Dissappointed with RCCL Wedding (not mine)

I will begin by stating that I am a Diamond member of the Crown and Anchor society and that I don't think that this experience will deter me from cruising with RCCL again.

That being said, my stepbrother and his wife (first time cruisers) decided to have their wedding on the Voyager of the Seas prior to it leaving Port Liberty, Bayonne, NJ for Bermuda. About 25 family members went on the cruise and another 20 attended the ceremony and reception only. The ceremony and reception were held at 1:30 pm in the Viking Crown. Signs were posted that there was a private event. HOWEVER, a few individuals decided to ignore these signs to park themselves at the bar and begin drinking. My husband asked one of the two wedding coordinators if they could please ask these individuals to leave as they were not invited guests (it was obvious as the guests were all dressed up and the univited people were wearing shorts and t-shirts). The coordinators said no, this was a bar that was open and they could not ask them to leave (depsite what the signs said??). Then, as the univited people's voices grew louder, my husband asked another staff who was dressed in an officer's uniform if he could ask the univited people to leave. He told my husband that the univited people should not be there and the bartender should not have begun serving them. He then went over to the univited people and spoke with them but they never left. We just kept our fingers crossed that they would respect the ceremony and be quiet for the entire 10 minutes but you could hear them snickering and talking in the background. Then to top it all off, they actually ate food (ok only a roll but still) off of the reception buffet that the bride and groom paid for and laughed about it!!

To say I am dissappointed in the service that was provided to my stepbrother and new sister-in-law is an understatement. It was embarassing that a cruise line that we highly praised to our family members did nothing in this instance. As experienced cruisers know, they have barely begun letting you on the ship at 1:30, so I was kind of surprised that people had already begun parking themselves at the bar. And the fact that they would not leave this one bar when there were other bars open (we could see the pool bar providing service from our seats and it was a grogeous day out so no need to stay inside and the 19th Hole was open less than 20 feet away!!) out of respect for others is very shallow. The bride and groom paid extra money to have their wedding on the cruise ship and the least that could have been done was to give them what they paid for - a private ceremony.

OK I have vented. I just wanted to share this in case you or someone you know was planning a wedding. You may want to make sure you address this up front with the cruiseline. And don't worry, I plan on writing a letter as well.

WOW! I would not have been pleased in the least.

You said you had people that just attended the ceremony/reception. They were permitted on the ship although they were not crusing guest?

WOW! I would not have been pleased in the least.

 

You said you had people that just attended the ceremony/reception. They were permitted on the ship although they were not crusing guest?

Yes then they disembark an hour or so before sailing, they can even eat in the Windjammer before the ceremony.

My daughter was married on Rhapsody and it was a wonderful wedding. There was a sign and thankfully it was respected, so no intruders. I'm really surprised the staff didn't ask them to leave.

We had a 50th wedding anniversary party in the Viking Crown Lounge on a different cruise and they turned people back and pointed out that it was a private party, of course the people hurried away. Unfortunately you had a couple of really disrespectful passengers along with the fact staff wasn't forceful enough.

Wow...I would have snapped a clear photo of them sitting at the bar and then filed my complaint to the top person on the ship that afternoon. If this would have been my wedding...I would have been pi**ed to say the least. (wait...but then again, I'm married to a United States Marine...I'm sure he would have handled it in not the nicest way..yikes)

I cannot stand rude idiots...sounds like you happen to find just 2 of them on the ship at the very beginning. :( I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I would definitely write RCCL and C&A a letter. I hope despite this beginning that your step brother and new wife have a great life together and willl cruise again.

Esmerelda

Yes then they disembark an hour or so before sailing, they can even eat in the Windjammer before the ceremony.

 

 

If I boarded a ship for that purpose I would be real tempted to be a stow away:D They would have to drag me off kicking and screaming.

Actually to be honest, my husband has had to drag me off almost kicking and screaming :p

Clods! Ill mannered clods who think they can do what ever they want because its their vacation. :eek:

How was the rest of the cruise?

