My Wedding Carnival Fantasy 4/13/2016

[kimmiecruz]

Hello everyone!

 

First & foremost, THANK YOU to each & everyone of you on this forum! When I was planning my wedding, I frequented this forum and the threads a lot for information such as pictures, inspiration I may need, questions to ask the wedding planners, and basically to ease my nerves. The general consensus for Carnival Weddings seemed to be great - these really helped ease the nerves a lot!

 

I got married on April 13, 2016, on board the Carnival Fantasy. The ceremony was done in Cozumel, Mexico, @ Mr. Sancho's Beach Club & the reception was back on board in the ship's club (since I got the DJ).

 

I absolutely loved my wedding and our family/friends/guests were very happy! Carnival treated us like royalty & everything was amazing! Those who went to the wedding cannot stop talking about it until this day, and those who did not make it have expressed that they wished they put more effort into trying to come. People seem to think we spent about $50-$60k for our wedding.

 

I was a bit apprehensive because I wanted a cruise that was cost efficient for myself & for the guests. I did not realize that the fantasy was the oldest & smallest ship on the fleet. The ship had gotten a multi million dollar face lift. She was clean, elegant, and the staff made up for "lack of fanciness" the other ships/cruise lines may have. I will take good old fashioned customer service over a bionic bar any day. Also, the ship being smaller ended up working out for us - we were able to see/find guests and vice versa daily just by heading up to lido deck. It was easy to find everyone. (Bonus: WiFI was cheap! $15/device for the whole cruise for basic social media).

 

I did a half updo with curls with the ship spa and it was about $60. I find that a good deal considering it's about $100 to have wedding hair done (at least here in S. Florida). I believe curls/updos start at $40+ but mine was $60 because my hair is very long and thick, and I wanted something complicated. I used to be a makeup artist as a hobby and I did my own makeup. I brought my own flowers & boutonnieres, but to be honest the ones they provided were just as beautiful. I of course had to bring fake flowers and the ship provided fresh flowers. (A little something to consider if you are debating to bring your own vs order from the ship. The ones I brought were a bit more cost efficient for me & I was able to customize a bit more)

 

There were minor wrinkles, which I will post here so this can hopefully help those getting married in the future eliminate the problems I had.

 

-The shoreside/wedding planner department for Carnival can work on some customer service. They are late to respond to emails (which they do send you an automatic email to let you know), and when you do call them you are on hold for a long time before you get someone to answer you. I did not like my first wedding planner very much - I felt she was pushy and was making decisions without consulting me. Since the ship was in port from 2-10pm, I wanted a wedding as close to sunset as possible. She was pushing for me to have the wedding at 2pm and even said, "if my guests can't eat that would be on me" (???) Luckily they were able to honor my request of 4:30pm so it would not be too hot for everyone & the lighting would be nice for pictures.

 

-If you are having a wedding shoreside/not on the ship, make sure you get the "ship time" for confirmation. Everything will run on ship time, which I did not know. The wedding planner people told us "Cozumel time" (& did not say this was not what they would be going by) and this messed up and confused our guests. I made a programme for our guests to be guided accordingly throughout the cruise. I was told the ceremony would be 3:30 pm but it was actually 4:30pm ship time.

 

-The people at Mr. Sancho's Beach Club were amazing! My only complaint is that there was a long silence from switching the music from when the entourage walked to when I walked. They should have just played my entrance music as soon as the entourage music ended.

 

-The only person I did not really like was the DJ. He announced the newlyweds first even though there was an outline given to him. We were supposed to have been announced last! We also requested a special dance/game for our guests, and even though we have gone through it with him prior, he still got it all wrong. He played our wedding dance too soon, we did not even know what was going on. He also cut off the mother/son dance too abruptly. They were literally in the middle of an emotional dance and he turned it off. Lol.

 

Again, these are minor things and the only reason why I am posting this at all is so those reading this can add to their list of instructions of things they want to clarify.

