Several Questions- Carnival

Ok so I am trying to search ALLLLLL of my options for our wedding. We are sailing oct 19 on the carnival fascination. I'm looking at booking with the cruise line vs booking with an island planner. If I do an island planner I can still schedule a reception back on board. Still looking into my options further I found out we can order a cake and champagne toast to be delivered in the MDR that night at our scheduled dinner. The only downer to this is you can't get a tiered cake. You can get a HUGGGEE sheet cake. But not tiered. The event olanner told me we can bring our own cake on board.

Has anyone brought their own cake or plan on it?

Anyone using their own island planner?

Anyone skipping ordering the hour reception and just doing a reception at dinner and then planning an after party event at one of the clubs?

I didn't use an island planner, but make sure to check their cancellation guidelines (will the refund if you can't dock) or look into destination wedding insurance.

I'm not sure you can actually bring a cake onboard, it depends on how they define "pre-packaged, unopened food". You might want to check that with Weddings and/or Carnival's CSRs. I know there have been a few "bringing cake" threads on Carnivals board lately, and the results have been mixed.

Bringing Food Items Onboard Due to Dietary Restrictions

Items must be pre-packaged, unopened and cannot require any food preparation from the dining staff. Homemade items or pre-cooked foods will not be permitted onboard. All items will need to be stored in the stateroom; the ship's storage and/or refrigeration are not available for this use.

Limitations on permitted food items are directly related to concerns for food safety and contamination prevention. Carnival Cruise Lines is unable to provide food preparation, refrigeration or storage for personal food or beverage items.

The ships below are equipped with mini-bars which are designed to maintain the temperature of beverages.

Carnival Breeze

Carnival Conquest

Carnival Dream

Carnival Freedom

Carnival Glory

Carnival Legend

Carnival Liberty

Carnival Magic

Carnival Miracle

Carnival Pride

Carnival Spirit

Carnival Splendor

Carnival Valor

Ok so I am trying to search ALLLLLL of my options for our wedding. We are sailing oct 19 on the carnival fascination. I'm looking at booking with the cruise line vs booking with an island planner. If I do an island planner I can still schedule a reception back on board. Still looking into my options further I found out we can order a cake and champagne toast to be delivered in the MDR that night at our scheduled dinner. The only downer to this is you can't get a tiered cake. You can get a HUGGGEE sheet cake. But not tiered. The event olanner told me we can bring our own cake on board.

 

Has anyone brought their own cake or plan on it?

 

Anyone using their own island planner?

 

Anyone skipping ordering the hour reception and just doing a reception at dinner and then planning an after party event at one of the clubs?

We did a sheet cake after our island wedding. the cake was amazing (we got like triple chocolate something). They saved what was left of the cake and offereed it to anyone who was linked to our booking as an option for desert for the rest of the cruise. Everyone LOVED that cake.

I don't know particularly about bringing your own cake, but that just seems like a huge hassle to me. Boarding the ship is hectic enough (especially while carrying wedding dress and "critical items" you don't want to check) without having to worry about dropping a cake too. Plus, Carnival's cakes are amazingly good. I'm not usually a cake person, but I will probably order a cake from Carnival on all future cruises, even for no reason, because it was just so yummy. Other wedding cakes I've had haven't even come close to being that good. And the look of the cake isn't really that important to your wedding happiness. I'd save yourself the hassle and just get a cake from Carnival, regardless of the type. There are enough other things to worry about with a wedding without stressing over boarding with the cake, keeping it fresh, and all that other stuff... go for simplicity and save the stress.

And on a technical note, sheet cakes are often fresher because they don't take as long to decorate, so they don't need to be made as far in advance.