Wedding at sea, Help!

[Arrowdaz]

Hi,

 

Me and my fiancée are trying to plan a wedding at sea onboard, however we have come up against a brick wall.

 

We have been informed that in order to get married at sea we need to apply for a wedding licence in the Bahamas, in order to get this licence, we must appear before the courthouse in the Bahamas to apply, we must have been on or in Bahamian water for 24 hours before we can apply for the licence!!

 

This is almost impossible to do on most Royal itineraries as you are never in port for more than 24hrs.

 

Is there any other uk passengers either looked into a marriage at sea or been married at sea that could clarify any info on the licence.

 

Does anybody also know, if we decide to get married in port instead, would the licence be required from that port instead of from the Bahamas.

 

Any information on royal weddings that you have would be a massive help.

 

Thanks

[ehfl]

The best bet might be to do the paperwork before the cruise, so that you are legally married. Then you can do a ceremony aboard the ship or in port. That's how it's typically done. Friends of ours had their ceremony in Nassau, but they got married in Miami before going to the Bahamas. It made everything easier, and the ceremony was beautiful.

[cruzinlady1947]

The few weddings I have seen on board, happen before the ship leaves port. The guests who are not cruising are allowed on board, but have to leave before the ship sets sail. I would think a local marriage license would be fine in that case.

 

Can't give you an more information than that. Maybe a call to RCCL will answer your questions.

 

Good luck and an early congratulations.

 

Gwen :)

[KDRCruisers]

Don't know if this will help, but our daughter got married on the Navigator ten years ago. The wedding was held in the chapel on the ship before the cruise. We boarded the ship early on cruise day. Had a nice little reception in the Viking Lounge with a wedding cake and champagne. We had guest that attended the wedding and reception then got off the ship. It was a beautiful day, Royal Caribbean provided a wedding planner. She did and outstanding job. Our daughter talked us into going on that cruise, now she can't stop us:eek: from cruising.

[CruisinDawn]

Princess can marry you at sea but for some reason it's more complicated on Royal. My guess as to why you have to get a license in the Bahamas is because that is where Royal ships are registered? Just a thought.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

[oneputt18]

You are misunderstanding the rules. The ship must be in Bahamian waters fpor 24 hours prior to license application. It does not have to be in port.

Read this brochure:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/New_Royal_Romance_brochure.pdf

[kccrzr]

Cruises which stop at CocoCay the day before Nassau should certainly qualify for the 24 hour rule.

Edited January 23, 2014 by kccrzr

[Arrowdaz]

Cruises which stop at CocoCay the day before Nassau should certainly qualify for the 24 hour rule.

 

Thanks for this, you don't know which itineraries do Cococay and then Nassau do you?

 

I think the idea of getting the legal side of it on land and then a ceremony at sea is probably going to be the best plan!

 

:-)

[Tyler80]

I got married on Liberty of the Seas in 2008 in Miami. My advise to you would be to avoid the ceremony at sea and get married on the ship while it is in a US port. If you leave from Florida, Royal Caribbean can obtain the marriage license on your behalf, which makes it a lot easier on you.

 

My wedding was a wonderful experience, so best wishes to you!

[gymbomb]

Also, check out the wedding/honeymoon cruise forum under the special interest cruising section -- it is full of past and future cruise ship brides (and a few grooms) who are happy to offer advice, support, and congratulations :)

 

I don't know the specifics for Royal since I did my wedding on Norwegian, but do check out that board and request the cruise line's wedding brochure/information which should help answer some of your questions. Very few cruise lines can legally marry you at sea, and this has to do with ship registry, but all can do weddings at ports either onboard or on land and help you get a marriage license. As mentioned above, getting legally married at home and having a symbolic ceremony on the ship is also an option, though again I think the rules on this vary by cruise line.

[nolesrule]

Enchantment 4 night itineraries do Coco Cay then Nassau. I'm not familiar enough with ship itineraries to know of others.

[woehwdy]

If you email Royal Romance with your sailing choices they will let you know if they are available for a Wedding at Sea, Allure and Oasis do weddings at sea. they will assist with the license, need at least 6 months lead time for the wedding. If you get married in any port other than the US the license will come from that county. You could be legally married and do a symbolic ceremony. Read the Royal Romance brochure on the website under "All about cruising" "Royal Weddings" .

[Arrowdaz]

Thankyou for all your reply's.

 

I contacted royal romance in Miami and they confirmed that to get married at sea we do not require to apply in person for a wedding licence. They do all the application for us. For a fee of course!

 

Good news!:D

[DrD]

Princess can marry you at sea but for some reason it's more complicated on Royal. My guess as to why you have to get a license in the Bahamas is because that is where Royal ships are registered? Just a thought.

 

BonVoyage

Dawna

 

We got married on the Grand Princess in 2001, it was not at all complicated. Granted things may have changed.

[scotsman75]

I'll be getting married at sea onboard Oasis in March. We're doing the Western Caribbean route. Royal Romance have handled the wedding licence for us.

[waterbug123]

Princess can marry you at sea but for some reason it's more complicated on Royal. My guess as to why you have to get a license in the Bahamas is because that is where Royal ships are registered?

Dawna

 

No. If you get married in the Bahamas, that's where your marriage license must be issued. Just like in the states... the license must come from the municipality in which you will get married.

 

If you email Royal Romance with your sailing choices they will let you know if they are available for a Wedding at Sea, Allure and Oasis do weddings at sea. they will assist with the license, need at least 6 months lead time for the wedding. If you get married in any port other than the US the license will come from that county. You could be legally married and do a symbolic ceremony. Read the Royal Romance brochure on the website under "All about cruising" "Royal Weddings" .

 

Exactly. But apparently if you are, literally, "at sea" and not in another port then that's different.

[OD2]

Checkout my report of our wedding on Pacific Princess during the Black Sea/Crimea cruise 2013.

Princess organized the entire thing including the license. Because the ship is registered in Bermuda our license was obtained from Bermuda, and our wedding certificate came from there

[cruiserdudebobby8]

my dream is to get married at sea onboard Allure