New Bride to Be - with questions!

[laycj18]

Hello all! I've been on CC for a while but now I find myself starting to plan a cruise wedding. First we were trying to decide between a resort and a cruise...I was pulling for a resort FI was pulling for a cruise. So, of course, we went with the resort. HOWEVER - now everyone in pregnant! Not me...but my brother FI, and 2 of my cousins.....and I think that a cruise will be more of a family atmosphere for my guests that will be traveling with children. AND we got engaged on a cruise after all so why not a cruise wedding? :D

 

Now questions:

-Was it more of a big deal to you to have the perfect ship or itinary?

-I am BIG on having PERFECT photos - did anyone bring their own photographer? Is this allowed?

-How did you choose which line you went with?

-Did you use the group booking options with your line? How was that? Were there perks (other than the price break)?

 

OMG - it seems like I have more questions than that - but I can't think of any, of course! LOL

[Slippinx12]

For me, I made a list of all the different cruise lines and their ups and downs. I doubt everyone did this and I still question my decision sometimes but it worked at the time.

 

I really wanted to get married on deck and not inside, and we knew we wanted to go to the caribbean. We also knew we didn't want carnival since i went on that as a kid and didn't want to be surrounded by young kids. we wanted a 5 night trip so that people would only have to take 1 week off of work and we wanted something that was more than 3- 4 nights.

 

I also heard really good things about celebrity although i had never been on a celebrity cruise. I have been on royal caribbean, princess, carnival, disney and ncl in the past.

 

we choose our dates based on prices. i picked the cheapest dates of the year so that more of our friends would be able to go- we also picked january because airfare and hotels tend to be cheaper in that month, and it's not hurricane season. i wasn't really worried about the ship, and we ended up with an older ship that was refurbished five years ago- i am hoping that is not an issue. it would have been nice to be on a newer ship, but that wasn't something i thought about much in my planning stages.

 

here was our analysis:

 

- Royal Caribbean does not do weddings on the deck.

- Princess cruises only offers 7 day or more itineraries for the Caribbean

- Windstar is not what i am looking for. too small.

- Carnival is too kid friendly for Jared’s taste.

- Regent doesn't do onboard weddings.

- Disney cruises are more expensive and I don't like the 5 day Caribbean itinerary.

- NCL offers 5 day cruises but does not do deck weddings

 

For the photography, you are technically not allowed to bring your own, but if you are willing to pay for the photographer as a guest and just don't tell them that he's a professional, it should be fine. My brother has experience as a professional and he's coming and taking pictures on top of the ship's photographer.

 

I kind of wish we did a princess at sea wedding (celebrity does them now, too, but it was too late for us to book that- we already booked our wedding for the embarkation day), but then one of our groomsmen and other friends couldn't be there. I also sometimes wish we did a wedding on the beach at one of the ports- but again, i considered that too late.

 

Just make sure you think about what you want before you commit. i think i may have rushed into the whole thing even though i tried to be prepared. a lot of things are out of my control and i can't have a lot of the things that you would have at a normal wedding- but then again, it is a lot cheaper and is still going to be a blast. I am just crossing my fingers it will look nice.

 

I didn't do group booking options with my line- they wouldn't let me. I had to do it through a travel agent, and as a thank you gift, they gave me a mimosa reception for all my ladies, which is really nice!

[ShedQueen77]

-Was it more of a big deal to you to have the perfect ship or itinary?

 

It was more important to me to have the right itinerary. I started my search by researching the ports, looking at photos, marriage requirements, etc... Then I found ships that went to where we wanted to be married (we married in Barbados...today is actually our 1st anniversary!) and went from there.

 

-I am BIG on having PERFECT photos - did anyone bring their own photographer? Is this allowed?

 

Allowed? Technically no. However, like others have mentioned, who's to know unless you advertise it? lol We got married on shore using a local coordinator and our pictures were fabulous. Don't be too quick to discount the photographer they provide. Included in our wedding package was the cost of the photographer AND 40 5x7 prints with a CD and copyright release.

 

-How did you choose which line you went with?

 

Price mainly. ;) We went to 6 ports in 7 days so the ship wasn't going to be a big deciding factor for us, because we were never really ON it much!

 

-Did you use the group booking options with your line? How was that? Were there perks (other than the price break)?

 

We went by ourselves, so I can't help there. Sorry!

[Cattie]

-Was it more of a big deal to you to have the perfect ship or itinerary?

 

For us deciding on a ship was a no brainer. We're going on the only RCCL ship out of NJ. Port location and price where more of a factor then anything. This way we could have as many guests as possible with us. We've never even been to Bermuda! And that's where we're getting married! My mother saw a wedding there previously, and said it was beautiful, so I trust her judgment!!

