PLEASE HELP!! Carnival gave incorrect info...wedding crisis!!!

[shipty2]

The most sensible solution here is for the maid of honor and baby to attend the wedding and debark the ship prior to sailing. When my sister got married non sailing guests could remain on the ship from the wedding (before noon) until 4 pm.

[kujobie]

The most sensible solution here is for the maid of honor and baby to attend the wedding and debark the ship prior to sailing. When my sister got married non sailing guests could remain on the ship from the wedding (before noon) until 4 pm.

 

Yes, this is correct. I was married on the Miracle and amost all of our guests did not sail with us. But we live in the city of the embarkation port, so it was not a hardship. Obviously, if a flight is involved, it would be a little more expensive to attend, and would certainly be a bummer to fly in and not get to cruise..

[firefly333]

The most sensible solution here is for the maid of honor and baby to attend the wedding and debark the ship prior to sailing. When my sister got married non sailing guests could remain on the ship from the wedding (before noon) until 4 pm.

 

Maybe even a grandma who can attend the wedding with the baby and not go on the cruise. Surely there is someone who can watch the baby so everyone else can cruise. It is the bride's day, not the others, so one person can cruise at another later time and stay behind with the baby.

[Sea Island Lady]

I will have to disagree with this comment. We have attended 2 cruise weddings, one being our sons And they were 2 of the most beautiful and memorable weddings we have ever attended......

Ours was not rushed, great wedding coordinator and not in anyway a rip off. And both said if they had to do it all over again they would wouldn't change a thing

The only sad part was for some of the people attending that couldn't stay and cruise with us

 

Sorry! I didn't mean to offend anyone that had a lovely experience. :o I have read a few horror stories on this very board about how a cruiseline royally messed up a passengers wedding. ;)

 

I would never consider leaving a a 4 month old at home to go on a cruise.:eek: :( Nor would I take an infant on a cruise vacation. YIKES!!! That's not a vacation and not good for a fragile baby.

 

What surprises me about this whole ordeal, is that you can make a reservation for an unborn baby! How can you do that without a name and date of birth?

[vacruizer]

Maybe even a grandma who can attend the wedding with the baby and not go on the cruise. Surely there is someone who can watch the baby so everyone else can cruise. It is the bride's day, not the others, so one person can cruise at another later time and stay behind with the baby.

 

If the new mom is nursing that might not be a good option for her. But there are all sorts of options out there whether the new mom is just there for the ceremony, they change the date, get married elsewhere and honeymoon onboard, the new mom in question gracefully bows out.... - which is what I'd do if in that situation.

[Mikel1733]

 

From all the post I have read on Cruise Critic, shipboard weddings are rushed, not well co-ordinated and just a plain rip-off.:(

 

 

.

 

My daughters wedding was on the Valor in 2005 and was handled absolutely perfectly. It actually went beyond what we expected. Everyone who traveled with the wedding party was very impressed with how organized it was. And rather than being a one day affair the recognition from staff and passengers continued thoughout the whole week. Don't let this comment dissuade you from considering a ship board wedding.

[firefly333]

Sorry! I didn't mean to offend anyone that had a lovely experience. :o I have read a few horror stories on this very board about how a cruiseline royally messed up a passengers wedding. ;)

 

I read one horror story and the bride was pretty rigid, she said the wrong color flowers were there and then they never put up any kind of decorations in her cabin. The lack of cabin decorations really seemed to have her the most upset. She said she went 3 times to get them done and they never did do it. The bride probably has to flow with things a little if little things are not perfect. They might not be perfect on land either.

[MuffyKismet]

well that was an entertaining thread.

 

 

At first I thought "what , invitations 1 year ahead?" But certainly if planning a cruise with airline tickets and getting vacation time then that actually makes sense..........the "save this date" idea is a great one for folks that know many of the family and friends need to travel and get time off (I will have to remember that).

 

Honestly though, I understand you want you maid of honor with you on this very special day.........so , no big deal , just go ahead and change the date of the cruise, everyone has plenty of time to readjust any airline tickets/vacation time etc that they might need to take care of and then you will have everything just like you want it with everyone there you want! Am I missing something is there something significant about the original date that you would be against changing?

 

I had a huge disappointment when I booked a surprise cruise for my daughte's college graduation and then found out she was mistakenly sent an email letting her know all about "her new booking" , at first I was really really really upset but we leave Monday morning for the cruise and since I let go of that anger and disapointment we have had a blast planning for it togeather!! I do understand your immediate reaction though........but take my advice and roll with the punches and make the necessary changes and have a wonderful wedding and honeymoon! Good luck!;)

[ezjack1825]

What surprises me about this whole ordeal, is that you can make a reservation for an unborn baby! How can you do that without a name and date of birth?

