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The Wedding Experience (TWE) Issues


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I am a May 2018 bride on Carnival Pride and I had no idea how difficult the planning would be with TWE. My emails are not being returned in a timely manner (sometimes weeks before a response), calls are not returned, etc.

 

I'm also seeing crazy price increases on things: i.e. the day room at the resort we are getting married at off-site was going to be over $600 for just a couple hours through TWE and when I called the resort directly for the same room for the night before and morning of was only $300! Similar with transportation for our guests: $60 (TWE) vs. $18/person elsewhere.

 

I am beyond frustrated! Are there any other brides that can offer advice on negotiating and navigating TWE issues?

 

Thanks in advance!!

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  • 1 month later...

Hello!! I'm also getting married on the Carnival Pride but in June 2018. You're wedding may have already happened. If not, when will it be and which destination will you be getting married? I haven't had any issues with getting response from TWE but I always call them. When I did send a message it did take awhile for a response. Have you been utilizing their website at all? That's made things easier for me during this planning process.



 

 

And yes they are SUPERRRRR expensive and severely overpriced. Considering the amount we paid Carnival we should NOT have to pay for chairs for our guests and the transportation is also very expensive but we paid it through them to make it easier for us. I'd love to hear how your experience is overall and where your reception is held etc. I think it will become a lot easier as far as planning once you're onboard and can actually talk to everyone face to face. The not knowing things for sure though can be nerve wrecking for sure though.

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Hi, ShanteS!

 

Our wedding is next Friday, May 18th! 😊 I was able to move things along easier with TWE as the wedding got closer. Our ceremony is at the Grand Lucayan Resort in Freeport.

 

Our reception is back on board in the nightclub with the DJ. We didn’t choose a food option for guests since the wedding is at 10:30am and our reception will be over mid-afternoon in time for a late lunch. We are however offering bar service so I’m sure our guests will enjoy that more anyways.

 

 

You will receive calls from both Carnival and TWE to confirm everything about 10 days before and answer any last minute questions. This helped put my mind at ease some. I’m a planner so this hands-off experience has been somewhat difficult for me. Fingers crossed we both have stress-free, beautiful weddings!

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Hi, ShanteS!

 

Our wedding is next Friday, May 18th! 😊 I was able to move things along easier with TWE as the wedding got closer. Our ceremony is at the Grand Lucayan Resort in Freeport.

 

Our reception is back on board in the nightclub with the DJ. We didn’t choose a food option for guests since the wedding is at 10:30am and our reception will be over mid-afternoon in time for a late lunch. We are however offering bar service so I’m sure our guests will enjoy that more anyways.

 

 

You will receive calls from both Carnival and TWE to confirm everything about 10 days before and answer any last minute questions. This helped put my mind at ease some. I’m a planner so this hands-off experience has been somewhat difficult for me. Fingers crossed we both have stress-free, beautiful weddings!

 

Wow!! It's so close!! Are you here in Baltimore or will you be traveling here for the cruise? What all do you have left to do with a week left and a few days before boarding the ship? Did you tell them what time you wanted to ceremony to begin or did they tell you when? Also, did they tell you when the reception was as well and does it have to be finished by the time the ship sails from port?

 

Did you do welcome bags and welcome letters for your guests? Are you bringing your own décor at all or no? Oh and could you also share the Fun Times please when you return? I'm sorry for asking so many questions. LOL Will you do a review afterwards and post pics? I'd love to know how your experience was.

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Hello, looking forward to seeing you all reviews after your wedding experience. By the way congratulations to you both!!! I will also be getting married on the Pride in December. I am doing an embarkation wedding at the port of Baltimore.

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Wow!! It's so close!! Are you here in Baltimore or will you be traveling here for the cruise? We just got into DC (where he's originally from) last night and we will drive to Baltimore in the morning. What all do you have left to do with a week left and a few days before boarding the ship? Everything is done at this point. We have everything in boxes and we are doing "faster to the fun" to be able to take things to the room immediately upon boarding. The gift bags, flowers, etc. are all boxed up and ready to go. Did you tell them what time you wanted to ceremony to begin or did they tell you when? We had no control over the time of the ceremony and reception. That is totally left to TWE to arrange and make happen. Also, did they tell you when the reception was as well and does it have to be finished by the time the ship sails from port? We were told the reception needed to be over before the ship sets sail from port. I think it has something to do with the bars opening back up to the public at that point.

 

Did you do welcome bags and welcome letters for your guests? Yes, we are! I'm in love with them. :') I included a first aid kit, sunglasses, sunscreen, aloe, a fan, chapstick, and drink coozies. Are you bringing your own décor at all or no? No, we aren't bringing decor but we are packing the supplies for the cake to be decorated. Oh and could you also share the Fun Times please when you return? Yes, absolutely. I was able to find the best person ever to do all of my stationary work and everything is completely coordinated and perfect for a cruise wedding... like I said before, I'm pretty much obsessed with my paper goods, LOL. I'm sorry for asking so many questions. LOL Will you do a review afterwards and post pics? Of course! I'd love to know how your experience was.

 

Just to simplify, I put my answers in a different color after each question. :)

Attached is a pic of the gift bag and front side of the Fun Times.

Pics.pdf

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Hello, looking forward to seeing you all reviews after your wedding experience. By the way congratulations to you both!!! I will also be getting married on the Pride in December. I am doing an embarkation wedding at the port of Baltimore.

