Vows Renewal ~ Carnival Paradise ~

Hi,

My husband and I renewed our vows on the Carnival Paradise during Thanksgiving week 2011. It was our 21st wedding anniversary. It was the last week that the ship made the Long Beach, Catalina, Ensenada voyage before going back to Tampa. We sailed with our three teenage children.

I paid the $385 ahead of time. It was worth every penny. There was a letter from the group coordinator in my cabin when we arrived. I met with her that evening and she gave me a choice of times and days. My husband didn't attend the meeting. I selected the day at sea because my husband didn't want the renewal to "interfere with his shore excursions".

The renewal was held in the Leonardo Lounge.

I brought my own CD of music, floral cake topper and flowers. I wanted to do a sand ceremony but I couldn't fit the vase in my suitcase. I brought matching dresses and bouquets for my teen daughters. My husband and son wore matching outfits. I brought a silk rose bud for my son to wear. My husband wore the rosebud provided.

I purchased my dress on ebay. Yes, it was brand new with tags. Shoes at Nordstroms. Hat with birdcage veil from etsy.com. Bouquets from afloral.com. They were small but we didn't need much. I just wrapped the flowers with some tuile and ribbon from fabric store.

We jumped the broom after saying the vows. I found the tiny decorated wisk broom on etsy.com. It's pretty and it fit in my suitcase.

Customer service was excellent. There were a number of Carnival staff present. The staff included someone to play music, a photographer, a cake cutter, a bar tender and the group coordinator. The Captain arrived and performed the service and posed for pictures. We had the whole lounge to ourselves. There was a sign posted outside that said "private vows renewal in progress" so no one would walk in. The staff set up everything including the stuff that I brought.

We bought a few pictures ($150) from the photographer but there was no pressure to buy the wedding packages. My son video taped the ceremony and took pictures.

After the ceremony we danced, ate some of the cake and drank the champagne. The ship provided sparkling cider for the kids. There was so much cake that we couldn't eat it all. They sent the cake to the dining room and we had it after dinner. We still couldn't eat it all so we gave it to the waiters.

We went to dinner immediately after the ceremony still dressed in our wedding clothes.

Overall, it was a nice experience. My husband bragged about it more than I did. He insisted on taking the renewal and cruise pictures to work before I did. If anyone is in doubt, I recommend going ahead and investing in the package.

Wow!! Your ceremony looks beautiful!

I'm still planning my wedding but will definitely consider doing a vows renewal somewhere down the line :D Thanks for posting!

We are edoing our vow renewals on Norwegian. Love to hear of a great experience with this!!!!

candycaramel....sounds like you had an amazing experience onboard. The photos are GORGEOUS! I'm wondering if you needed to provide a marriage certificate to book the ceremony or was the fact that you had the same last name good enough for Carnival?

No, they didn't ask me for a marriage certificate when I booked or on board. My legal last name (on passport and booking) is hypenated with my maiden + husbands name.

No, they didn't ask me for a marriage certificate when I booked or on board. My legal last name (on passport and booking) is hypenated with my maiden + husbands name.

Thanks just trying to get all my ducks in a row :)

Thanks for sharing! Beautiful pictures!! You all looked great!

:D

We recently returned from our 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise on the Grand Princess, where, after 41 years, we renewed our wedding vows. Since there are not a lot of other reviews of vow renewals I thought I'd share our experience, which was more special then we could have imagined.

We booked the 'basic' Princess vow renewal package and when doing so were only told that it would be a group ceremony and we would receive details as to when the ceremony would be held once we boarded. The basic package included the ceremony, a bridal bouquet, boutinnere, bottle of champagne, 2 souvenir champagne glasses, box of Godiva chocolates, certificate and framed photo. Once on board we met with a customer services representative ("CSR") who was able to tell us the date and time of our ceremony and we then went over other details (music choice, vow choice, change in dinner plans). As it turned out, we were the only couple on our cruise renewing vows, thus ours was to be a private ceremony. The ceremony was scheduled for the very next day, which was our first full sea day and first formal night, which was exactly the day we had hoped it would happen. Our anniversary is January 30th and the vow renewal was to happen on January 29th. We had previously decided on our song choices for both walking down the aisle and at the end of the ceremony and told our CSR of our choices and the ship's personnel were able to provide both (Elvis' Wonder of You for entrance and the Turtles' Happy Together for exiting). We had early dining (5:30) and our ceremony was scheduled for 6:30 pm so our CSR also made arrangments with the dining room to accommodate us at a table for 2 at a later time. We could have chosen one of the specialty restaurants, but we figured why pay extra and in the end it worked out perfect. We also requested that the ships videographers film our ceremony, which did cost extra, but we felt it was well worth it especially since we had no family with us and we wanted to be able to share our ceremony with them at a later date.