***

Wow...I would have snapped a clear photo of them sitting at the bar and then filed my complaint to the top person on the ship that afternoon. If this would have been my wedding...I would have been pi**ed to say the least. (wait...but then again, I'm married to a United States Marine...I'm sure he would have handled it in not the nicest way..yikes)

 

I cannot stand rude idiots...sounds like you happen to find just 2 of them on the ship at the very beginning. :( I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I would definitely write RCCL and C&A a letter. I hope despite this beginning that your step brother and new wife have a great life together and willl cruise again.

 

Esmerelda

I would have been very ticked off and would have snapped clear pictures of the RCI employees who wouldn't remove the rude a$$es and turned THEM in to their employer!

Esmerelda- heheheh I know what you mean, my 'significant other' is a former US Marine....:-)

ravenchic, this is surely an example of something that should be brought to RCI management's attention. A letter explaining just what you told us is appropriate. I hope you got the names of the staff who would not assist in the "private" part of the extra cost ceremony. I would be quite upset!

On the other hand, unfortunately, these ignorant boobs could care less about what other's think ... they probably enjoy breaking rules. I wonder what other mischief they got into ...:rolleyes:

Please come back and tell us about the reply you get from RCI.

There is never a "former U.S. Marine". They are always a Marine! :)

I have no idea what RCCL or C & A could do at this point in time. Although it seems it was poorly handled at the time, perhaps the staff was trying to avoid an ugly confrontation during the event. No way of knowing when you're not present. It's kind of disgusting knowing there are people like this in the world. One can only hope there is Karma out there, to deliver the same right back at them at a special moment in their lives.

Or just maybe...they were invited guests the OP didn't know? The last few weddings I've attended have people dressed for a barbeque in the backyard rather than what you might expect of a wedding guest.

Yes then they disembark an hour or so before sailing, they can even eat in the Windjammer before the ceremony.

 

 

If I boarded a ship for that purpose I would be real tempted to be a stow away:D They would have to drag me off kicking and screaming.

Actually to be honest, my husband has had to drag me off almost kicking and screaming :p

 

I hear ya sister! That's why my daughter got to take her parents, siblings, in-laws, friends and grandparents on her honeymoon LOL.

Well, there are ignorant clods everywhere, but I certainly would have reported the crewmembers who refused to take action immediately.

Having said that, why are you taking so long to post this - Voyager hasn't sailed out of Bayonne for at least three years.

Having said that, why are you taking so long to post this - Voyager hasn't sailed out of Bayonne for at least three years.

Was wondering the same thing. :confused:

I am guessing that rather than delaying her post here on Cruise Critic by four years, she made a mistake in the name of the ship, and wrote "Voyager" where she meant to write "Explorer".

Just a guess. :)

There is never a "former U.S. Marine". They are always a Marine! :)

WELL SAID....my bad :-(

Having said that, why are you taking so long to post this - Voyager hasn't sailed out of Bayonne for at least three years.

I had the same thought, typed it up, but deleted it. I'm hoping that they were on Explorer and just got confused since Explorer is a Voyager class ship.

We were on the Mariner in January in port in Cayman Islands and we took one of those city tours that stopped at a small beach, there was a couple on the beach getting married when we arrived. Other than our "train" car stopping there the couple the officiant and the photographer were the only people there and they were just starting to say their vows. I couldn't believe the people from this tour who walked right up to the couple and were actually speaking to them while they were trying to get married. Not only that but people were hovering around them so I know many of their photos during their ceremony had many people in them the couple did not even know. I realize that they were on a public beach ( although it was very secluded) I still felt sorry for them having 35 people all join in on their very special moment. We did not go anywhere near them as I did want to respect the intamacy of their moment together reciting their vows.

There is no way we would have ever gone into a bar on the ship that was having a private function....I mean come on there are at least 15 places on a ship one can get a drink:)

That being said, my stepbrother and his wife (first time cruisers) decided to have their wedding on the Voyager of the Seas prior to it leaving Port Liberty, Bayonne, NJ for Bermuda. and laughed about it!!

But, maybe not the Explorer. Hmmm.

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I got married on Mariner in December - we had our ceremony in the chapel and the reception in the 7 Hearts/Viking Crown Lounge. We had 19 guests total, and only 5 stayed on to sail with us. The non-sailing guests have to submit DL or Passport information ahead of time, and they get checked in and off the ship, so it would be hard to stay on. We were fortunate that nobody tried to crash our ceremony or reception. There were many others onboard the ship at the time, but everybody was friendly as we walked around taking pictures.

