Looking for info/advice on weddings onboard the Emerald Princess.

Hi all, Will look around the site but if anyone has any advice for me on an Emerald Princess wedding I would appreciate.

Also, I have read Royal Caribbean offers great wedding so info/advice on that too I would love to receive. Thanks and happiness to all!

Hi all, Will look around the site but if anyone has any advice for me on an Emerald Princess wedding I would appreciate.

Also, I have read Royal Caribbean offers great wedding so info/advice on that too I would love to receive. Thanks and happiness to all!

Hi, I got married on Diamond Princess in February 2012, can I help?

It was the best day of our lives and we still talk about nearly every single day. We both loved it so much. Princess cruises were just wonderful.

I was married on the Emerald Princess in 2010. Happy to answer questions. I had a harborside ceremony meaning most of my guests disembarked prior to us setting sail. I always wanted a "Love Boat" wedding :)!

Unfortunately the Princess vow renewal packages are pretty limited, and we have decided to book our first vow renewal on Royal Caribbean's Allure of the Seas instead of Princess. We have been very loyal to Princess all these years, but felt that their vow renewal packages were not good unless you are looking for an intimate private celebration vs. including lots of guests. I am now working with an RCI wedding coordinator on the vow renewal arrangements and so far they seem to be extremely flexible and happy to accommodate special requests.

Hi, I got married on Diamond Princess in February 2012, can I help?

It was the best day of our lives and we still talk about nearly every single day. We both loved it so much. Princess cruises were just wonderful.

So happy to see a Princess cruise wedding bride/wife on the thread!! I'm having a harborside in FLL onboard the Royal in Feb. 2014. Although the ship is different, here are some questions:

Did you like the flowers? Did you upgrade?

Did you provide your own ceremony music? On a CD? Did you play music while guests were waiting?

Were you in a chapel? Was it crowded?

Did you use a DJ? Were you happy with his music?

What foods did you provide? Did you purchase the pastries/sweets? (We are considering this and having the cake in our suite). How are the foods presented?

Was the bartender able to take care of the guests quickly?

Were you satisfied with the photographer?

Would you do anything differently?r

Thanks for your help.

I'm having a harborside in FLL onboard the Royal in Feb. 2014. Although the ship is different, here are some questions:

 

Congratulations!

I upgraded my bridal bouquet as well as my maid of honor's bouquet. All flowers were wonderfully fresh and photographed well. I had requested 12 lavender colored roses and was prepared to see a shade of pink...but they got it right! I remember sending a few photos over to the wedding coordinator to communicate what I wanted and could not have been happier.

We went with the music CD for the ceremony and there was no music playing while the guests waited. This is one of my regrets - for our vow renewal I definitely want live music of some sort (I have asked for violinists, but will be flexible). The quality of the CD was o.k., it's just not the same ambiance as if you have someone playing live. We picked the ceremony music from the Princess selections on the wedding arrangements form (Bridal Chorus and the Wedding March).

We opted for a luncheon reception following our ceremony. The time went very fast (ceremony was at around noon and guests had to disembark I think at around 3:30 pm), so no time for a DJ.

Our ceremony took place in the Emerald Princess chapel and I remember waiting nervously around the corner from the Lotus Spa for the call to walk down the aisle! I got a lot of curious looks from the newly embarked passengers coming onboard to make Spa appointments :). The chapel was just the right size for our group (less than 40). It is quite small and the walk down the aisle felt short. It was nice to get natural light through the windows - the wedding chapel on the Royal Princess is in a windowless location next to the Concierge Lounge (I checked it out in July to evaluate as a vow renewal location - otherwise it is more spacious than the chapel on the Emerald).

For food we purchased one of the luncheon packages (3-course meal) and I negotiated to upgrade to a 4-course lunch so I could include my favorite Apple and Peach chilled soup. As for the cake, I made a special request to have sugar roses on the 3-tier cake match my lavender bouquet - and it did! The food was wonderful as was the set-up (they had our wedding favors beautifully displayed when the guests walked in). What I was not happy about (not that it mattered that much) is that they only had one dining room open at the time (embarkation day) and allocated just a section of it to our wedding party. They then seated tons of other passengers right next to us who were of course talking loudly. It was hard for us to hear the toasts our guests made. Princess should have placed us on the other side of the dining room instead of right next to other passengers - I was also not told about this prior to the wedding. I would have gladly paid extra for a bit more privacy (and perhaps a microphone!).

