Family/Wedding Cruise Suggestions Please!

[jcandherboys]

Hi everyone - So my fiancee and I have decided that getting married ashore while on a cruise would be the best option for our family. We are blending 2 families, we have 3 boys total, 11,7,5. We may have some family also joining us and mostly likely our best friends who also have 2 little ones.
I have only been on a couple of cruises as an adult so this is the first time looking at what would be good for all of us. I have really been narrowing it down to Carnival as their newer ships look like they have a little bit of everything for all of us, huge waterpark, comedy clubs, etc. Do they allow connecting suites on balconies or what should we look at booking? Also, what is your favorite cruise line besides Disney for kids (way to expensive for our budget)...
Any ideas would be great!
Thanks!

[April-in-NC]

The newer ships on both Carnival and Royal Caribbean will have a ton of ammenities for the kids and most likely at a lower cost than Disney.

[dcdiva]

We were married on a Royal Caribbean cruise and found they offered a really good mix of amenities for our multi-generational group. We ranged in age from 11 months to 80 year old and there was something for everyone. There were also suite and connection stateroom options that met the very different needs of everyone traveling with us. I was also a sailing guest at wedding onboard a Carnival ship, and it also worked for the wide age range of the cruisers. I preferred the RCL ship, itinerary and style, but I think you could be happy with either line.

Also, if you haven't already, do check out the CC Honeymoon and Wedding Cruise board as you begin planning. There was invaluable information that kept me from making a whole lot of rookie mistakes during the planning process.

[chrisc71]

I was married on a Royal ship also. Worked out very well.

I would look at Royal's ships as they have a lot of what you are looking for also.

Congrats

[SadieN]

Just being Debbie Downer--

What will happen if you cannot make port for your wedding?

[ElsieToo]

So far I prefer Royal, but we're trying out HAL next week for the 1st time. We'll see.

Just make sure to double check the marriage certificate requirements of any port you're thinking about. It might be prohibitive to have to spend time getting a certificate at a clerk's office while you're in port (and the clerk's office might not even be open that day!).

Have you considered doing an onboard ceremony, and perhaps a reception in port? Whatever cruiseline you select can work with you to accommodate your wishes. I'm sure you'll have a great time with whatever you choose.

[Prinycesa07]

We were married on a carnival ship so of course thats my vote

[cb at sea]

If your wedding is on the ship, that's fine. If you're planning a wedding at one of your ports, make sure you have alternate arrangements. There is NEVER a guarantee that you will stop at all of your ports, and they can change the order of them at any time...it states that in your cruise contract. Just be aware of that!

[flhokie]

My DH and I got married on a cruise 4 1/2 years ago. We had a group of 50 people varying in ages.

We chose Princess so we could get married at sea (only offered on Princess, Celebrity and Cunard currently). Since getting to a port is never guaranteed and I've seen ships miss ports for many different reasons (weather, diversion due to passenger illness, mechanical issues and government issues) so we did not want to worry about missing a port and missing our wedding. Also, many of the ports have requirements that you be there for a certain time period before you can get married.

With any cruise wedding you have to be flexible and comfortable with the idea that there will be a lot that you can't control (and that things often don't go 100% as planned)....you are turning nearly all the planning over to someone else. That being said....it was a great experience that I'd highly recommend!

[newbiecruiser09]

Another alternate possibility: Get married at the point of embarkation and then enjoy the cruise with family and friends. I am not sure if ships let you do this on embarkation day but even if not, you could get married in the port city and then board and enjoy. This way you do not have to worry about missing your ceremony port.

[dcdiva]

Originally Posted by cb at sea

If your wedding is on the ship, that's fine. If you're planning a wedding at one of your ports, make sure you have alternate arrangements. There is NEVER a guarantee that you will stop at all of your ports, and they can change the order of them at any time...it states that in your cruise contract. Just be aware of that!

This is true. If you book with on-island planner and you miss the port, you will be out of luck. If you book through the cruiseline, there is no guarantee, but they will help you arrange the wedding at a different port. It will likely cost a bit more to work with cruiseline, but you'll have more options.

[flhokie]

Originally Posted by dcdiva

This is true. If you book with on-island planner and you miss the port, you will be out of luck. If you book through the cruiseline, there is no guarantee, but they will help you arrange the wedding at a different port. It will likely cost a bit more to work with cruiseline, but you'll have more options.

You are right that you might have more options by working with the cruise line rather than a local planner. The things to keep in mind though are...what ports are there after the scheduled wedding port and what are that country's requirements for marriage. If it is possible to arrange a wedding at the next port the cruise line may work you, but it may not be legally possible depending on the port of call.

There is a site (I can't think of it off the top of my head) that gives all the legal requirements for getting married in various ports (some require you to spend 24+ hours there before you can apply for a license, some require blood tests, etc.).

[kitty9]

If you're planning on doing this during summer, during hurricane season, it's not the best idea to plan an island wedding because of the chance of missing the port because of bad weather. We were on a cruise when a group of 80 were on board for a wedding in Grand Cayman. The port was skipped because of rough seas and bad weather. The bride and groom were crushed especially when they found out they couldn't get a refund from the island. Best to get married on the ship and not tempt fate.

[Cruisin' Chick]

Originally Posted by SadieN

Just being Debbie Downer--

What will happen if you cannot make port for your wedding?

Originally Posted by cb at sea

If your wedding is on the ship, that's fine. If you're planning a wedding at one of your ports, make sure you have alternate arrangements. There is NEVER a guarantee that you will stop at all of your ports, and they can change the order of them at any time...it states that in your cruise contract. Just be aware of that!

On one cruise, we had to skip one port due to high waves (the Captain felt it was too risky for passengers to tender to shore). Since I've never been to that port, I went up on deck after hearing the announcement so I can see some of what we were missing. Someone said that one couple were planning to meet up with friends and family there for their wedding. Hopefully they had a Plan B.

[gymbomb]

I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter when/how you decide to get married! We also decided a cruise wedding would be perfect for us, but we opted for an embarkation day wedding. There were a lot of reasons for doing this including allowing non-sailing guests, cost, potential weather issues, missing port time, etc. but there was another we hadn't considered until after the wedding was over. We are very laid back people who were very flexible with our wedding plans, but even so we realized that we and our immediate families would not have been able to completely relax and enjoy the trip until the wedding was over -- so we would have kind of wasted the first part of our trip if the wedding had been later on.

[dcdiva]

Originally Posted by gymbomb

I'm sure you'll have a great time no matter when/how you decide to get married! We also decided a cruise wedding would be perfect for us, but we opted for an embarkation day wedding. There were a lot of reasons for doing this including allowing non-sailing guests, cost, potential weather issues, missing port time, etc. but there was another we hadn't considered until after the wedding was over. We are very laid back people who were very flexible with our wedding plans, but even so we realized that we and our immediate families would not have been able to completely relax and enjoy the trip until the wedding was over -- so we would have kind of wasted the first part of our trip if the wedding had been later on.

I agree. If our wedding was at the end of the cruise, it would have been hard to relax. We opted to have ours in port on the first day of the cruise. It limited the risk of weather and missed the port issues, but also meant that only sailing guests could attend. We were trying to limit the number of guests, so that was actually a plus for us. We felt less rushed than with an embarkation day wedding, but still got to relax for most of the week.

[ComeSailWithME]

The Oasis class ships on RCL have what you are looking for. They are beautiful, huge but you never feel crowded, and offer SO much to do.

Happy planning and congrats!