I'm Baaaaaack and Finally Have a Review. :)

[Bride2Be0911]

Good Morning fellow cruise brides! I am back, and finally things are slowing down, so I wanted to let you know how everything went. The wedding itself was beyond amazing and I couldn’t have asked for a better day! Fernando, our wedding coordinator at the wedding location, was a Godsend and took care of everything. The cruise, however, was a total disaster. It seemed like every time I turned around something new was going wrong and it got very annoying.

We will start with embarkation. As we went through security we were told by Carnival employees that saw my dress to not get a boarding number when we checked in because we were obviously a wedding. All of us went through check-in and declined getting a boarding group based upon their recommendation. When it came time to board I realized that the employee must have thought I was an embarkation day bride and we did in fact need a boarding group. After pointing this out to 3 different managers the last one finally just let us board because it was not my fault we were misinformed.

We went on a Carnival excursion and Michael ended up tearing ligaments in his ankle. At the time he thought it was just a small sprain and said not to worry. When I called down to the infirmary the following day because it was getting worse they charged us $300 for being seen and made us feel like we were inconveniencing them. I was then told that they charge $50 for a wheel chair and $50 for crutches. I very calmly explained to the lady that we were getting married in 2 days and it would be nice if the cruise line would loan us a chair/crutches so he could have a chance to walk without assistance on our wedding day. I reminded them that he injured himself on a Carnival excursion and I was getting very annoyed with the nickel and diming that was happening. I have been on numerous Carnival cruises and feel like now that I am a bride I am getting worse treatment than when I was a regular sailing guest!

$300 later, Michael left with a half cast and no answers on if his ankle was broken or not…

Next issue- I knew that we had to meet with customs the day of the wedding before we got off of the ship. What I wasn’t told was that we had to bring all 11 boxes of things down to be physically searched. We also were forced to wait until after all 12 Carnival employees finished with the agents. These employees were leaving for their own vacations and got priority over us, even with Michael in a half cast! To say I was annoyed was the understatement of the trip. At the end of this hour and ten minute wait they signed our papers without having us bring in our things because our friends had already disembarked with them.

The photographer was one of the rudest people I have ever met. When we first met Roland he talked about all of this stuff he was going to do for us that was extra. However the minute he found out we weren’t purchasing the $1,600 table book he turned into this rude, short tempered person. It got so bad that I was in tears and about to leave the ship without purchasing a single photo from my wedding. After spending 9 hours in the library on the last day of our vacation my mother convinced me to purchase one of the smaller packages so I would at least have some memories of the day. I was also annoyed because I printed out over 45 examples of photos that I liked and he used 2 as inspiration.

The videographer was wonderful and that is one thing I am very thankful that we purchased. He was very professional and went out of his way to ensure the video was on time and beautiful.

The Carnival coordinator on the ship was okay. It almost seemed like I was one of her first weddings. She was very unorganized and seemed very scattered. When I told her about the issues I was having she said she would look into it and I never heard anything back regarding it.

Overall, the wedding was fantastic, but the cruise was horrific. The few things I mentioned above are only a few of the issues we had while onboard Carnival. If I were to get into everything I would be here for hours. I have been a Carnival fan for many years and told Sandy, our destination wedding coordinator, that I only wanted to sail Carnival for my wedding from the beginning. After this cruise I will never sail Carnival again because I feel like I was treated so poorly and nickel and dimed so much that it is not worth continuing my business with them. The best part about Carnival’s lack of consideration for my wedding is that I contacted them 2 days after I got back from the cruise. Jamimie, our Carnival wedding coordinator said sorry and that she would forward it on the correct department. Almost a month later I have not heard anything back. To me that screams volumes… :mad:

[Bride2Be0911]

Here are a few more pictures... :D

[Artemis908]

First off, you and the wedding look beautiful! I am so sorry to hear things didn't go well on the cruise. But I hope when you look back at the day you'll think of all of the good things!

 

I have heard in the past about Carnival nickel and diming brides and grooms during their weddings, especially the photography. The costs for the photography seem outrageous!

 

I was married on Princess and we were able to get ALL of our photos on a DVD, I think it cost about $1,500 total. I have heard from other brides on different cruise lines that the same package was costing them 3 or 4 times more!

 

I have personally never been a fan of Carnival. They are cheaper but I think they also lack in other departments like quality and service. Though I know plenty of people who are perfectly happy with Carnival, so to each their own!

 

I have been on Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Princess, and Disney, I would definitely say Royal Caribbean is my favorite. I'd highly suggest them if you ever plan to cruise again!

[acireta]

I'm glad you bought a few pics at least. The ones you posted are gorgeous!! Sorry you had a rough time on the cruise. Get well soon to your hubby!

[missy72480]

Your pictures are gorgeous!!!

[Bride2Be0911]

Thank you everyone! I tried to pick the best pictures since I picked the package with only 20 of them. I am glad you all agree. :D

 

The wedding itself was amazing. I couldn’t have asked for a better day. I have nothing but great memories and we’ve decided to go back to the same hotel on our 1 year anniversary to enjoy the location since we only had a short amount of time there that day.

Honestly, I am so torn with Carnival right now. I read about how they have gone downhill since the economy tanked, but I didn’t believe it. I mean I was just on Carnival 16 months ago…and lets face it, the economy was crud then too! I loved my wedding, so I am hesitant to say I wish I went with another line, but I am very certain I will never cruise with them again.

