New And Getting Married

[tammyup]

Hi, Im Tammy and I just found this board today, great ,great Website just what I've been looking for. I have never been on a cruise before, and I am getting married in February 2006. Not sure what line yet but probably Royal Carribean or Princess. My fiance wants to go straight to San Juan, Puerto Rico and take the Southern Carribean. I have already found some excellent tips and answers to my question but am still unsure of a few things. Here are a few of my questions and I hope you can help me answer them:

 

Should I go with a Travel Agent or go it alone? We have about 40 guests and they are coming from all over Canada and the U.S.

 

Should I send a Save-the-date? When should I send the invitations and How do I word it? I don't know where to begin when it comes to that!

 

Can we get married in the middle of the cruise at one of the port of call, but still on the ship?

 

Thanks again for any helpful hints and ideas.

[Barb_and_Sean]

Personally, I would use an agent. Just because they can help to coordinate everything for you AND your 40 guests. This can be a real headache if you are doing all the coordinating yourself. I'm getting married in October in St. Thomas. We are sailing on Explorer of the Seas and arranged everything with a travel agent who was able to get us and our guests a discount. We sent newsletters with all the information around Christmastime. Those were our save-the-dates. I'm sending out the invitations (hopefully) next weekend.

 

As for getting married in the middle of the cruise but on the ship, yes. You can do it on RCCL ships (check the http://www.rccl.com weddings info page). They also have ways to do it off the ship on the islands as well. I am not marrying through Royal Romance (RCCL's wedding company) because the cost is high and I'd heard some horror stories about the planners. However, a lot of people have used them and been happy. I'm using Cheryl at Wedding, Set Go on St. Thomas. I know other brides are also using here from here too.

 

Have you checked out the Destination Wedding board on theknot.com? I am Rayne there and would be happy to help you with anything I can. Good luck.

[nycruiserbruiser]

I too am getting married in November in St Thomas on the Explorer of the Seas. I am having a beach wedding. Royal Romance directed me immediately to their ccordinator in St Thomas just last week, and she has been amazing. Royal Romance just gave me the phone number to call and I was greeted with courtesy,a wealth of imformation and choices to choose from. She actually spent 45 minutes on the phone with me and gave me her email address to keep in touch. I also learned that since I am going through Royal Romance, that there are many benefits I will be receiving during my entire crusie, so I understand the added expense. Maybe the horror stories tou are referring to came from other destination planners, but I feel very confident. I noticed Sambien posted much the same experience as I am having about the Royal Romance St. Thomas weddings. Am I right about that Sambien? I just thought I'd add my 2 cents worth since I am having a really, really good response out of St Thomas.:)

[Cruising Wonder]

Tammyup,

 

I am getting married on the Caribbean princess in July 2005. If there is anything I can help you with email me at t_dungey@sbcglobal.net or page me on the canadian board on the knot and I would be happy to answer whatever I can. If you like I can also send you the Princess wedding brochure over the net for you to look at to give you some rough estimates.

 

As for the questions below:

 

Should I go with a Travel Agent or go it alone? We have about 40 guests and they are coming from all over Canada and the U.S.

 

I would deffinately go with a travel agent. Believe me I have researched this. Going with a travel agent will allow you to be stress and headache free. I have about 25 people going from Canada and the US and this has proven to be the best way as you and the travel agent are in constant contact whenever someone books. Just an idea though. I felt that this is important cause then you don't have to go around to each person and ask for their booking number or their deposits. The TA takes care of that.

 

Also, another thing is.....booking with a TA will help you get a group rate which will allow you to have certain amenities like free ship board credits, a bottle of wine or a cocktail party. Those are just some, but there are more offered.

 

Should I send a Save-the-date? When should I send the invitations and How do I word it? I don't know where to begin when it comes to that!

 

As for me, yes I did send a save-the-date letter out. I sent it out in the form of a news letter. I am also going to be sending formal invitations around January. I wasn't planning on sending save-the-dates out this early but when I got the information on when the deposit had to be in I decided to send them out now. You will know when to have them out by the due date of the deposit.

 

Can we get married in the middle of the cruise at one of the port of call, but still on the ship?

 

As for this question I don't know. We are getting married while at sea, as we didn't want to miss any ports of calls. We thought this would also give our group something to do one of the days while at sea. I believe Princess has a package called "Tie the knot Harborside" I don't know if that also applies to being at port in one of their locations. That is something I would ask about.

