Never taken a cruise but want to get married on one; need help/commens/suggestions!

[Alexavria79]

Hello there, I just got engaged and need a little help/advise on wedding cruises. We need to leave from the East Coast near Boston or NY because my fiance's Dad won't go on airplanes. Something affordable or that gives a discount for bringing more people (my parents, grandma, his parents, 2 sisters and their husbands, my brother and his wife & possibly 4-5 more ppl)

Which cruise ships have the best/extravagant/beautiful ares for being married on the ship itself? I would prefer a staircase to come down.
Mainly I was thinking of being married on the beach, does anyone know of a place the ship stops where this can be done? Maybe a gazebo of sorts is set up for such things?

Also do they make special dinners for your reception? Does this cost extra or is it included in your cruise price? I am vegetarian, are there options for me or do only certain ships have vegetarian menus?

I noticed a lot of cruises are 5 days default. This seems short to me. I kind of want the 7-10 day range but not sure if that is always offered or is it too long? Do you get tired of being on a boat?

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks

[PrettyHazardous]

Hello Sweetie and welcome to the wonderful world of cruising. I can't answer all of your question but I will try to answer some.

I've cruised on NCL and Carnival but I can only give you info ab carnival as I was a child on NCL lol.

On Carnival you can get group discounts (but this is tru for all cruise companies I believe) but you need at least 8 room.

It seems that you want to be married on a ship and the beach. If you get married on the ship you will not be coming down the staircase as they are in the middle of the atrium and that's too busy of place to be married. You can get pro pics on the staircase tho. You can get married on almost any beach. Carnival has a packet that can be downloaded with prices etc for each island (or you can work with an on island wc as I am doing). The only issue for you is that cruises out of NY Baltimore etc mainly go to Bermuda Bahamas. Not really USVI's, Mexico etc. But you can still get married there. Or you can legally gt married at home and just do a symbolic ceremony.

There are different wedding packages available that include meals or you can opt to do dinner in a Supper club or the main dining room.

I don't know ab this 5 day default thing you're seeing bc there are numerous cruises of all lengths. Just do a bit more research. My wedding cruise is 8 days long. I love cruising and for me 7 days was great in the past and 5 days was too short. My 8 day cruise is very port intensive with us visiting 5 ports so we won't get bored. Although last year I went a on 7 day cruise with 3 ports during hurricane season. We missed one port so were only off the ship for 2 days. That got old.

Hope I helped some and Happy Planning.

[lifeguardjen]

Once you go on the first cruise you'll be hooked. I have only been on Carnival but I love them! We're taking 17 people with us on our wedding cruise. I have been all over the southern and eastern carribbean and I would recommend St. Thomas. So many people get married there but it's so stunning. This will be our third time going and it's so nice. If you go with Carnival and get married in St. Thomas you'll go through a wedding cordinator called Royal Ocean Events. They have been so wonderful to me, and I have a price list of all the extras you can get if you want. But I would google Royal Ocean Events and see what you think and see when Carnival sails out from NY or Boston to the carribean.

Our cruise we're going on is 7 days with 3 ports, which is nice but I wouldn't want to do anything longer. 3 days is too short and 5 days was nice. But that's just me. I have plenty of pictures if you want to see them of the ships we've been on, if it helps.

[seaweavers]

We were married in St. Thomas at a private villa. We used Weddings the Island Way and its spectacular. However, I wanted the pretty pictures on a staircase too. We were on Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas and the grand centrum is beautiful. The stairs are lit all the way down. First, I met my fiance at the Solarium pool. There is a bridge across the pool and I was able to walk up behind him for some truly beautiful surprise pictures. (the picture below) We had our guests wait at the bottom of the centrum (deck 4) and we (MOH, flower girl, then my fiance and I) got off the elevator on deck 5 and walked down the stairs. It truly was a grand entrance. Then we went off for the wedding. It you get married on the ship, you have no control of where the wedding is and you may not have time for professional pictures all over the ship. There are lots of options, do your homework. Best of luck. Heidi

[cruisinsb]

Congrats!!! For our honeymoon we went on the Tahitian Princess which cruise from hawaii to tahiti. We wanted a cruise that had sightseeing and other things to do besides go to the beach, which was aweomse when we wnt to Hawaii. We took a helicopter ride, went to Volcanoes National Park, which was awesome, and rented a car and drove to the waterfalls. We also had some time to visit Hawaii's beaches. Then when we got to the Tahitian Islands, it was mostly beaches, and they were gorgeous!!! We also rented a jeep and drove around the island of Moorea. There are plenty of places to get married in Hawaii and Tahiti and if you want to xtend the trip, I recommend an over the water bungalow in tahiti. Hope this helps!!!! Good luck!!!