Lots of Carnival Wedding questions :(

Hi! So I guess I should introduce myself since I have been "creeping" through the forums but have never actually written anything (i actually just created my account...Lol talk about laziness) I'm Cin, and I'm having the toughest battle between a cruise wedding and a wedding here in my town. My budget is small, emphasis on small so I figured a cruise wedding would be cheaper than everything i'd need to buy for a ceremony/ reception at home since I have already calculated and its even more so out of my budget. Anyyyyyyways! So I have questions and hope someone can help me get out of the darkness!

Allllsooooo, any tips, recommendations, ideas...would be greatly appreciated !

Thanks! :D

Here we go...

1. Has anyone had a wedding on Sunshine? I'm starting to believe they don't do weddings on there since I haven't seen anything on it! I have been eyeing it since it has the destinations my fiance and I would love to go to. If not, Paradise it shall be.

2. License fee..... Is it mandatory to pay this? Do I have to go through Carnival to get the marriage license, even if I can get it myself since I live close to port?

3. It says weddings have to be booked in full in order to actually book your wedding.... I can't be the only one who finds it impossible to actually pay 2,000++ in one sitting? Is this true? If so, there goes all chances of a cruise wedding unless we wait until 2016 :eek::(

:)

Hi! So I guess I should introduce myself since I have been "creeping" through the forums but have never actually written anything (i actually just created my account...Lol talk about laziness) I'm Cin, and I'm having the toughest battle between a cruise wedding and a wedding here in my town. My budget is small, emphasis on small so I figured a cruise wedding would be cheaper than everything i'd need to buy for a ceremony/ reception at home since I have already calculated and its even more so out of my budget. Anyyyyyyways! So I have questions and hope someone can help me get out of the darkness!

 

 

 

Allllsooooo, any tips, recommendations, ideas...would be greatly appreciated !

 

 

 

Thanks! :D

 

 

 

 

 

Here we go...

 

1. Has anyone had a wedding on Sunshine? I'm starting to believe they don't do weddings on there since I haven't seen anything on it! I have been eyeing it since it has the destinations my fiance and I would love to go to. If not, Paradise it shall be.

 

 

 

2. License fee..... Is it mandatory to pay this? Do I have to go through Carnival to get the marriage license, even if I can get it myself since I live close to port?

 

 

 

3. It says weddings have to be booked in full in order to actually book your wedding.... I can't be the only one who finds it impossible to actually pay 2,000++ in one sitting? Is this true? If so, there goes all chances of a cruise wedding unless we wait until 2016 :eek::(

 

 

 

 

 

:)

Hi Cin. Congratulations on your engagement and welcome to the wedding boards.

our wedding is fast approaching (11/22/14) on the Miracle so I am not quite finished with the process but almost so I think I can answer your questions

Carnival does weddings on all of its ships. - At least that is what I was told by Carnival when I asked in January. The brides that post on cruise critics wedding board is actually only a small percentage of those that get married on the ship.

We were given the option to get our own license, but we opted to pay the fee and have The Wedding Experience handle the process for us since we live in Texas and are getting married in Long Beach , CA.

As for the cost of the wedding... The cost of he wedding itself is due upfront. So to us it was about $2k since we are doing the Celebrate Big package.

Best of luck

Dawn

Here we go...

1. Has anyone had a wedding on Sunshine? I'm starting to believe they don't do weddings on there since I haven't seen anything on it! I have been eyeing it since it has the destinations my fiance and I would love to go to. If not, Paradise it shall be.

 

2. License fee..... Is it mandatory to pay this? Do I have to go through Carnival to get the marriage license, even if I can get it myself since I live close to port?

 

3. It says weddings have to be booked in full in order to actually book your wedding.... I can't be the only one who finds it impossible to actually pay 2,000++ in one sitting? Is this true? If so, there goes all chances of a cruise wedding unless we wait until 2016 :eek::(

:)

1) I don't think I've seen any recent Sunshine weddings, but they do have weddings on all of the ships and they usually fill.

2) When we booked the embark wedding we didn't have to worry about the license fee because we live 45 minutes from the embarkation port. We were responsible for the paperwork and had to follow the timelines (we had a waiting period).

3) Yes, your initial wedding cost has to be paid in full and you must first be booked on a cruise. You'll have to pay off the balance when you submit your guest list a few weeks before sailing if you have extra guests. You'll need that booking number to book the wedding. I'm sure you saw in the brochure that the wedding photographer is included, but the pictures are not--those will be extra. We used historical information (the Pride always sails out of Baltimore on Sunday) to plan our wedding since our dates weren't out when we started planning. It gave us time to save and there was 2 years from the time we started planning to our actual wedding.

