Wedding on Allure Feb 1, 2015! Reception help please!

I'm so excited! however, as a mega planner, am having a hard time with the fact that things wont be confirmed until 90days in advance! crazy!

Anyway, I am wondering if anyone can help me out with reception information. We are having a ceremony at sea!

I'm not a fan of the reception options with Royal Romance, so I am organizing a cocktail reception through the Groups Event. Has anyone else done this?

I'm wondering what the venues are like! What did you do for food and drink?

My hopes are this: Private reception 2hrs, our own music, open bar, actual tables, appetizers, speeches and first couple dances. After this, I think we will all just head to one of the discos.

I have never been on Allure, and don't know what our options are. They are slow getting back and I am really wanting to know what things are going to be like. We are coming from Northern Canada, and it looks like may have 50-60 guests!! We were not anticipating that. We want to keep food costs low, as food is included outside of our reception, and it seems a bit silly.

Can anyone tell me about the options? Or what the set up is like? Or if one venue is nicer than the others? We are hoping to have windows in our area, as we can't decorate I'd like some nice scenery

Also for a ceremony at sea, can you book the salon ahead of time?

Sorry for so many questions, but getting RR to answer them this far in advance has been like pulling teeth!

Thanks Again

Hi there!

We did a wedding at sea on Royal and did everything that your suggesting, plus we rented out a specialty restaurant for an actual dinner reception. The wedding department only will be of help with the ceremony portion. The groups department will handle everything else.

The Viking crown lounge has a nice view of the sea. You can ask for specific locations on the ship and the groups department will contract the ship directly to see if it will be available. You can also bring decorations aboard. It was a lot of work, but we brought aboard everything you would have at a traditional wedding with instructions on how everything was to be setup. Since our wedding was at sea, once on board we walked the wedding coordinator through everything the day before the wedding and it more or less turned out as well as we hoped. We even had large centerpieces for each table and fresh flowers ordered from their catering department.

This is the link for many of the options that are available through the groups department.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Incentives/Customization_Section.pdf

Hope this helps!

Hi there!

 

We did a wedding at sea on Royal and did everything that your suggesting, plus we rented out a specialty restaurant for an actual dinner reception. The wedding department only will be of help with the ceremony portion. The groups department will handle everything else.

 

The Viking crown lounge has a nice view of the sea. You can ask for specific locations on the ship and the groups department will contract the ship directly to see if it will be available. You can also bring decorations aboard. It was a lot of work, but we brought aboard everything you would have at a traditional wedding with instructions on how everything was to be setup. Since our wedding was at sea, once on board we walked the wedding coordinator through everything the day before the wedding and it more or less turned out as well as we hoped. We even had large centerpieces for each table and fresh flowers ordered from their catering department.

 

This is the link for many of the options that are available through the groups department.

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/Royal/Incentives/Customization_Section.pdf

 

Hope this helps!

This is so nice to hear!!! What did your day actually look like? (ceremony time, dinner time, reception?) I did think about renting out a place for dinner, were you able to have speeches and things like that there? we are just not sure how to fit in the first dances etc if we go that route. Ive heard chops costs $3000, is that all in or is that just the rental of the space?

I'm really happy to hear about decorations, we heard it was only simple table top things we could bring. and I'd like to be able to order more flowers for sure!

I'm definitely going to look at Viking Lounge, there was one that looked like it just had a view of the inner decks, but maybe I was looking at a wrong view.

Thanks for this - any other details you can share would be much appreciated!!!

Also, did you use the ipod sound system? She said it is just small...wondering how the sound is for the space of the lounge.

Thanks!

I am planning a wedding at sea on the Oasis in October 14. Royal Romance is not helpful with answering questions at this moment. It took two months to get my receipt that I paid for the ceremony. I asked a few other questions in one long email and did get a response. I was told that the wedding would be assigned to a coordinator 60 days prior. Royal Romance also told me they could handle the reception and a group reservation at Chops Grill.

However, due to the lack of communication I decided to have my TA work with the group department, which I'm not sure is a lot quicker. It's been over week since we put in a request for the Pinnacle Lounge as our reception location. My TA told me that we had to rent out Chops Grill ($5000 plus $2000 minimum beverage). We only have 24 guests so that's not cost efficient. We are trying to make single reservations at 5:30 pm when Chops opens for the evening. Based on RC paperwork I read, larger groups will need to stager the reservations by 30 minutes and the menu is set vs a full menu. I'm waiting to hear back from my TA with confirmation on this.

I recall last year in the pre planner online for my Oasis sailing (should have printed the screen) there were two dinner options for groups of 8 or more. One offered a bottle(s) of wine and the other was a 20% (I think) discount per person. Of course, this information is not available until the pre-planner options are available online. The group department was not aware of either promotion so I'm not sure if it's better to go through the group department or just wait and make the reservations online.

I'm learning prices are not consistent between departments (Royal Romance, Group etc) so it's best to always print the screen for reference.

Here are the prices I got from the group department regarding a reception

Depending on the desired brand selection of beverage bar service ranges from $13.95 to $22.95 pp per hour. Frozen drinks are the same cost.

Sparkling wine - $12.50 pop / per hour

Beer, Wine Soda - $12.50 pp /per hour

plus $50 per hour per bar server.

Appetizers range from $14 - $21 pp/per hour

My response from Royal Romance in regards to venues for a ceremony. Note - I'm not sure why the chapel is not included on the list.

"Royal Romance venues are assigned based on venue availability and group size Potential venues onboard Oasis of the Seas include:

Pinnacle Lounge

Dazzles

Blaze - No windows

Jazz on 4- - No windows

Solarium

Viking Crown Lounge"

I hope this helps some.

