyone who participated in this thread prior to my jumping in!! Your efforts were worthwhile, thank you!

-Matt

You are also able to extend your RSVP (deposit with the cruise line) deadline up to 3 times with the cruise. My TA did it for us twice and by the time the third time rolled around all but one cabin had paid their deposit.

We are getting married in port during the cruise, so everyone that is attending my wedding is sailing. I would call or email the guests that you really want to attend ahead of time though, because people will surprise you. We have almost 40 people sailing and we only invited 52.

first of all: YES, I know this is an old post, however, I am still hoping that I can get some info...

Bride2Be, I noticed that you live in California, and I believe that the cruise you went on was a Caribbean cruise.

The reason I mention that is because we too live in California and we are planning on getting married in 2015 on the oasis of the seas (which goes out of fort lauderdale). I noticed that you said that you had 40 people sail with you, and am wondering how you "convinced" (for lack of a better word) 40 people to fly across country and then take a cruise.

I will say, that I was thinking that it might just be my bride, son and I on our wedding day until I saw your posts....It gives me some hope that people may make the journey.

Hopefully you come back to CC, or someone with a similar situation will chime in...thanks in advance!!!

I know the posts are old but our first cruise we were really impressed with the people who had lanyards, instead of always trying to find somewhere to keep the card... (DH's pocket!) newbie mistake?!

 

Have to say, if I'm not feeling 'wow' about my holiday, why would I waste the money? We met a couple on our first cruise who just told us about all the ways they had 'saved', including spending the day in a hot dusty port with nothing to see & laughing at us for paying $100 to see the pyramids because it was ''a rip off'' - then spent the evening complaining about how awful their day was while we reminisced about our awesome ours was (crazy Eygptian hawkers aside). I never want to be that jaded.

Exactly my thoughts!! If you don't want to be wowed, save money and stay at home.

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I can't think of 5, but I wish I knew you could carry wine onboard! (Not a big deal, but something nonetheless)

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I would do it!

@aim.com

Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!!

You can email me at:

Mattchilliard

I have lots of info you! We did get married at sea in the pinnacle lounge, its right near the pinnacle chapel. At first we wanted to get married in the chapel and the have party in the lounge but after seeing the lounge on our ship tour we found that we liked it more than the chapel. The chapel is minimally decorated and the "alter" is set up opposite the window so you really lose the view as the guests backs will be the window and the ocean won't be in background of your photos during the ceremony. In the lounge you can set up the chairs and make an "alter" pretty much where ever you want. We chose to set it up with ours guests facing the window. It was perfect we were all able to see the ocean and it made a great backdrop for our photos. Also the decor in the lounge is beautiful, it's important cause you really can't bring much on board with you in terms of decorations. (I only brought an isle runner with me). I only have a few pics on my phone, ill post a what i have on here now. But if you want to post your email ill send you bunch of pics. Let me know if you have any questions! ([ATTACH]284484[/ATTACH][ATTACH]284485[/ATTACH][ATTACH]284479[/ATTACH]

Oh my gosh! Thank you so much!!! We would appreciate whatever information you would be willing to provide!!! We definitely want to do it like you did; with the ocean as the background!! (I don't understand why chapels on other ships don't have chapels that are similar)

Also- I was wondering how many people went, and how you made arrangements for travel... I am not sure where you are from, but we are from Southern California, so I know that may be another financial obstacle for guests...

The pics look great; it looks like you all had a great time!!

Hi Lauren!

 

I was married on the Allure in Feb. We had the ceremony in the pinnacle lounge and then we rented out Dazzels for the party and we're able to hire one of the ships DJ's. the pinnacle lounge was beautiful. I would say it might be a little small to use as a disco. Do you have many people sailing? If you don't already have a groups coordinator call RCCLs group dept. They are the ones that book the party and DJ. If you can request a coordinator, request Ana. She was amazing! Let me know if you have any questions and ill post some pics of the lounge for you soon.

We are thinking of getting married on the oasis, and wanted to have the ceremony at sea in the pinnacle chapel. It looks like you were married in the pinnacle LOUNGE-- is that similar to the chapel?? (We loved the views from the chapel the last time we were on the oasis, and I honestly don't remember the "lounge"... Any info on your wedding would be greatly appreciated(from what I have read on CC, it seems like your wedding is the closest to what my wife-to-be wants). Thanks!!!!

Sorry you had a bad experience... That really sucks!! :-(. I would at least send in copies of your photos and ask for a refund... Best of luck

The 10/12/2014 sailing of Oasis has these discounts right now for most balconies and a few ocean view and inside. FYI.

 

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It is in 2013.

Thanks for the info!

See my post #6 above regarding the discount coming and going. I'm tracking rates on my currently booked cruise in three different room categories (oceanview, balcony, suite), and the police and fire rate comes and goes within the subcategories seemingly at random.

 

The discount by itself hasn't ever been big enough to make it a reason to book a cruise - but it has tipped the scales towards one cruise being a bit more affordable than another one.

 

And just like other discounts, it seems that you find better ones during the less popular times to cruise. We are saving about 5% off the cost of our W. Caribbean Allure trip the week before Thanksgiving week. So not huge...but it is the equivalent of a C&A balcony discount.

Thank you! I am going to try to find that tracker you spoke of. Thanks again

I can say the one time I used it, I don't recall how long it lasted online, however it was an amazing deal. It gave me a Junior Suite, on the hump, for a 6 night cruise for just $699pp. That is precisely what made me book that specific date/cruise.

Wow!! I would sign up for that in a heartbeat!!! Thanks for the insight

We have never booked a cruise specifically because a residency/senior/military/police discount was available. The discounts do come and go. On some (most) cruises they might not become available at all.

 

Discounts are something we check for after we have already booked a cruise. So we already have our stateroom, it is just possible that we might be able to save a little additional money on it. :)

Thanks for the good advice! When I first set up our reservation last year I assumed that if you check the box, you get the discount... Then reality hit.

For those of you who have recd the discount, was it a desirable cabin, time of year etc? Or is it more of "we're going on this cruise because of the discount"..

And does the discount come and go? For instance: if I look up a cruise today which does not have the discount, and I look the exact cruise up again in a few months might it then have a discount??

I appreciate any insight.. Thanks!

If you go to the Royal Caribbean home page,

 

then "Search for a cruise" from the top bar

 

then "Advanced Search"

 

If you only check the discount you are interested in, ie, Police and Firefighter...

 

It will bring up all the cruises, for which the discount is currently available (usually certain categories)

 

a check today, indicates there are 28 cruises offering the discount.

Thank you!!! I was wondering if there was an easy way to do this!

My first was the SS Norway...

We would like to decorate our daughters and husbands sisters cabin next March. It will be their very first cruise so wanted to do a Bon Voyage Decoration.

We got my son and his cousin a room to share last year and did those decorations... It was both their first cruises... I think it made it exciting for them to walk in and already feel like there was a "party" going on...

What a great review!!! Were you able to book this prior to the cruise? And how do you book this??

Thanks again for the review!