Any Princess Brides marrying at sea out there?

[Nunina]

Hi Girls! New to the forum, so bear with me. We are doing a San Juan harborside Caribbean Princess wedding in March 2010 (we are from Puerto Rico), and I am a little nervous, because I still have many questions and I can't seem to get a clear answer from the TWE team. Maybe some of you can help?

 

Which cake size if good for a 50-guest wedding party? 2-tier? 3-tier? Is the "couple" cake included in the wedding cake? Is the cake big? I've sent them a picture of a 3 tier I wanted, and they said it was too big for 50 people... can't they make it smaller?

 

We are thinking on having the small luncheon (luncheon A) along with open bar and the champagne, but are undecided if we should just do the Hors d'oeuvres with the open bar and the champagne toast. Either way, I didn't know that you could pick the restaurant, so any suggestions on that?

 

Also, was the hair salon expensive? Do they do your makeup as well?

 

Oh, and how about sitting arrangements? Do you know if they'll place the favors on the table as decorations?

 

Oh, so many questions!!! I already paid/booked the ceremony, but still deciding stuff for the reception. I am a little concerned with some of the reviews I've been reading, although they are old and I figured they might have solved their issues by now...

 

I will soooo appreciate your feedback. All suggestions are more than welcome!

 

Thanks and congratulations to you all!

 

Nunina

[jremmons]

Hi girls! Its been 5 weeks since I requested to book my reception on the cruise in one of the lounges, and I have heard nothing, despite my few inquiries! I am getting worried, and so is my fiance! We want to have a 1 hour reception between our 3:30 reception and dinner at Sabatini's. Have any of you had problems booking your reception details?

 

Thanks!

 

 

Our TA said she ran our time by the ship and they thought it would be ok. But other than that I won't have a final confirmation until 90 days prior. This makes me very worried! It is very difficult to make plans. The feeling I am getting though is that unless your TA or TWE comes back and says they can't do it, it should be ok. I haven't seen anyone on the boards have a change that close to sailing....

 

Want to thank everyone for the flower details. I think I am going to put some silk bouquets together; I don't want to pay $80 * 4 and then have the wrong color flowers!

[Kayakbride]

After getting two emails from TWE (in reply to my email requests a week and two weeks earlier) that I'd hear from my wedding 'finalization' consultant, I finally called them myself and talked to Ana last Thursday. She repeated all of the information I had put on my form and had the music right, but said that I had requested vows #3. In fact I had requested #2, with some customization involving #4, but no where did I ever mention vow selection #3. I sent in a hand fasting ceremony for the captain to read and she said she had it, but I'm bringing aboard copies of the music, hand fasting and vows just in case. I'm also concerned that the marriage license will be available on time for the ceremony, but the only info available is that "it is being processed." Ana assured me that she'd email the final document to me that day or the next (last Thursday or Friday) but I still haven't received it. I am supposed to initial everything and fax it back. She also mentioned that I need to pay for dinner for two at Sabatini's at $46.00, whereas it is only $40 through Princess.

[jremmons]

I am probably going to be calling them every day at the point you are at. 10 Days!!

Let us know if/when you get the call back from them....

 

Are you going to change your dining reservations? Cancel with them and just book the dinner on the ship!

[jremmons]

Got a call from my TA yesterday....she said she checked with the ship and my time slot for Skywalker's 8:00 - 10:00 pm is going to be good! Of course they can't confirm until 90 days prior.

 

She also told me thought that they wouldn't book the Sabatini's reservations, that I'd have to do that when I got on the ship. Isn't this strange? Makes me a little nervous to wait to do that, but better I guess than paying TWE premium....Anyone else get that response?

[Kayakbride]

I responded yesterday but my post didn't show up. Not the first time that has happened...that's why you probably saw two different posts from me about the flowers on Nov 2 and 3rd. The Nov 2 post didn't actually show up until I posted the Nov 3 memo. Very odd. Anyway, I DID finally get the finalization documents from TWE this Tuesday to initial and fax back. The package included an itemized receipt, copy of our vows but not our hand fast text, list of music, type of cake, and they even got the colors of the cake right, along with a note to the Princess Florist that we're bringing on silk flowers to add to our lilac-hued rose bouquet. It also included an authorization form to pay by credit card for the Sabatini's reservation (I decided to pay the $46 so there are no hiccups) and a request to fill out a survey. They wanted the survey to indicate "they are continuing to provide excellent service" but I prefer to let them know after I have my signed, authorized and recorded marriage license.

