Renewal of Vows Schedule

If you purchase this package do you get to pick the day that you renew your vows or does Princess pick it for you.

I was told that you can pick the day. WE are going on the Sun Princess on 4/7/06 and our 25th anniv. is on 4/11, so I am requesting that day

We purchased this last November on the Golden - it was WONDERFUL. BUT, we were told that Princess would let us know which night and the time it would be because it's based on the Captain's schedule and how many people are requesting it. On this board, most people said it was always on one of the formal nights. Well, ours was not on a formal night BUT we lucked out and when the letter was sent to our cabin it stated the day it was to be was our actual anniversary! We were thrilled and thought it was due to that but all the couples that had gotten the package had the renewal of vows that same day, just different times. I'm not sure if it varies from ship to ship but that's how ours worked out. By the way, it was absolutely beautiful and we were so very glad we did it. We were also told, by Princess, that it could be a 'group' renewal but each of the couples on the Golden were given seperate times.

when we renewed our vows, we were left a note in our cabin and said to pick what day we wanted. When we called, we picked one of the formal nights.

we had a private ceremony, and there was a couple who also renewed their vows just ahead of us.

I guess it does all depend on the Captain's schedule and how many couples there are.

Glad to see this thread as I called Princess today about doing this on our April Sapphire trip. I was told you do not get to pick your night and that it is a group ceremony (but you request a private ceremony - should have asked more questions about this). I was told we would receive a note once onboard informing us of when (day and time of day) it would be held. If a lot of people wanted to do it, it could be a large group. Sounded a little impersonal to me, so have not decided whether to do it.

Sounds like others may have different experiences. Would welcome additonal input.

Thanks.

We did this on the Star last year. You cannot pick your day/time in advance, though I am sure you could ask once on board. That said, they scheduled ours for 6PM on the first formal night, which was fine with us. It was just us and our family, no one else. Worth every penny. It was an anniversary gift to my wife. The deluxe package was a good deal. The robes are really nice.

Glad to see this thread as I called Princess today about doing this on our April Sapphire trip. I was told you do not get to pick your night and that it is a group ceremony (but you request a private ceremony - should have asked more questions about this). I was told we would receive a note once onboard informing us of when (day and time of day) it would be held. If a lot of people wanted to do it, it could be a large group. Sounded a little impersonal to me, so have not decided whether to do it.

 

Sounds like others may have different experiences. Would welcome additonal input.

 

Thanks.

DH had been told ahead of time that it could be a group, turned out that it wasn't.

My dh did this for us as a surprise to me, and I have to say, when I first heard about it, I thought it sounded impersonal. It turned out to be a very moving ceremony for us. Simple, but meaningful.

The ship personnel really did try to be accomodating. I think they just don't want to make promises they can't keep.

We never had a wedding and wanted to have the renewal of vows for our 10th anniversary. I want this to be special and take place on our wedding day. How often is on a different day or in a group? Thanks for any suggestions.

I was told that you can pick the day. WE are going on the Sun Princess on 4/7/06 and our 25th anniv. is on 4/11, so I am requesting that day

Small world - that's our anniversary, too! :)

We did a vow renewal on the Star, and also got the notice about could be a group thing, etc. Turned out to be individual, but we had the happy coincidence of being schedule right after another cruise critic couple we had met, so we attended theirs and they attended ours - very nice, and a highlight of the cruise for us. Commodore Caesar Ditel did the ceremony, and it is clearly something he really enjoys doing. He was so sweet to us for the whole rest of our back to back cruises, made a point of greeting us every time we saw him, had a special photo op with him again at the Captain's Circle party when I told him I wasn't thrilled with the shots we got at the vow renewal.

It is a really nice package and, at least on the Star, the staff really goes the extra mile as well. Flowers were lovely, ceremony was surprisingly touching, and we just did the standard package. Our CC friends got the deluxe one, which sounded really nice, too.

This is something that I can wholeheartedly recommend - it really made our cruise!

I am thinking of booking this for our 25th on the Golden Trans Atlantic in May. Are the vows scripted or do you use something you have written?

We did this too, a couple years ago on the Star, and it will probably be the best memory of any cruise we've ever been on.

On our sailing they got with us right after we got on board, set everything up that wasn't done pre-cruise, and we had no other decisions to make. They handled it all flawlessly.

