Getting married - Options?

This may help. Even though my husband and have been married for 24 years, we wanted to renew our vows onboard, but we didn't want to use someone from Royal Caribbean, ( $850) and we were traveling with friends and family and wanted our good friend to officiate, since we were already married, it didn't matter if it was official.

So on formal night, I drsssed in a wedding gown and my husband wore his suit. We went to a less travelled place on the Anthem of the Seas, and yes, people did walk past and did see us renewing our vows, it was so nice! We then had our photos taken at all the formal options, and also through out the cruise, and purchased the whole package on the flash drive. I have about 145 photos!

Here is one of the photos

The idea that the captain can marry you while at sea is a myth. Any officiant must be licensed to marry people in the country in which the ship is registered. Princess does this and has officiants that are registered in Bermuda where they are flagged. Ministers can only perform legal marriages in the state or country which they are licensed. ...

Royal also does this and has officiants registered in the Bahamas.

If the ship is still in Florida, a Florida notary is legally authorized to marry them. A marriage license, a notary and a witness is all that is required. I would use a Royal photographer to serve as the witness. It could be as simple as that.

I would marry at a JP or some other civil ceremony a week or two ahead then do a formal ceremony onboard. Since you will already be legally married, you can have anyone perform the formal ceremony anywhere onboard or in any port. That way, you have the best of both worlds and not have to worry about legal issues. If you do it onboard or close to the pier, you can probably ask a RC photographer to take the pics.

My concern, as others have posted is planning for a destination wedding with the ship as your transportation to the island. You are still sailing in hurricane season and even though it may not be likely that one will happen while you are on your cruise, it is still possible. There is also the possibility that the ship may not make it to the island for some other reasons.

I would get married before I went on the cruise, either at the port of departure the day before, or at home the day before you leave for the cruise. Too chancy to do it on an island.

If you are a non-Florida resident, there is no waiting period for a marriage license to be issued in the state of Florida. After that all you need is a notary public and a witness. If you are a Florida resident then you have the three day waiting period to retrieve the licence prior to actually getting married.