Our Experience With My Sons' Wedding On The Mariner In March

[Jacqueline-A]

My son was married in March/08 on the Mariner of the Seas. I had been "very" skeptical with this whole idea, because you really have no idea of what to expect. We were used to a "Catholic" ceremony & all day/night reception, which does get rather boring. Up until 2 weeks prior to the wedding, you speak with "consultants", then you finally get to speak to the "coordinator" right before.

But I must say we were extremely pleased with it all. We had 53 "non-sailing" guests and were to arrive at 10:30am. We parked in the employee lot (they direct you) at no charge! We had 2 coordinators, who were waiting. They were fabulous & very attentive. They took us by a table where you leave your drivers' license & receive a guest tag. By 11:30am we were on board. Initially, we were concerned about people waiting to long to eat... but guests were able to "roam" the ship, & even go to the coffee shop where they have sandwiches, pizza, fruit, dessert, etc for no charge. That was a relief.

We were in the Lotus Lounge, which was comfortable. The ceremony was at 1p.m. - lasts about 20 minutes. Then we have a fantastic buffet - the food was plentiful & delicious. We did not have alcohol - but some just went out and used their debit cards at the lounges.

My son decided not to have a DJ as originally planned, but instead made a CD of music, which worked out fine. The ship supplied the player which was another concern.

The flowers were beautiful, and the wedding cake was delicious too.

I can't say enough about how we were treated. It was exceptional.

The only bad thing was I had to get off at 3:30!

[jsacco20]

thank you so much for your wonderful review! as a bride who is getting married on royal caribbean in october, it was nice to hear of a positive experience. congratulations!

[udelmom]

This MOB planning a November wedding on Explorer of the Seas is THRILLED to read your review. Thanks so much and congratulations!:D

[MarinerBride]

I'm glad everything went well for your son! My husband and I got married on Mariner in December and also had a great experience. All of the planning was great, and we were thrilled with everything. We had our ceremony in the chapel and the reception in the 7 Hearts Lounge. The food and cake was amazing - some of the best food I had on the ship. I only had two complaints:

 

1) The ship arrived late due to weather, so we weren't able to board until about 12:30 for our 1pm reception. However, they did of course wait to start the reception until I was completely ready. :)

 

2) My non-sailing guests (~20) also had to leave at 3:30, and we were off taking pictures so we missed them.

 

For all who are interested, pictures are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/allison_beck/collections/72157603544002936/

[Mlkkc]

I m so glad everything went good for your son and his wife my dd is getting married on the mariner 6-29-08 on my anniversarnot and we are going too.Hope everything goes as well for her at our exspence not many guest maybe 4 or 6 hope they let our nonsailing guest can eat or can we have a small dinner on board.

[horseypharm]

Thank you for the information. I am getting married on the Mariner of the Seas on 6/22/08 and was a little worried about how things would work out. We are trying to keep things simple - I am hoping that things go as well for us as they did for you.