Royal Romance Sucks!

Do not book your wedding through Royal Romance!! They suck! They dont respond to email, they are not interested in trying to help you - they SUCK.

Every bad thing you read on this board about Royal Romance is true. If you want stress and in-flexibility - then the choice is Royal Romance!

Do NOT expect to get the same great service you get with Royal Caribbean when you use Royal Romance. Royal Romance is a contracted entity. RCCL doesnt seem to care that Royal Romance is desecrating the RCCL reputation.

You wont get a rehearsal - you WILL get a "walk through" 2 minutes prior to when you actually have to walk. You wont get prompt answers from Royal Romance, you WILL get ignored....

For all this stress I may as well ahve just done this on land......

I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience,especially with your wedding

We had the same problem and cancelled our onboard wedding. BEST thing we could have done. We had a BEAUTIFUL wedding onshore and enjoyed evey min of our honeymoon from the moment we got to the pier. GOOD LUCK! and cancel while you can.

Tim

I am heading off on Mariner of the Seas this Sunday with 2 other couples, one of whom is getting married and used this 'company' to book their wedding package (Royal Romance). They are getting married in Jamaica and have had a really hard time thus far with them as well. They plan on complaining after as they are concerned that they will 'sabotage' their wedding further. How sad that they hold such control over a special day like this:(

Maybe if enough people let RCI know how they feel they will do something about it.I would call as well as a written letter.

Is this the same if you are doing a Renewal of Vows?

My husband and I had a lovely wedding and since we are still getting compliments after nearly ten years I thought I'd share just in case it helps you.

We decided to kind of elope (because my little sister was heading off to the peace corps and I wanted to have my sis there). We planned everything in another state, in less than 6 weeks and because we kept it simple it was lovely.

We rented a big white tent from a party supply to use in my in-laws back yard. Hired caterers and invited close family and friends. We hired a judge to conduct the ceremony which turned out to be all of 7 minutes long (my father read the Apache wedding blessing-it's really nice). We decorated the tent strings with some silk flower garlands from a craft store. We had a really good band (we had an unfair advantage on that, they were my husbands friends) and we sent out another set of invitations inviting people to come at 8 for the "wedding party", so only close family and friends had dinner but anybody was welcome to the later party. It was very elegant but very relaxed. We each had only one attendant, and our flowers were kept simple. Our entire wedding was very affordable. The more simple you make it, the more likely it is to go well.

We then took a limo to our airport hotel to sleep a few minutes before we flew off for the honeymoon.

I hope your wedding works out beautifully for you!!!!

Best wishes.

Royal Caribbean does not care if you are having issues with Royal Romance (aka "The wedding experience" - and what an "experience" it is!!!)

Royal romance has contracted with Royal Caribbean and, from what I can tell, there is no one at Royal Caribbean whom can handle complaints about Royal romance - at least no one that Royal Caribbean will put me in touch with.

Everytime I ask for that person the answer I get from the RCCL customer service person is "I wouldnt know where to begin to try and figure out whom you could talk to about Royal Romance because there is no one in that position as far as I know"

I completely agree with another poster - I am REALLY concerned that Royal Romance will sabotage my wedding.

It is interesting that people would even think this but that shows you the level of unprofessional behavior that comes from the employees of Royal Romance/The Wedding Experience.

All I have to say is that you need to ask ALL your questions up front, before you give them any $$. And write everything they say down with the date and time and person you are speaking with.

Basically, once you put a deposit down you agree that, should you cancel, they get to keep part of it. Not to mention that, once you have your group booked, the idea of cancelling everything and 'eating' the non refundable part of the deposit seems miniscule in comparison to coordinating everybody cancelling.

Be wary too....they wont tell you things like 'you wont have a reception if another, bigger, RR/TWE party books and pays first - they will make it seem like everything is "no problem".

if I could do it all again I would come here FIRST and read up about royal romance and use the other company who does onboard ceremonies and go with the other cruise line. from what I have read, it does cost a bit more, but I would gladly pay extra to not have to deal with all this additional and unneccisary stress....

So cancel your wedding and do it on a beach in the town you are sailing from. There are some great beach properties and hotels in most of the embarkation cities. I think your pictures from the beach will be far more beautiful than on a ship.

jc

So cancel your wedding and do it on a beach in the town you are sailing from. There are some great beach properties and hotels in most of the embarkation cities. I think your pictures from the beach will be far more beautiful than on a ship.

