Tons o' Questions

[lostmarbles]

[color=#3300cc]Hi all! [/color]:D


[color=#3300cc]I'm totally new to cruising, but after much consideration about the best way for us to get married, my fiancé (also a newbie) and I decided a cruise would be wonderful and solve so many “issues” about where to wed, who to invite, and such. I've spent hours researching packages, itineraries, ships, etc. and even made several charts to compare. There is so much information out there though and I would really appreciate anyone's advice before we lock into our plans. We've finally almost settled on Carnival Glory 8/20/05 East. Carib. sailing out of Pt. Canaveral and plan to be married while in port at St. Thomas. We'll have at least 15 and as many as 30 or more family and friends joining us, including my 11 year old daughter and 2 preschool age children. We want something for everyone, good value since they are paying to join us, and a fun, romantic ceremony. We plan to book the package with the ceremony and 1 hr. reception. [/color]

[color=#3300cc]Is Glory a good ship for this? We are also strongly considering the Victory. It goes to San Juan instead of Nassau, but otherwise similar itinerary, price, etc. Has anyone been on both? How do they compare? [/color]

[color=#3300cc]We considered any East. Car. Sailings as we’ve been told that is the best itinerary for newcomers and good for families. We also considered the Valor (Glory’s sister?); Legend; Celebration; and other lines, including Norwegian, Royal Car., and Celebrity. [/color]

[color=#3300cc]Has anyone been to or had a Carnival wedding? They seem to offer the best value for weddings. [/color]

[color=#3300cc]We are pretty flexible in where we go so long as it is next summer (mid June to mid August) and getting married is pretty straightforward, but still nice. We have given up on ships sailing form Norfolk or Baltimore, though those are the closet ports. We do not want to do the Grandeur Bermuda sailings and that is all I've found so far from either port, besides the luxury Radisson cruises. If you know of others, please clue me in. [/color]

[color=#3300cc]ANY advice is GREATLY appreciated!!![/color]

[color=#3300cc]Best wishes to all! :) [/color]

[wwinfl91]

Hi Lostmarbles,

I just came over to this board to see if you had found it. Obviously you have so I won't go back and mention it to you on the other board we first crossed paths.

Have a great next cruise.

[engagedatsea]

Dear Tons of Questions:

I spent three months analyzing everything before I booked a Carnival Wedding. I needed to go out of New York since I have elderly parents living there who will not fly to Flordia. I considered Norwedgian and Royal Caribbean. Other than Carnival being more economically feasible than RCCL, I fell in love with the Chapel on the Legend. Several other Carnival ships have a similiar Chapel. NCCL also has some nice packages, but I didn't like the intinerary on the Dawn as well as that on the Legend.

[lostmarbles]

[color=black]Thanks for checking on me wwinfl91! I found it- and a couple other places I hope people will shed some light for me too! [/color]

[color=black]Thanks also engagedatsea. You should see all the charts and diagrams and research I've done- it's obsessive! I want to avoid wedding stress, but want to do the right thing too. It's such an important and special day, I do not want to grab the 1st cruise I see and regret it later. Carnival's package is certainly more affordable and of all the lines I spoke with, they were also the most helpful. I'm checking into a few others again based on some recommendations here, but am leaning towards Carnival still. I decided against the Crown and Dawn too, but now can’t find my notes on why. I considered the Legend because of its chapel, but NY is a bit more work to get to for us- farther than most want to drive, but too close to justify flying. I personally drive there a couple times a year, but the older people in my family don't want to. Back to my research, so many decisions! Thanks again and Take Care! [/color]

[taylortownmom]

I found a ton of good stuff about honeymoon cruises and weddings at [url="http://www.cruisecheap.com/"]www.cruisecheap.com[/url]. don't know about their prices though. we've cruised about eight times and I ran across this site looking for renewal of vows info.

[lostmarbles]

Thanks taylortownmom!

That site sure does have lots of good information and the prices compare well with most of the other discount sites I've looked into. I called a group person there and he is preparing a spreadsheet to help me make my decison- the most helpful person outside of these forums yet! I love spreadsheets!

[kaymay00]

Hi lostmarbles,
I got married in St. Thomas in May with 51 guests; we all had a wonderful time. Great low stress way to plan a wedding. I can not say anything about Carnival since I have not used them. We sailed on Celebrity Century, beautiful ship and great atmosphere we were treated like royalty. Everyone knew we were getting married and we were invited to lots of special events (ate at the captain's table, newlywed and honeymooners party)
As for the wedding, we used a wonderful planner on St. Thomas. Cheryl Toner, her company is Wedding Set Go. We got married at Bluebeard's Beach Club. If you want to see some pictures of the wedding please visit our website: jeffandkarencowell.tripod.com
Good luck on your planning!
Karen

[lostmarbles]

Thanks, kaymay!

Bluebeard's Beach Club looks really great! Great site- I LOVE the picture o nthe homa page of it- you were stunning! I strongly considered a Celebrity ship, but none are sailing from and to where I want during the time I can go so far. I checked out Cheryl's site, looks like she has something to offer everyone. I appreicate your pointing me in her direction. Take Care! :)
~Angela