Jump to content

RCCL Brides please help!


Recommended Posts

Hi! So my guy has never agreed to cruising and I finally got him to go on one this January! I'm doing everything I can to make this really nice so he will want to get married on a ship :)

 

I've heard it can be pricey to have the wedding on board. Has anyone done the wedding on an island? I really don't want any kind of religious undertones at all as we are both atheist and anti theist. The chapel is pretty but small as well and I don't think everyone would fit.

 

Can anyone tell me about RCCL weddings specifically and what they thought of the cost and ease of planning? If we get several cabins booked do we get any kind of benefit like on a land resort?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

We are currently planning our wedding on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas for September 2017. We will be doing it at sea and the Captain will be the officiant. Since it's at sea, the Captain is the only one legally able to do it. We aren't religious either so this is perfect for us. Though when my Wedding Planner sent me the planning documents it looked as if you can really customize the ceremony however you want.a There is a pdf document for download on their website with general pricing. It's actually pretty helpful for general information. I can tell you that they won't guarantee your wedding date or venue until you pay the full wedding package balance (which is listed in the document with all the inclusions) so I forked over $3,700 right off the bat so I could nail down the date and ship venue.

 

Seriously though, this is nothing compared to a traditional wedding. Plus our group is all going to sit together at dinners so we don't have to pay for meals for our group.

 

As far as a discount for multiple rooms is concerned, I booked through the group department so they explained it as for every 8 staterooms booked, they will take the largest average of room categories booked and give you credit for one person. For example, if of my 8 rooms booked for my group, 5 were balcony rooms, and it was based fare of $875/person for that room, I would get a credit of $875 for my room. If I booked 16 rooms and the largest average of room was balcony room with base fare of $875/person then I'd get a credit of $1750.

 

I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

christa4

Edited by christa4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
We are currently planning our wedding on Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas for September 2017. We will be doing it at sea and the Captain will be the officiant. Since it's at sea, the Captain is the only one legally able to do it. We aren't religious either so this is perfect for us. Though when my Wedding Planner sent me the planning documents it looked as if you can really customize the ceremony however you want.a There is a pdf document for download on their website with general pricing. It's actually pretty helpful for general information. I can tell you that they won't guarantee your wedding date or venue until you pay the full wedding package balance (which is listed in the document with all the inclusions) so I forked over $3,700 right off the bat so I could nail down the date and ship venue.

 

Seriously though, this is nothing compared to a traditional wedding. Plus our group is all going to sit together at dinners so we don't have to pay for meals for our group.

 

As far as a discount for multiple rooms is concerned, I booked through the group department so they explained it as for every 8 staterooms booked, they will take the largest average of room categories booked and give you credit for one person. For example, if of my 8 rooms booked for my group, 5 were balcony rooms, and it was based fare of $875/person for that room, I would get a credit of $875 for my room. If I booked 16 rooms and the largest average of room was balcony room with base fare of $875/person then I'd get a credit of $1750.

 

I hope this helps! Good luck!

 

christa4

 

 

Hi Christa,

 

When you first started planning your wedding, did you email or call Royal? I sent an email 2 weeks ago and have not heard from anyone yet. :(

 

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are getting married next month and decided against doing it on the ship. Our first stop is in Key West, so we are doing a very low-key and non-religious ceremony on the beach at 1pm. We found a couple/wedding planners who do very low-key weddings. I think it ended up costing $1200 total for 40 chairs on the beach, a sound system for the beach, an hour of pictures (they are photographers too), and a trolley to get our 40 guests from the ship to the beach and then from the beach to downtown Key West afterwards for a bar-hopping reception :)

 

Since we had 40 guests, we got a free cocktail party from RC with an open bar and some passed appetizers for 1 hour so we are using that as our reception later that night from 7-8pm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
We are getting married next month and decided against doing it on the ship. Our first stop is in Key West, so we are doing a very low-key and non-religious ceremony on the beach at 1pm. We found a couple/wedding planners who do very low-key weddings. I think it ended up costing $1200 total for 40 chairs on the beach, a sound system for the beach, an hour of pictures (they are photographers too), and a trolley to get our 40 guests from the ship to the beach and then from the beach to downtown Key West afterwards for a bar-hopping reception :)

 

Since we had 40 guests, we got a free cocktail party from RC with an open bar and some passed appetizers for 1 hour so we are using that as our reception later that night from 7-8pm.