I think that would be a great idea

This was just confirmed to me again, 2 seconds ago, when I tried to ask for RCCL's assistance on something that RR/TWE cant provide.

My request was given to someone who is supposed to be the "liason" between RCCL abd RR/TWE.

Come to find out a second ago that all this person does is forward requests to RR/TWE - in essence they are a extra human in an email loop and dont negotiate or concern themselves with any compaints or requests. They just take the paper phone message , convert it into an email, and hit send.

Royal Romance - JUST SAY NO!

WE were looking into renewing our vows and decided not to.

$400. for alot of nothing I felt. Decided I am pretty married after 25 years anyway. And we can spend the money on excursions.

As far as weddings, I was told by my great TA that it is a hassle as you are not in US and lots of red tape. Also RCL contracts out more than you know. All spas on board are contracted out. The one on Rhapsody was (not sure about now) by Swiss company. Couldnt hardly understand them for the thick accent when I had a massage. But we had a great experience so no complaints here.

We are just into the period where deposits & money starts to become non refundable for my sailing guests.

It's too late to cancel without monetarily penalizing each and every one of them because of RCCL's cruise cancellation policy.

I'd gladly eat the RR/TWE cancellation fee, no problem - but I have everyone else to think of....

I didn't say cancel the cruise. Take the cruise with your wedding guests as your honeymoon. Cancel the wedding thru Royal Romance. Have the ceremony on the beach prior to leaving port.

jc

I didn't say cancel the cruise. Take the cruise with your wedding guests as your honeymoon. Cancel the wedding thru Royal Romance. Have the ceremony on the beach prior to leaving port.

 

jc

if only it were that easy....

To coordinate everything on my own at this point, venue, flowers, food, ceremony, music, etc would be too much to handle on top of the items I am already handling for my wedding.

There simply isnt enough time between now and then to pick/arrange everything. Venue, flowers, minister, ceremony, music, dress fittings, reception, food, cake, etc., etc., etc....

Your solution is simple - but doesnt take into consideration the size of the event and everything involved.

After we cancelled we had 67 days to plan another wedding. It WENT great and we are SOOO glad we did it. I agree you should cancel the wedding portion and do something else. TRUST ME we were much much happier. I complained to the top and got a nice letter back from Mr Fain himself explaining that they would take a seriouse look at the complaints and look elswhere when it was time to get a new contract company....WAY TO GO RCCL.....GOOD LUCK....we feel for u.

Tim

When is your wedding?

if only it were that easy....

To coordinate everything on my own at this point, venue, flowers, food, ceremony, music, etc would be too much to handle on top of the items I am already handling for my wedding.

 

There simply isnt enough time between now and then to pick/arrange everything. Venue, flowers, minister, ceremony, music, dress fittings, reception, food, cake, etc., etc., etc....

 

Your solution is simple - but doesnt take into consideration the size of the event and everything involved.

Nothing worthwhile is ever easy. :D I don't know where you are sailing from, but let's assume Miami. The city is full of wedding planners. Tell them what you want and get a price from them, and let them take care of the details. They can arrange everything, bus charters, flowers, ministers, etc. Or, if everyone in the wedding party is on the cruise, you can take a little more risk and do the wedding in another port, but you never have a gaurantee of making any given port. Since Royal Romance in your current opinion is going to make your wedding a h*ll why would you continue down this path?

This is just the view from a man that has been married for almost 25 years to only one woman. I do not understand why so many young couples spend so much effort, money and agony trying to make these fantasy made for TV type weddings. The simple fact is beyond the bride and maybe the mother nobody really cares. The ones that love you just want you to be happy. The others just want to drink the free champagne, and they would rather be doing something else. Your wedding will not affect the love for your spouse nor his for you. However, the stress and expense can ruin a relationship as fast as infidelity. JMHO and YMMV

jc

After we cancelled we had 67 days to plan another wedding. It WENT great and we are SOOO glad we did it. I agree you should cancel the wedding portion and do something else. TRUST ME we were much much happier. I complained to the top and got a nice letter back from Mr Fain himself explaining that they would take a seriouse look at the complaints and look elswhere when it was time to get a new contract company....WAY TO GO RCCL.....GOOD LUCK....we feel for u.