 

The cover letter indicated that when we arrive, there will be a letter in our mini-suite to tell us how to contact the on-board wedding coordinator. Apparently, she will arrange some sort of rehearsal ahead of time. I'll also need to confirm my hair appointment and meet with the florist. Luckily, our wedding isn't until day 13 of our 30-day cruise.

 

Has anyone here had any experience with the wed cam? I've been checking in for months on various ship's webcams and I've never seen a wedding taking place. Some of the dates/times are days earlier, as if the camera is turned off or on 'pause'. Most of the time, I just see an empty wedding chapel or a blank screen.

[flhokie]

Kyakbride...We did have the wedding cam on for our wedding. You have to sign a release when you meet with the wedding coordinator onboard (if they don't mention it, make sure to ask for it). We signed this on embarkation day and our family and friends who couldn't go watched our ceremony the next day. While it is still shots that are refreshed every minute, it did make them feel a part of everything. What was funny was a few of them mentioned things they saw before the ceremony that I didn't know about (like stories about my dad adjusting his sleeves, putting corsages on family, etc.).

 

You will receive your actual marriage certificate about 4 - 6 weeks after the wedding. The morning after the wedding they will deliver a pretty certificate to your cabin, but they have to send everything to Bermuda for the legal certificate. At the ceremony you both (and your witnesses) will sign a document and the log book. About 3 1/2 weeks after we got home the official certificate issued by the government of Bermuda arrived. A few places looked at it a little strangely, but it was accepted for everything I needed to change my name on.

[never2late]

We are getting married on the Star Princess in January. We have selected the day after we board the ship and I am hoping that is not rushing it. There will only be the two of us and we will have to pay for witnesses. We were told that would cost $15 each. We have made reservations for dinner at the Crown Grill through TWE -- perhaps we should wait until we get on the ship to book it? I am also hoping the webcam can be turned on, but we are paying the extra $795 for the DVD so our families can see the ceremony.

 

What particular pictures do they take for the basic photo package? Does anyone know.

 

Thanks.:)

[flhokie]

We are getting married on the Star Princess in January. We have selected the day after we board the ship and I am hoping that is not rushing it. There will only be the two of us and we will have to pay for witnesses. We were told that would cost $15 each. We have made reservations for dinner at the Crown Grill through TWE -- perhaps we should wait until we get on the ship to book it? I am also hoping the webcam can be turned on, but we are paying the extra $795 for the DVD so our families can see the ceremony.

 

What particular pictures do they take for the basic photo package? Does anyone know.

 

Thanks.:)

 

We got married the day after embarkation too and it worked out fine. Embarkation day was a bit rushed, but part of that was because of the 50 guests traveling with us (we wanted to see people we hadn't seen in a long time). You will meet with the coordinator on embarkation day to review the wedding (this is where you will sign the form to turn on the webcam--remember to ask for it if they don't mention it). The pictures they took for our wedding....pictures of the bride before the ceremony (in the hall outside the chapel), pictures throughout the ceremony and pictures throughout the ship after the ceremony. We paid for extra time so they also did our reception. If there are specific shots you want, make a list and give it to the coordinator and photographer (you will have so much going on it's best to write it down).

[Kayakbride]

Kyakbride...We did have the wedding cam on for our wedding. You have to sign a release when you meet with the wedding coordinator onboard (if they don't mention it, make sure to ask for it). We signed this on embarkation day and our family and friends who couldn't go watched our ceremony the next day. While it is still shots that are refreshed every minute, it did make them feel a part of everything. What was funny was a few of them mentioned things they saw before the ceremony that I didn't know about (like stories about my dad adjusting his sleeves, putting corsages on family, etc.).

 

You will receive your actual marriage certificate about 4 - 6 weeks after the wedding. The morning after the wedding they will deliver a pretty certificate to your cabin, but they have to send everything to Bermuda for the legal certificate. At the ceremony you both (and your witnesses) will sign a document and the log book. About 3 1/2 weeks after we got home the official certificate issued by the government of Bermuda arrived. A few places looked at it a little strangely, but it was accepted for everything I needed to change my name on.

 

 

Thanks for all that helpful info...I'll be looking forward to the pretty certificate. Do you recall if the latitude and longitude were recorded in the log book at the spot where you were married? We are avid geocachers, so the lat/long is important to us. We thought about bringing our own gps device to the ceremony, but if they already have that info, we wouldn't need to.

[Kayakbride]

We are getting married on the Star Princess in January. We have selected the day after we board the ship and I am hoping that is not rushing it. There will only be the two of us and we will have to pay for witnesses. We were told that would cost $15 each. We have made reservations for dinner at the Crown Grill through TWE -- perhaps we should wait until we get on the ship to book it? I am also hoping the webcam can be turned on, but we are paying the extra $795 for the DVD so our families can see the ceremony.

