4/27/07 Carnival Fascination Review

[2007CarnivalBride]

Sorry it's taking me so long to write my review but it's been hectic getting back into the swing of things.:) We were married prior to the ship leaving the port of Miami on April 27, 2007. Although I was very concerned giving the reviews I've seen everything went perfectly according to plan!:D Here are some highlights and I'll post pics as soon as I can.

 

We had 59 guests 14 of which were non-sailing. We all stayed at the Ramada Marco Polo Hotel in North Beach the night before and I have to say that was the one down point of the trip. Don't bother staying there the rooms are terribly worn and each room is in a different form of disarray! We all arrived via transport service at the pier at 10:30a. I highly recommend using the transport service if you'll have a large party all trying to get to the pier on time!

 

We all made it through the ship's boarding process and were all on board by 11:30am. Giving my guests time to look around the ship, find their rooms and for my wedding party and parents of the bride and groom to change. Most of if not all of the rooms were ready of very close to ready by the time we got on board. DH and I had the Level 12 Penthouse Balcony Suite and it was beautiful and they had placed two bottles of champagne in the room one was already on ice and ready to drink!:)

 

Since we had additional time the wedding co-coordinators took us to see the Palace Lounge and the Diamonds are Forever Dance Club were we would be having our ceremony and reception. Both were great and I was pleased with each venue. Our co-coordinators were good but be sure you have a clear idea of what you want for your big day and have everything ready to tell them. If you're choosing your own ceremony music like we did have the disk ready and make sure to mark down the order of the songs. Do the same for the disk for your reception if you will have the DJ like we did. Make sure you have a extra program handy to give to the on board co-ordinations and go over the pronunciation of names if they are tricky so that they can say them right at the reception.

 

My bridesmaids and I changed in our suite and DH changed w/his groomsmen in another cabin so once we got on the ship and saw the venues we didn't see each other any more till the ceremony. It made it extra special when I came down the stairs and down the aisle in my dress! If you end up with the Palace Lounge too you have to make your bridal entrance down the stairs everyone remarked about how grand that made my entrance and it looked great on the video.

 

We choose to get the video as well as the regular photographer and both came out beautifully! Our photographer we Rotin (sp) and he was great he spoke w/me before the wedding and got all the specific shots I wanted as well as quite a few other really great shots. We went a little over board and bought a little over 100 pictures and the CD but the all turned out so great it was hard to choose which ones to keep! We spent $1100 but got the CD, over 100 pictures, 2 wedding photo albums and a 16 X 20 canvas of our favorite wedding picture in the package deal. The video was all I expected plus some they truly did a great job and we couldn't have been happier w/it, we totally felt it was worth the extra money.

 

The reception was all I had wished for but it did seem like it went by fast!:) We did have plenty of time for first dances, cake, wedding toasts and dancing with our guests. As well as time to eat and mingle! We had the deluxe wedding package w/the hot and cold Hor Dourves(sp). Everyone enjoyed the food, it was plentiful and replenished as needed. The provided various fruits, sushi, various canapés, stuffed eggs,stuffed mushrooms, chicken nuggets, little shish-kabob looking things, chicken on a stick and spankiopia(long word but tasted great!) and another stuffed pastry hot thing that I don't remember asking for but tasted great! The ice sculpture was very pretty and all the guests enjoyed it. We had the yellow/vanilla cake w/strawberry filling and butter cream frosting and it was sooooo good!!:) All the guest raved about how good the cake was and out of 3 tiers we only had a small part of the bottom tier left at the end of the reception. If you have extra cake they will let you have it as one of your dessert options at dinner since you can't take it home w/you. I did that just that all three nights as well as the chocolate molten cake on the dessert menu it's to die for and a must choose option if you're on Carnival!

 

Over all we had a truly special and simply grand wedding and it all went exactly as we had hoped! Our guests enjoyed the wedding as well as the cruise and the OOT bags and favors were also a big hit! A word to the wise bottle water is almost $3.00 on board so our guest were thrilled with the personalized bottles of water in their OOt bags! I think that covers everything and I hope this review hasn't gotten too long! Please let me know if you have any questions and I'll try to get those pictures up soon!

[pixiexkp]

Thank you so much for your review. I am getting married on the Fascination January 4, 2008 in the Port of Miami. I have never been to a wedding on a cruise so I have no clue what to expect. I have a total of 88 ppl going to my wedding and only 7 are non-sailing. What kind of transportion service did you use? I'm staying at one of the Days Inn and they say they have a shuttle. I'm worry that the hotel is gonna be crappy and there isn't going to be a shuttle. I know its over 7 months away but I'm already worried. I also went with the dj and have been told that I def have it. What kind of music do they have? We also are getting the video.