 

 

Well, back last July while my wife was pregnant, we decided to go as a group cruise as a family (DW, myself, our unborn son, my parents, and my grandparents) - all 4 generations for the Thanksgiving 2008 cruise on the Splendor as part of a larger group when my son will be 14 months old. We had to have the deposits in by August 1 for the pricing. We knew the name, just not the birthdate. It ended up he was 2 weeks early in late August instead of September. We explained through thr TA that we had the name but couldn't provide a birthdate till he was born. They just added the birthday after he was born.

 

At first Carnival balked at it until we were on a three way call and I just asked them straight up if she was able to ask the baby when he was going to be born since we couldn't get him to tell us. She said that was ridiculous. I told her that was exactly my point. She found a way to put it in the system.

[halos]

I am not going to flame you....but is it okay to state that my head just exploded. I can just see someone asking me if I would mind having labor induced so that my child is purposely born before its time....so that I don't inconvenience their wedding date.

 

Thank you for expressing my feelings so well.

You were very nice. I would have definitely flamed...with a freaking blow torch.

 

The dumbest thing is to have your maid/matron have labor induced. That is probably the most selfish thing I have ever read. I can't believe someone would ask for that to be done. What world do you live in??????????

 

LOL!!

THERE!!

That was more like what I'd have posted..although still not AS bad.

[crystalblue0610]

I still can't believe 4 months was even the minimum for a while:eek: a 4 month old is basically just now learning to hold itself up. I'm not a supporter of infants at sea. Anything could happen and I wouldn't want to take that risk. I love cruising and I know I will cruise forever but I know when I have kids I will definitely wait until their at least walking on their own before I take them on a cruise. I can survive a year or 2 without cruising until their 1 or 2

 

OP, the situation does suck but could the wedding be moved to the next month perhaps or get married at the port before you sail and not actually "at sea"

[ShedQueen77]

A lot depends on how you are "doing" the wedding. If you are getting married in the embarkation port, you can have non-sailing guests. I know that you probably wanted your MOH to cruise with you and that it would be disappointing for her to miss the cruise, but things happen. She'd at least get to be at the wedding and life is somewhat good.

 

If you are getting married ON THE SHIP in one of the ports along the way, now that's a different ball game. Non-sailing guests are not allowed to board the ship at foreign ports. If you are planning a wedding on-shore in one of the ports, perhaps she could fly to the destination and be there for that part? I don't know how much a new mother would be up to the trip, but it's a thought.

 

If you had planned on getting married on the ship in a foreign port, could you just change WHERE you are getting married to the embarkation port or off the ship on one of the islands? This way you don't have to change any invites or anything else.

 

We got married while on a cruise and I do have a lot of research and knowledge under my belt. I'm only hoping that I have thrown something out there that will help.

 

Please, please, PLEASE think twice about the suggestion of labor induction. As a mother of three; one who was born 9 weeks premature and the other who almost died at birth, this is NOT something you want a mother to mess around with. Even though neither was an induced labor, anyone with a grain of medical knowledge knows that the more time a baby has in the womb, the better off he/she is. Inducing labor can be a good thing when NEEDED, but not for a selfish reason like the convenience of being in a wedding or a vacation. :rolleyes:

 

I really don't think you'd even suggest that to your friend though. Most people wouldn't even consider such a ludicrous suggestion.

 

Also, don't even try to lie. You'll get caught. Lies always have a way of biting you in the butt.

 

If I can help in any way, please let me know! I hope everything works out for you.

[ChristiTunes]

OK, please don't flame me. I'm not necessarily recommending this course of action, but putting it out there as a possibility.

 

If a delivery two weeks earlier would put the baby at six months old come cruise time, she could just have the baby two weeks early.

 

People induce labor for all kinds of crazy reasons, and two weeks early is still within the window considered "full term" and healthy (though this would be for her doctor to decide, obviously, and not some random stranger on the 'net like me). She would, of course, have to be sure of her due date and be willing to go along with the plan.

 

Just a thought.

 

You are right; that thought ocurred to me as well, although I don't think I would suggest it. Elective inducements as well as elective epidurals and c-sections are becoming much more commonplace, but although anything past 36 weeks of gestation is generally "acceptable" it is not ideal.

[ChristiTunes]

I still can't believe 4 months was even the minimum for a while:eek: a 4 month old is basically just now learning to hold itself up. I'm not a supporter of infants at sea. Anything could happen and I wouldn't want to take that risk. I love cruising and I know I will cruise forever but I know when I have kids I will definitely wait until their at least walking on their own before I take them on a cruise. I can survive a year or 2 without cruising until their 1 or 2

 

OP, the situation does suck but could the wedding be moved to the next month perhaps or get married at the port before you sail and not actually "at sea"

 

This thread makes me think of a recent story where a family was traveling with a 7-month-old who got sick; they had to debark in Nassau to get treatment and fly home at their own expense, no travel insurance:eek: ...of course they went to the media with their story and RCCI fully refunded their cruise and then some; still, my first thought was OMG what were they doing traveling with such a little one?:confused:

[Chigirlcruzin]

It would be terrible customer service to turn away a mother who , as far as they know true or not, has been booked for nearly a year and who under no control of hers delivered her baby two weeks early. If the OP's SIL is not afraid to take matters into her own hands she'd be fine getting onboard. BUT that would only work if she believed (as I do) that carnival is in the wrong with trying to deny her and her baby boarding because of two weeks.