 

What particular pictures do they take for the basic photo package? Does anyone know.

 

Thanks.:)

 

Best wishes on your upcoming Star Princess marriage. We are only three weeks away from our own Star Princess wedding. It will be just the two of us and instead of paying the $15 for witnesses (TWE told me that included a ship's staff member to escort me into the chapel, and that it was $15 total and not per person) we have decided to find the longest and hopefully happiest married couple on the cruise and ask them to be our witnesses. It might cost us more than $15 to share champagne with them, but it will be more personable than just hiring staff.

 

I heard those Crown and Sabatini's reservations can be hard to come by, so I booked ahead just to be sure. TWE charged an extra $6 for that, but in the big scheme of things, $6 is not much.

 

We are not ordering the video because we'd rather spend that money on shore excursions. We have a small tripod for our own camera, and maybe we can set that up for the ceremony. We're bringing an extra 8 GB memory card for the camera in addition to 2 2GB and 2 4GB cards. If not, still photos will have to do, just like in the old days. But the webcam would be pretty cool. Princess says the webcam is not recorded, but maybe someone at home can figure out how to save screen shots of the webcam.

 

I don't know what photos will be taken yet, but the TWE coordinator told me we get to choose all the poses for the 16x20, 2 8x10, and 5 5x7s. That's 12 different pictures. Having worked in a photo studio, I am slightly suspicious of this information, as 5x7s are usually printed in twos. We shall see. Since our wedding is at 2:00 p.m. and dinner with cake and champagne isn't until 6:00, I guess we'll have to find a waiter or another passenger to be our photographer for the cake cutting, or use the timer and tripod on our own at the table. I don't want to pay for an extra hour just for that.

 

I just realized we have to figure out a way to save space in our luggage to tote home our Princess wedding toasting flutes. We decided against purchasing the Honeymoon package because there's no room in our luggage for the waffle robes or all the souvenirs we intend to buy.

[Kayakbride]

 

 

I don't know what photos will be taken yet, but the TWE coordinator told me we get to choose all the poses for the 16x20, 2 8x10, and 5 5x7s. That's 12 different pictures. Having worked in a photo studio, I am slightly suspicious of this information, as 5x7s are usually printed in twos.

 

Duh....I am so excited about this wedding cruise, I've lost the ability to count. That's eight photos, not twelve!

[never2late]

Thank you for all the good info. I will look forward to seeing your pictures posted on CC after your wedding cruise. Are you doing the Antarctica one too? We have been on our cruise roll call and are flying into BA a few days before our cruise -- perhaps after meeting some of the people on our roll call in person (many of us are staying at the Marriott), we can convince a couple to be our witnesses. I am sure things will fall into place. I mentioned to Alexandra the TWE rep regarding the reservations at the Crown Grill, but have not heard back from her. Perhaps I will shoot her another e-mail. Perhaps we can also get the witnesses to take a few candid pix during our ceremony -- I was unsure if this is allowed. Thanks so much! :)

[Kayakbride]

Thank you for all the good info. I will look forward to seeing your pictures posted on CC after your wedding cruise. Are you doing the Antarctica one too? We have been on our cruise roll call and are flying into BA a few days before our cruise -- perhaps after meeting some of the people on our roll call in person (many of us are staying at the Marriott), we can convince a couple to be our witnesses. I am sure things will fall into place. I mentioned to Alexandra the TWE rep regarding the reservations at the Crown Grill, but have not heard back from her. Perhaps I will shoot her another e-mail. Perhaps we can also get the witnesses to take a few candid pix during our ceremony -- I was unsure if this is allowed. Thanks so much! :)

 

 

We are not going to Antarctica...sailing for 30 days from LA to Rio de Janeiro and staying another 4 in Rio. When I get home on 12/26, I will rest up, go back to work for 3 days on the 28th, 29th and 30th. On 12/31/09, I am retiring. I might not get pictures up on CC before you embark on your lovely wedding cruise, but I hope to do that in early January. We are 55 and 57 y.o. so I can relate to 'never2late'! Our Roll Call folks have set up a Meet and Greet on the first full day at sea, so we'll be scouting for witnesses then.

 

After trying to deal with TWE by email, I discovered you just might as well call them on the phone. Either way, it takes a while for a response.

 

I don't see why it would be a problem for someone to take candid shots during the ceremony. Tell them to take lots (just in case they really aren't very good at it, you'll have a better chance of finding some good ones).

