Nautical Nuptials

[Priya2]

We are in the process of arranging our wedding with the 'Nautical Nuptials' package on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise in December. I must say, we are pretty shocked at the cost. In addition the the $2500 for the ceremony package which is said to include a photographer, but a small pack of 5 photos is an additional $570 plus tax, so its not really included is it? :eek: The marriage licence is an additional $700! How does a marriage licence cost $700? Regarding the package, there are only the two of us, no guests! More than a bit exploitative we think, but no doubt marrying on the ship will be lovely, so we're trying to laugh about that!

 

I'd be interested to hear/read the views and experiences of other forum members.

[Carnival_Brides]

Wowza--that's quite an investment. The marriage license price varies from place to place. In my hometown it is $50, but in the beach community down the road it's $200 because people want to be married on the beach.

 

Is Celebrity taking care of securing your license or is that something you have to do?

[Priya2]

Celebrity organise it! No doubt they will take a large cut! It costs £56 in the UK (probably about $38). They also give guidance on tipping, suggesting $20, up to $100 for those most involved. I know that's part of the US culture, but when services are charged at such marked-up rates, its hard to swallow. In the UK we tip Wait staff, taxi drivers, beauticians, hairdressers, but not Ships Captains, well paid wedding organisers etc.

 

Goes off muttering to herself 'must keep good humoured, must keep good humoured . . . . .'!

Edited January 25, 2014 by Priya2

[CCMS14]

We are in the process of arranging our wedding with the 'Nautical Nuptials' package on a Celebrity Caribbean cruise in December. I must say, we are pretty shocked at the cost. In addition the the $2500 for the ceremony package which is said to include a photographer, but a small pack of 5 photos is an additional $570 plus tax, so its not really included is it? :eek: The marriage licence is an additional $700! How does a marriage licence cost $700? Regarding the package, there are only the two of us, no guests! More than a bit exploitative we think, but no doubt marrying on the ship will be lovely, so we're trying to laugh about that!

 

I'd be interested to hear/read the views and experiences of other forum members.

 

We are getting married on celebrity in February, so we will try to report back with our experiences. The licensing fees certainly are hard to swallow, and it can be a lot of stress. We fed-exed all of our docs to Miami, only to be told they were wrong (our mistake, not the wedding company), but when we requested they be overnighted back (at our expense) they were put in regular mail which made it really hard to meet all of the deadlines given that you can only send in the documents/request certain documents within a certain timeframe. It is my understanding that the marriage license is $500, and $200 is the cut that goes to The Wedding Experience (possibly X in some capacity as well, who knows.)

 

I went on the ship we will be getting married on in December to give it a test run (any excuse to get on a cruise…), and found that by meeting with the coordinator it put my mind at ease about the actual day to day, because although the staff at TWE is great, they don't know the way the ships works. On the flip side of that coin, the wedding coordinator onboard didn't know a lot about the additional options because she only knows what the final order is. I was also able to get a copy of all of the options for wedding packages from the photographer. When I get home I will post that for you, although they highlighted the "subject to change" part, they range from $500-$1500.

 

We booked the Tuscan Grille for our dinner through the group department, not the wedding department, and that has become a bit of a hassle, but ultimately it was worth it.

 

The tipping part we will play by ear. Based on our initial meeting with the Coordinator, she has already offered to go above and beyond for us, which would probably incline us to tip her, but I also have a hard time thinking I should tip the captain of the ship… I would much rather tip the waiters at the restaurants etc.

If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer :)

Edited January 26, 2014 by CCMS14

[Priya2]

Wouldn't you think it would be easier to organise? We decided on this option to avoid the stress if organising the wedding at home LOL!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time. Which ship are you marrying on?

 

I read this article written by a Captain's wife http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=261

She writes about the value and reasons for tipping, but states those who should never be tipped include Senior Officers, including of course the Captain. So I guess that simplifies things.

 

I also thought the licence was £500, but the Celebrity woman dealing with our booking said its $700 (maybe its $500 + $200 - because they can ;) )!

Edited January 26, 2014 by Priya2

[CCMS14]

Wouldn't you think it would be easier to organise? We decided on this option to avoid the stress if organising the wedding at home LOL!

 

I hope you have a wonderful time. Which ship are you marrying on?

 

I read this article written by a Captain's wife http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=261

She writes about the value and reasons for tipping, but states those who should never be tipped include Senior Officers, including of course the Captain. So I guess that simplifies things.

 

I also thought the licence was £500, but the Celebrity woman dealing with our booking said its $700 (maybe its $500 + $200 - because they can ;) )!

 

I absolutely agree, this was supposed to be simpler than a traditional wedding…not so much. That being said, TWE has been great to work with in the sense that everyone I have been in touch with (my original consultant left the company in October I think) has been great, they respond quickly, and are willing to accommodate us (for example when we were in the process of correcting our documentation mistake, our consultant waited for phone calls, answered e-mails etc. immediately because she knew we were trying to rectify it). When I read these boards, sometimes it seems as though people wait days for responses from the wedding consultant, that has never been my experience, which is nice.

 

I wonder if licensing would be easier if we were US Residents? Or maybe it is just as difficult for anyone who isn't from Malta? I was expecting $500 and then re-read some document I had and it said $700, I think the "Wedding" pamphlet could use some updating. We also asked for a quote on a cake (which was outrageous, something like $500 for something that in our opinion wasn't that nice, and we would have no idea what it would look like because it would be at the bakers discretion), and had it quoted, asked them to remove it from our statement, and I just about died when we received an invoice telling us we would over $1000 (license+cake). They quickly removed the cake and only charged us for the license though, because obviously we didn't want the cake…there is enough dessert onboard as it is.

 

That article about tipping was helpful, thank you for sharing :)

 

We are getting married on the Reflection, hoping to find out where sometime this week!

Edited January 26, 2014 by CCMS14

[Priya2]

Which package are you having? Ours is the Nautical Nuptials (hence the title of the thread), $2500. Do you know if tax will be added to these prices? A cake fir two is included in that package. We are still adjusting to the idea that its $600 for 5 photos in addition to the package :eek: All we really want is electronic versions anyway, but that isn't an option.

 

Since we finally established contact with someone at the Wedding department, we do get email replies the day after we email, but its not rapid enough when something is a problem/worry and the time different, not to mention the cost, makes phoning difficult!

 

As for the marriage licence, I doubt it would be cheaper for anyone from anywhere if they want to get married on the ship. Its the price listed in their Wedding Brochure and lets face it, we can't pick and choose any alternative services, so they can pretty much charge whatever they like :rolleyes:

[CCMS14]

We have the nautical nuptials and the license, and we have chosen to book our dinner through the groups department instead of the wedding department, we have a reservation for 50 or so at the Tuscan Grille. The option for cake was to get cake for everyone which would have been expensive, the cake for two will just be sent to our room. So far nothing we have purchased has had any additional taxes… I think the only exception would have been if we had purchased silk flowers because it is my understanding they come from a vendor in Miami/Fort Lauderdale and get sent to the ship.

 

The price list we received for photos (subject to change) is:

 

Package A:

1 hour photography session

5 digital or printed photos

$299.95

 

Package B:

1 hour photography session

15 digital or printed photos

$499.95

 

Package C:

2 Hour photography session

30 Digital or printed photos

$849.95

 

Package D:

2 hour photography session

60 digital or printed photos

$1099.95

 

All Inclusive Package

2 hour photography session

All digital photos

$1499.95

 

If you want the a la carte options, let me know and I will post them as well.