 

I purchased the two hour reception with hors d'oeuvres. The food was abundant & delicious, the alcohol was strong and free flowing, and they ran on a tight schedule. There was room for the introduction, the first dance, the father/daughter, mother/son, a special wedding game I had requested, two toasts, my speech, cake cutting, champagne toasts, bouquet & garter toss. It was more than enough time, actually, & we had plenty of time for dancing! I know I had some complaints about the DJ above - but he was very good in hyping the guests & keeping everyone on the dance floor!

 

I cannot gush and say enough about how great Carnival / Mr. Sancho's treated us & how professional & beautiful everything was.

 

I had also brought my own photographers, but let me tell you -- our photographer on board knew her stuff! I am going to be honest here. i thought our photographer was someone who worked in the commissary or dining room and they were just going to give her a camera and make her click it! I was blown away by our photographer's talent, passion & professionalism. I did not have any intention of purchasing any pictures, but after meeting her, I was like, "Ok she's so nice I'll buy a few." Boy was I mistaken. She did such a fantastic job that I ended up buying the video, album - basically everything. Even though I had my own photographers.

 

OK sorry if this is too long. Here's a link to the wedding video. Vimeo for HD & YouTube in case it doesn't work. :)

 

 

Here's a link to some of the pictures my wedding photographer has (the one I brought myself)

http://troyhuynh63.pixieset.com/kimmieandandrew/

[offthebeatenpath1]

You look AMAZING!! I loved watching your video and I'm pretty surprised at the quality!

 

If you don't mind me asking, what was the total price? We've been looking into a carnival cruise for cost effectiveness of the cruise itself. Your wedding is exactly what we are looking for!

[kimmiecruz]

You look AMAZING!! I loved watching your video and I'm pretty surprised at the quality!

 

If you don't mind me asking, what was the total price? We've been looking into a carnival cruise for cost effectiveness of the cruise itself. Your wedding is exactly what we are looking for!

 

 

Hiii! It was about $3,500 for the basic package - minister, wedding coordinator at site, wedding hostess back on board, two hour reception for first 20 people (hors dveours, open bar, cake, champagne), transportation for the groom and I. It was an additional $36/person after 20 people. The flower arch, mariachi, chairs, transportation were extra. Arch was $600, mariachi $600, chairs $3.50/person, transportation $18/person. The photographer is included but of course pictures and video are extra. I think my video was about $800.

 

You have the option to do your ceremony directly with Cozumel Wedding Planner. I wish I knew beforehand - it was about half the price! But I wasn't allowed to do any add ons or cancel after I found out. And then the reception you can do w carnival or you can also do your reception with cozumel wedding planners.

[Btatyrek]

Hi,

 

I love your pictures and the video!

You said you ended up buying some of the photos from the cruise photographer as well.

Can you share some of those too, please?

[Cruising Bride]

Your wedding and video were gorgeous. Is that the video from Carnival? I am doing something similar. I am having a port wedding in Grand Cayman with a reception back on board. Were you able to pick when the reception time would be? Did you have ample time between the ceremony and reception to be able to take pictures in the port before heading back to the ship for the reception?

[2130leigh]

Hiii! It was about $3,500 for the basic package - minister, wedding coordinator at site, wedding hostess back on board, two hour reception for first 20 people (hors dveours, open bar, cake, champagne), transportation for the groom and I. It was an additional $36/person after 20 people. The flower arch, mariachi, chairs, transportation were extra. Arch was $600, mariachi $600, chairs $3.50/person, transportation $18/person. The photographer is included but of course pictures and video are extra. I think my video was about $800.You have the option to do your ceremony directly with Cozumel Wedding Planner. I wish I knew beforehand - it was about half the price! But I wasn't allowed to do any add ons or cancel after I found out. And then the reception you can do w carnival or you can also do your reception with cozumel wedding planners.

 

 

Hello, loved the video! This makes me so excited for my wedding! We have selected the basic package. No reception. Would you say the reception part was worth it? My wedding will most likely be some time in the morning 10-11am. I will be having a minister also at the wedding we will have a civil and religious wedding. Is that something you did? Did you get your marriage license through Mexico or before you left the states, where I believe it is 15 days before sailing we have to send our blood test from the doctor to them. After the wedding does the resort let you stay there or do you have to leave right way? Also going back to the ship the transportation we pre paid for that was for round trip correct?

 

Sorry for all the questions! Thanks!