Vow renewal on royal carribean

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Hi there I'm looking for some information. I got married 2 and a half years ago but sadly my mother died shortly before my wedding so obviously it wasn't the happy day I had planned it to be. Myself and my husband have spoken about renewing our vows and having a second mini wedding so I can have some happy memories to look back on too. We are cruising on the navigator of the seas in August and are thinking about a vow renewal ceremony. I have looked it up on their website and its 595 dollars and that's for the ceremony a bouquet button hole sparkling wine strawberries and the use of a photographer for an hour. Has anyone any information on this? Have you done it or know anyone who has? And after the ceremony what do you do? Don't want to he all dressed up with nowhere to go! Any advice would be appreciated!! Thank you x

[6rugrats]

Go to dinner later?

[LilBlackDress]

I only have information on things I have read on the boards. If it is just the 2 of you, you could do dinner at a specialty restaurant. If you are having guests join you, you could add on a reception. Another option is a vow renewal at one of the ports, local wedding planners can do something more personalized and often for less.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by LilBlackDress

I only have information on things I have read on the boards. If it is just the 2 of you, you could do dinner at a specialty restaurant. If you are having guests join you, you could add on a reception. Another option is a vow renewal at one of the ports, local wedding planners can do something more personalized and often for less.

Thanks for the reply. It's just the two of us so I think I like the idea of doing it on the ship. Once we could do it late afternoon it should be fine. If we were finished photos etc by 5 or 6pm then we could go for drinks and have a nice dinner. Just if it was earlier I'd be afraid there would be too much hanging about afterwards.

[Lost_in_BC]

We've thought about doing something similar on our upcoming cruise. It's our ten year anniversary. We had a very basic and simple wedding, ours was also right after the loss of a parent (my Dad) and although it was wonderful, it wasn't quite as I envisioned it. My biggest regret from the wedding was the lack of pictures we had taken. A friend had offered to do the photography for us, and long story short he spent more time getting to know his new girlfriend than taking pictures.

It's just the two of us going on this trip. We've looked at Royals package, but honestly it's pricey for what you get, and it doesn't include pictures. We've decided to instead splurge on the photo package, and just have a simple two person ceremony by ourselves somewhere on the ship. This way we can do it our own way and it can still be on formal night (which they won't let you do with the renewal package). When we're done our private ceremony we'll go get our pictures done in the dinning room, enjoy a nice dinner and all of the atmosphere that comes with formal night.

Good luck with your planning! Enjoy your cruise.

[goldgirl2]

I am doing the vow renewal package for our 25 year anniversary in less then two weeks! So far my experience with royal wedding has been fabulous. They have been extremly accommodating with all of our requests. We were given the option to have our renewal at any time and any place on the ship. We chose to have the ceremony in the chapel an hour before sunset so we can capture pictures while the sun is setting after the ceremony. Then we are having dinner at Portifino. We do have friends coming on the cruise with us, however we have decided to have dinner alone and then we are meeting them for drinks and dancing after dinner. They were fine with it.
I ordered room decorations and a cake for our wedding day. The cake will be delivered to us at Portifino's. I had RCI send me a copy of the vows they use and did not like them at all. So I wrote the ceremony and vows myself and we will be using those. I also decided to use all of my own music because I wanted to be sure that the music was exactly as I wanted. My daughter is a classical musician so I wanted to be very specific about what musician was playing on my CD, as I am very familiar with classical music.

I have chosen to wear a wedding dress and DH is going to be in a tux. We are both very excited in and looking very forward to doing this. I realize that the $595 is a lot of money to spend on a ceremony however RCI has been so wonderful to work with and have given us so many great options that it really is worth the money to us.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by Lost_in_BC

We've thought about doing something similar on our upcoming cruise. It's our ten year anniversary. We had a very basic and simple wedding, ours was also right after the loss of a parent (my Dad) and although it was wonderful, it wasn't quite as I envisioned it. My biggest regret from the wedding was the lack of pictures we had taken. A friend had offered to do the photography for us, and long story short he spent more time getting to know his new girlfriend than taking pictures.