 

 

Your suggestion, I'm sorry, is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Regardless of when the MOH books, the baby would likely be 5 - 6 months old when sailing. Let's say the baby arrives right at the due date...the baby would be too young by 2 weeks. The baby would still be 5 1/2 months old...plenty of time to know the baby will be too young to sail well within the window before final payment to cancel without penalty. To show up knowingly breaking the rules and playing dumb at embarkation is just dumb. And two weeks is two weeks. They make an exception for this, they have to start saying 20-year-olds two weeks from their 21st birthday can sail, or you have 19-year-olds sailing with almost 25-year-olds. Who decides it's close enough?

[tiggerlover]

Is the wedding at sea? My dh's cousin and his wife had their wedding on the Conquest I think but it was prior to sailing because their families were not going on the cruise and were in attendance. This was just a year or so ago too.

Couldn't your friend come for the wedding with her family and then they could just have a family vacation in the port city so that they aren't just flying to be there for a few hours?

 

All this talk about fudging the age and asking someone to give birth early is a bit nuts for a wedding that is almost a year out.

 

 

This sounds like wonderful advice to me!:)

[vacruizer]

Your suggestion, I'm sorry, is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read. Regardless of when the MOH books, the baby would likely be 5 - 6 months old when sailing. Let's say the baby arrives right at the due date...the baby would be too young by 2 weeks. The baby would still be 5 1/2 months old...plenty of time to know the baby will be too young to sail well within the window before final payment to cancel without penalty. To show up knowingly breaking the rules and playing dumb at embarkation is just dumb. And two weeks is two weeks. They make an exception for this, they have to start saying 20-year-olds two weeks from their 21st birthday can sail, or you have 19-year-olds sailing with almost 25-year-olds. Who decides it's close enough?

 

Exactly. Businesses with rules like that have to pick a date (or a regulation) and stick to it. If they make an exception for one, and then don't for someone else - in today's sue-happy world people will sue for discrimination. Insurance also has to do with it - Carnival's liability insurance may only cover over 6 months old now and they cannot accept anyone younger for that reason.

 

I know that amusement park rides with the "you must be this tall to ride" designation are that way not just for safety - but you have to stick to the designation for non-discrimination and insurance reasons - even though you logically know that the kid who is only 1/2 an inch short is going to be safe. The cutoff has to be somewhere.

[AandBmom]

Okay so I just had to weigh in a couple of thoughts on this one.

 

First off, it's unfortunate that the OP was given incorrect info (or info that changed) in the first place, but that kind of stuff happens.

 

Carnival has it's age policy for many reasons and they can't start changing it by a week here, a week there, a month here, a month there, etc. or else where does it end.

 

I understand why the invitations are out already, some people need a lot of time to plan to attend a wedding of this magnitude (booking time off work, saving money, etc.) so it's a good idea to give lots of notice. Further you want them to book early before things fill up.

 

Your friend will have no way of knowing when her baby will be born until it's actually born so the earliest you will have an idea of the baby's actually date of birth will be about 5-6 months before sailing. Can she still book then? She could wait and see how the baby birth goes then book if the baby is born early and if the baby is born late either not attend or attend without the baby.

 

Having gotten recently married and also having been a bridesmaid both pregnant and shortly after giving birth I feel have quite a bit of experience in this area. As a bride I was fairly understanding about my bridesmaids/maid of honor and if one of them couldn't be involved because of pregnancy, newborn at home, whatever, I let them off the hook. I'm sure your friend wants to be involved and wants to support you but it sounds like she's not in the right place in her life right now - she's got other stuff going on and likely doesn't need this stress. I would have a heart to heart discussion with her and let her off the hook, she's probably feeling a lot of pressure. Have someone else stand in on the day of the wedding but reassure your friend that she would've been chosen if the situation were different.

 

That being said if it's really important for you and for her that she be there, can you change your date? Sure invitations are out, but has anyone booked yet? You could send a note to everyone with the update.

 

If your friend does end up coming I think that's pretty huge of her, I can't imagine cruising with a 4 year old and an infant - kill me now!!! Are you expecting too much of her?

[stellatj]

can your friend not find anyone to watch the baby while she goes.

i dont see her having any fun with a 4 month old on a cruise

and i do think 4 months old is to young anyway.