We paid for champagne and wine service at the luncheon and there was plenty of it - no issues with the service there.

They delivered the rest of our wedding cake to our room and we continued to enjoy it for the duration of the cruise.

Our photographer did a good job. I wish we could have had maybe an extra 30 minutes of photography and I also wish she had taken photos during the luncheon (she only took them during toasts and cake-cutting vs. some candid shots as well). We purchased all the photos on a CD so we could have the rights to them forever - there were more than 300 files on the CD and it cost $495 at the time. It was wonderful to be able to edit them ourselves afterwards. We also had them make a little slide show with music of the best shots (additional fee).

If I could relive that day I'd invest in live ceremony music and insist on a better luncheon set-up away from the noise. I would have also tried to add 30-60 minutes to photography, starting from me getting ready in the room. It also was not ideal for the bride not to meet the officiant until in the chapel, but we knew this was going to be one of the trade-offs in a cruise wedding.

Thank you so much for your detailed response to my questions. I see you sailed the Royal in July....a few more ship specific questions:

Did the chapel have chairs, benches, piano? Can the room accommodate 35 guests?

Does the concierge lounge connect to chapel? Would you recommend use of that space prior to ceremony? I'm aware of the short aisle and no windows..we are an older second marriage couple.

We are having a DJ and wanted to dance so our reception is in Club6.....did you see any other space that would still provide a cozy private atmosphere for 35-40 guests? It seems the Atrium area is not private and the lounges may be too large.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Did the chapel have chairs, benches, piano? Can the room accommodate 35 guests?

 

Does the concierge lounge connect to chapel? Would you recommend use of that space prior to ceremony? I'm aware of the short aisle and no windows..we are an older second marriage couple.

 

We are having a DJ and wanted to dance so our reception is in Club6.....did you see any other space that would still provide a cozy private atmosphere for 35-40 guests? It seems the Atrium area is not private and the lounges may be too large.

When I visited the Royal Princess chapel in July I recall seeing a grand piano. You should mention it in the contract to make sure it's there and is tuned. There are comfy-looking chairs throughout. The Royal's chapel is bigger than the one on Emerald (where we had almost 40 guests) and can definitely seat 35.

We popped in the chapel one day and actually accidentally opened the connecting door to the concierge lounge! The adjacent location is really convenient (there were also restrooms nearby), but you would need to make sure to define all the details on your contract if you are hoping for exclusive use of the lounge as it is for the benefit of all suite passengers. We stayed in a mini-suite, so I'm not sure if it's open for passengers at all prior to sail-away - maybe they gladly offer it for the use of wedding parties? I think the biggest downside of the concierge lounge is that it's a windowless location. I thought that aspect of the design was a bit strange - most ships will have their wedding chapel on a top with beautiful views. This was another item that factored into our decision to book the vow renewal with RCI following our cruise on the Royal. If we book another vow renewal in the future on the Royal I would opt for a reception location with natural light OR have a candle-light ceremony in the evening, which could be really beautiful.

I can't think of another location for your group that would be both intimate and accommodate dancing....the Princess crowd does not appear to dance that much. Sabatinis is a nice intimate venue, but no dance floor there. The Piazza is like a fishbowl and you would not have any privacy. The Vista lounge would be way too big. Princess Live theater is a little smaller, but could still feel too big with a group of up to 40. One option to consider if you are open to an outdoors venue (and Princess is open to making it available for a private event inclusive of a DJ/dancing) is the Horizon Terrace on deck 16 in the aft - you can see a picture of the sofas and bar area on this thread .

Thanks again Princess Catarina!!:):):)

You are welcome, I'm sure you will have an amazing Princess wedding! :)

Married 2 1/2 yrs ago on the Caribbean Princess.

I had a bar and the bartender was good at getting drinks out. At first they only were giving out drinks prepared ahead of time but eventually they fully opened the bar. We did h'orderves and a pasta bar. I didn't like the h'orderves they were so heavy on the cream, pasta was good. Cake wasn't that good. I gave them a photo ahead of time of how I wanted it to look and I thought it looked kind of messy. They used the bouquet that came with the package as the topper per my request. We didn't get to keep any of the cake, even while cruising. What a waste.