It's just the two of us going on this trip. We've looked at Royals package, but honestly it's pricey for what you get, and it doesn't include pictures. We've decided to instead splurge on the photo package, and just have a simple two person ceremony by ourselves somewhere on the ship. This way we can do it our own way and it can still be on formal night (which they won't let you do with the renewal package). When we're done our private ceremony we'll go get our pictures done in the dinning room, enjoy a nice dinner and all of the atmosphere that comes with formal night.

Good luck with your planning! Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks very much for your reply. That's actually something else to think about. The 600 dollars is quite pricey for what's included. I suppose if we were to do it ourselves we could use the 600 dollars to buy a little bouquet and get photos and little extras etc. don't know if I'd feel a bit self conscious doing the ceremony on our own? Ohhhh decisions decisions!

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by goldgirl2

I am doing the vow renewal package for our 25 year anniversary in less then two weeks! So far my experience with royal wedding has been fabulous. They have been extremly accommodating with all of our requests. We were given the option to have our renewal at any time and any place on the ship. We chose to have the ceremony in the chapel an hour before sunset so we can capture pictures while the sun is setting after the ceremony. Then we are having dinner at Portifino. We do have friends coming on the cruise with us, however we have decided to have dinner alone and then we are meeting them for drinks and dancing after dinner. They were fine with it.
I ordered room decorations and a cake for our wedding day. The cake will be delivered to us at Portifino's. I had RCI send me a copy of the vows they use and did not like them at all. So I wrote the ceremony and vows myself and we will be using those. I also decided to use all of my own music because I wanted to be sure that the music was exactly as I wanted. My daughter is a classical musician so I wanted to be very specific about what musician was playing on my CD, as I am very familiar with classical music.

I have chosen to wear a wedding dress and DH is going to be in a tux. We are both very excited in and looking very forward to doing this. I realize that the $595 is a lot of money to spend on a ceremony however RCI has been so wonderful to work with and have given us so many great options that it really is worth the money to us.

Oh exciting! Your cruise is coming up really soon! Thanks for your reply. I'm dying to hear how it all goes for you. Are any photos included in the package? I'm just waiting for royal to get back to me with details.

[Lost_in_BC]

Originally Posted by Mrsfshesgawjus

Thanks very much for your reply. That's actually something else to think about. The 600 dollars is quite pricey for what's included. I suppose if we were to do it ourselves we could use the 600 dollars to buy a little bouquet and get photos and little extras etc. don't know if I'd feel a bit self conscious doing the ceremony on our own? Ohhhh decisions decisions!

No problem. The ships ceremony looks lovely just pricey. Then again if they'd give me an officer to officiate I'd totally do it.

We're still unsure if we'll have our private ceremony on our patio, or some other spot on the ship. I don't think we'll really decide until we get on the ship and get a feel for the place. The helipad looks nice.

[goldgirl2]

Originally Posted by Mrsfshesgawjus

Oh exciting! Your cruise is coming up really soon! Thanks for your reply. I'm dying to hear how it all goes for you. Are any photos included in the package? I'm just waiting for royal to get back to me with details.

We get a photographer for an hour but no pictures are included. Thankfully we have a $250 on board credit. We will certainly put it to good use. We were given the option to do the ceremony anyplace on the ship. I will definitely keep you posted. Let me know if you have any questions.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by goldgirl2

We get a photographer for an hour but no pictures are included. Thankfully we have a $250 on board credit. We will certainly put it to good use. We were given the option to do the ceremony anyplace on the ship. I will definitely keep you posted. Let me know if you have any questions.

Brilliant thanks a million.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

I'm really annoyed! I emailed royal Caribbean over two weeks ago about organising our vow renewal. Eventually someone got back to me today and I have to say they weren't very helpful. On royal caribbeans website it says the vow renewal package includes the ceremony sparkling wine strawberries and the use of a photographer for an hour. Now the brochure they've sent me says for 595 all you get is the ceremony and a commemorative certificate? The website is so misleading! Can it really be 595 for a person to listen to us saying a few vows?? I'm so disappointed. And I ordered my dress today! This will be my fourth cruise and I have never had a bad thing to say about any royal Caribbean staff member but I'm not at all impressed with the royal romance department for taking a ridiculous amount of time to get back to me and then to be so unhelpful when they did reply. Really unsure of what to do now. ��

