Royal Caribbean Bermuda Beach Wedding Help

[pmoorefi]

I have already reserved my wedding date with Royal Caribbean for a beach wedding in Bermuda in Sept 2014, but since it's so far in advance they won't really discuss much with me and it's annoying. I already had to pay the $5000 to reserve the wedding day and all my guest have already booked the cruise. We are sailing out Baltimore on grandeur of the seas, which is very nice, since no flight is needed. Note: this will be my first time sailing.

 

Anyone who has gone to a wedding or had their wedding on the beach in Bermuda with Royal Caribbean (Royal Romance) planning/handling the wedding please let me know what you think.

 

My plan is to bring my own tablecloth (for sand ceremony table), bamboo arbor (arch thing), fabric for arbor, chair bows, sand ceremony vase set. My plan was to tip the on-site Wedding Coordinator with Royal Caribbean to setup the extra stuff I bring. As I want them to use my stuff because I want the colors of the tablecloth, chair bows, and arbor fabric to match my color and I worried if I use their stuff it's not going to match my color and it's not like they will send me a picture of what their stuff looks like because I cant even book or ask any questions about the wedding stuff until 90 days before. Also if it rains I won't be able to use any of their stuff back on the boat. Do you think the on site wedding coordinator will set it up if I give her/him a nice big tip? The only thing really big to setup is the arbor bamboo which I'm going to make really easy to setup even for one person (going to practice myself).

 

I was thinking about having a wedding reception either back on board the ship in the Viking Crown lounge or some place on shore. If on shore my non sailing guest can attend, there are only about 5 out 30 that are not sailing (flying to Bermuda). If I have it on shore where do I have? I want to have hors d’oeuvres and bar service for an hour and be able to play music from my ipod instead of having DJ. But I need something for guest to do while we finish pictures (we are going to do an extra hour of pictures) so they will need something to do for like 2 hours of pictures, without having to pay for two hours of cocktail hour, don't want my guest that drunk. And i dont want my guest hanging out on the beach while we take pictures. If we have it on the ship guest will be back on the ship and can use the 2 hours however they want, but the non sailing guest can't come because Bermuda laws.

 

I'm also worried about it raining and not being about to have the beach wedding. My plan was to have the wedding in Viking Crown lounge if it rains because from pictures it looks like it has the best views of the ocean for a place on the ship inside. If anyone has any picture of the viking crown lounge for the grandeur of the seas please post so I can see if the layout will work for a wedding. This is also why I want to bring my own stuff because if i don't bring my own stuff and it rains all the extras i pay them for on the beach i will not be able to have on board the ship, which sucks.

 

Also I'm planning to have my wedding at Warwick long bay beach in Bermuda and i have some older guest that can't walk very well and i wanted to make sure they didn't have to walk down/up any stairs to get to the beach. I asked royal romance and they won't answer this question and I cant find any pictures showing if there are stairs or not from the parking lot. If you have any please post.

 

I'm also planning to give my guest favor jars to fill with Bermuda sand from the beach. Will they be allowed to bring the jars of sand back on the ship? They are really small jars like 3 oz.

 

 

Any tips or ticks for this wedding process?

[Amy from Delaware]

Congrats! In case you didn't know, there's a whole forum for honeymoon and wedding cruising. You'll probably get replies there. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

[mailmama]

I can offer one quick tip that we used for our son and his now wife. They were married on the ship (Freedom) before the regular embarkation. Was so easy and stress-free. While they were off taking pictures after the ceremony (RCCL provided champagne and chocolate strawberries for the reception-was in the package)all guests just went their own way until 8 pm when we had reserved dinner for everyone at Chops Grille. Saved us some money also because they have a sail away dinner special. That was their official reception, dinner and champagne. (one note after reading this, they had the ceremony and a quick reception of champagne/strawberries supplied by RCCL. Everyone just mingled for about 30 minutes while pictures were taken. Then because they booked the photographer for an extra hour, he took them all over the ship for pictures. Hope this is clearer as to their time line!)

