Help - My Daugher had decided on a cruise wedding - would like to hear experiences!

[JoefromBergenNJ]

Ok, now that I have your attention - I'm actually thrilled that my daughter wants to get married on a cruise ship and she's narrowed it down to either the Crown Princess or the Grand Princess.

 

While I would prefer feedback from those who have had Princess Cruise Line weddings, I'll take any advice from those who had weddings on any cruise line.

 

Thanks.

 

PS - Yes I posted this on the Wedding and Honeymoon board too but, I'm not sure how much response I'll get there

[willysgrandma]

I would urge you to contact a local TA who has experience with ship weddings - a good TA can walk you through everything you need to know.

[Nick Needs To Know]

Joe Congratulations!

 

We had planned on a wedding cruise and had everything in the works, then we found out my Mom was facing pretty serious health problems and ended up getting married in Las Vegas instead. The good news is Mom made to our Vegas wedding and she's doing ok ;)

 

While we were in the planning stages for our wedding cruise, everyone was extremely helpful and we never had that uneasy feeling like we weren't going to get want we didn't want.

 

Grand Princess has a chapel, here's a link to the webcam:

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/grand_wedding_cam.html

 

Caribbean Princess also has a chapel, here's a link to that webcam:

http://www.princess.com/bridgecams/caribbean_wedding_cam.html

 

I'll get the contact information from my wife and post it for you

[Nick Needs To Know]

Ok here's a link about the wedding programs:

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na595&submit=pk

 

And "Tie the Knot" wedding packages can be arranged by calling 1-866-444-8820 or 305-421-1050.

[JoefromBergenNJ]

Thanks for such quick replies! And the contact information Nick, that's a huge help!

 

Would still like to hear from those who have been married on a cruise. Were you satisfied? Etc?

 

Thanks!

[geejay]

My niece was married on the Star Princess in 2002. I helped her with the booking of the cruise, air, transportation to and from the ship, etc., for the 27 guests. Our great TA helped my niece and her mother get set up the wedding consultant and got everything planned out. They chose a wedding the first sea day in mid-afternoon.

 

The wedding was absolutely beautiful and the wedding photos were the best I have seen. Everything was perfect, the flowers, music, and the Captain did a very touching ceremony. There were invitations delivered to the cabins before the ceremony.

 

When we booked we were able to get some great perks -- a shipboard credit, bottle of wine per cabin, and a cocktail party. The TA set up the cocktail party (free drinks for 1 hour) right after the wedding, so it worked as a reception. Plenty of time for toasts and good wishes. (They were having another reception after the cruise, so this one was perfect for the cruise.) At the end of the cocktail hour the band began playing and played a special song for the bride and groom dance. The cake was at the reception, then moved to the dining room.

 

About two hours later we went to our second seating dining. We had 3 large tables at traditional dining, so the wedding party sat at one table.

It was formal night, so we had a great dinner followed by wedding cake.

That night was the newlywed game, and my son went down before and talked to the Cruise Director, and the newlyweds were chosen to participate.

 

Another great thing, they were booked in a mini-suite and were upgraded to a full suite. I also sent a letter to the Captain telling him we were with a group for the wedding cruise and the group was invited to a bridge tour.

 

The group had buttons (Smith/Jones Wedding Cruise, date, ship) that we wore around the ship. Another niece made these. Met lots of people that way. We also had signs for the doors. We bought little wedding bubbles to blow, no rice allowed I am sure. That also made a good picture!

 

Any questions I will try to answer. The main thing is just to get a good TA who will guide you through it.

 

 

Wow, this is getting lengthy! Hope you are still with me. Anyway, a cruise wedding is fantastic.

[ggprincess2004]

Hi Joe,

I think it is great that your daughter has decided on a shipboard wedding. My DH and I were married on the Grand in 2004. It was wonderful.

It was also pretty simple to handle. Princess weddings, whatever they are calling it these days, sends a few documents via e-mail that must be attended to. Included is the application for the Bermudan marriage license and the wedding planning questionairre. You fill out the questionairre and have taken care of just about every detail of the wedding itself - except for the gown! There are 3 sets of vows to choose from, a number of flower choices, music choices ..... Of course, you also have to make payment, but honestly, I think that the price it right.

Once on board, the bride to be and her groom, will meet with the wedding coordinator on board and review the details. A rehearsal can be scheduled or not, depending upon the preference of the bride and groom, and wedding party. We chose not to have one, as my parents both walked me down the aisle, I had no other attendants, and my stepson was my husband's best man. Pretty simple. But having one is not a problem either.

The captain performs the ceremony - and our officiant was Captain Andy Proctor. He did a marvelous job of it, even read something very special prior to going through the ceremony itself. One of the ship's photographers does the camera work, and takes photos afterward as well. We had some wonderful shots to choose from. If you take a look at some of my previous posts, you will see that my parents were "remarried" on board for their 50th wedding anniversary, and that was also terrific. They got every single photo that was shot!!

We chose to go to Sabatini's after the ceremony to celebrate with a special dinner. The wedding cake they did as part of the package was absolutely beautiful, and very tasty as well. The staff at Sabatini's always just falls all over their patrons with outstanding service. We did ask them to have several bottles of our favorite bubbly well-chilled and awaiting our arrival.

We did not have guests, other than immediate family onboard. So, the dinner at Sabatini's was the "reception". We felt that we could throw a party when we got home, if we wanted to. But, we let friends and family know well ahead of time what the plans were, and it was up to them to book the cruise or not. We certainly would have entertained them had they decided to join us.

Honestly, for us it was a reallyl stress-free way to go, with the exception of the flight problems due to weather delays, and the delayed bags. (See previous posts - just click on me and prior posts.)

I am a very, very happy Princess bride, and my parents were totally delighted with the way Princess handled everything as well.

One thing I have to say - you have to be able to relax, make up your mind what you want, and then trust that Princess will handle it. Otherwise, you could probably go crazy. This wasn't a first marriage for me or my DH ,and we really wanted something low-key, this fit perfectly.

My one piece of advice from a lesson learned the hard way: FLY IN THE DAY AHEAD, or even earlier if it works in your schedule. Second piece of advice, plan to be married on the ship, not in one of the ports of call by local officiants. This is simply because weather could cause the ship to miss a port.

Gosh, I hope you like your son-in-law to be, and congrats! Enjoy being the father of the bride!!!!!:)