Just booked our cruise wedding!!

[AshleyW]

Guys, I am SO excited, I just had to share!!

 

The fiance & I just booked our wedding through Carnival. We'll be sailing May 5,2012 on the Paradise out of Tampa. It's a 5 day cruise with stops in Cozumel and Grand Cayman. The wedding will be on embarkation day. We decided on the Welcome Aboard package, which is the 1 hour reception with appetizers & open bar. 

 

Just wondered if anyone has any experience with the Paradise or the Carnival folks in Tampa? I'm crossing my fingers everything goes smoothly, but I'm a bit of a worrier.  We're hoping to book the DJ for the reception, but then we'd have to have our reception in the disco, and the pictures on the Paradise look a little ugly.. gold animal print.

 

Also, how has everyone's photography experience been? That's the main thing I'm worried about, I think. I just want to make sure I'm going to have some nice pictures to remember everything by.

 

Thanks, ladies, for any advice or experiences you can share!!

[beachbride09]

Congratulations!

 

I had my wedding at Grand Cayman (we eloped).  When we were at the cruise terminal in FL there was another bride getting married before the cruise left and from what I saw, the cruise line was on top of everything.

 

I'm working on a vow renewal (not until 2014)!

[acireta]

Hi Ashley,

 

I've heard nothing but good things about the ship photographers! On my last few cruises, all of our pics turned out beautifully (not weddings, just portraits).

 

You'll probably have to stay on top of Carnival constantly with phone calls and emails to get answers. TWE isn't the most responsive company - damn cruise wedding monopoly! LOL

 

Good luck with all your planning!

[AshleyW]

 

Originally Posted by acireta 

Hi Ashley,

 

I've heard nothing but good things about the ship photographers! On my last few cruises, all of our pics turned out beautifully (not weddings, just portraits).

 

You'll probably have to stay on top of Carnival constantly with phone calls and emails to get answers. TWE isn't the most responsive company - damn cruise wedding monopoly! LOL

 

Good luck with all your planning!

Good to hear about the photographers, thanks!

 

That's kind of what I've heard about TWE..  they told me that my wedding planner would contact me within a week of booking our package, and it's been two weeks and I haven't heard anything yet. I'll probably call in a couple days if I haven't heard anything... at this point, it's still pretty far out, so I'm not too concerned.

 

[tresjolie92]

Hello~  I just saw your post and noticed that you are getting married on the same ship as I am just one week prior!!  Except our cruise only makes the one stop in Cozumel, and that's where we'll be holding our wedding at the melia cozumel hotel:-)  I initially wanted to hold the ceremony on the beach in Cozumel and the reception on board, but then we found out that it was a requirement to have the lunch for the guest if you hold the ceremony there, so we figure, what the heck, might as well just do the reception there too!  And then come back on board in the evening and continue the party;-D

 

It's nice that someone is getting married aboard the same ship...

 

Liza

[Ecofrugal]

I've been on Paradise twice this year, actually!  It's an OK ship.  Older, small, kind of an odd layout (you have to go through the front theater to get to the Serenity Adults-Only Area or go up/down 3 flights of stairs).  It's also very yellow and the club decors are... interesting!  But it sounds like your ports are a lot more interesting then ours were (just Ensenada) and I'm sure you'll have a great time!  And I had no clue that Paradise moved to the east coast.  I wonder what's leaving out of LA these days...

[Ecofrugal]

Oh, as far as photographers go, all of the cruise weddings I've been to have hired their own photographers from outside.  I hear the actual photographers on the ships are great, but they over charge for prints and only print your images on cheap paper using their less-than-accurate printers.  As a photo junkie myself I wouldn't like that.  So we are hiring and bringing our own photographer with us on the cruise.  It's going to end up being MUCH cheaper then using their photographers because all we have to pay for is her cruise, flight, and a small fee on top of that.  About $1500 and we get all of our digital negatives.

[AshleyW]

 

 

Originally Posted by tresjolie92 

 

Hello~  I just saw your post and noticed that you are getting married on the same ship as I am just one week prior!!  Except our cruise only makes the one stop in Cozumel, and that's where we'll be holding our wedding at the melia cozumel hotel:-)  I initially wanted to hold the ceremony on the beach in Cozumel and the reception on board, but then we found out that it was a requirement to have the lunch for the guest if you hold the ceremony there, so we figure, what the heck, might as well just do the reception there too!  And then come back on board in the evening and continue the party;-D

 

It's nice that someone is getting married aboard the same ship...

 

Liza

 

 

YAY another Paradise bride!! Too funny that our weddings are so close together.  We thought about doing our wedding at one of the port stops, but it absolutely terrifies me that there would be bad weather or something and wouldn't be able to make port.  I've heard some mixed reviews on the Carnival Paradise, too, because it's kind of an older ship, so I'm hoping everything turns out okay. I'm sure most people will be having way too much fun (and drinking way too much!) to notice too much, anyway.

[lovepea]

The Paradise is a pretty nice ship.  It is older, but it has a lot of pretty areas on it.  I think the most ugly part is actually the passenger cabins! 

 

Right now, it's doing cruises out of California, that's where I've been on it and loved it. 

 

 

[ericka417]

I went on that ship last year for my birthday and we had a great time.  The Tampa port is a good one.  It is well organized and pretty quick.  The decorations can be a little 1980's but you can have some great shots there so dont worry about picture opportunities