 

-I am BIG on having PERFECT photos - did anyone bring their own photographer? Is this allowed?

 

I'm using the professional photographer that my wedding planner has. However a friend that is traveling with us went to school for photography, so he will be doing alot of my photo's on the ship besides the ones he takes at the wedding.

 

-How did you choose which line you went with?

 

We used RCCL last year and really liked the line, so we'd like to stay with them since we joined there rewards program.

 

-Did you use the group booking options with your line? How was that? Were there perks (other than the price break)?

 

We're using the group booking. It's not bad. The only bad part seems to me is that they're only open Mon - Fri 9-6. So for a person who works nights its a little rough. We aren't getting a true price break, however we get GAP points (group amenity points) based on how many rooms are booked. So far with the 8 rooms we have booked, we're using the gap points for a $50 room credit for each cabin.

 

Also for every 8 rooms, you get a free berth. Which means basically, you get a free person minus taxes and port charges. For us, since we have mostly balconies booked it is $839. Since between my parents and us, we have 3 rooms booked, we're spliting the credit. which seems to work out well for us =)

 

Hope this helps!! And good luck with planning!!

[coasterfreak]

Hello all! I've been on CC for a while but now I find myself starting to plan a cruise wedding. First we were trying to decide between a resort and a cruise...I was pulling for a resort FI was pulling for a cruise. So, of course, we went with the resort. HOWEVER - now everyone in pregnant! Not me...but my brother FI, and 2 of my cousins.....and I think that a cruise will be more of a family atmosphere for my guests that will be traveling with children. AND we got engaged on a cruise after all so why not a cruise wedding? :D

 

Now questions:

-Was it more of a big deal to you to have the perfect ship or itinary?

-I am BIG on having PERFECT photos - did anyone bring their own photographer? Is this allowed?

-How did you choose which line you went with?

-Did you use the group booking options with your line? How was that? Were there perks (other than the price break)?

 

OMG - it seems like I have more questions than that - but I can't think of any, of course! LOL

 

Welcome to the wedding boards! I would suggest reading through reviews and pictures of weddings posted on this site to help make your decision. It helped me a lot.

 

Here is how I made my decisions:

1) ship vs itinerary / cruiseline: We had the first week in January set aside for the wedding. We had decided to get married on the beach in St thomas and I made a spreadsheet of all the possible ships and itineraries (I was laid off at the time and had a lot of time on my hands). In order to avoid a caribbean holiday (extra fees to get married that day), we chose the Crown Princess. Depending on the age of the kids you may want to check out policies for that as well. I think on some lines kids under 3 might sail for free.

 

2) The photographer came with the wedding package. However, I was able to view the photographers work from pictures other brides have posted.

 

3) I talked to a few different travel agents and picked one based on how comfortable I felt with them and what they could offer for the group. We got a little bit of a price break, the free berths talked about above, and ammenity points to use towards things like shipboard credits, cocktail parties, etc.

 

Best of luck with the planning!

-Danielle

[fungirl76]

Just remember for all those that are expecting. Children must be at least 6 months old to cruise. For some itineraries, they must be a year.

[CSoul]

HOWEVER - now everyone in pregnant! Not me...but my brother FI, and 2 of my cousins.....

 

There are also restrictions on women travelling pregnant on cruises. I believe they cannot over 5 months or so. Not sure when you're planning your wedding for but something to consider.

 

Danielle

[ShedQueen77]

There are also restrictions on women travelling pregnant on cruises. I believe they cannot over 5 months or so. Not sure when you're planning your wedding for but something to consider.

 

Danielle

 

I know on Carnival it's 24 weeks.

 

http://www.carnival.com/CMS/Static_Templates/EMB_minor_pregnancy_policy.aspx

 

 

Pregnant women are only allowed to sail if pregnant for 24 completed weeks or less at time of cruise disembarkation. All pregnant women are required to produce a physician’s letter stating that mother and baby are in good health, fit to travel and the pregnancy is not high-risk. The letter must also include the estimated date of delivery (EDD).

[merocket59]

-Was it more of a big deal to you to have the perfect ship or itinary? Itinary and length of the cruise.

 

-I am BIG on having PERFECT photos - did anyone bring their own photographer? Is this allowed? Not allowed on most lines as far as I know.

 

-How did you choose which line you went with? Others I know like them for a fun and less expensive atmosphere which was important for me when thinking of asking others to spend money to come to my wedding.

 

-Did you use the group booking options with your line? How was that? Were there perks (other than the price break)? Didn't use group booking, probably should have.

 

Another tip, there is another forum I go on as well, best destination weddings, it may help you as well because there are people with cruise weddings and with resort weddings so you could ask questions about both, here is the link if you are interested: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/index.php?referrerid=5658