[LBumb]

sounds cool

[FLACRUISER99]

Don't forget that Bermuda Hurricane season is in It's peak in September. I don't want to alarm you but you might miss Bermuda because of weather. That being said I hope the weather's great as I am also sailing To Bermuda on the Vision in September.

[iheartbda]

Have you made plans or thought about how your guests are going to get to Warwick Long Bay? They will either have to take the bus or you will have to pre-arrange a couple of the larger taxis.

 

As far as getting to the beach itself, there is a bit of a walk down a hill to get to the beach but taxis will get everyone closer.

 

If you go to the Bermuda board and post there, a couple of Bermuda residents post who could advise you on where you may be able to have an on land reception. One in particular was very helpful to another person planning a wedding in Bermuda, maybe title your question, Calling Sousak, and she will show up. Again you are going to have to consider transportation for your guests. There's not too much that is close by.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=196

[debshomespun]

This sounds very wonderful. I do want to alert you to the fact Bermuda is in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. And, the month of September is the peak of hurricane season. There is always the possibility there can be a hurricane and this could make havoc for a destination wedding, especially when coming on a cruise ship. Chances are, everything will go off without a hitch, but just want to let you know things can happen. Please have a backup plan, in case this worst case scenario should happen.

[gerif]

I can offer one quick tip that we used for our son and his now wife. They were married on the ship (Freedom) before the regular embarkation. Was so easy and stress-free. While they were off taking pictures after the ceremony (RCCL provided champagne and chocolate strawberries for the reception-was in the package)all guests just went their own way until 8 pm when we had reserved dinner for everyone at Chops Grille. Saved us some money also because they have a sail away dinner special. That was their official reception, dinner and champagne. (one note after reading this, they had the ceremony and a quick reception of champagne/strawberries supplied by RCCL. Everyone just mingled for about 30 minutes while pictures were taken. Then because they booked the photographer for an extra hour, he took them all over the ship for pictures. Hope this is clearer as to their time line!)

 

No all of OPs guests are sailing so this would not work at all for her.

[iheartbda]

Don't forget that Bermuda Hurricane season is in It's peak in September. I don't want to alarm you but you might miss Bermuda because of weather. That being said I hope the weather's great as I am also sailing To Bermuda on the Vision in September.

Well, you just did.;):)

 

I will say that there is always some risk when planning a cruise wedding. However, we have been to Bermuda in Sept. and Oct. numerous times and always had delightful weather.

Edited November 6, 2013 by iheartbda

[RSLeesburg]

I have already reserved my wedding date with Royal Caribbean for a beach wedding in Bermuda in Sept 2014, but since it's so far in advance they won't really discuss much with me and it's annoying. I already had to pay the $5000 to reserve the wedding day and all my guest have already booked the cruise. We are sailing out Baltimore on grandeur of the seas, which is very nice, since no flight is needed. Note: this will be my first time sailing.

 

Anyone who has gone to a wedding or had their wedding on the beach in Bermuda with Royal Caribbean (Royal Romance) planning/handling the wedding please let me know what you think.

 

My plan is to bring my own tablecloth (for sand ceremony table), bamboo arbor (arch thing), fabric for arbor, chair bows, sand ceremony vase set. My plan was to tip the on-site Wedding Coordinator with Royal Caribbean to setup the extra stuff I bring. As I want them to use my stuff because I want the colors of the tablecloth, chair bows, and arbor fabric to match my color and I worried if I use their stuff it's not going to match my color and it's not like they will send me a picture of what their stuff looks like because I cant even book or ask any questions about the wedding stuff until 90 days before. Also if it rains I won't be able to use any of their stuff back on the boat. Do you think the on site wedding coordinator will set it up if I give her/him a nice big tip? The only thing really big to setup is the arbor bamboo which I'm going to make really easy to setup even for one person (going to practice myself).

 

I was thinking about having a wedding reception either back on board the ship in the Viking Crown lounge or some place on shore. If on shore my non sailing guest can attend, there are only about 5 out 30 that are not sailing (flying to Bermuda). If I have it on shore where do I have? I want to have hors d’oeuvres and bar service for an hour and be able to play music from my ipod instead of having DJ. But I need something for guest to do while we finish pictures (we are going to do an extra hour of pictures) so they will need something to do for like 2 hours of pictures, without having to pay for two hours of cocktail hour, don't want my guest that drunk. And i dont want my guest hanging out on the beach while we take pictures. If we have it on the ship guest will be back on the ship and can use the 2 hours however they want, but the non sailing guest can't come because Bermuda laws.