 

 

how did you get a free cocktail party? was that for booking a group or certain number of guests?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
We are getting married next month and decided against doing it on the ship. Our first stop is in Key West, so we are doing a very low-key and non-religious ceremony on the beach at 1pm. We found a couple/wedding planners who do very low-key weddings. I think it ended up costing $1200 total for 40 chairs on the beach, a sound system for the beach, an hour of pictures (they are photographers too), and a trolley to get our 40 guests from the ship to the beach and then from the beach to downtown Key West afterwards for a bar-hopping reception :)

 

Since we had 40 guests, we got a free cocktail party from RC with an open bar and some passed appetizers for 1 hour so we are using that as our reception later that night from 7-8pm.

 

How did you get the free cocktail reception. I know you could forego OBC to have a cocktail party but was told by MUTLIPLE agents that it wasn't guaranteed private because using GAP the party is shared with other groups on board. Also, they won't guarantee the time or venue until 2 weeks before (I thought about waiting to see if any other groups booked so I could still have it private). RCI also said your can not use that GAP party as a reception. I have 100 people sailing with me, so I would definitely qualify but I was told it wouldn't work by so many I believed it. If they were wrong, I'd LOVE to know. It would save me like $2500!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wasn't guaranteed private since we were in the Starlight Disco, but it was so early (7pm) that no one else was in there. I know our travel agent knew the night and time of the party about two months in advance. Not sure how she did it--mate she just talked to the right person. And we definitely used it as our reception--complete with two cakes--a small one to cut and a sheet cake for the guests.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It wasn't guaranteed private since we were in the Starlight Disco, but it was so early (7pm) that no one else was in there. I know our travel agent knew the night and time of the party about two months in advance. Not sure how she did it--mate she just talked to the right person. And we definitely used it as our reception--complete with two cakes--a small one to cut and a sheet cake for the guests.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

That's wonderful! I wish I would have read this first. I ended up just taking the OBC and reserving a cocktail party I have to pay for. The other way would have been a much better deal :mad:. Thanks! Any chance you'd be willing to share pics, and what you did during your reception/timing schedule?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
How did you get the free cocktail reception. I know you could forego OBC to have a cocktail party but was told by MUTLIPLE agents that it wasn't guaranteed private because using GAP the party is shared with other groups on board. Also, they won't guarantee the time or venue until 2 weeks before (I thought about waiting to see if any other groups booked so I could still have it private). RCI also said your can not use that GAP party as a reception. I have 100 people sailing with me, so I would definitely qualify but I was told it wouldn't work by so many I believed it. If they were wrong, I'd LOVE to know. It would save me like $2500!

 

What does GAP, OBC and RCI mean?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What does GAP, OBC and RCI mean?

 

GAP= group amenity points. You accumulate a certain amount of points when you book as a group. Either through Royal Caribbean or your travel agent. Then you can choose when to do with them

OBC=on board credit. You can get this for a different number of things. But its essentially money you can use while on the ship or towards your final bill.

RCI=royal Caribbean international. (They change their name every once in a while, so that may or may not be right at this time. It use to be RCC-royal Caribbean cruises or RCCL- royal Caribbean cruise line I believe)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth. I didn't realize that I don't get emails from Cruise Critic anymore so I didn't know anyone had posted in this group. :(

 

The credit I'm getting for being the head of our group is called a Tour Conductor Credit. Essentially, it's onboard credit. For every 8 rooms I have booked, they take the highest number of room category booked and give me credit for 1 berth. They are changing their program though because currently, you can get the bad end of the deal. For example, lets say that I have most people booked in a D7 (double occupancy) Ocean View Balcony. Some people booked when it was 30% off everyone. Some booked when it was BOGO 60%. And some booked and got the rate the group department was offering. Well, lets just say, I got punished for helping my guests get a great deal. Some of our guests booked during the 30% off everyone sale. So, I was going strong at my average room category being a D7 (double) - Ocean View Balcony. I was scheduled to get $874 per berth, at 2 credits (you get 1 credit for each group of 8 rooms). Then, I had more guests book this category during the BOGO 60% off sale, so my average berth cost for the same exact room dropped down to $440 per berth. So I went from getting a credit of $1748 to a getting $880. I wasn't happy about this for obvious reasons. I called and they ended up telling me that the program is changing because of problems like this. That they will be taking the average of the room berth for the highest average of room category, not the lowest of the room berth for the highest average room category. So they gave me the 'new' policy and gave me back the credit of $1748.

 

I wish their policy was just to take the average berth of all of your rooms booked, not just the highest average category because I have some nice suites booked. Also, I wish it wasn't just a credit for every 8 rooms because I'm 2 rooms away from my next credit so I'm missing out on an extra $874 because I am 2 room shy.

 

I don't know if I explained this clearly or not but I wanted to at least attempt in case it's helpful for anyone.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...