Thanks so much for the information! I have to wait until next month to book anything and my anxiety levels are through the roof with worrying there isn't any space available or something! I'm definitely hoping it didn't fill up already! Now if only there was a money tree right? he he ;)

Thanks so much for the information! I have to wait until next month to book anything and my anxiety levels are through the roof with worrying there isn't any space available or something! I'm definitely hoping it didn't fill up already! Now if only there was a money tree right? he he ;)

Are you planning on a large wedding ? Which type of package see you looking for?

An option to book cheaper might be to book the "just you and me" package. Pay the cheaper price the upgrade the package to a larger package (let's celebrate, let's celebrate big, or let us serve you) and pay the difference when you upgrade. In total it would cost the same but the up front amount is less (1,400 now vs 2,000 now). Just a thought.

The downside of doing this is that if you are expecting a larger guest list, you may get locked out of certain venues if another larger party books your day. On the Miracle they will only do two weddings per day (not sure about the Sunshine)

The reason I ask about the size of the party is that there are additional charges if you exceed the head count for each package. We want with the "Lets Celebrate Big" Package which includes 20 guests (including the happy couple). Each additional guest is $30 per person. You pay this additional fee when you send in your guest list about 5 weeks before the wedding. It wasn't a surprise to us since we read our contract. But according to our planner, some brides are shocked when they are told there is an additional fee. Even though it is listed in big font on the contract.

I can forward you the carnival wedding forms if you would like to check it out before you make your choice.

Dawn

What date are you looking for? You can call the wedding department and check to see if that date is available.

Sunshine does do weddings! I'm doing the celebrate big package on Jan 17th.

I'm having the wedding experience do my license for me as I live in Canada and its not really possible for us to take care of that, but from what I understand from all the info they sent me is that you can get your license on your own.

As for booking the wedding, you need to first have a booking number for the cruise and pay for the wedding package in full (We put ours on a credit card and paid it off over the course of a few months)

As others have said, you can obtain your own marriage license. It gets tricky though if you do not live in driving distance, travel costs are more than the fee :(

I did a tour of the Sunshine. While I am not picky, I found it not very suitable for a wedding. Well, not a big wedding anyways. If you expect dancing, I would chose another ship. The Sunshine does not have a dance club. Also the Limelight Lounge is their main ceremony venue and it is super small. We have 4 attendants each in our wedding and there is no way we could have all stood on the super small stage. The tables and chairs do not all move either since they are bolted to the floor, so if you want a "walk down the aisle" the space is not very good for that either. If I could figure out how to post pics on here I would post them. That being said, we are planning a cruise on the Sunshine next year....just not our wedding.

When you call to book your wedding you will pay the listed package price only. Then you will later pay for additional guests, DJ, Videographer, floral upgrades etc, should you chose to use those services. The DJ costs $105.

Please ask if you have any other questions we can help with.

The cruise only needs to be booked, not paid in full. The wedding package needs to be paid in full. It is a big upfront expense, but the way I looked at it was that we'd be paying a lot more in deposits upfront for land-based weddings for a reception venue, caterer, DJ, etc, so it all comes out in the wash. We used some of our tax refund to pay it.

Be careful later on because the pictures will probably be a lot more than you budget. They are incredible!

Are you planning on a large wedding ? Which type of package see you looking for?

 

An option to book cheaper might be to book the "just you and me" package. Pay the cheaper price the upgrade the package to a larger package (let's celebrate, let's celebrate big, or let us serve you) and pay the difference when you upgrade. In total it would cost the same but the up front amount is less (1,400 now vs 2,000 now). Just a thought.

 

The downside of doing this is that if you are expecting a larger guest list, you may get locked out of certain venues if another larger party books your day. On the Miracle they will only do two weddings per day (not sure about the Sunshine)

 

The reason I ask about the size of the party is that there are additional charges if you exceed the head count for each package. We want with the "Lets Celebrate Big" Package which includes 20 guests (including the happy couple). Each additional guest is $30 per person. You pay this additional fee when you send in your guest list about 5 weeks before the wedding. It wasn't a surprise to us since we read our contract. But according to our planner, some brides are shocked when they are told there is an additional fee. Even though it is listed in big font on the contract.

 

I can forward you the carnival wedding forms if you would like to check it out before you make your choice.

 

Dawn

That would be so helpful, if its no trouble to you! Thank you so much! And actually Yeah, I am planning on having about 30 people but my plan is to ask (the people i'm comfortable asking) if they could pay for themselves so it wouldn't be on my shoulders. I would do the just you & me package then upgrade, but i'm scared that I will get locked out of the venue! Do you happen to know how much the Dj is for the one hour reception?! So when I go to book the wedding, it'll be the 1,795$ or also including service charge, and additional surcharges (100 extra for being in May).

Thanks for your help!:D

The cruise only needs to be booked, not paid in full. The wedding package needs to be paid in full. It is a big upfront expense, but the way I looked at it was that we'd be paying a lot more in deposits upfront for land-based weddings for a reception venue, caterer, DJ, etc, so it all comes out in the wash. We used some of our tax refund to pay it.