Our day looked as follows:

Bride got hair / makeup at salon with bridesmaids in the AM. (the wedding or groups dept can help you book this)

2:30-3:30 - Wedding

3:30-5:30 - Cocktail Hour (open bar, hot and cold canapés, live band) - this is where we did the introduction of the bridal party, first dances, etc...

6:00 - ? - Rented Chops out for the entire night. Had a live duo that played on and off. Chops had a wireless mic. We did toasts, cake cutting ceremony, etc.. at Chops. The price included all food, but Royal Caribbean likes to do a set menu for large parties. Chops holds 100 people on Allure, so if you have considerably less people you might be able to negotiate something. I see that they do now have a separate beverage minimum, I don't remember having that. Chops typically is divided into two rooms, so maybe you can work with them to rent out only one of the rooms.

Late Night - Dancing at the Disco

The Viking crown does overlook the ship / sea, but it's still a great view for a reception.

You can order fresh flowers from the wedding department. Just send a photo of what you are looking for and they will come back with quotes.

The Viking crown had it's own sound system. We had a mix of live music and music from a CD that we burned and brought onboard. There was a member of the entertainment team that help us coordinate the cd music once onboard.

As for decorations, we brought a runner, sand ceremony, bows, centerpieces, toule, even globes to hang from the ceiling. The family helped transform the room the morning of the wedding along with the onboard wedding coordinator. During the reception, the wedding team decorated Chops with instructions that we went over with them the day prior.

I will say that it does get frustrating dealing with the group and wedding departments. Unlike a land wedding, they have everything (catering, music, event space, etc...) already onboard the ship and it's just the nature of ship life not to really focus on the details until they are just a couple of sailings out. They could really pull everything together in a couple hours in they needed to. It will all come together, but if you want to plan things out way in advance like we did, you may have to follow up with them more than you ever dreamed.

Our day looked as follows:

 

Bride got hair / makeup at salon with bridesmaids in the AM. (the wedding or groups dept can help you book this)

2:30-3:30 - Wedding

3:30-5:30 - Cocktail Hour (open bar, hot and cold canapés, live band) - this is where we did the introduction of the bridal party, first dances, etc...

6:00 - ? - Rented Chops out for the entire night. Had a live duo that played on and off. Chops had a wireless mic. We did toasts, cake cutting ceremony, etc.. at Chops. The price included all food, but Royal Caribbean likes to do a set menu for large parties. Chops holds 100 people on Allure, so if you have considerably less people you might be able to negotiate something. I see that they do now have a separate beverage minimum, I don't remember having that. Chops typically is divided into two rooms, so maybe you can work with them to rent out only one of the rooms.

Late Night - Dancing at the Disco

 

The Viking crown does overlook the ship / sea, but it's still a great view for a reception.

 

You can order fresh flowers from the wedding department. Just send a photo of what you are looking for and they will come back with quotes.

 

The Viking crown had it's own sound system. We had a mix of live music and music from a CD that we burned and brought onboard. There was a member of the entertainment team that help us coordinate the cd music once onboard.

 

As for decorations, we brought a runner, sand ceremony, bows, centerpieces, toule, even globes to hang from the ceiling. The family helped transform the room the morning of the wedding along with the onboard wedding coordinator. During the reception, the wedding team decorated Chops with instructions that we went over with them the day prior.

 

I will say that it does get frustrating dealing with the group and wedding departments. Unlike a land wedding, they have everything (catering, music, event space, etc...) already onboard the ship and it's just the nature of ship life not to really focus on the details until they are just a couple of sailings out. They could really pull everything together in a couple hours in they needed to. It will all come together, but if you want to plan things out way in advance like we did, you may have to follow up with them more than you ever dreamed.

Oh thank you so, so much for this!! this sounds like a great day plan, one I hadn't thought of. I really just want to ensure that we have time together and get to do the regular wedding stuff. But I think its $5000+$2000 for chops? Also the reception we'd have to get would be the $48/head for an hour as we have more than 50 guests coming. It's just so hard to know what is best to do.

Where was your ceremony?

Did you choose Viking lounge for your reception because of your group size or for another reason?

How much did you pay for Chops? did that include drinks too?

Did you have a photographer at Chops? If so did you have to book that separately from the wedding photographer?

I hope you don't mind answering questions!

Thanks!

Vegas82 - shoot me your email. I travel and it's easier for me than posting on the boards.

Vegas82 - shoot me your email. I travel and it's easier for me than posting on the boards.

I have no idea how to private message lol - but you can email me at kerri.power@mcman.ca

Thank you so much!

I was wondering how your wedding came out?? I am planning a wedding onboard the Anthem of the seas May 2, 2016 and am scrambleing to find any info about the receptions. I sent a request to rent out chops but no one has told me pricing yet. Any info would be great!! Thanks

Email me at kerri.power@hotmail.com :) I can give you some tips/advice that way, i never get a chance to use the boards especially with work

Vegas82 - I hope you dont mind but i have also emailed you as we are getting married on the Harmony of the Seas in May - I would love some info too if you wouldnt mind x

Oh maybe not, the email has just bounced back :-(

oops. its a _ not a .

kerri_power@hotmail.com

Thanks so much have sent you an email now x

oops. its a _ not a .

 

kerri_power@hotmail.com

Here is my email lneal31@gmail.com. I would love tips and information also. I am getting married on Allure on August 7, 2016. I don't have a bridal party and have secured Dazzles as the venue for the ceremony and reception, but have yet to secure reception details.