[Time4wine]

Originally Posted by Mrsfshesgawjus

I'm really annoyed! I emailed royal Caribbean over two weeks ago about organising our vow renewal. Eventually someone got back to me today and I have to say they weren't very helpful. On royal caribbeans website it says the vow renewal package includes the ceremony sparkling wine strawberries and the use of a photographer for an hour. Now the brochure they've sent me says for 595 all you get is the ceremony and a commemorative certificate? The website is so misleading! Can it really be 595 for a person to listen to us saying a few vows?? I'm so disappointed. And I ordered my dress today! This will be my fourth cruise and I have never had a bad thing to say about any royal Caribbean staff member but I'm not at all impressed with the royal romance department for taking a ridiculous amount of time to get back to me and then to be so unhelpful when they did reply. Really unsure of what to do now. ��

At least they got back to you, we have been waiting over three weeks and haven't heard a thing and our ship sails on March 17th. At this point the ship is sold out so any family members who might have wanted to go IF WE can even have our renewal (since nobody calls us back) can't even attend.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by Time4wine

At least they got back to you, we have been waiting over three weeks and haven't heard a thing and our ship sails on March 17th. At this point the ship is sold out so any family members who might have wanted to go IF WE can even have our renewal (since nobody calls us back) can't even attend.

Ah no that's a disaster! I honestly don't see how it can take so long to reply to an email. It's a serious flaw in royal caribbeans service. Did you phone them?

[Time4wine]

Originally Posted by Mrsfshesgawjus

Ah no that's a disaster! I honestly don't see how it can take so long to reply to an email. It's a serious flaw in royal caribbeans service. Did you phone them?

Yes and their answer is "we have no idea how long it will take, could be 2, 3, 6 weeks from when you put in your request to be contacted." So then I asked if there was some way for me to know if they had already reached their maximum number of renewals/weddings and they said no. So basically I have to wait and unspecified amount of time to possibly find out they can't even do it. Completely ridiculous, I don't understand why they even offer it.

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Originally Posted by Time4wine

Yes and their answer is "we have no idea how long it will take, could be 2, 3, 6 weeks from when you put in your request to be contacted." So then I asked if there was some way for me to know if they had already reached their maximum number of renewals/weddings and they said no. So basically I have to wait and unspecified amount of time to possibly find out they can't even do it. Completely ridiculous, I don't understand why they even offer it.

God that's crazy. When I sent my first email I was told it could take up to 14 days for a reply and that if I hadn't heard anything by then to email groups@royalcarribean.com so that's what I did and about 2 days after that I got a response. I don't know how it can take so long as I got no new information when I did get talking to someone. All I got told repeatedly was "refer to the brochure". I just wanted the personal touch and to get more detailed information. I asked for a copy if the ceremony and was told I couldn't get that. I asked if I could book the day of the ceremony but was told I couldn't do that till we got on board. You'd swear they were doing it for free!

[bosabar]

My husband and I just recently renewed our vows when we took a cruise on RC Freedom of the Sea's. We did it on St. Thomas through a Wedding Planner. She did a beatiful job and took care of all the details. Got back to us very quickly and stayed in touch through the whole process. Check out my short video on my facebook page... look up Sandy Barber. Highly recommend!

[Mrsfshesgawjus]

Eventually got things sorted! After a big debate we decided to go for the 1195 dollar package. We had to fill in a contract and send it back and once that was received by royal carribean they got back to us straight away. The ceremony is now booked and paid for! No turning back now........... I think I was just unlucky to have dealt with a really unhelpful person in the beginning. Once I contacted someone else things seemed to go much more smoothly.

[midwestmomof2]

I inquired about a vow renewal ceremony 3 months ago and have yet to receive a response. I don't even want to do it through RC at this point and I'm planning something on my own. We're traveling with RC Diamond members who are disappointed with RC as well.

[lightskinedgyal]

Reading this is interesting! Im not sure about email but when i called Royal Carribean Wedding i was helped right away and contacted again throughout the week. I wonder how different people can have such different expereinces!! Every time i have a question i am answered back within 24hrs as well!. Maybe the advice to take from this thread is to call them and not email?

Thanks!

Megan