Weddings onboard

I’ve chatted with several Seabourn regulars who have celebrated anniversaries and honeymoons onboard with even a vow renewal thrown in. Does anyone have first-hand experience with getting married onboard?

Most of the major cruise lines have distinct packages available but they vary - sone only allow weddings in port or on embarkation day, other only allow them at sea, etc. I’m curious what Seabourn might offer, if anything, and what needs to be arranged far in advance versus onboard. (And no, I haven’t called yet... trying to think through logistics beforehand we we seriously entertain this idea!)

For texture... we got engaged 10 days ago and want to get married in a small private ceremony. Since we aren’t planning for the logistics of a crowd, we are thinking about upcoming travel we have and where we might be able to celebrate this. One possibility was our Seabourn transatlantic in November... of Seabourn allows it. I’m trying to think through all the logistics though from “could I still have a small bouquet” (perhaps brought onboard myself from Lisbon or Funchal) to “would someone be able to shoot some good photos for us” and “would they be willing to make us a petite wedding cake”? We aren’t worried about accommodating guests, etc.

I want to be fully prepared if I call my TA and/or Seabourn to know what I’m asking for.

Congratulations!

I’ve chatted with several Seabourn regulars who have celebrated anniversaries and honeymoons onboard with even a vow renewal thrown in. Does anyone have first-hand experience with getting married onboard?

 

 

Most of the major cruise lines have distinct packages available but they vary - sone only allow weddings in port or on embarkation day, other only allow them at sea, etc. I’m curious what Seabourn might offer, if anything, and what needs to be arranged far in advance versus onboard. (And no, I haven’t called yet... trying to think through logistics beforehand we we seriously entertain this idea!)

 

 

For texture... we got engaged 10 days ago and want to get married in a small private ceremony. Since we aren’t planning for the logistics of a crowd, we are thinking about upcoming travel we have and where we might be able to celebrate this. One possibility was our Seabourn transatlantic in November... of Seabourn allows it. I’m trying to think through all the logistics though from “could I still have a small bouquet” (perhaps brought onboard myself from Lisbon or Funchal) to “would someone be able to shoot some good photos for us” and “would they be willing to make us a petite wedding cake”? We aren’t worried about accommodating guests, etc.

 

 

I want to be fully prepared if I call my TA and/or Seabourn to know what I’m asking for.

It seems like it’s been done before:

https://www.shermanscruise.com/articles/is-this-the-coolest-wedding-ever

https://cruise-bruise.com/blog/2017/12/28/gay-celebrity-couple-marry-aboard-cruise-ship-seabourn-sojourn/

Now you know it has been done before - go for it, Jenidallas!:D

We attended a beautiful wedding on the Legend in 2015. The ship decorated the Observation Lounge with flowers, rolled out a red carpet for the procession, and had a big cake and champagne for the wedding party. It was a very nice and formal affair with the Captain officiating. The only possible problem was that the Captain’s authority only applies to the ship, so the marriage is legal only aboard. But as long as you cruise, all is well.

We attended a beautiful wedding on the Legend in 2015. The ship decorated the Observation Lounge with flowers, rolled out a red carpet for the procession, and had a big cake and champagne for the wedding party. It was a very nice and formal affair with the Captain officiating. The only possible problem was that the Captain’s authority only applies to the ship, so the marriage is legal only aboard. But as long as you cruise, all is well.

As long as a marriage certificate is issued by a person licensed to perform it in a jurisdiction, the license is valid anywhere.

We got married in a foreign country, and never had a problem when asked to prove our marriage. The only concern I would have about a cruise-issued certificate would be if it looked like a party favor, or if it was not notarized or otherwise issued with a “seal.”

:*Congratulations jenidallas to you and your lucky guy.

We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary onboard Odyssey a couple of years ago with a cocktail party. We were expecting just a table set up with canapés and a few balloons but they decorated with lots of balloons and streamers. some high bar tables scattered around for people to rest glasses and food plates. They also set up a small bar serve other drinks rather then just Champagne.

In other words the staff onboard went beyond expectations. The other thing was they seemed so happy to plan and kept coming up with other ideas. I had to keep a cap on their enthusiasm :D.

So if this is what you want I hope your dreams become reality.

One other thing, they were fine with us bring on our own special wine to share with our guests.

Julie

Congratulations, Jenni! Nice posting on St. Valentine's Day! All you need is love!

As we find out more, I'll use this thread to add my notes so that if others need this information in the future, it will be easily searchable.

So we have found out that "yes" Seabourn captains can perform both wedding ceremonies and vow renewals. They are not licensed to perform official weddings, however, so they are "ceremonial" only and a couple would still need to marry on land within the appropriate jurisdiction. (Or at least that is true for us living in the state of Texas.)

Our agent suggested that we look at having a civil ceremony at home and then do the "wedding" on the ship. That's what I think it is likely what we are going to do. So wedding ceremony on the fall Odyssey transatlantic looks like a go! :halo:

I tried to organise a Vow Renewal on Ovation of the Seas for friends. RC customer service were less than helpful, they needed a minimum of 90 days notice. I then had to organise it myself, thank goodness we Had a Suite, our Concierge on board helped with ordering canapés and drinks, no fresh flowers allowed, no chaplain. We did what we could to make it an enjoyable experience and a surprise for the 'Bride'.

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:eek:

I tried to organise a Vow Renewal on Ovation of the Seas for friends. RC customer service were less than helpful, they needed a minimum of 90 days notice.

Thank goodness we won’t be on RCCL!

So the plan is baked and all the preliminaries are set.. the rest is to be worked out when we board in Lisbon on November 21.

The ship told me that I cannot bring flowers onboard due to restrictions, although I swear I recall posts from others here about brings my back flowers for a market ashore and calling for a vase for the room.