 

I'm also worried about it raining and not being about to have the beach wedding. My plan was to have the wedding in Viking Crown lounge if it rains because from pictures it looks like it has the best views of the ocean for a place on the ship inside. If anyone has any picture of the viking crown lounge for the grandeur of the seas please post so I can see if the layout will work for a wedding. This is also why I want to bring my own stuff because if i don't bring my own stuff and it rains all the extras i pay them for on the beach i will not be able to have on board the ship, which sucks.

 

Also I'm planning to have my wedding at Warwick long bay beach in Bermuda and i have some older guest that can't walk very well and i wanted to make sure they didn't have to walk down/up any stairs to get to the beach. I asked royal romance and they won't answer this question and I cant find any pictures showing if there are stairs or not from the parking lot. If you have any please post.

 

I'm also planning to give my guest favor jars to fill with Bermuda sand from the beach. Will they be allowed to bring the jars of sand back on the ship? They are really small jars like 3 oz.

 

 

Any tips or ticks for this wedding process?

 

There was a couple on our Grandeur cruise who planned for a Bermuda beach wedding, but it was pouring that morning, so they help it in the South Pacific lounge.

 

Go to the Bermuda forum for advice on the island. There are some real experts on there that know every inch of the island.

 

Congrats!

[pmoorefi]

Yes, I know that hurricane season is in Sept. I picked Sept b/c it will be our 7 year anniversary the day we get married. I also picked Sept. because I wanted it to be cheaper for the guest and Sept was the cheapest month. However I still don't want it to rain, no one wants it to raining on their wedding day. And if it does I want to have a full back up plan, that's why i wanted to bring all my own stuff for wedding, so I can use even if it rains.

 

Does anyone know if their is a luggage limit for the ship? So I can bring all my stuff. I won't be flying to the port so that part won't be a problem.

 

I think I'm going to look into the south pacific lounge, to see if that might work better if it rains. Thanks for the tip.

[Amy from Delaware]

I'm a little confused.

 

If you have the reception onboard, won't Royal Romance tell you what venue it's in? I can't imagine you get to just take over the venue of your choice and keep the other several thousand passengers from going in.

 

What are you actually paying Royal Romance for, if you're going to have your ceremony and possibly reception on land? Why not hook up with a wedding planner in Bermuda and have them handle it all?

 

(I'm not a wedding planner, I've never been to or had a wedding related to a cruise. So these are just questions, not suggestions.)

[pmoorefi]

I'm a little confused.

 

If you have the reception onboard, won't Royal Romance tell you what venue it's in? I can't imagine you get to just take over the venue of your choice and keep the other several thousand passengers from going in.

 

What are you actually paying Royal Romance for, if you're going to have your ceremony and possibly reception on land? Why not hook up with a wedding planner in Bermuda and have them handle it all?

 

(I'm not a wedding planner, I've never been to or had a wedding related to a cruise. So these are just questions, not suggestions.)

 

You can to pick where you have your wedding and reception on board the ship. You have to pay for the wedding the reception. Depending on what you pick as a location is the cost. If i want to rent a restaurant on the ship that cost a lot more than lounge. Some venues won't be 100% private from other guest and some are. I have already paid royal romance to hold my day and to plan my wedding, and have the basic wedding, which actually isn't that pricey. it's the extra things that cost. I don't want use just any wedding planner from Bermuda that's not with the ship, as if something happens with the ship not reaching port or having to leave early, my wedding is covered if I use Royal Caribbean as far having on the ship instead of land.

[Amy from Delaware]

You can to pick where you have your wedding and reception on board the ship. You have to pay for the wedding the reception. Depending on what you pick as a location is the cost. If i want to rent a restaurant on the ship that cost a lot more than lounge. Some venues won't be 100% private from other guest and some are. I have already paid royal romance to hold my day and to plan my wedding, and have the basic wedding, which actually isn't that pricey. it's the extra things that cost. I don't want use just any wedding planner from Bermuda that's not with the ship, as if something happens with the ship not reaching port or having to leave early, my wedding is covered if I use Royal Caribbean as far having on the ship instead of land.