 

 

Sorry I don't know more about the last question. If you have any thing else I could help you with, just ask, I would be happy too. Hope you had a great weekend.

 

Shari:p

[chicaletta]

Hi here's my opinion ...Absolutely go with the TA, as someone pointed out it will save you lots of headaches. It will also give you more time to plan the wedding and have TA handle the cruise part.

As for getting married at sea from what I've researched you would have to get married in the ships chapel or dockside.

Myself, I am getting married on St Thomas November 2004 at BlueBeards Beach Club. I'm working with Chery from Weddings set go and she is TERRIFIC!! If you decide to get married in St Thomas I would highly recommend her.

I would send out the save the date cards as soon as possible because people usually have to set up vacation time and such.

Good luck!!and Congratulations!!

[MandyGirl]

Welcome to cruising, Tammy! A cruise wedding is definitely the way to go! :)

 

 

Here are my answers to your questions:

Should I go with a Travel Agent or go it alone? We have about 40 guests and they are coming from all over Canada and the U.S.

 

Unless you are accustomed to making lots of travel arrangements yourself, use a TA. We used a TA for the cruise portion (hoping for discounts) and hubby and I handled the flights and pre-cruise hotel bookings in Miami.

 

Should I send a Save-the-date? When should I send the invitations and How do I word it? I don't know where to begin when it comes to that!

 

We sent out Save-the-date notices as soon as we had the cruise picked out and wedding date secured. The more notice you give, the more time guests have to save their money. We did this about 9 months in advance and still sent out traditional wedding invitations 6 weeks in advance.

 

Can we get married in the middle of the cruise at one of the port of call, but still on the ship?

 

Yes, you can definitely do that. If getting married on the ship, then I do believe you must book through that cruiseline's wedding coordinator group. I believe you can marry onboard almost any ship. Just check into the legal requirements of the port you are getting married at - that is where your marriage license will come from. Some ports have waiting/residency requirements. We married on St John, USVI while in port at St Thomas, so we did not use the cruiseline's wedding coordinator group and instead used an independent wedding coordinator on St John (got more options for less cost than using the cruiseline's wedding group). No residency requirement and you just have to have your marriage license stuff into the courthouse at least 8 business days in advance.

Also, just my two-cents on cruising out of San Juan...

We took a 7-night cruise on Celebrity in December 2001 out of San Juan - southern Caribbean. (Celebrity and Royal Caribbean are owned by the same company - kinda like how Carnival Corporation owns Carnival, Princess, Holland America, etc.) We had a different port every day with only one day at sea, so hubby missed the relaxing sea days we normally have. Also, it was the most party-like-cruise-atmosphere we have experienced on any of our cruises. Even though Celebrity is known to be more formal and a "step up" from other cruiselines, the passenger clientele that specific week were definitely partiers around the clock. I could go into detail, but I doubt if we ever book another cruise out of San Juan (or the other tablemates we met on that cruise). Definitely do some checking around and talk to passengers who have cruised out of San Juan when the ship wasn't full and the cruiseline decided to give last-minute specials to local residents. This was the one cruise we were actually ready to get off of - and I'm a pretty open-minded have-fun type of person and love cruising. We got to relax on our 3-day post-cruise vacation on St Croix after a short 35-minute flight from SJU. The southern Caribbean ports are definitely incredible and you don't have as many sea days, but I spoke with a TA after getting back and she told me that cruising out of San Juan can be totally different like we experienced. Since it's your first cruise, I thought I would share that personal experience. (There is a link to our cruises and pics in my signature). We prefer eastern Caribbean itineraries leaving Florida even though the cruise out of San Juan had beautiful ports of call and wasn't that much longer of a flight. (Just my personal opinion.)

[Scarlett Fever]

FYI - You CAN'T get married at sea. At sea, you are in International waters. For marriage license and law purposes, you have to either get married before the ship leaves port or at a port (not all ports allow for this either). My choices were Miami before the ship left or St. Thomas at a beach. I chose Miami before the cruise got underway.

I was married on RCI Explorer of the Seas 2 years ago and the wedding coordinator was wonderful and planned everything for me. When I wanted specific flowers, I scanned the photo and emailed them to her and got the flowers I wanted. Because we got married before we set sail, my whole party (my husband, myself and 18 sailing guests) were met at the pier by the WC and escorted onto the ship before anyone else. We were taken to our cabins and had about 2 hours to prepare for my 1 p.m. wedding. We got married in the chapel (the highest point on Explorer) and had a beautiful reception after the cermony.