How was the ship? Is there a lot to do? For the wedding cruise, its only a 4 day 3 night to nassau. My fiance and I were thinking about going on another cruise when we get back. The Fascination goes to Key West and Cozumel the day we get back. Is it a good ship to spend a week on? I was on the Elation in Feb and I didn't think there was a lot to do.

 

Thanks

Chrissy

[space07]

I am so glad everything went well! Can't wait for the pictures!

[NurseBeth]

Thanks so much for your review! My fiance & I are planning a Carnival wedding...we haven't picked a date yet but we are shooting for next January/February. We will most likely be having it on the Glory leaving out of Port Canaveral. I am very interested in the videographer service, so I'm glad to hear that it is money well-spent! I am also happy to hear that the food & cake are delicious!

 

Did you provide your own cake topper & flowers? I know that the bridal bouquet is included in the package (we are also going to do the Deluxe Romance) but is it silly-looking? I was thinking of just making my own out of artificial flowers. Also....as far as favors are concerned...can I bring aboard favors that involve food (like chocolates or almonds)? I know customs is funny about that type of thing.

 

One more question....how did you handle wedding gifts? I heard that if your guests bring them aboard you have to take them through customs once you get back and they are subject to taxes...is this true?

 

Can't wait to see pictures! Congratulations!

[ShedQueen77]

I'm so glad you had the wedding of your dreams! I'll be watching out for pics! :)

[2007CarnivalBride]

Thank you so much for your review. I am getting married on the Fascination January 4, 2008 in the Port of Miami. I have never been to a wedding on a cruise so I have no clue what to expect. I have a total of 88 ppl going to my wedding and only 7 are non-sailing. What kind of transportion service did you use? I'm staying at one of the Days Inn and they say they have a shuttle. I'm worry that the hotel is gonna be crappy and there isn't going to be a shuttle. I know its over 7 months away but I'm already worried. I also went with the dj and have been told that I def have it. What kind of music do they have? We also are getting the video.

How was the ship? Is there a lot to do? For the wedding cruise, its only a 4 day 3 night to nassau. My fiance and I were thinking about going on another cruise when we get back. The Fascination goes to Key West and Cozumel the day we get back. Is it a good ship to spend a week on? I was on the Elation in Feb and I didn't think there was a lot to do.

 

Thanks

Chrissy

 

We used a transport service called Super Shuttle through our travel agent they were really good. We did transportation from the airport to the hotel, from the hotel to the pier and from the pier back to the airport. It came to $75 per person but the cabs were running $25 per person it was worth it. We had fun on the ship, it was smaller than the triumph we had already been on but it was fun all the same. We provided the dj w/a disk of songs we wanted to insure we had all our favs and first dance songs available for the reception.

[2007CarnivalBride]

We did bring our own flowers and cake topper since customs wouldn't let me take home my bridal bouquet and I wanted it for a keepsake. We did bring a cake topper but it was too heavy for the cake so they used their topper and put our's on display by the cake along w/the fresh flower bouquet they provided for the wedding. The bouquet was actually pretty nice it was a cascade of white roses and greenery. A little plain for my taste but acceptable if you don't want to bring your own. As for favors I don't think you can bring chocolates or food they are very strict you should double check before you by your favors.

[2007CarnivalBride]

Thanks so much for your review! My fiance & I are planning a Carnival wedding...we haven't picked a date yet but we are shooting for next January/February. We will most likely be having it on the Glory leaving out of Port Canaveral. I am very interested in the videographer service, so I'm glad to hear that it is money well-spent! I am also happy to hear that the food & cake are delicious!

 

Did you provide your own cake topper & flowers? I know that the bridal bouquet is included in the package (we are also going to do the Deluxe Romance) but is it silly-looking? I was thinking of just making my own out of artificial flowers. Also....as far as favors are concerned...can I bring aboard favors that involve food (like chocolates or almonds)? I know customs is funny about that type of thing.

 

One more question....how did you handle wedding gifts? I heard that if your guests bring them aboard you have to take them through customs once you get back and they are subject to taxes...is this true?

 

Can't wait to see pictures! Congratulations!

 

oops forgot to answer you gift question - Yes it is true and actual gifts (like that toaster you requested) that you recieve and have to take back off the ship you have to claim when going through customs and if you go over the $800 duty free limit then you have to pay. We had people send our physical gifts to our house prior or after the wedding and only recieved gift cards or monetary gifts at the acutal wedding. Just tell your guests it's easier for them than lugging the gifts all the way to the ship!:)

[NurseBeth]

Thanks so much for the info! And congrats again!!

[Rocky2006]

;) I know it's been a while since your wedding...but I'd love to see some pics! I'm planning a wedding on the Fascination right now!!

 

Thanks in advance!