The obvious solution would have been to refuse service of alcohol to them. Even if the staff didn't want to 'force" them to leave, if they were at a bar and not being served you would assume they would have moved on!! The bartender needed to be the one to get them out of there!!

Also, I don't think the bar was actually staffed during our reception. We paid for an open bar with our buffet, so a bartender was serving drinks, but we had a limited selection and no option to order anything else that I remember.

I will begin by stating that I am a Diamond member of the Crown and Anchor society and that I don't think that this experience will deter me from cruising with RCCL again.

 

That being said, my stepbrother and his wife (first time cruisers) decided to have their wedding on the Voyager of the Seas prior to it leaving Port Liberty, Bayonne, NJ for Bermuda. About 25 family members went on the cruise and another 20 attended the ceremony and reception only. The ceremony and reception were held at 1:30 pm in the Viking Crown. Signs were posted that there was a private event. HOWEVER, a few individuals decided to ignore these signs to park themselves at the bar and begin drinking. My husband asked one of the two wedding coordinators if they could please ask these individuals to leave as they were not invited guests (it was obvious as the guests were all dressed up and the univited people were wearing shorts and t-shirts). The coordinators said no, this was a bar that was open and they could not ask them to leave (depsite what the signs said??). Then, as the univited people's voices grew louder, my husband asked another staff who was dressed in an officer's uniform if he could ask the univited people to leave. He told my husband that the univited people should not be there and the bartender should not have begun serving them. He then went over to the univited people and spoke with them but they never left. We just kept our fingers crossed that they would respect the ceremony and be quiet for the entire 10 minutes but you could hear them snickering and talking in the background. Then to top it all off, they actually ate food (ok only a roll but still) off of the reception buffet that the bride and groom paid for and laughed about it!!

 

To say I am dissappointed in the service that was provided to my stepbrother and new sister-in-law is an understatement. It was embarassing that a cruise line that we highly praised to our family members did nothing in this instance. As experienced cruisers know, they have barely begun letting you on the ship at 1:30, so I was kind of surprised that people had already begun parking themselves at the bar. And the fact that they would not leave this one bar when there were other bars open (we could see the pool bar providing service from our seats and it was a grogeous day out so no need to stay inside and the 19th Hole was open less than 20 feet away!!) out of respect for others is very shallow. The bride and groom paid extra money to have their wedding on the cruise ship and the least that could have been done was to give them what they paid for - a private ceremony.

 

OK I have vented. I just wanted to share this in case you or someone you know was planning a wedding. You may want to make sure you address this up front with the cruiseline. And don't worry, I plan on writing a letter as well.

It's not going to rectify the issue BUT I would take this up with Royal Romance and demand a full refund for the incompetent wedding coordinators that they sent to handle the wedding.

Be sure to CC Royal Caribbean on the email in order to get a prompt response from Royal Romance.

The wedding coordinators and contracted thru Royal Romance. Royal Romance is a company that is contracted by Royal Caribbean.

The obvious solution would have been to refuse service of alcohol to them. Even if the staff didn't want to 'force" them to leave, if they were at a bar and not being served you would assume they would have moved on!! The bartender needed to be the one to get them out of there!!

I don't think the bartenders want to jeopardize their tips in any way. We saw a shirtless guy being served in the Schooner Bar on formal night, and it was the bar manager who told him to cover up or leave.

There was a wedding on Mariner in March and we encountered the bride and groom having their pictures taken all over the ship. I think we may be in the background of a couple of them, and in 5 years they'll wonder who the slobs in shorts were.:o :D

I got curious and looked at the OP's previous posts. Wow, she cruised a lot this year! Made Platinum in January and has Diamond now.

:confused:

Well, there are ignorant clods everywhere, but I certainly would have reported the crewmembers who refused to take action immediately.

 

Having said that, why are you taking so long to post this - Voyager hasn't sailed out of Bayonne for at least three years.

I wondered the same thng, but think she may have meant the Explorer, but I am more curious as to why the Bride herself is not the one that is posting her complaint and writing to RCI? I think RCI would pay more attention to the Bride rather than someone that knows the bride. .

And what difference does it make that the OP is a Diamond member?

Annieeee