[halifaxgirl]

Hi everyone! I actually happened to see a wedding taking place on the Crown Princess when I clicked on the link the other day! It was more like a still picture, and not a live video, but still a great option on our wedding say for those at home :)

 

I decided to book our party at Sabatini's through my TA, didn't want to pay extra for our party of 20+, and also didn't want to pay for it until the time comes, as with TWE, I would have to pay for it now.

 

We also have our request in through TWE for the reception, our travel agent couldn't get what we wanted, and TWE says it won't be a problem, hope she's right!

 

GOOD LUCK Kayak bride, have a blast on your wedding cruise!!

[smartfire]

Hi Princess Brides

[smartfire]

Hi Princess Brides!

 

I was lurking & reading all of the lovely tips & comments on this thread & thought I'd chime in and thank you for sharing. I'm getting married on the Celebrity Century while at sea (1/24/2010). With about two months to go, I'm reading the posts I just started to realize that I still have a bunch of things I need to do! I haven't booked hair, photography, reception, vows...YIKES!

 

I'm bringing silks on board...found some great resources on eBay actually, but I'm going to take a stab at creating my own. Save-on-crafts.com has the most incredible life-like Calla lillies, if that's your thing. Much better quality than any of the big box stores. Google "real touch" or "natural touch" silks and check out the results if you have your heart set on a particular type of flower and don't like the silks in the stores.

 

Thanks for the motivation and insights. Especially the tips about setting up a "group reception" (not wedding) through the Travel Agent instead of TWE. Nice tip! I hope I can get my AmEx TA to work this out for me.

 

To a beautiful sea wedding!

SmartFire

[halifaxgirl]

Have fun Michele M and never2late, hard to believe it's January already and you will both be setting sail shortly! We look forward to hearing about it when you return!

 

We'd love to hear from Kayakbride too, hope all went well with your wedding in December!!

 

Welcome to 2010 ladies, our turns will be here before we know it!

[Kayakbride]

Hi

I posted this on a different thread a few days ago because I couldn't find the link to "Any Princess Brides..." but here it is again. I hope it is helpful

 

Halifaxgirl and Never2Late....I just got back from my wedding cruise on Star Princess and everything went as planned. Even better. We made sure to meet with the Wedding Coordinator (who is also the Asst. Purser), the pianist, the photographer and the florist (all separately, by appointment) on the second day of our cruise. Our wedding wasn't until day 15, so it gave everyone a chance to breathe. Of course none of the info from The Wedding Experience People was right, but the WC fixed most of it. Our vows were still wrong after repeated emails to TWE, but the important thing is we are now married and loving it.

 

I brought some silk hydrangeas and my own ribbon to mix in with the pink roses. Although the florist was appalled at using fake flowers, he did as asked and even he was thrilled with the results. I saw two other rose-only bouquets and they looked very stilted. I loved my bouquet.

 

The pianist worked with my fiance who surprised me with a song at the end of the ceremony accompanied by the pianist. Very charming. The WC even used our camera to video-tape the ceremony, which was fortuitous since the webcam never got turned on. It won't be the same quality as the video service, but we saved $800 there.

 

We met with the photographer beforehand with a list of shots we wanted, and created a rapport that served us well. We ended up with two hours of photography instead of one, and about 365 photos on our CD (extra cost for the CD about $500). He was happy to work with our props (hand-fast tartan, guest book, little stuffed geocaching dog) and took pictures of us with our GPSer verifying our latitude and longitude coordinates. I think we made it more fun for him instead of just standing for the traditional posed photos. You have to ask for someone to come and take your cake cutting photo if you have it separate from the ceremony. Another couple asked but it was formal night and they ended up with one shot of them at the table just like any other couple, and the cake didn't end up in the picture. You must be firm about that if that's what you want. Since it was a different photographer, you have to go to the photo counter and pay extra unless....like we did, buy the CD and insist that the cake photos go on the CD.

 

If you haven't heard from the ladies in Miami yet, call them. I didn't hear until about 2 weeks out and that's because I emailed and called several times. Do bring copies of everything they sent you because they may not have sent it on to the ship's WC. They sent only the introduction page of our chosen music to the WC....we sent 10 pages of sheet music so the pianist could pick out the best section of Tales from Vienna Woods. The introduction only would have been a disaster. Our WC said she was really frustrated with TWE because the success of the weddings reflects on her performance evaluations, but there was nothing she could do about changing the vendor. I feel sorry for her having to deal with them over and over.

