Planning Cruise Wedding! Help!

[fairbrot]

Everyone is right...who you choose is entriely up to you. BUT...here's my experience so far. We are cruising with RCCL (Mariner) on 11/25/07. We are getting married in St. Thomas on 11/28. Originally we booked with RR and were to get married in their private villa. In three months they did NOTHING - not even charge our card. I had asked for a custom quote for punch/cake for the kids (I never got it after waiting 7 weeks). My FI and I talked and decided to fire them and go with a private planner. I did a ton of research and decided on Leslie from Perfect Weddings of St. Thomas. She's FABULOUS. When I called RR to cancel -- 1) they didn't even question me or try to keep my business 2) in 30 seconds (yes, I said seconds) she had emailed me the cancellation letter with standard email 3) she said that would be less $400 in fees (cancellation and marriage license cost). I stated that the reason for me cancelling was that they hadn't done anything - let alone charge us, so there was nothing to take the fees out of. She put me on hold and 30 seconds later said to just send the letter and it would be cancelled. I'm still waiting for verification (1 week and several emails later).

 

Just make sure you ask every question you could imagine. I've even looked up tides, time of sunset, are there steps/long walk to the venue (we have almost 50 people coming and several are elderly). We are very happy with our choice now. We are getting married at Secret Harbour, before sunset, with a steel pan player, and cake and champagne/punch reception. I can't wait - I'm so excited.

[fungirl76]

Congrats!!!! It is never too soon to plan. I am getting married in St. Thomas in March 2008. I have already put a deposit down on the wedding and picked out food, colors, & flowers. I am sailing on RCI, but am using Paradise Bridal Consultants in St. Thomas for my wedding. Angela has been such a great help and replies to all of my emails quickly. She has thought of things I would have forgotten about. Dont' use the wedding planners on any cruise ship as they are expensive and a lot of people have had horrible experiences..Hope this helps

 

Melissa

[Cruisen Mama]

I just wanted to say that I was married last September on RC ~ Mariner of the Seas and it was beautiful. I read horror stories about other couples weddings through TWE & RR but mine was wondeful. I never had any problems getting what I wanted and everything was set up perfectly. I had a wonderful experience. :)

[fairbrot]

I just wanted to say that I was married last September on RC ~ Mariner of the Seas and it was beautiful. I read horror stories about other couples weddings through TWE & RR but mine was wondeful. I never had any problems getting what I wanted and everything was set up perfectly. I had a wonderful experience. :)

Cruisen Mama - I'm so glad that they came through for you. I really was trying to ignore all of the bad posts about them, but when I couldn't even get a quote for punch out of them and they didn't even charge our card (after demanding payment w/i 48 hours), I just wasn't comfortable with the situation any more.

 

Was the Mariner awesome? What were your favorite parts? Any tips on excursions? You can email me at fairbrother@verizon.net if you don't want to post answers here.

 

Thanks!

[rklemay]

I just got engaged on Saturday, and I know we would like to get married in port on a beach in St. Thomas with either Royal, Princess or Celebrity. We're thinking May 08- Anyone have any advice on what to look for, any great/ bad experiences? How far in advance to start booking? etc. Any help would be appreciated!

 

Thanks so much!

Tara

 

We're getting married in 10 days and have gone through many of the things that other posters have mentioned. We looked into weddings through Carnival and Royal Caribbean, but decided to use Leslie with Perfect Weddings of St. Thomas.

 

We have been extremely pleased with everything she has done for us so far. While we didn't have any problems with TWE when we talked with them, it seemed that they were limited in the sites as to where we could get married. We wanted to be able to choose the location and Leslie was able to accommodate us.

[space07]

Cruisen Mama - I'm so glad that they came through for you. I really was trying to ignore all of the bad posts about them, but when I couldn't even get a quote for punch out of them and they didn't even charge our card (after demanding payment w/i 48 hours), I just wasn't comfortable with the situation any more.

 

Was the Mariner awesome? What were your favorite parts? Any tips on excursions? You can email me at fairbrother@verizon.net if you don't want to post answers here.

 

Thanks!

I ended up having a wonderful wedding with RR on the Vison of the Seas last week, but they were very hard to work with so I can't recommend them. If you are already having bad feelings about them, you should go with it! I have heard about a lot of people using island coordinators that are very helpful and a good deal. I wish I had done more homework before we decided on RR. Good Luck!

[fairbrot]

I ended up having a wonderful wedding with RR on the Vison of the Seas last week, but they were very hard to work with so I can't recommend them. If you are already having bad feelings about them, you should go with it! I have heard about a lot of people using island coordinators that are very helpful and a good deal. I wish I had done more homework before we decided on RR. Good Luck!

 

Congratulations! I'm sure it was wonderful. Are you going to post pictures? I love looking at other people's pics! :)

 

I did go with my gut and we switched to Perfect Weddings of St. Thomas and I'm working with Leslie. We have just under 6 months to go and I've done more with her in two weeks than I did with RR in over 3 months.

[rklemay]

We're just back from our wedding cruise on the Carnival Truimph. Leslie with Perfect Weddings of St. Thomas handled everything for us and it was absolutely perfect. It was everything we hoped it would be. Secret Harbour was a beautiful location for our wedding and Leslie had everything arranged for us when we arrived. It couldn't have been better. After we get unpacked and settled back in, we'll post more.

 

Randy and Cindy