 

Be careful later on because the pictures will probably be a lot more than you budget. They are incredible!

Lol! Yeah. My goodness, I've seen a lot of the pictures and i'm like WOW ! it looks fantastic and the backgrounds are awesome. I think I love a cruise wedding because it's so different than just a land based wedding!

I don't exactly have 2,000 in my pockets now but I will have it by May just in monthly payments but I'm thinking of using a credit card to just book it and go from there ! This is so stressful, so much to think about!!

Thanks so much!:o

Sunshine does do weddings! I'm doing the celebrate big package on Jan 17th.

I'm having the wedding experience do my license for me as I live in Canada and its not really possible for us to take care of that, but from what I understand from all the info they sent me is that you can get your license on your own.

As for booking the wedding, you need to first have a booking number for the cruise and pay for the wedding package in full (We put ours on a credit card and paid it off over the course of a few months)

Wow Canada! I've always wanted to go there! Lol, but okay! That's what we are planning to do! Put it on a credit card and pay it off from there. I applied for the Carnival Mastercard and my fiance got approved unfortunately it wasn't enough for the whole wedding so I guess we will be using a few (LOL) :(

I just hope I'm not getting in over my head!

CONGRATS TO YOU! your wedding is SO close, please please pleaseeee let me know how it goes! I am looking forward to hearing about it & seeing pictures!!!!

That would be so helpful, if its no trouble to you! Thank you so much! And actually Yeah, I am planning on having about 30 people but my plan is to ask (the people i'm comfortable asking) if they could pay for themselves so it wouldn't be on my shoulders. I would do the just you & me package then upgrade, but i'm scared that I will get locked out of the venue! Do you happen to know how much the Dj is for the one hour reception?! So when I go to book the wedding, it'll be the 1,795$ or also including service charge, and additional surcharges (100 extra for being in May).

 

 

 

Thanks for your help!:D

You will have to pay the service charge...plus tax. I'm not sure of the DJ cost for an hour...we are having the hour and a half.

What is your email and I will forward it to you later tonight

As others have said, you can obtain your own marriage license. It gets tricky though if you do not live in driving distance, travel costs are more than the fee :(

 

I did a tour of the Sunshine. While I am not picky, I found it not very suitable for a wedding. Well, not a big wedding anyways. If you expect dancing, I would chose another ship. The Sunshine does not have a dance club. Also the Limelight Lounge is their main ceremony venue and it is super small. We have 4 attendants each in our wedding and there is no way we could have all stood on the super small stage. The tables and chairs do not all move either since they are bolted to the floor, so if you want a "walk down the aisle" the space is not very good for that either. If I could figure out how to post pics on here I would post them. That being said, we are planning a cruise on the Sunshine next year....just not our wedding.

 

When you call to book your wedding you will pay the listed package price only. Then you will later pay for additional guests, DJ, Videographer, floral upgrades etc, should you chose to use those services. The DJ costs $105.

 

Please ask if you have any other questions we can help with.

Thanks for the information! Aw, mannn! I really like the ship and the places it's going but i'm not sure how I feel about not having a dance area or a down the aisle type thing I've always dreamed of that! Do you think you could email me the pictures, pleasee :)

I'm not having a bridal party so it will just be my fiance, the officiant & I. We will have about 30 people including us give or take if anyone doesn't want to do the 2 hour drive to port lol

Thank you again! :)

You will have to pay the service charge...plus tax. I'm not sure of the DJ cost for an hour...we are having the hour and a half.

 

What is your email and I will forward it to you later tonight

CinSam.Colon@gmail.com

Thank you!!

CinSam.Colon@gmail.com

 

 

 

Thank you!!

I forwarded the Carnival email from my phone. Hopefully it went.

That would be so helpful, if its no trouble to you! Thank you so much! And actually Yeah, I am planning on having about 30 people but my plan is to ask (the people i'm comfortable asking) if they could pay for themselves so it wouldn't be on my shoulders. I would do the just you & me package then upgrade, but i'm scared that I will get locked out of the venue! Do you happen to know how much the Dj is for the one hour reception?! So when I go to book the wedding, it'll be the 1,795$ or also including service charge, and additional surcharges (100 extra for being in May).

 

Thanks for your help!:D

Just you and me does not allow more than everyone get people including the bride and groom. This package does not allow you to add guests unlike the other packages based on the paperwork.

Just you and me does not allow more than everyone get people including the bride and groom. This package does not allow you to add guests unlike the other packages based on the paperwork.

I am doing the let's celebrate package :)

I forwarded the Carnival email from my phone. Hopefully it went.

Yes! I received it! It is very helpful, thanks so much!

Yes! I received it! It is very helpful, thanks so much!

No problem. Good luck.