 

Someone else asked about tipping. We tipped the photographer $20 and bought the WC an alpaca shawl in Chile. We never saw the florist again and suspect that like the photographer, he left the ship for vacation at the next port. Of course I tipped the young lady who did my hair but we did not tip the Captain...I think he would have found it undignified.

 

Oh, we did not have family with us, but after seeing one wedding that was just in-n-out, we opted to have some guests. About six couples we had met on the cruise actually asked us if they could attend and we were delighted that they did. We treated them all to champagne later in the afternoon. The bartender at the Wheelhouse estimated three bottles and he was correct. It cost about $75.

 

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer asap. Best wishes on your upcoming wedding.

__________________

[halifaxgirl]

Thanks Kayakbride, I need to get back to planning now that our holidays are over, so if I come up with any questions, I'll let you know.

 

Glad to hear everything went well, and thanks for the tips!

[life.is.good]

Hi! I'm new to this site but I had to join when I saw the other "princesses" out there getting married. We are getting married on the Emerald Princess in 09/2010. It took the TWE three days to call me back to even get a packet. They said it was because were moving. I hope to have better luck the closer it gets. Does anyone have a suggestion on who I want to be in contact there? I've just paid for the at sea wedding on the 2nd day, any advise is greatly appreciated!

[life.is.good]

Hi! Did you have to ask to meet with the photographer before hand?

[Kayakbride]

Hi! Did you have to ask to meet with the photographer before hand?

 

Yes and no. Don't ask TWE....they'll just refer you to the ship's WC. After embarkation, we went to the Passenger Services desk and asked to see the Assistant Purser who was also our Wedding Coordinator. WC is not her only job, so we had to be patient. We asked her to put us in touch with the florist, hairdresser, and the photographer which she did, but only by separate appointment with each of them according to their schedules, not ours. The fact that your wedding is the very next day means you'll be very busy making these last minute meetings.

 

If you have a choice, I'd recommend giving yourselves at least and extra day or two to unpack and unwind before wedding day. It will also give your dress time to relax the packing wrinkles out, or get pressed if need be. My dress hung in the closet for two weeks before our wedding so it didn't need any pressing at all. Since TWE hasn't nailed down your details yet means you can probably switch the date if that's what you decide to do.

 

As for TWE excuses on tardy replies, 3 days is fairly standard, from my experience and from what I've read from other brides. And that's if you are lucky...I waited weeks after being told someone else would definitely respond the next day. It is nerve-wracking, but just remember that in the end, the Captain will show up at the appointed time and your wedding will take place; the important thing is that you and your new husband will eventually live happily ever after, even if the wedding planning experience isn't flawless. Congrats on your engagement!

[life.is.good]

Yes and no. Don't ask TWE....they'll just refer you to the ship's WC. After embarkation, we went to the Passenger Services desk and asked to see the Assistant Purser who was also our Wedding Coordinator. WC is not her only job, so we had to be patient. We asked her to put us in touch with the florist, hairdresser, and the photographer which she did, but only by separate appointment with each of them according to their schedules, not ours. The fact that your wedding is the very next day means you'll be very busy making these last minute meetings.

 

If you have a choice, I'd recommend giving yourselves at least and extra day or two to unpack and unwind before wedding day. It will also give your dress time to relax the packing wrinkles out, or get pressed if need be. My dress hung in the closet for two weeks before our wedding so it didn't need any pressing at all. Since TWE hasn't nailed down your details yet means you can probably switch the date if that's what you decide to do.

 

As for TWE excuses on tardy replies, 3 days is fairly standard, from my experience and from what I've read from other brides. And that's if you are lucky...I waited weeks after being told someone else would definitely respond the next day. It is nerve-wracking, but just remember that in the end, the Captain will show up at the appointed time and your wedding will take place; the important thing is that you and your new husband will eventually live happily ever after, even if the wedding planning experience isn't flawless. Congrats on your engagement!

Thank you for the information Kayakbride! I don't think I'd be as calm as I am without all the pointers. I'm going to change our date now, just to be safe. Good thing I waited to order the personalized sunblocks ;) Thank you again!

[Kayakbride]

Thank you for the information Kayakbride! I don't think I'd be as calm as I am without all the pointers. I'm going to change our date now, just to be safe. Good thing I waited to order the personalized sunblocks ;) Thank you again!

 

 

I'm glad I could help you out. I spent months searching TheKnot.com and GettingMarried.com looking for these kinds of tips and realize that former brides who post at CruiseCritic.com were the best source of info for getting married at sea. I just wish it was easier to upload photos here. I'd love to show you how my bouquet turned out after bringing my own color-coordinated ribbon and silk flowers to add to the ship's roses.