Calling AlabamaWorley and All Other Princess Alaska Brides

[NCFleur]

Hello Ladies!

 

Alabama, I'm calling on you specifically because you posted that you were getting married June 08 on Princess at sea.

 

I'm also looking for information from any other Princess Alaska brides because I think I'm not getting good information.

 

Our plan was a very simple, wedding at sea on an Alaska cruise. We specifically chose Princess because they claim to be the only line that offers weddings at sea. We chose this option because we thought it would be the easiest, most stress-free way to go. It's only going to be me and my fiance so we wanted something simple. And frankly, I didn't want to deal with a lot of planning. I could do a big wedding thing at home but the allure of the cruise wedding for me was I would have very little to deal with because I was paying a pre-planned package.

 

I ASSUMED that we could simply get married on the ship by the captain. (LOL--you know what they say about assuming!!) I'm working with a travel agent and about to book for May 09 and I get this email from her today. Direct quote:

 

I have called the wedding coordinator and there is room on the ship for your wedding. To be married by the captain you have to be in international waters. Because you will be in the Gulf of Alaska it will have to be a justice of the peace at one of the ports. The Wedding brochure only shows Juneau or Vancouver as options. The ship does have a chapel that she said would hold 40 people. (standing up) You could have the wedding on or off the ship which ever you prefer.

 

This is NOT what I wanted. I wanted to be married on the ship by the captain. I don't want to deal with finding a justice of the peace. That was going to be the whole beauty of this arrangement. Not a lot of hassles and details.

 

Please, please share your experience with this. Is is true you can't get married by the Captain on the ship?

 

What are ya'll doing regarding your officiant?

 

Any help would be gratefully appreciated! I'm about to lose my mind!! :eek:

[AlabamaWorley]

Wow, that is kind of scary. We are getting married At Sea the first day out. Perhaps since we are going from Vancouver to Whittier (vs. North to South) we will be in international waters that day.

 

I'm going to email both of the TWE persons I've dealt with so far Ginnett and Shondra to make sure I'm good to go. I know that ALLL of the paperwork I've filled out thus far were for a At Sea wedding, by the captain. I'll post my responses!

 

Hang in there!!!:p

[NCFleur]

Hey Alabama:

 

Thanks so much for the quick reply!! You rock!

 

Yup, it is scary because it sounds like we're taking the same itinerary as you!! We are planning to take the 7 day cruise traveling north from Vancouver to Whittier then taking the land cruise into Denali for 3 days. Is that the one you're taking? What ship are you on?

 

You're correct that Vancouver would be "international waters" since it's in Canada not USA. So you'd think we could do the wedding the first day while in Canadian water. That would make sense.

 

The other thing that crossed my mind is I wonder if another wedding already got booked on the first day of my cruise so the "international" day is already taken? If so, my hat's off to that bride cuz the itineraries only came out recently. She must have jumped on that date.

 

Perhaps this is my first bad encounter with TWE? I've heard such horror stories about them. Maybe my TA called and got a TWE rep that didn't know what she was talking about??!??

 

Please let me know what you find out from your TWE reps.

 

Have you had a good experience with your TWE reps, Ginnett and Shondra? Is it possible to request a specific TWE rep? If you've liked them and they haven't steered you wrong, I'd love to connect with them so I can make sure I'm working with reps that know what they're doing.

 

Thanks for the post. I'm feeling a little better but still freaked out about this. :eek:

[AlabamaWorley]

I'll let you know as soon as I hear back. I really haven't had many dealings with TWE so far, just sending in all the paperwork back when we booked last summer. I heard from Ginnett in Jan, I was missing a couple of forms and just last week from Shondra as I needed to get the confirmed guest list in. I originally worked with someone who is no longer there. I'm going to try to stick with Ginnett as she is the lead for the Princess weddings. ginette@theweddingexperience.com

 

I think they have 2-3 time slots on the At Sea day for weddings, I remember they gave me a choice and I picked 3:30p. I can't imagine this far out they are totally booked. I'm thinking maybe your TA got a misinformed rep. I'm not requesting anything special, just the standard At Sea package. The only things I've added is an extra bouquet and boutineer (sp?) and a larger cake. We are doing dinner at Sabatini's and we'll just cut the cake there and serve as desert. We aren't doing a real reception at all.

 

I'll let you know as soon as I hear back from Ginette!

[vannagreen]

Hi All...

 

I'm really interested to hear what happens with your situation...

I booked my wedding directly with TWE and picked a 2pm time on the Golden on the 1st day at sea... sailing from Seattle on a 7-day to Alaska. I am assuming we will be in international waters sailing from Seattle to Juneau as we had no problem booking...

 

I hope that as the time gets closer I don't hear that its not possible!

 

If I was in your situation I would contact TWE personally and talk to the person who is most experienced with Princess weddings... then ask the TA to contact Princess directly and find out from their on board coordinator....

 

Goodluck!

 

If worst comes to worst.... you can always get "legally" married right before you sail... but have the actually "wedding" on the ship, which is what Ive read others on this board have done...and would save $ too. Its not ideal..but it wouldn't have to ruin the beauty of a wedding at sea.

