WHY CAN'T we get Married on St. Martin/St. Marteen??

Does anyopne know why Royal Romance, all of a sudden, will not do weddings on St. Martin/Marteen?

Thanks,

Nancy

Nancy,

My daughter was going to get married in St. Martin but changed it to St. Thomas because it was much easier. I'm really curious why they have stopped. They didn't give you any explanation? Please let us know if you find out why.....

Have you concidered St. Thomas, its very nice there.

Sandy

Nancy -

If you are not wanting to get married ON the ship while in port at St Martin, then you can use any wedding coordinator you want and are not restricted to using Royal Romance. I'm sure there are other local wedding coordinators in St Martin willing to work with you (search the internet for websites).

And to mimic Sandy... if you haven't considered St Thomas or St John (USVI), it's definitely worth looking into. The legal requirements are definitely less stringent for US citizens marrying in the USVI. (very easy!!)

~ Mandy

NCL Sky 12/2000 - Western Caribbean

Celebrity Galaxy 12/2001 - Southern Caribbean

S/S Norway 03/2003 wedding cruise - Eastern Caribbean

~~~~ Married on the beach in St John! ~~~~

HAL ms Maasdam 11/23/2003 - Western Caribbean

One more thought that just hit me... Many times, the cruiseline wedding companies contract out to local wedding coordinators. Maybe the local wedding coordinator in St Martin didn't renew their contract with Royal Romance or Royal Romance couldn't find anyone else willing to do it for their subcontract rates? I have visited with a lady who has the Carnival contract for St Thomas, and that contract is for ten years.

Just a thought/guess of why RR may not be doing weddings there...

~ Mandy

Hi Everyone,

Royal Romance did not give me an adequate reason at all. I talked with Catherine and she said that her supervisor told her not to book any weddings on St, Martin but did not tell her why. I have not called to talk to the supervisor YET. I am very disappointed in the fact that the RR Customer Service is so poor in comparison to what I am used to with Royal Caribbean. I know I am not asking for anything "extraordinary" just some good old' common sense.

I also have thought of using another consultant from the island - but again sight unseen, I am hesitant.

The cruise has been planned since September 2003. In February, at dinner with a couple we are cruising with, we were discussing the excursions we might be interested in taking on the cruise. My significant other, for five years, said that there is only one thing he wanted to do on this cruise! He preceded to hand me a brochure with a big note inside "Will you marry me?" on it! So, needless to say, of course I said YES!! Then, we thought we could just select the day, time and that's it.

I do not want to interfere with everyone's plans. I'd like to have it late in the day when we are leaving one of the islands. Just an hour, for the ceremony. Which in my mind will not interrupt anyone's island excursions, etc. NOPE, Royal Romance said that NO excursions should be planned for anyone in attendance if you are having a wedding. Well, I really did not want to "change" the plans of our little group. So, I am still not sure what to do.

Maybe a preliminary cruise to set up all of the details??? Ha.

Thanks for all of your ideas and I will continue to pursue a happy ending somewhere.

Thanks,

Nancy

I know what you mean about wanting to pick the time. With our group this will be the first time for many of them at St. Thomas and we wanted a late afternoon wedding......as you well know, they won't give you a time until right before the wedding. I have a request in for the latest possible time. My daughter says just that she doesn't want a morning one. I was told that they do the Island weddings in the morning and the ships in the afternoon. I hope thats true.

Good Luck,

Sandy

I was told that the weddings on the ship in St. Thomas are "usually" between 2 and 3 p.m. so there is time for the consultants and/or officiate to get off of the ship in time for departure.

If I had my way, we would have a ceremony at 5 pm (a 10 to 15 minute ceremony) and then we would escort the people off the ship ourselves! Then we would go to the nearest lounge and have some cocktails. That is it. Each of us has been married before. My daughter and one of his son's will be there along with a few friends (all cruising).

I am looking into getting more information directly from the islands. I am just so surprised that Royal Caribbean and the individual Islands are not more concerned about how the Wedding planning is handled. Both the Islands and Royal Caribbean are losing the $$ from "excursions" for those people with wedding plans. That to me is a huge mistake that is being made by not being a bit more "flexible". My opinion!