Thanks for your wishes regarding Michael’s ankle. It is getting better, slowly…but at least it wasn’t broken and he could walk down the aisle with me…even if it was a total gangster walk. ;)

[lovepea]

I am sorry to hear about your experiences. Now I am kinda scared as I have 6 weeks now until my Carnival wedding. :(

[cruiseonthebrain]

I am sorry to hear about your experiences. Now I am kinda scared as I have 6 weeks now until my Carnival wedding. :(

 

Don't worry- for every bad story out there there are dozens of good stories. We were married on Carnival and it was absolutely perfect. We did not expect free medical care and it was made very clear that early embarkation was only for embarkation day weddings. Just have reasonable expectations and treat the employees the way you would want to be treated and you should be fine.

 

As far as pictures go, we absolutely loved our coffee table book- it was absolutely editorial and a work of art because our photographer turned out to be talented beyond belief. We didn't intend to buy the book, but we couldn't leave it once we saw it. We got the book and every single picture on CD and a slide show and a few prints for $1600. Very reasonable considering the quality. It is my understanding that Carnival wedding photographers work off of commission from the sales for weddings and are not paid to retouch the photos or put the book together- they do that during their extremely limited free time. If they spend their time that week working on a wedding book and the bride dismisses it right away it is understandable that they may be a bit put off. Who wouldn't be?

 

At the end of the day the experience will be what you made of it. Don't worry and take this thread with a grain of salt because it is only one person's perspective. Your day will be wonderful!!!

[Bride2Be0911]

Don't worry- for every bad story out there there are dozens of good stories. We were married on Carnival and it was absolutely perfect. We did not expect free medical care and it was made very clear that early embarkation was only for embarkation day weddings. Just have reasonable expectations and treat the employees the way you would want to be treated and you should be fine.

 

As far as pictures go, we absolutely loved our coffee table book- it was absolutely editorial and a work of art because our photographer turned out to be talented beyond belief. We didn't intend to buy the book, but we couldn't leave it once we saw it. We got the book and every single picture on CD and a slide show and a few prints for $1600. Very reasonable considering the quality. It is my understanding that Carnival wedding photographers work off of commission from the sales for weddings and are not paid to retouch the photos or put the book together- they do that during their extremely limited free time. If they spend their time that week working on a wedding book and the bride dismisses it right away it is understandable that they may be a bit put off. Who wouldn't be?

 

At the end of the day the experience will be what you made of it. Don't worry and take this thread with a grain of salt because it is only one person's perspective. Your day will be wonderful!!!

 

I agree…I am sure that her wedding will be wonderful, but I also don’t think I had unrealistic expectations either. When we were told not to get a boarding number I asked, twice actually. I was told that the day of my wedding didn’t matter. I assumed that people that worked there knew what they were talking about so I went with it.

Secondly, I didn’t expect free medical care, even though he was hurt due to negligence of Carnival’s excursion guide. I did however expect to not have to pay additional money to borrow a wheel chair or crutches. To me, and just about everyone I have talked to since, that is not unreasonable.

And lastly…the lovely pictures. Our wedding was the second to last day of the cruise. Our photographer didn’t even reach out to us until day 4 (Wednesday) of a 7 day cruise (Sun-Sun). This was after contacting the desk, going to the photo gallery AND talking to our onboard coordinator. It was not like he spent a ton of his free time to create a book. We let him know on Thursday, the day before the wedding, that we would not be purchasing the book because we only had $1,500 budgeted for pictures. He was not willing to work with us and even told my mother-in-law to “Shut the hell up.”

While I know that not everyone will experience such a rude photographer, I also wanted to warn people who sail on the Valor because he is the only “Wedding Photographer” that they have on that ship.

 

Lovepea- Don’t worry too much. Every wedding is different and I believe that your even on a different ship. I hope everything goes smoothly for you and I look forward to reading your review. J

[lovepea]

My biggest concern has been about the photography, actually, and that is what I hear a lot of people have problems with, similar to yours.

 

I don't have a lot of money to spend and I hate HATE to feel pressured (guilted) into buying anything. I hope that our photographer is not rude to any of my family, because he will have my size 10 wedding shoe somewhere very unpleasant.

[cruiseonthebrain]

I agree…I am sure that her wedding will be wonderful, but I also don’t think I had unrealistic expectations either. When we were told not to get a boarding number I asked, twice actually. I was told that the day of my wedding didn’t matter. I assumed that people that worked there knew what they were talking about so I went with it.

Secondly, I didn’t expect free medical care, even though he was hurt due to negligence of Carnival’s excursion guide. I did however expect to not have to pay additional money to borrow a wheel chair or crutches. To me, and just about everyone I have talked to since, that is not unreasonable.

And lastly…the lovely pictures. Our wedding was the second to last day of the cruise. Our photographer didn’t even reach out to us until day 4 (Wednesday) of a 7 day cruise (Sun-Sun). This was after contacting the desk, going to the photo gallery AND talking to our onboard coordinator. It was not like he spent a ton of his free time to create a book. We let him know on Thursday, the day before the wedding, that we would not be purchasing the book because we only had $1,500 budgeted for pictures. He was not willing to work with us and even told my mother-in-law to “Shut the hell up.”

While I know that not everyone will experience such a rude photographer, I also wanted to warn people who sail on the Valor because he is the only “Wedding Photographer” that they have on that ship.

 

 

 

 

I

Lovepea- Don’t worry too much. Every wedding is different and I believe that your even on a different ship. I hope everything goes smoothly for you and I look forward to reading your review. J

 

I am sooooo sorry. That it absolutely unacceptable and now I don't blame you at all for blasting Carnival. I am completely wordless right now- what a jerk and fiasco! The up side is that you are gorgeous and so is your hubby. You guys couldn't take a bad pic if you tried.

 

I really am so sad that you got a crummy staff though. It is great that you went through all of their bs and had a great day. I would at the very least write Carnival a letter about that guy.

 

We just got really lucky I guess. And I am not beautiful so I needed all the breaks with the photog I could get:-)