 

-Vanessa

 

PS.. I have a feeling that your TA might have misunderstood something though and you will be able to have the wedding at sea....it just might be that youll have to do it only at very specifc times...

[NCFleur]

Hey Vanessa:

 

Thanks for the positive thoughts! It's very helpful so I don't obsess on negatives until I really know what's going on. I'm looking forward to hearing what Alabama finds out, too. You're right, I need to just contact them myself and see what I can learn.

 

To further complicate things, I'd initially discussed one itinerary with my TA and now she's suggesting a different one. As far as I can tell, they're the same itinerary just different ships (First was Island now she's suggesting Coral.) I'm just getting confused all the way around. I've send her an email so perhaps that will clarify the situation.

 

thanks again for the positive thoughts!! :D

[AlabamaWorley]

Okay, I heard back from Ginette, here was her response:

Hi Wendi,

The bride is wrong. The Captain will do your wedding at sea. The worse that can happen is that the ship may not be in international waters at the time that your ceremony is scheduled for and the ceremony time will have to be moved. This is not common, but if it were to happen, you will get married on the same day, by the Captain. Please let me know if I can be of further help.

Regards,

Ginette de Villiers Regalado

Supervisor

Princess Weddings

1-866-444-8820

 

 

So it appears that for the Vancouver to Whittier, 7 day, at least..the At Sea wedding is good to go. It is the day after disembarkation, the 1st day at sea. I've been working directly with TWE rather than my TA, just seemed to eliminate a middle man. TWE will need your signature on a zillion forms and there's several options to pick..ie. Cake, music, colors etc, even for the basic AT SEA ceremony. My TA did make our group cabin reservations (we got a discount based on the number of cabins we have booked) and is working directly with Princess' Group booking dept. to make arrangements for a Welcome Cocktail hour. If I had also worked with TWE for that part, they wouldn't have been able to confirm till 30 days prior and the prices seemed higher.

 

GOOD LUCK, hope this helps!!!

btw, we picked this itenary since it was late enough to be warm but not to close to interfere with school (kids go back 8/5) Depending on if you go Northbound or Southbound, make sure you TA reserves a cabin on the side of the ship that will be facing the coast:D

[NCFleur]

Okay, I heard back from Ginette, here was her response:

Hi Wendi,

 

The bride is wrong.

 

Hey Alabama:

 

I have never been so happy to be wrong in my whole life!! LOL!!!!:D

 

You are such a doll to check this out and share the info. I'm feeling sooooo much better.

 

Thanks bunches!!!!

[vannagreen]

thank goodness!

 

Im looking forward to seeing both of your (hopefully great) reviews when you get back... my wedding is over a year away still...but i can't wait to be having it on deck the way to Alaska!

[AlabamaWorley]

thank goodness!

 

Im looking forward to seeing both of your (hopefully great) reviews when you get back... my wedding is over a year away still...but i can't wait to be having it on deck the way to Alaska!

 

I was originally thinking of doing it on deck, but I was told by a few that on the day we are at sea, you are really AT sea, pretty far out and there isn't anything to look at but water. If there had been some sort of pretty scenery in the background, I would have been more interested in the deck location. HOWEVER, we have 30 people sailing and I understand that might be too many for the chapel, SO if they want to put me in a bar or something, I'll certainly prefer a deck location. I'll keep you posted on where we end up!!

[vannagreen]

I'll keep you posted on where we end up!!

 

Ill keep my fingers crossed! I actually got a great photo of a deck ceremony from another princess bride ...beautiful ceremony location that was in a more protected area.... I think it was on deck 15... 2 levels above the aft pool area, but more closed in...covered...and against a glass wall on one side so you still get the view... might be a good spot for any alaska brides that know the weather might not be so great!

[NCFleur]

Hey Alaska Brides:

 

Thanks so much for all your support and great information. We did sort out the situation--bad information provided by Princess rep was the culprit. YES, you can get married on the ship on a day at sea. Depending on the ship/itinerary it would be the first day or the last full day. Thanks to Alabama for providing her contact. Shondra was lovely.

 

Sooooo......

 

After all that, we're probably not going to get married at sea!! :eek: The TWE rep sent the price sheet and I was really surprised at the cost. It's a great deal if you're having a more traditional wedding with attendants, guests, etc. But it's literally going to be me and FI. I thought there would be various "packages" to chose from--kinda like a Vegas style wedding plan and we could opt for one of the more simple packages.

 

When I told my FI it would cost $2,250 for the two of us to get married on board, he was shocked. Of course, being the wonderful person he is, his first reaction was "you've been talking about this for a long time. I don't want you to have any regrets." Maybe I'm just too practical for my own good and I'm killing all the romance but I'm really leaning towards a simple civil ceremony before we leave for Alaska. My FI likes to call himself "the cheapest man in the world" so he keeps joking that he is rubbing off on me. I think he's enjoying this a little too much!!

 

But, hey, think of all the fun we can have with that $2,250!! ;)

[redtraveler6]

Sounds like you got all your answers, but I can chime in with we are getting married one week from TODAY on the Star Princess at Sea out of Seattle on the way to Ketchikan. I worked directly with TWE people and had a good experience. I'll post pics! :)