Thanks,

Nancy

Hi,

I agree with you, I wish we could get more information regarding times etc.

I'm glad to hear that the times would be afternoon......we're having a 2 hour reception with a DJ and he's coming from the island. I thought we'd be using the one from the ship but I was told no. So that means he has to beable to get off the ship in time. I bet my daughters wedding will take place about 2pm.

Have you contacted any wedding places in St. Maarten?

Nancy3Lily,

Thanks for sharing your proposal...how romantic!!!

Will it just be you and the one other couple in attendance at your wedding, or are there others coming? You could probably plan something beautiful on St. Martin (a beautiful place) through another wedding planner, as was already suggested. If this is an option for you, maybe you can get a recommendation from someone on this board for a good planner. One thing to keep in mind with the port plan is that the possibility does exist that you might miss a port for some reason.

I don't have any insight as to why St. Martin was dropped as a RR site. Curious.

Actually, I have been given a lot of recommendations for other consultants, which I will look at. One problem is that I really cannot do any detail work during the day from my office. I have been searching the Internet in the evenings - waiting for a day off during the week to make all the connections.

As for the cruise, there will be a total of 8 people that know us prior to the cruise, so the maximum expected in attendance at the ceremony will be 10 -IF they all show up?? We are still discussing the possibility of getting married in Florida. NO matter where it is, I am blessed to have Joe. I feel that everything will just work out.

If there is the possibility of inclement weather or missing the specific island that our wedding is planned...we both grew up in Chicago, we can handle CHANGE very well. If it isn't the weather - it's usually "politics"!

Thanks,

Nancy

Look into A Wedding For You they are also a coordinating company and do weddings just about everywhere. They do both cruise ship weddings as well as island weddings. They will be happy to answer questions and provide suggestions for making your marriage perfect!They have been excellent in planning my Bermuda wedding(2 weeks away!!) Good luck with everything.

Thank you Robyn3019, and Congratulations to you! I wish you the best of love in your marriage.

You will have to let us know how everything goes. Which cruise line are you taking?

Thanks,

Nancy

Hi,

I just got married in St. Thomas at Bluebeard's Beach Club last week and I would recommend Cheryl Toner very highly. (Wedding,Set,Go-www.viweddings.com) She is the coordinator that A Wedding for You uses when they do St. Thomas ceremonies. Otherwise, the advice I can give you is to call the planners you find online and find one that you make a connection with. I knew almost instantly that I wanted to deal with Cheryl, although the other planners I spoke with seemed just as qualified. Also, if you are still not convinced, you can check the better business bureau to see if they have any actions against them, and ask them to give you contact information for clients to use as references. Your wedding will be wonderful with your great attitude!

Karen

Karen,

Thanks, I did e-mail Cheryl the other day and I am totally impressed with her professional response. Iam looking through the info she sent.

Do you have any pictures from your wedding at Bluebeards BC? That is one spot she had recommended for us. I have a million questions! Good thing I have until October to get them answered!!

Thanks,

Nancy

We are considering getting married in Sint Maarten while on our cruise. The reason why we want that port is because of the date...my grandparent's anniversary!

We have been in touch with A Wedding For You. They were not doing weddings in Sint Maarten for a long time but started up again this year.

I will let you know what I decide to do!

Please do keep us informed! I will do the same.

Thanks,

Nancy

Hi everyone! We were married May 25 in beautiful Bermuda although it sprinkled throughout the whole cermony! We cruised aboard the Norwegian Majesty from Boston to Bermuda with 14 family memebers and had 11 other family/friends fly down for the celebration. I used A Wedding For You for the arrangements and after all is said and done I wished I had found my own coordinator in Bermuda rather than use AWFY as the middle man. No regrets everything was beautiful and our dinner reception was amazing! Good luck to all of the other brides-enjoy every moment.

NCL Majesty 5/1999

NCL Majesty 8/2002

NCL Dawn 8/2003

NCL Majesty 5/2004