I'm Getting married in St Thomas on HAL Zuiderdam

[Mikkjim]

:confused: This is my first posting so excuse the green-ness of my post. I'm so excited, my Fiancée and I are getting married May 3rd on the beach of St.Thomas. Our trip begins in Fort Lauderdale on April 30th. The Zuiderdam will be our ship. I have a few questions, but mostly I was wondering if there is any advise or comments regarding the wedding HAL puts on. Any info will help! I have started to stress about it~ :confused:

 

[Orcrone]

I'm sorry I can't give you any advice there. Just wanted to make a couple of comments. Don't worry about your "green-ness". Everyone had to make a first post at some time. Also, is the wedding through HAL? If it is I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm sure that they've done it many times and will help you through all the details.

 

Hopefully, someone who has gotten married in this way will allay your fears.

 

BTW, Congratulations!!!!!

[doone]

A friend of mine a couple years back got married onboard the Volendam in Alaska and used HAL's wedding service. She raved about how well they were treated and how knowledgeable HAL's wedding planner was. I think you are in good hands.

 

Enjoy your cruise and wedding.

[viennacruiser]

We were married on a cruise 4 years ago, it was not HAL, but it was still a great experience, hey did everything for us and it ws just great.

I am sure you will have a wonderful wedding and cruise

[Mikkjim]

HAL is planning everything. They outsource their weddings to coordinators. I'm just really freaking out that there will not be enough to do on the ship (ie activities) We will be having many of our friends with us and our families. I went with HAL because I didn't want our parents to feel like the ship was too young of a crowd and I can't see them enjoying the Hairiest Chest Contest like the one that was held during my first cruise (Carnival) Yet, I don’t want all of our friends to get bored. The other concern is.... I can't really get the people coordinating our wedding to call me back, with info. Like what time the wedding will be?! Because we are getting married and will have guests with us, I feel like I need to have more info for them, and I want to make sure all my guest have a great time and feel well informed on what is going on……

[ari6108]

We recently were on the Zuiderdam and met the "wedding planner". She is from Canada and is just lovely. Really seems to know what she is doing and has a very nice personality.

[Giorgi-one]

HAL is planning everything. They outsource their weddings to coordinators. I'm just really freaking out that there will not be enough to do on the ship (ie activities) We will be having many of our friends with us and our families. I went with HAL because I didn't want our parents to feel like the ship was too young of a crowd and I can't see them enjoying the Hairiest Chest Contest like the one that was held during my first cruise (Carnival) Yet, I don’t want all of our friends to get bored. The other concern is.... I can't really get the people coordinating our wedding to call me back, with info. Like what time the wedding will be?! Because we are getting married and will have guests with us, I feel like I need to have more info for them, and I want to make sure all my guest have a great time and feel well informed on what is going on……

 

Tell your friends to start visiting the HAl Cruise Critic board.

 

I'm sure your parents will enjoy the Varicose Veins Contest on HAL! Much better than that Hariest Chest thing on Carnival!

[viennacruiser]

HAL is planning everything. They outsource their weddings to coordinators. I'm just really freaking out that there will not be enough to do on the ship (ie activities) We will be having many of our friends with us and our families. I went with HAL because I didn't want our parents to feel like the ship was too young of a crowd and I can't see them enjoying the Hairiest Chest Contest like the one that was held during my first cruise (Carnival) Yet, I don’t want all of our friends to get bored. The other concern is.... I can't really get the people coordinating our wedding to call me back, with info. Like what time the wedding will be?! Because we are getting married and will have guests with us, I feel like I need to have more info for them, and I want to make sure all my guest have a great time and feel well informed on what is going on……

I am sure that your family and friends will have a great time, for our wedding, we did not have the time until right before the sailing, yes it stressed me out a lot. But I kept calling and they were at least able to give me a time range, that helped some.

Have you done the license yet? That caused me a lot of stress, getting it from out of town thru the mail made me a little nuts...but it all worked out and we had a great time, as I am sure you will also...

[MandyGirl]

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! My husband and I married on a cruise in 2003 while in port at St Thomas.... except that we married on St John a short ferry ride away. In fact, when planning our cruise this past November, we chose the Zuiderdam specifically for the long scheduled day in St Thomas so that we could fully enjoy the day on St John and return to our wedding beach (and have another wedding cake from the same chef). :) You have made a very good decision by incorporating your wedding with the Zuiderdam's long day in St Thomas as you will not feel as rushed. Also, you have chosen one of the prettiest places to marry (in my personal opinion). The legalities could not have been any easier.

We did not use our cruiseline's wedding coordinator company for a few reasons (I did speak with them) but instead we used a local independent coordinator. We flew down to STT about four months in advance to choose the beach we wanted (what a great excuse for a vacation on St John, huh?). A review of our wedding day, thought processes, and vendors used (florist, chef, reception catamaran, photographer, etc) can be found by clicking here. CruiseCritic has a Wedding/Honeymoon forum, but there have been very few brides marrying on HAL ships posting there (if any at all). From observing that forum over the years it has mostly been Princess/RCCL/Carnival with other cruiselines represented as well.

I have even posted on the CC wedding board that a port wedding in the USVI while cruising on the Zuiderdam would be so awesome because of the extended day there. As long as the times don't keep shortening you could even manage a sunset wedding if you wanted! (When we booked our Zui cruise it showed midnight, then later 11:00 PM, and then when we finally cruised 11/04 it was a 9:00 PM departure. Hopefully they have quit moving the departure earlier.)

I'm not sure what to say about the coordinator not calling you back and giving you your wedding time. We basically told our coordinator what time we wanted and it was confirmed that same day right after she booked the minister, photographer, videographer, etc. One thing you might want to consider for transportation: www.godfreytoursvi.com We utilized him after our reception sail, incorporated an island tour and beach swimming in getting back to the ship, and it was only twenty bucks a person. If you have not arranged transportation from ship to wedding site and back, you may consider him. I think he can hold 20 easily and has many positive reviews here on the CC St Thomas board. You would need to guarantee him a certain number of people and book asap. Pics of our wedding day inlcuding tour with him are in my signature link.

So again... I think you have made a totally awesome decision based on our previous cruising experience on the Zuiderdam as well as our experience of marrying in the USVI!!