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Just married and back with my review


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I am back from my wedding/honeymoon aboard Royal Caribbean’s Mariner of the Seas. The wedding was all that I had hoped for. It was beautiful, romantic, wonderful. I was able to gather lots of lessons learned and notes for all of you.

Logistics:
My group stayed at the Best Western in Cocoa Beach. We took Art’s Transportation to the pier. Royal Romance never told me where to go once I got to the pier so it was a little hectic trying to move my fairly large group of people and carry ons around until I finally found the correct place. We entered the terminal and was ushered up to the registration area. I met my two Royal Romance coordinators there. Both were wonderfull!! I cannot say enough about them. I sat down with one of the coordinators and went through a checklist of items. My husband and I wrote our own vows and ceremony so I reviewed it with her, photograph list, reception events, etc. The other coordinator was able to coordinate the non sailing and sailing guests into the proper location. It was hectic because 6 people were MIA but the coordinators were able to locate them and round them up. My husband and I and my wedding party were the first to board the ship.

Getting ready:
My two maids of honor and I boarded the ship and went directly to my cabin where we dropped off some of our stuff. I dropped off my dress and my parent’s cabin so my mom could steam it. The girls and I were whisked off to the salon for hair appts. Again, the salon did an amazing job for all three of us. One of my girls has really short hair and they were able to create a wonderful style for her. My style was beautiful and I was really happy with it. The MOHs started doing their make up at the salon while my veil and tiara were put on. Next we were whisked back to my cabin to finish make up and getting dressed. The tuxes for the guys were in their cabins. There was one non-sailing groomsmen and his tux was MIA until the coordinators found it at the purser’s desk. Again, the coordinators really came through. Since I had such a large group, the coordinators decided to have a rehearsal at 1 p.m. (the ceremony was due to start at 1:30 p.m.) Everyone was involved except me.

Ceremony:
We were running about 15 minutes late but the coordinator called me and asked if I was ready. She came by and picked me up and took me to the chapel. I had about 50 people wish me luck. My MOHs and my niece and nephew met me at the chapel entrance. The music started and my MOHs walked in. My niece and nephew walked me in. The ceremony went really well despite the fact that I had not participated in the rehearsal. The officiant was British so that was kind of fun. Once the ceremony was over, the photographer started pictures. Since all non-sailing guests had to be off the ship by 3:00 p.m., we decided to finish up the pictures during the reception.

Reception:
The Reception was in Cards and Games room down the stairs. We were announced and walked in. A couple of things I wasn’t so happy about. One, it was supposed to be an open bar but there wasn’t a bar set up in the room. The staff had to go back and forth to a nearby bar for the drinks. So the service wasn’t very quick. My husband and I waited about 10 minutes for champagne. A few guests mentioned the issue. Second, we paid for a one hour appetizer reception. Apparently, this only includes a set amount of appetizers for each person. Hence, the appetizers did not get refilled. By the time everyone ate, there wasn’t anything left and my husband and I didn’t get anything. We talked to the coordinators and they were able to handle the issue with the banquet manager and we got more food. I thought that was pretty shady on the party of the cruise ship though. Even the coordinators were surprised by the issue. The cake was amazing!!! It was a two tier chocolate cake covered in white fondant. The filling was this amazingly delicious concoction of hazelnut, I think. All the guests remarked on how wonderful it was. It had a white chocolate set of doves as a cake topper and white fondant roses on it. It was very nice. We saved the bottle of champagne to be delivered to our room with the remaining cake since it was an open bar. The coordinators handled all the reception events like the bouquet toss, toasts, etc. Everything went smoothly but very fast. Soon it was 3 p.m. and the non-sailing guests had to leave.

After the reception:
We had purchased an additional hour of photography. So while everyone was doing the muster drill, the photographer took us around the ship for more photos. He went a little crazy but we got lots of pictures. I think we ended up with over 160. See the link below. We were really happy with him. His name was Luie for anyone else going on the Mariner. We met at the pool for sail away after the muster drill.

All in all, it was beautiful. The Royal Romance coordinators really came through and saved the day. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Check out the following link for our pictures!

[URL=http://share.shutterfly.com/action/share/welcome?i=EeAsmbdo3YtnBQ¬ag=1&sm=1&sl=0]

Penny and Patrick
newlyweds to be
Aboard the Mariner
and totally happy you will see.
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Glad all worked out so well. Congrats on your wedding. Tried to access photos but tells me the 'share has been disabled'.

[img]http://escati.linkopp.net/cgi-bin/countdown.cgi?trgb=000000&srgb=00ff00&prgb=111111&cdt=2004;09;12;17;00;00&timezone=GMT-0400[/img]
Mariner of the Seas


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I have my photos posted on Shutterfly and apparently they only allow you to send the pictures to specific people. So, if you are interested in seeing the pictures, please email me at [email]penny.sendek@bankofamerica.com[/email]

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks,
Penny

Penny and Patrick
newlyweds to be
Aboard the Mariner
and totally happy you will see.
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I went back and looked at our contract regarding the reception appetizers, and it states 6 pieces per person. I thought I remembered that there was a limit on those. If we can out I would want the option to pay to have more. I'm glad they did something for you.
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Hi Penny,

I just emailed you as well!!!

Congratulations and I can't wait to see your pictures.

Erin & Brent
"Friends are the family that you choose for yourself"
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I used the music that Royal Romance provided. I went with the standard music and it was fine.

Regarding the appetizers, if you run out, I am sure the banquet manager will come through for you too. I think 6 per person is a little light especially since most people don't have time to eat breakfast or lunch that day.

Penny and Patrick
newlyweds to be
Aboard the Mariner
and totally happy you will see.
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Another thing, some of the other brides talked about negotiating with the photographer. I really didn't have much luck in this department. We did manage to get the pictures on CD for free as well as 3 of the shipboard formal portraits but that was it. Apparently they are more strict on the RCCL Mariner.

Penny and Patrick
newlyweds to be
Aboard the Mariner
and totally happy you will see.
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I tipped each of my coordinators $20 each and they really deserved it. I tipped the officiant $20 and the photographer $40. I had the money in envelopes and handed them out as soon as I met everyone. The only thing I forgot was the hair dresser. I had the ship salon do my hair and I didn't think to have a tip for her.

Penny and Patrick
newlyweds to be
Aboard the Mariner
and totally happy you will see.
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Penny, thanks for sharing your pictures. I see lots of similarities in our pictures. You both look so happy. Again, congratulations! May you have many more happy moments together. So when is your next cruise? We leave in 20 days onboard the Serenade to Alaska. Can't wait. It is kinda like our honeymoon since we had the kids with us onboard the Navigator.

Cheers,

Andrea

Check out my Navigator Wedding Photos at:
[url="http://community.webshots.com/user/navigatorbride"]http://community.webshots.com/user/navigatorbride[/url]

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