Cruise?

[pamk14]

 

 

Morning Everyone!!

 

I'm thinkin of taking a week long cruise, and get marry on the island at the port....Has anyone done this? Need some ideas....Thanks.

[Christine]

that sounds like fun, I think you would want to take a week long cruise to do this. I am sure there are some articles/reviews on tripadvisor.

[MsShelley]

that does sound fun, and then you can get back on the boat and party...

[Heidi]

I have a good friend who did this. If you have any questions, I can send them her way and get some answers for you! She LOVED it!

[LCBride2007]

a friend of mine is doing this in Feb. 09 - she's getting married in St. Thomas, the last port, and then just staying there for her honeymoon. i can't wait!

[LadyP]

st thomas weddings, st thomas wedding, st thomas wedding packages, us virgin island weddings specializes in planning weddings just for this. Contact Angela.

 

I am a St Thomas bride and have found Angela to be the best.

[Jenn79]

Hello pamk14

 

This was actually how we did our wedding. We chose Bermuda as our port, and planned our wedding through the cruise line's wedding company. A word of advice, look into coordinator's at your port, rather than use the cruiseline's company. Their customer service isn't always up to par, and I know I'm only one bride out of thousands, but it can feel at times like they don't really care. At least that was my experience with the woman we worked with. If you want a good resource, Cruise reviews, message boards, bargains, cruise information - CruiseCritic.com has a Honeymoon & Weddings forum that you can browse through for more information. (Honeymoon & Wedding Cruises - Cruise Critic Message Boards)

 

We did have an amazing wedding, but this was due to an island company called The Bermuda Wedding Salon. The cruise company subcontracts out to them due to Bermuda law, and they are the reason our wedding turned out as well as it did. The woman in charge (Barbara Whitecross) is extremely professional, and gets right down to the details. She wants your wedding to turn out well, and she wants you to get what you pay for.

 

I have a review of my wedding here on these boards, but if you have any other questions please let me know, I'll answer them as best I can.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[tiannamalia]

 

I'm thinking about a cruise too. My ideas were to take a five day cruise. It's cheeper and you don't have to deal with the family for too long after your married. (You need some alone time!) I have also heard from family members that if they are going to spend time and money to go on a vacation wedding with us that they want to have an actual vacation and not some little quick thing like a 2, 3 or even a 4 day cruise. I guess if they are going to travel away, they want to get a trip out of it. ( But do what you want. It's your wedding and that is what everyone is there for anyways)

 

I wanted to have at least three ports of call. the first port people can go do what ever off board activities they want to do, the second port I wanted to arrange a group activity for everyone or at least for the close family and bridal party. The last port! The wedding and reception. I found most cruise lines offer a reception with an open bar for extra money. Try looking into that if you want to treat your guests to a reception. If I choose just two ports. I will spend the first port doing an orginized activity and hopefully there will still be time for everyone to enjoy an activity of their choice as well.

 

I also wanted to look into putting a gift basket in all my guest's staterooms. I'm not sure what the cruise would let me bring on the boat or how that would work. I would have to look into it but I would like to create an itinerary to go in the basket. I would add to the ships itinerary any extra orginized events I was planning such as dinners or activities so that people are aware of what is going to happen on their trip. Also, I was planning to put a thank you card in the basket as well.

 

Finally, my concern after I am married is that I will want the HM to start right away and the idea of running into family and friends after the reception will not be cool. So to deal with this situation I decided to get married at the last port because you'll usually only have one full day left with your famly milling around before you return to port. After the crusie I want to ship everyone home and stay in the port for a few days before flying home, as a mini HM. I was looking into Mami, FL for that. South Beach!

 

Hope this helps. I'm sure your wedding will be perfect any way you do it.

 

Tianna

[ajncooter]

great idea! please let me know if i can help in anyway.. i used to work on cruise ships for about 7 years...

[TA Dina]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiannamalia I'm thinking about a cruise too. My ideas were to take a five day cruise. It's cheeper and you don't have to deal with the family for too long after your married. (You need some alone time!) I have also heard from family members that if they are going to spend time and money to go on a vacation wedding with us that they want to have an actual vacation and not some little quick thing like a 2, 3 or even a 4 day cruise. I guess if they are going to travel away, they want to get a trip out of it. ( But do what you want. It's your wedding and that is what everyone is there for anyways) I wanted to have at least three ports of call. the first port people can go do what ever off board activities they want to do, the second port I wanted to arrange a group activity for everyone or at least for the close family and bridal party. The last port! The wedding and reception. I found most cruise lines offer a reception with an open bar for extra money. Try looking into that if you want to treat your guests to a reception. If I choose just two ports. I will spend the first port doing an orginized activity and hopefully there will still be time for everyone to enjoy an activity of their choice as well. I also wanted to look into putting a gift basket in all my guest's staterooms. I'm not sure what the cruise would let me bring on the boat or how that would work. I would have to look into it but I would like to create an itinerary to go in the basket. I would add to the ships itinerary any extra orginized events I was planning such as dinners or activities so that people are aware of what is going to happen on their trip. Also, I was planning to put a thank you card in the basket as well. Finally, my concern after I am married is that I will want the HM to start right away and the idea of running into family and friends after the reception will not be cool. So to deal with this situation I decided to get married at the last port because you'll usually only have one full day left with your famly milling around before you return to port. After the crusie I want to ship everyone home and stay in the port for a few days before flying home, as a mini HM. I was looking into Mami, FL for that. South Beach! Hope this helps. I'm sure your wedding will be perfect any way you do it. Tianna

Tianna,

Sounds like a good plan. Here's a thought for the HM part of the trip....when you are planning out cabins, put your guests all in one area of the ship, and then you and your sweetie pick a cabin wayyyy at the other end of the ship. Depending on which ship you choose, some of them are so big you could go a week and never see each other. LOL

Another consideration, is many cruise ship weddings take place BEFORE the ship actually leaves port. So friends and family not cruising can get a day pass and still attend, and you have a small reception right afterwards, and then for everyone who is sailing with you, the party just continues.

You should also have no problem (depending on the size of your group) planning things like cocktail parties and stuff. The cruise lines are pretty accomodating when it comes to that. As for baskets, just put all the stuff in your bags somewhere and assemble them once on board. If not, let the cruise line know ahead of time you're bringing x amount of made-up baskets with you, and it shouldn't be an issue. Also coordinate with them to have them delivered to the rooms whenever you want.

Another thought for cruise brides...Princess cruise lines is the only line that allows weddings at sea. So no need to wait for port days.

Dina