Here's an excerpt from the review we posted for that cruise as it pertains to the ceremony:

The package includes these elements

• The ceremony, presided over by the ships Captain
  
• A bouquet of flowers for one and a boutonnière for the other exchanging vows
  
• A visit to the spa
  
• A framed photo of the ceremony
  
• Canapes or Petit Fours each evening in your stateroom
  
• Champagne Breakfast In Bed
  
• A bottle of champagne and two engraved champagne flutes
  
• A certificate commemorating the ceremony
  
• A copy of the vows read by the Captain
  
• Two of the really nice Princess robes
  
• A visit to the bridge
  
• One of the best chances you may ever get to fall in love again

It’s that last element, the one that’s not really printed on the list that’s the most important one. The other elements frame it but what happens in that ceremony is nothing short of magical.

The words are familiar but they have more meaning now than they ever had for us 23 years ago when we thought we were committed enough to join in marriage. As we struggled to maintain composure and repeat the vows after the ships master we realized now how far we’d traveled, how much we’d grown and how much we’d been through to get to this point. We had no idea what we were getting into back then but we stuck to our traditional values and stayed together as every single one of the couples we knew at the time has broken up over the years for one reason or another.

I’ve been criticized before for adding too much personal information to my reviews but personal is what this is all about. So if you don’t want to read any more personal information now is the time to stop.

What just happened to work out well for us on this was spreading the different elements noted above out over the voyage, making it a week-long celebration. I’d kind of thought of that in the planning and incorporated that thought into what we did by giving my wife a sentimental card on her pillow at the close of the day which helped tie it all together.

The Special Services staff on board the Star Princess was first class. They don’t do a lot of these packages (yet anyway) but they are right on top of things. Wanting to have everything all planned and organized I was pleased when we received a letter along with our robes on the first day explaining the whole program.

To give you a better idea of how it all works, let me go through each element one by one.

The ceremony, presided over by the ships Captain

In our case, on the Star Princess, we were fortunate enough to have Commodore Cesare Ditel do the ceremony. (Commodore is an honorary title usually given to the Captain with the most seniority in the fleet. He does not really plot out war games.) It was a private ceremony although on Princess’ web site it says it may be a group event I suppose so if there are a lot of them on a given sailing that they can get them done. Ours happened to fall on the night of the first formal night and Commodores Cocktail Party and I think they plan it that way so couples will already be in formal wear.

We agreed to be apart of another couples ceremony and they to ours, mainly because we were scheduled one after the other. That was even more special and we felt privileged to be a part of it. Later in the week we received the actual printed script of the vows read by the Commodore along with a letter instructing us to go to the photo desk to pick out our choice of the photos taken after the ceremony.

Aloha from Hawaii! Think about you folks every time we see our vow renewal pictures! Hope all is well. Maybe we'll catch up with you on another cruise one of these days.

Donna & Dennis from the Star:D

What a trip that was. I think of you two every time I look at our pictures as well. God bless you both! I never read these boards any more but Chris sent me a link to this thread. We're celebrating our 25th on Crown Princess 10/27. Don't know what Chris has up his sleeve for that one, but it is always a surprise. I am hoping it includes some time in NYC as I have never been there.

DH and I are thinking of renewing our vows on an upcoming cruise.

You all make it sound just wonderful. Did you book ahead of time or once onboard?

Chris, where can I find your pictures? I know I had your website bookmarked but I can't seem to find it can you post the link again?

Thanks everyone.

You need to purchase the renewal of vows, whichever of the packages that you choose, ahead of time. You can do it right from Princess' website. Once you board you will be informed by letter what day and time your renewal is scheduled for and how everything works. Ours told us that the coordinator would be calling us with the details and she did about an hour after receiving the letter. She explained where to meet, when she would give us our flowers, etc. It truely made our trip for us. It was just beautiful and very moving. Our captain, on the Golden (name escapes me right now), did a wonderful job and in answer to an earlier question, it was scripted but he threw in some wonderful side things and asked if we wished to say something special to each other. It was all handled wonderfully. The only thing I would have done different if I had remembered was to tell someone at home the time and date so that they could have taped it from the chapel's webcam so that we would have had a tape of it also! We did invite others that we had met on the cruise and all our guests attended and it really added to it.