On our sea day we had a Cruise Critic gathering in the late morning and the organizers of our meeting did a great job of gathering ship's personnel to attend and we were able to meet our Captain Roger Bilton at this gathering. After meeting him we felt really good about the ceremony later that day as he is a very personal gentleman with a great sense of humor.

A few hours before our ceremony, our chocolates and champagne were delivered to our stateroom and we were able to enjoy some of it before our ceremony. We are not big on champagne, but it was actually very good champagne. A short while before the ceremony our flowers were delivered and my bouquet was beautiful. It was a mixture of white roses, orchids with a couple of lavender orchids in the mix for color. My husband's boutinnere was a white rose. At the appointed time, our CRS arrived at our room to escort us to the Hearts and Minds wedding chapel, where the Captain and others were waiting for us. We chatted briefly with the Captain, gave our rings to the head of the customers services department, who was also a really fun person, our camera to our CSR and my husband was miked for the video. The music was perfect as was our short ceremony. We were both very moved by the ceremony and had no idea after so many years, that it would be so emotional. When our ceremony ended and formal indoor photos were taken by the ship's photographer, she rushed us outside to the balcony on the rear of the ship just outside the wedding chapel in order to catch the sunset. It was a beautiful, private setting and after the photgraphers and our CSR left, we were able to share some very private time. We had chosen to use the standard vows the ship provides and then shared our own vows during our private time. Before heading to our dinner we roamed around the ship and received lots of attention and well wishes from other cruisers, which really made us feel special. The dining room staff was amazing and all we had to do was walk up to the front of the dining room and everyone jumped to action, including the Maitre'D. We were seated at private, corner location and had a waiter assigned only to us. We were even given a special cake, which was delicious, and meant only for us.

I know this is quite a long review, but to sumarize, we felt that our experience was amazing. Princess, while not much on detail until you board, provided a very special event and everything our CSR said she would do or follow up on was done. The Captain was great and provided the perfect mixture of solemness and humor. We received a very nice certificate and printed vows and the photos and video could not have been better. Of course, we ended up paying quite a bit to purchase extra photos but we felt they were too good to leave behind. I will attempt to attach a few photos and hope others will benefit from this review.

Mary

The photos are beautiful, it looks like Princess did a great job making this day so special for you both. I'm really hoping Carnival doesn't make our ceremony a group ceremony when we do it 3-10-12. I'm really nervous about that. Congrats!

Thanks for sharing your experience AlmadenCruisers. You both look so beautiful and happy. I wish you and your hubby many more years of weddiing bliss.

TruckerGal, I think Carnival vow renewals are individual ceremonies because there were 3 others scheduled during our cruise week. All were held on during different times and days.

The photos are beautiful, it looks like Princess did a great job making this day so special for you both. I'm really hoping Carnival doesn't make our ceremony a group ceremony when we do it 3-10-12. I'm really nervous about that. Congrats!

They are individual ceremonies and there is an onboard coordinator who will help you figure out the where and when of it all. My understanding through the Weddings Department is that they can take place in private rooms (chapel, lounge, library) or they can take place in public for all to see and it is up to you and your partner which you prefer.

Thank you both for the info! That really eases my mind :) I really want something personal.

Your review was very helpful! Thanks for sharing the sites where you purchased your flowers!

Thank you for the VR reviews. We hope to celebrate our 23rd anniversary ( and first year as empty nesters) with a vow renewal in 2013, so your posts have been very helpful. :)

My husband and I are renewing our vows for our 25th Anniversary on the NCL Gem in June. I booked the Vow Renewal Package for $550. Does anyone have a review of this package? :)

My husband and I are renewing our vows for our 25th Anniversary on the NCL Gem in June. I booked the Vow Renewal Package for $550. Does anyone have a review of this package? :)

I hope you find your review, I would be interested in reading it as well as I am also an NCL Vow renewal Bride.

Thank you all for posting your comments, especially to those of you who went into detail about your ceremonies on the cruise. Candycaramel your pics of you and the family are beautiful! Thanks for sharing your detailed information. I found it quite helpful. AlmadenCruisers you also were very detailed with your information and I appreciate that :). You both have given me a good idea on what to expect if we decide to renew our marriage vowels for our 20th anniversary on a cruise this summer. Congratulations and continued success to you!