Biggest Frustrations/Best Tips

[monkey1]

A lot of people have voiced concerns about working with the TWE/cruiseline to plan their wedding, so I thought we might be able to use this as a central posting place to vent and offer tips/solutions to all.

 

For me, the biggest frustrations are:

* Lack of control--I am a control freak, so I want to be the one coordinating everything and it can be frustrating to have to go through the coordinator and not have confirmation on details until it's very close to the day.

* Insane pricing on certain items like flowers and cake. I was quoted over 300 for a cake to feed 30 people--that's more than $10/slice

* Inconsistent answers/not having one point person

 

 

I feel better already and they don't seem that bad when they're written down.

 

Some of my tips/suggestions are:

* Tour the ship. I heard from Kadiebug that this was possible, called TWE and sure enough it was allowed. After seeing the ship, I was able to make specific ceremony and reception location request and know what I was talking about, change our dinner location b/c the restaurant we originally were thinking of was too small, and have a sense of how things would flow. Our cost was $159. If you can't tour the ship/don't want to, looking at pics on Webshots, on these boards helps too.

* Take deep breaths when frustrated and realize that it won't be the same as a land-based event and it's not supposed to be.

* Cut out things that cost too much and that won't make or break the day--e.g., rather than spending what I feel is a crazy amount on a cake that won't last, we're sticking with the cake that comes with our package and just letting everyone choose dessert.

* We're holding our wedding at sea, b/c no matter what the weather is, we'll have the captain and a ship to get married on LOL

 

Now if only time would speed up--we still have 9 months to go!

 

Would love to hear your vents/tips!

 

~Traci

[Flower76]

I'm not sure that I should respond, since I've decided not to use TWE. :) But I'll post anyway. My complaints were similar to yours:

 

Negatives:

1) Very definite "mill" feeling. Individualization discouraged and expensive.

2) The whole package is expensive for what you get.

3) I was told that you may not have non-cruising guests at your wedding (even if it's an onshore wedding) unless your wedding is at a departure port.

4) Could never speak to the same person twice (and never got the same answer twice).

5) Long hold times.

6) Uninterested contact people. I really got the feeling that they could care less about me/us/our wedding.

7) The actual event location for an onshore wedding is usually not disclosed until a couple of weeks before the actual wedding day.

8) Photographers are only ok most of the time (some are super, I'm sure), and you can't "audition" your photographer ahead of time. You make do with whomever they assign to your wedding.

 

 

Positives:

1. Low fuss. Everything is done for you and they've done it all before.

2. Unique.

3. Going on a cruise with your family & friends is an excellent way to take a group vacation but still be able to go off and do your own thing when you want to.

 

 

Tips/Suggestions:

1) Don't use them. Hire a land-based coordinator in the port you choose for your wedding. I've been *extremely* happy with this option (we're using Swept Away coordinators in Key West). There is a major risk in this, though. If the ship doesn't stop at your port for some reason (weather, mechanical problems), you may not have any sort of recourse. At least using the ship's personnel, they may try to get your wedding completed despite missing the port.