Assuming that is true, however, who exactly manages the floral operation onboard? Has anyone had success in asking for specific blooms to be acquired ashore? We’ll be in Funchal the day before the ceremony and there are amazing flower markets/ships there. I’d love to have something unique to the locale versus whatever has been stocked onboard for the journey across the Atlantic.

I’m going with the flow whatever happens, but I do love the idea of a lovely bouquet!

Brad Goreski was married on the Sojourn last December. He was a guest speaker.

https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/fashion-polices-brad-goreski-marries-tv-producer-gary-janetti-caribbean-cruise-ship/

I’ve definitely brought flowers on board from markets several times

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This has been an interesting read Jeni, thanks for posting and congratulations to you both. :bottle-pop:

Two of my good friends that I met onboard around 7 years ago wanted to marry on SB.

They contacted SB last summer asking if it was possible. Were told no, SB didn't allow weddings on board.

They explained they only wanted a quiet ceremony for two, were not bringing any potentially rowdy guests with them, they have over 300 nights on SB and couldn't think of anywhere they'd rather have their ceremony than onboard a Seabourn ship. Again told absolutely not. So they married in a hotel.

Imagine their disappointment just a few months later, when we were all onboard Sojourn for the holiday cruise and they discovered that fellow guest Brad Goreski and his partner had been married onboard the day before.

I for one would not like Seabourn ships to become known as a wedding venue. In my experience staying in some very fine hotels, wedding parties can be noisy and disruptive . But for quiet weddings just for two I don't understand whdy my friends were refused and reading this thread we see that there was a wedding on Legend in 2015 as well as the other linked.

Brad's wedding being on the very same cruise was a bit of a kick in the teeth, given that my friends have been loyal fare paying SB guests for several years and apparently it was Brad's first time on SB,and as a speaker, at that.

Recently celebrated our 24th anniversary on board. Returned to our suite after dinner to find this romantic setting!

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Congratulations, it will be wonderful! Make sure you post a picture x

Two of my good friends that I met onboard around 7 years ago wanted to marry on SB.

They contacted SB last summer asking if it was possible. Were told no, SB didn't allow weddings on board.

So here are a few things we’ve learned along the way that might be helpful for folks in the future.

Isklaar - your friends were instructed correctly. Seabourn does not allow “weddings” onboard. What we learned is that this is a bit of an issue of semantics. What it means is: a) you cannot get legally married onboard a Seabourn ship and b) they do not (unlike most other cruise lines) offer wedding packages and/or planning.

But we dug further (or rather our travel agent did) and this is what we found out. You CAN hold a vow exchange or a vow renewal onboard. It can be officiated by an officer but we were told by corporate it cannot be the captain.

We’ve used our travel agent to coordinate details so I’m sure I was spared a LOT of the back and forth but Seabourn explained that first part upfront and was very clear about it. I definitely think they want to discourage the idea of large wedding parties coming aboard. Once they were clear that we understood that we’d need to be legally wed elsewhere (which we’ll do here in a civil ceremony in the States), they then were open to discussing a vow exchange.

The rep my agent was working with was very thorough and asked a lot of questions we hadn’t even thought of.... did we want music or seating? Would we want special food or drinks served? How many would be attending? What day/time did we want to do it? Did we have a specific venue in mind. Would we want decor or flowers? They were also very clear that they would not provide photography of any kind and we were on our own for that.

I hope that maybe helps to clear it up. It’s definitely confusing... you cannot get married on a Seabourn ship, but you can exchange vows. So the answer that they don’t allow weddings is correct but very misleading. I’m grateful my travel agent knew what to ask!

Re an earlier comment about flowers, Seabourn usually loads up in Madeira - the Island of Flowers - before a crossing for table decorations, bouquets at Club night, etc. Person to speak with if you want some special orders, Jeni, is the Executive Housekeeper. She will organise for you. You’ll have time to meet her and chat between Lisbon and Funchal.

Circling back on this topic now that we are settled in at home.

Our ceremony on Odyssey on November 25 was everything I wanted... and then some!  

Robert, the CD, met with my husband and me to discuss what we desired.  (He and my husband conferred a couple times after... I had simple wishes but my husband wanted to be a bit more detailed with the planning!)

My wishes, as eariler states, were simple... I wanted to pick up my own flowers in Funchal and prep my own bouquet (check!), hoped for a traditional wedding cake (check!), and desired a sunset ceremony (check!)

Originally Robert and Pepsi thought we’d do it in the Spa serenity area.  But a couple of passengers had booked their “day in the serene area” for that day so we couldn’t have it until after 7 pm.  They offered up Deck 6 forward instead... ironically, that was my original wish (which Seattle corporate gave me a hard NO to).

Guest services designed an invitation and on the day of, we had around 16 guests plus officers and entertainers.  Our guests were greeted with guitar music, champagne, and canapés,   The Captain conducted a short ceremony and we exchanged the vows we had written at sunset.  After, the Seabourn singers performed “The Prayer” (from their classical set) and our guests enjoyed cake.  We were luckily enough to have good weather and a stunning sunset!  

After, the Restaurant prepared a lovely curry dinner for the two of us (we enjoyed Indian food in London on our first date).  Truly memorable evening!

The evening before our ceremony, Stamfordian and his wife (with some help from the bar staff and a couple others) organized brief Stag and Hen parties for the two of us with a short crawl through the Odyssey bar venues prior to dinner.  

(I’ll spare you the photos from the Stag/Hen...but here is my favorite shot from the ceremony!)

Lovely photo Jenidallas!  I am so glad to hear that all went well.  Perhaps we'll celebrate an anniversary aboard a SB ship someday.  Maybe our 50th!  We're at 43 right now.  

Lovely photo! Cngratulations to you both, 

Congratulations!