 

Tim

What's the address of where I send my complaints to?

I was married on the Majesty in Oct 01 almost 4 years ago and when I forst booked my wedding with RR it was a bit confusing I had one wedding plannerd after another. But I had a list and email from them with everything I wanted. I did my own tropical invitations, had napkins printed for the wedding. I did not want the standard napkins, I had a friend make Xmas ornaments and we had wedding choclanted that had our names and we had bubbles too. I had a DJ, for 2 hours and you could pick the type of music. I did not want any hip hop so there would be none of that. I wanted roses instead of the carnations it was no problem and no extra charge. For my Bridesmaids I did one with 2 singe roses and one with 3 singel roses. Had flowers for the mother of the bride and mother in law. about a month before my wedding 9-11 came and there was some question as to whether I could have non sailing guest and the majority of the guests were non sailing but everything was great. I have heard other people have had issues but you have to let RR handle it. The only problem I had was they did not tell us the non sailing guests needed thier passport and birthcertificate numbers sent to them for security 3 weeks prior to the wedding. As for a rehersal dinner. I was living in Miami at the time and looked for a place to have one. We opted for Bubba Gumps at Bayside. Our menu was under $15 and included entree, salad, ice tea and Key lime pie and they also did trivia too. They even had a menu with our names on it. It ran about $20 with gartiuity per person. If I had the chance to do it again. I would but on the non wedding chapel ships if it is small enough weddign you will be married in the viking crown lounge if not it is one of hte lounges and which lounge will not be known for 30 days out. My hubby to be worked on the Majesty at the time and I was on the ship about once a month si I chose the lounge that fit our personality and the colors of my bridesmaids dresses. The wedding started at 1230 and we were done at 330pm. I would do it again in a second!

Lexi

First of all, I can't feel too bad for people who register here just to complain... :rolleyes:

That being said, I've been dealing with RR since I started planning my wedding over a year ago. With less than 3 weeks to go now, my opinion of them is mixed.

Yes, there is lots of room for improvement. But your experience directly relates to your expectations of them. I read both the good and the bad about RR before I booked with them. I knew what I was getting into, and I didn't expect much. I knew I couldn't assume they were doing everything correctly, and to get everything in writing. Because of this, I decided to keep their involvement to a minimum, and not ask them to do too much for me.

So we're just having a casual on-board ceremony, and some cake afterwards. No reception. We didn't want the stress of micromanaging everything, we just want to show up and get married! :)

If you're wanting a lavish, formal wedding and reception where every detail is perfect, then stay far away from RR. You'll tear your hair out trying to make sure everything is perfect. You'll be much happier having a ceremony somewhere else with a professional planner, then a honeymoon on the ship instead.

First off, I do hope you put the deposit on a credit card. You will now contact the credit card company to charge them back. They took your deposit & have not contacted you about your wedding. Right there the credit card company will go into high speed to credit you.

Then check web sites for ports you are at. Pick one that advertises wedding on the beach, in some unique style, whatever. Then contact them either email or by phone. When they hear what you have been thru they will make it extra special. A beach wedding can be beautiful with flowers, drinks, etc. I have sen Hawaiian wedding on the beach which are just the bride & groom, no family. We have seen scuba weddings, skydiving weddings, even surfboard wedding. So whatever you want, you can get even horseback! The bride riding in on a white horse, just so she doesn't fall into the ocean as the one we watched. GREAT PHOTO!

Nothing will wreck you wedding, you have all of us helping..............

First of all, I can't feel too bad for people who register here just to complain... :rolleyes:

That's kinda mean for you to say....

Actually, I surf here all the time to get helpfull info. I am definitely a cruiser but i just dont usually post.

MY intention (in case that comment was directly targeted at me) was to post something of a warning that others could search on. Unfortunately i didnt find this site till it was too late....hopefully others wont be as un lucky as I was.

I will, however, in all fairness, come back and post how my wedding actually went.

Just like DoubleAK I kept RR involvement to the minimum. I am getting married this Sunday on the Mariner and feel that RR did everything I expected of them (although they do give all the details very late in the game) It all seems to be planned and going as expected. I may have another opinion come Monday, but so far so good.