Carnival Dream Vow Renewal

[ekcrowley7]

We are going to be taking the 10/1 cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany Bay for our 10 year anniversary. We'd really like to renew our vows either in New Orleans, Belize, Mahogany Bay or onboard. It is only going to be he and I going, so we do not want anything too extravagant or expensive. Really we'd just like an officant and maybe 5 photos. If it's somewhere that we could also have a nice meal (even if onboard) that would be great too. Anywhere I've been able to find so far is at least $750. That's way out of our budget after paying for a cruise already....Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

[LilMermaid75]

We renewed our vows on the Dream last year for our 20th anniversary. We were traveling with several friends, so having the reception on board was worth it to us. Unfortunately I don't believe there is any other option on board other than using the vow renewal team, unless you just want to go somewhere and do the ceremony by yourselves. You could always do a photo shoot with a Dream Studios photographer- but beware the photos are amazing and expensive. We had a hard time picking just a few. We would do another vow renewal through Carnival in a heartbeat.

 

If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer.

[ginnstars]

We are going to be taking the 10/1 cruise from New Orleans to Cozumel, Belize and Mahogany Bay for our 10 year anniversary. We'd really like to renew our vows either in New Orleans, Belize, Mahogany Bay or onboard. It is only going to be he and I going, so we do not want anything too extravagant or expensive. Really we'd just like an officant and maybe 5 photos. If it's somewhere that we could also have a nice meal (even if onboard) that would be great too. Anywhere I've been able to find so far is at least $750. That's way out of our budget after paying for a cruise already....Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!

 

Like the previous poster said, it sounds like your best bet is to just do a photo shoot with the Photographer. Contact the Carnival Wedding department about having someone "officiate" the vow renewals. It won't be cheap. Our "wedding cruise" was really a vow renewal. We invited everyone to come and they were able to board the ship at the embarkation port, even if they were not cruising. We had a service, party, etc. Those who weren't cruising were able to get off right before departure. Then the photographer took all our pictures. Again, not cheap. To give you an estimate we paid around $4k for our renewals. Not bad in comparison to a land wedding.

 

Now, here is where I'm going to play devil's advocate. Why do a vow renewal with just you and your husband? I would think you would want all your family to be there or at least someone else to witness it? If so you can do it, in port, like we did.

 

However, if you are pressed to do it. Contact the Wedding department and they can guide you to find someone to officiate, which shouldn't be hard since your not doing a wedding but a vow renewal. You will need to show that you are already married. I've heard that some can even get the captain on vow renewals. But I'm not sure if that is true. (Probably not since I'm sure he has more pressing things to do.)

 

Also, Here is my information on the photos from back in 2013 if you decide to do a photo shoot with them. This will give you a ROUGH estimate of what you are looking at for photos as I'm sure the prices have gone up. We did also get our digitally so know that there is that option.

 

(Here is to hoping it post!)

Good luck and Happy Anniversary!

 

[LilMermaid75]

Vow renewals are done on a sea day - you don't have any choice as to the day, time or location and they tell once you are onboard (we found out at dinner the first night). Ours was the second sea day in one of the lounges. The ceremony was performed by the Captain. You are given a certificate for your renewal that comes in a nice folder with a picture of the ship. Vow renewals are less expensive than weddings on embarkation day - I think ours was around $700 - that included the ceremony, small cake, champagne, and one photo taken during the ceremony.

 

But you could always find a quiet spot either on the ship or on a beach and renew your vows just the two you with your own vows. Then do a Dreams Photography shoot ( I think they may even do pictures in a port if you ask, but I'm not 100% sure of that).

 

Either way....happy anniversary! No better way to celebrate than with a cruise. :)

[eemama7]

We're renewing our vows at Nachi Cocom in Cozumel in July and it's $650 for a ceremony and photography.