 

- Yvette

[Dawn24]

This is not true. You CAN get married at sea, the ship however must be registered in Bermuda. Only Princess has ships registered in Bermuda, so you must use Princess if you want to get married at sea.

 

I was married at sea. I have a legal, US recognized marriage license from the country of Bermuda.

 

 

FYI - You CAN'T get married at sea. At sea, you are in International waters. For marriage license and law purposes, you have to either get married before the ship leaves port or at a port (not all ports allow for this either). My choices were Miami before the ship left or St. Thomas at a beach. I chose Miami before the cruise got underway.

I was married on RCI Explorer of the Seas 2 years ago and the wedding coordinator was wonderful and planned everything for me. When I wanted specific flowers, I scanned the photo and emailed them to her and got the flowers I wanted. Because we got married before we set sail, my whole party (my husband, myself and 18 sailing guests) were met at the pier by the WC and escorted onto the ship before anyone else. We were taken to our cabins and had about 2 hours to prepare for my 1 p.m. wedding. We got married in the chapel (the highest point on Explorer) and had a beautiful reception after the cermony.

 

- Yvette

[MandyGirl]

... and you can get married ON the ship while at a port of call (while the ship is docked/anchored in port and sitting in the water). Your marriage license will come from that area (such as if you wanted to get married on the ship in St Thomas like Samben's daughter is doing through RCCL I believe). If marrying on the ship such as in St Thomas, then you would have to go to the courthouse first to be sworn in at some point prior to the ceremony (either 'the day of', or up to 12 months in advance - we were sworn in 4 months in advance of our cruise wedding since we were there on vacation anyway and it saved us time the day of our wedding). While in port, you are not limited to Princess cruiselines. Depending on the port of call, most cruiselines will allow you to marry on the ship while in port (research the port's legal requirements).

 

If the ship is NOT docked in port and you wish to marry while at sea, then Dawn is correct - Princess is the only cruiseline where you can repeat your vows on the ship while at sea. Those ships seem to have beautiful chapels onboard.

 

There is also the option if you wanted to marry on a sailboat or catamaran - such as one out of St Thomas - then that marriage license would still come from the USVI if your sailboat went out of St Thomas or St John or St Croix (or any of the many smaller, lesser known US Virgin Islands). Several catamarans in the area hold 50 passengers. The cruiseline you choose doesn't matter in this case - just whether or not the coordinator will work with you on an option like this (many local independent coordinators will). Other islands probably offer the option of exchanging vows on a sailboat as well.

 

Or like options described previously - you can exchange vows on a beach, deck of a villa, inside old ruins, or in a gazebo overlooking the water below. Those are just a few of the options available if marrying on St Thomas (or St John) in the US Virgin Islands... and those same types of options exist at many of the Caribbean ports of calls. Here are some pics of various locations that our wedding photographer has photographed weddings at. Some islands even offer lavish gardens and waterfalls.

 

Lots of choices for you and your fiance, and the wedding coordinators should be well aware of any legalities if they are competent. Just realize that unless you are marrying onboard the cruiseship, you are not required to use the cruiseline's wedding coordinator company. Many times, they are just the middle man between you and the actual local coordinator who will actually be handling things and at your wedding. This page lists different islands and their marriage license requirements if you are looking at marrying on an island or while in port at an island.

 

And while I am thinking about it...

If using an ordained minister is important to you (versus one who might be an 'officiant' or someone who got their license off the internet) make sure you check on that as well and specify it to your wedding coordinator. It was important to us, and our coordinator used the pastor of a local church who had been living on the island for over 30 years.

 

If you are looking at cutting corners ($$$), here is one good way to cut corners if choosing to marry in the US Virgin Islands: Send the marriage application stuff in yourself with a cheap 32-cent stamp (or pay a little extra to get delivery confirmation or you can FedEx). Looking at this website, this particular company will charge you $100 to "process" your application in addition to what you must pay the court for the marriage license... which means they just turn around and send it to St Thomas for you!!! Hmmmm.... thirty-two cents or one-hundred dollars. That shows you a little of the mark-up.

 

And most importantly, do exactly what you are doing right now - read the CruiseCritic boards of past experiences and ASK QUESTIONS! :)

[tammyup]

thanks for all the help and info

:)