 

Congratulations, Ringonit! I will definitely be doing a full review once we return. :)

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Congrats to all! I will also be looking forward to your review! I will be getting married on the Pride September 2nd, I don't want to wish away summer (especially since it took sooooo long to get warm out!) but can't wait for the day, before we leave Baltimore! I would have loved to get married on one of the islands, but not all of our guest would be able to travel with us. I love that they have the option to get married before hand, and allow guest to board the ship for the wedding! I love your bags and fun times!! Do you have trail or normal size items inside it? I'm wanting to do the same thing! How many are sailing with you guys?!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay, so here is my lengthy review of the Carnival Weddings process from the time we got on the ship until the reception...

 

We purchased Faster to the Fun passes for our cabin and it was a huge benefit. We were able to take everything on-board and go straight to our cabin so we could unload everything immediately without having to wait on our cabin to open. FTF also allowed us priority lines for the tender, debarkation, and for the guest service desk. It was definitely worth the $70!

 

 

A couple nights into the cruise, our hostess (Mary) found us at dinner to want to discuss wedding details. We thought the timing to be extremely off-putting as we were in the middle of a meal with friends and family, but met with her later that evening. In that meeting, she went over all the wedding day details and times for taxi meetings/pick-ups, reception choices, etc. Mary's times were slightly different than what was planned by TWE before we left for the cruise and I'll touch on that later. I met with the Spa that same evening we met with Mary and double-checked appointment times, had a consultation with my hair stylist, and made another massage appointment while there. All of that went very smoothly and they were super sweet to work with throughout the whole week.

 

 

So the morning of the wedding, my mom and I had hair appointments at 7am and then everyone in our party met in the atrium at 8:45a to board the privately chartered shuttle. I mentioned in an earlier post that TWE price gouges, so I'd recommend looking outside of TWE to outsource as much as you can independently. It takes a little more work on your part, but the cost savings are amazing! ($16 per person vs. $60! :o) After the rest of the party left the ship, Mary came to the room to get me and my man of honor. We were on our way by 9:30 and arrived to the resort around 10am.

 

 

As I was getting off the charter bus that I rode from the ship on, my mom met me with the wedding coordinator from TWE. She was very confused because she hadn't sent transportation to pick me up yet! Thankfully, Mary from Carnival was on her game and had everything coordinated well. TWE coordinator went on to scold us for being there early because SHE was running late and hadn't decorated ahead of us arriving for the ceremony! She continued to berate me right before lining us up claiming I'd hired an outside photographer because the Carnival staff was not in proper uniform... we were thankful they were dressed like our guests because if they were in a shot by accident, it didn't stand out so much! She was ranting right as I was about to see my dad for the first time before walking down the isle. I was FURIOUS! Overall, the wedding coordinator sent from TWE was very rude and abrasive during a moment that shouldn't be bothered with such trivial nonsense.

 

 

The officiant met with me and Onick individually before the ceremony to introduce himself. He was very sweet and delivered a beautiful ceremony for us. After the ceremony was over, we had extra time to take photos since everyone was there earlier than expected. We got shots near the water, on the beach, on the resort grounds, etc. Afterwards, we all boarded the charter I'd arranged for and returned back to the ship for the reception that started at 12:30pm. The reception was a ton of fun. We immediately did the cake cutting, first dances, and the rest of the time was spent dancing with friends and family.

 

 

We met with our photographer (Aleksandra) ahead of time before the wedding and she was absolutely AMAZING!! We had a printout of photos that we were wanting and gave them to her. She not only met our expectations but completely surpassed them! I was the most nervous of all about the photography services but I'm glad I just trusted her. She served as the photographer and videographer. We had all photos and the DVD back to us the next day. They of course present the DVD to you first and then all of your photos and explain the packages. Your package cost with everything is going to be roughly $3600. We did not pay this amount as we were able to negotiate a significant discount.

 

 

Looking back in retrospect, the day was perfect for us. If I had it to do over again, I might consider contacting the resort directly and planning everything through them and just using Carnival as a transportation method to the island. If Carnival did EVERYTHING in house without outsourcing to TWE, I'd definitely do a wedding through Carnival again. However, my disgust for working with TWE still stands and I cannot recommend them in any way. From the planning process to working with the onsite coordinator, they were rude and it was just an unpleasant experience dealing with them.

 

 

Last minute tips and recommendations:

--Relax and enjoy the day! It will fly by!

--Understand that not everything is going to go as planned, so just go with it and don't stress the small details.

--Have EVERYTHING printed out and in an organized binder of sorts so if something does come up in questioning, you can refer to it quickly.

--Use a cheap-o hand trolley cart with bungee straps to get everything onto the ship in boxes. As we emptied boxes, housekeeping would take them for us. It was sooooo easy this way!

 

 

Well wishes to all for a beautiful wedding!!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi

Do you have a template for your welcome letter? I love the format. Thanks for ideas for the gift bags also. We are starting to gather stuff for the bags and I hadn't thought about first aid kits. Great idea!

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Hi

Do you have a template for your welcome letter? I love the format. Thanks for ideas for the gift bags also. We are starting to gather stuff for the bags and I hadn't thought about first aid kits. Great idea!

 

I do not have a template as I used a stationery designer and printing company to design them for us. The printing company is Harless Printing out of St. Albans, WV. Maggie was the designer of all paper goods for our wedding. I highly recommend her!!

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