Review: Bermuda Wedding at Coco Reef Resort via EOS

[bermuda09]

Hello ladies! I just got back this past Thursday from my wedding at the Coco Reef Resort on Bermuda via EOS. We had a fantastic wedding day and I am extremely happy that we decided to do a destination wedding. I am going to try to give a breakdown of the cruise and the wedding day. This is going to be long, so bear with me...

 

We left on Saturday, July 4th. We live by the Jersey shore and we took a limo to Bayonne. We arrived there around 11:45. The check-in process was very quick. In fact, we were on the top deck having a drink at the bar by 12:30. We also had no problems carrying all of the stuff for our OOT bags right on board-including all 34 water bottles. We went up to the Windjammer and told our party to meet us there. By 1:30 we had seen everyone and our room was available. My sisters, mom, his sister and I put together the OOT bags and the girls delivered them to the rooms. We were all on the top deck for sailaway. The seas were not rough at all that night.

 

Day 2 July 5: The next day was mainly spent on the pool deck. It wasn't sunny until around 3, but that still didn't stop anyone from trying to lay out. In fact, even though it wasn't sunny, people still managed to burn. We enjoyed watching the bellyflop contest by the pool. That night was also formal night. We also went to the club and the casino. The dj from the club wasn't that good, and the club wasn't that busy. However, this did not stop us from having a good time. In fact, the club stayed open for us, because our group of 6 danced until 2:30 before we decided to finally leave.

 

Day 3 (July 6) Bermuda: Originally, the weather had called for the first day on Bermuda to be not as nice as the next. Not surprisinly, the forcast was incorrect- which was to our benefit. The men all went to play golf at the Fairmont Southampton. They all had an awesome time, claiming that the golf course was the nicest anyone had ever played at. All of the girls went into Hamilton to shop and then took the bus over to Horseshoe Bay. I have been to Horseshoe Bay twice before, but each time I am reminded just how gorgeous it is. The temperatures were well into the 80s and in looking at the review of the weather when we came home, I found that so far, July 6 had been the hottest day of the year on Bermuda. The water temps were in the 70s, and it was very nice. The only bad thing is that I lost my Chanel sunglasses to a huge wave. I was pissed, but it was my fault for keeping them on in the water. We stayed at the beach until almost 5:00 before heading back for dinner. The dining room wasn't as busy this night because most people were off on Bermuda doing their own thing. Many people from my party went to the dockyard festival (only Monday nights in the summer). Those who went said it wasn't that great. There was also a huge buffet set up on the top deck at 11:00 that night. Exhausted from sleeping only 3 hrs the night before and not wanting to look tired on my wedding day, went to bed at 10:45. Many of the other guests in my party enjoyed the food on the top deck and spent time in the hottub.

 

Wedding Day! July 7, Bermuda: I woke up at 7:45 and met up with my mom. We headed to the salon to get our hair done. I was a little anxious about this because I have only gotten my hair styled by the same woman for the last 8 years. I rememer reading on these boards that Maria is excellent. Well, she was there that day and she did my hair. If you need to have your hair done in the next month on the EOS, please request her. (She leaves in September to work at a resort in Scotland). My hair looked fantastic after she finished.

 

The next hour and a half is like a huge blur. I ran around handing my girls out their presents (jewlery), trying to contact Coco Reef to see if I could get dressed there (the weather looked like it was going to rain) and trying to put my makeup on. My fiance and I were in the same room getting ready. However, he did not see me in my dress until I was walking down the aisle. We were scheduled to all meet outside the ship for our pre-paid transportation (bus) to Coco Reef at 10:45. Well, at 10:25 the massive dark cloud that I had been worried about all morning finally was over the dockyard. There was a huge downpour for about 15 minutes. I almost died. I was hoping that this was just one big passing storm, and that on the other side of the island, it was clear.

 

Luckily, by 10:45 the storm had passed. It was still windy, but it was no longer raining. My party boarded the bus and we headed over to Coco Reef. It took approximately 40 minutes to get over there.

 

Once there, I met Jude, my wedding coordinator. I had met her the previous year when my Husband and I went to visit the resort to see if we wanted the wedding there. Let me just say that she is nothing short of excellent. She would answer my emails within a day, if not sooner. She also had to work around the weather that morning moving the ceremony first from the lawn to the terrace to the inside of the resort than back onto the lawn once the weather was clear again. The set up was also exactly how I wanted everything. She was calm and collected and helped set up our last minute things the second we arrived. She also let me borrow a hotel room for 10 minutes to put my dress on. By this point, the weather was partly cloudy, some breaks of sun, and wind. The storm had officially passed- there was actually blue skies!

 

The ceremony began promptly at 12:00. Dwayne Simmons was our pastor and everyone thought he was very good. The ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. Also, we hired a photographer- James Tavares. He often works with wedding at Coco Reef and I was able to look at his work online before booking him. At first, we weren't going to have a photographer. Our friend, who joined us on the cruise is a professional video editor, and he agreed to film the ceremony. However, after speaking with him, he suggested that I get one. I am so glad that we did. Yes, my family took about 600 pictures of the day; but in the only 2 pictures that James already has up on his flickr acount of us, I can see just how good his work is. I cannot wait to see more of the professional pics.

 

James moved the whole wedding party down to the beach. Our guests went up to the terrace for cocktails and canapes. He proceeeded to take many many shots of us and the wedding party. Some of our family members also hung around and took the same pics. James was a great photographer to work with. I also must point out that there was almost no one down at the beach- which was Elbow beach. Perhaps it was a combination that the weather had been bad that morning and that it was a Tuesday. Whatever the reason, it was almost as if we had the entire beach to ourselves. After we finished at the beach, we headed back up to the terrace where the rest of our guests were. We did more photos on the terrace by the pool of our parents, grandparents, and all the guests. Since we had only paid James for one hour, he had to leave (although, he did stay for an extra 10 minutes to get the last few shots in). We then all gathered under the terrace and ate, drank, and took many more photos. We also had a steel drummer and he played very well.

 

My husband, his brother and his best friend- the best man- (all in the wedding party) thought it would be a great idea to jump into the pool. Luckily, my brother-in-law gave his pants (which werent as expensive as my husband's suit pants) to my husband to jump in the pool with. (yes, that means that my BIL went in the pool in only his boxers- and oh yes, they were white). As if that wasn't funny enough, my father in law stripped down to his underwear and jumped in. This was followed by my father jumping in to the pool (at least he kept his pants on!). Jude and the workers at Coco Reef stood along side of me and laughed. I asked if this has ever happened before. She said it had been a few years, but people had done this. Almost immediately, one of the workers ran over and got them all towels. Everyone could not believe that the five of them had done this.

 

After that crazyness, we realized that we never did the sand ceremony during the actual ceremony. Thus, we set it up on the terrace and conducted it then. We stayed at Coco Reef until 3:00, when the transportation was to bring us back to the ship. After thanking Jude, finalizing the bill and taking two quick shots at the bar with my husband, we left Coco Reef on the bus with all of our guests. Our busdriver was even fantastic. He bought us a bottle of Swizzle rum (which we have decided to save) and stopped for a photo op on the side of the road by Warwick Long Bay. This was very nice, because it actually was the beach where we got engaged.

 

That night was our scheduled dinner at Portofinos. Somehow my travel agent (after literally 9 months of me reminding her and her calling Royal Caribbean) was able to book a party of 34. My only complaint of the night was that after speaking to the dining coordinator the day we got on the boat about having the whole back of the restaurant to ourselves, he had us all broken up. There was a brief argument, but my dad told him to "make it work" and they did. We did have a pre-set dinner menu, but it was delicious. Unfortunately, after we left Bermuda, the seas were very rocky, and I could not eat anymore food b/c it was making me (and my sisters) sick. There was supposed to be a party on the top deck at the solarium that night, but it was pouring out so it got cancelled. We basically spent the rest of the night in the casino, walking around, at bars, etc.

 

Wednesay July 8- I was basically exhausted today-especially since everyone hung out until 4:30 in the morning and I was up at 9:30. It was another gorgous day and I spent it on the pool deck with my family.

 

Now, to actually speak of the EOS....I have cruised only with Princess before. They are similar in that they are usually grouped in the same 'bracket'. Here is what I liked about the EOS:

 

Getting on/ off the ship was very easy

the food was good

there was a lot of activities to do on the ship

the aft room we had was very nice

the royal promenade was gorgeous

there were more pools/hot tubs

 

 

Here is what I was disappointed in:

The dining services were always awful. First night, I seriously waited 45 minutes for a diet coke. I actually got up to complain to the head watier, and still, nothing. Another night, I tried ordering a jack and coke for my husband from the drink lady and she ignored me. When I finally got her to come around again 20 minutes later; she tried arguing with me, telling me that I never originally ordered from her. Another night, my dad ordered wine for our two tables. My parents table was served wine and we waited for 30 minutes. Finally, I got up, found glasses and served my table wine. The wait staff also would take away dishes w/out asking if people were done with them. We also tried eating at Johnny Rockets b/c everyone in our family who ate there told us it was good. However, for some reason, when a group of us went, it was like the kitchen basically shut down. After waiting 45 minutes for a hamburger, I got up and left. The rest of the party stayed behind and waited another 20 minutes to finally be served. They actually wanted my husband to pay for mine, even though 1. I wasn't even there and 2. when he told them to cancel the order it still wasn't made. I also had the previously mentioned problem at Portofinos in addition to another one- at the end of dinner they told me that they needed the cruise card of one of the couples b/c we had more people in our party than what we said. Clearly, the man did not count, b/c we, of course had 34, not 35. He did, still try to argue with me. I have eaten at many nice restaurants and have been on 3 cruises in the past. You should never argue with a guest and should never make anyone wait 45 minutes for anything. Also, I must point out that b/c our families ate at different times- 6 and 8:30, we ate with each of them on different nights. Thus, it wasn't just one particular server it was many.

 

Realistically, my concerns were minimal. The day I cared about the most was of course the wedding day. I could not have asked for a more perfect day! If you are thinking about doing a wedding on Bermuda, please look into the Coco Reef Resort. Jude and her staff are absolutely wonderful! I would do this all again in a heartbeat if I knew that she would be there to help me and my husband.

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/250956/

Go to Travis's flickr page. Not the top left photo, but the photo of us on the rocks and of my whole wedding party jumping are up there. Once I get all the photos, I will re-post. I will also try to answer any questions!

[Cattie]

I'm so happy everything was as planned for you! I can't wait to see more pics. Bermuda is such a beautiful island. We're already planning on going back for our 5th anniversary!!!

[JerseyGrl]

Congrats! I can't believe you are married already. I remember discussing our wedding months ago. Mine is just 3 weeks away. I am glad you had a great wedding and the weather held out. If you have pictures you are willing to share- please email me suse8781@aol.com.

[kcspaz14]

This thread is amazing. My Fiance and I are looking to do something very similar to this. Bermuda09, do you have a way for me to contact you for some additional information and questions? My e-mail address is kcspaz14@aol.com.

 

Thanks!

[merocket59]

Congrats!!!! It sounds like everything went really well overall and the pictures are beautiful!!!!!