 

Ah, thank you for answering. And VERY good point about not wanting to use a planner that's not associated with the ship. :)

[S&Slovecruises]

I have already reserved my wedding date with Royal Caribbean for a beach wedding in Bermuda in Sept 2014, but since it's so far in advance they won't really discuss much with me and it's annoying. I already had to pay the $5000 to reserve the wedding day and all my guest have already booked the cruise. We are sailing out Baltimore on grandeur of the seas, which is very nice, since no flight is needed. Note: this will be my first time sailing.

 

Anyone who has gone to a wedding or had their wedding on the beach in Bermuda with Royal Caribbean (Royal Romance) planning/handling the wedding please let me know what you think.

 

My plan is to bring my own tablecloth (for sand ceremony table), bamboo arbor (arch thing), fabric for arbor, chair bows, sand ceremony vase set. My plan was to tip the on-site Wedding Coordinator with Royal Caribbean to setup the extra stuff I bring. As I want them to use my stuff because I want the colors of the tablecloth, chair bows, and arbor fabric to match my color and I worried if I use their stuff it's not going to match my color and it's not like they will send me a picture of what their stuff looks like because I cant even book or ask any questions about the wedding stuff until 90 days before. Also if it rains I won't be able to use any of their stuff back on the boat. Do you think the on site wedding coordinator will set it up if I give her/him a nice big tip? The only thing really big to setup is the arbor bamboo which I'm going to make really easy to setup even for one person (going to practice myself).

 

I was thinking about having a wedding reception either back on board the ship in the Viking Crown lounge or some place on shore. If on shore my non sailing guest can attend, there are only about 5 out 30 that are not sailing (flying to Bermuda). If I have it on shore where do I have? I want to have hors d’oeuvres and bar service for an hour and be able to play music from my ipod instead of having DJ. But I need something for guest to do while we finish pictures (we are going to do an extra hour of pictures) so they will need something to do for like 2 hours of pictures, without having to pay for two hours of cocktail hour, don't want my guest that drunk. And i dont want my guest hanging out on the beach while we take pictures. If we have it on the ship guest will be back on the ship and can use the 2 hours however they want, but the non sailing guest can't come because Bermuda laws.

 

I'm also worried about it raining and not being about to have the beach wedding. My plan was to have the wedding in Viking Crown lounge if it rains because from pictures it looks like it has the best views of the ocean for a place on the ship inside. If anyone has any picture of the viking crown lounge for the grandeur of the seas please post so I can see if the layout will work for a wedding. This is also why I want to bring my own stuff because if i don't bring my own stuff and it rains all the extras i pay them for on the beach i will not be able to have on board the ship, which sucks.

 

Also I'm planning to have my wedding at Warwick long bay beach in Bermuda and i have some older guest that can't walk very well and i wanted to make sure they didn't have to walk down/up any stairs to get to the beach. I asked royal romance and they won't answer this question and I cant find any pictures showing if there are stairs or not from the parking lot. If you have any please post.

 

I'm also planning to give my guest favor jars to fill with Bermuda sand from the beach. Will they be allowed to bring the jars of sand back on the ship? They are really small jars like 3 oz.

 

 

Any tips or ticks for this wedding process?

 

They will not be able to bring the sand back on the ship. Sorry

[Big_G]

Two words: Wedding Insurance!

[pmoorefi]

having the money back won't fix not being to have a wedding on the day you planned and when all your guest are there. It's about the moment not money. The same goes for wanting to bring my own stuff for wedding, wedding insurance isn't going to be able to fix not having the right color chair bows. it's about the wedding not money. I feel like I'm having to defend myself. I was just looking for ideas not to be attacked my decision. Any other brides out there?

[Amy from Delaware]

Please refer to my response from yesterday (the first response on this thread) to go to the "honeymoon and wedding cruise" forum. Plenty of other brides on there.

[pmoorefi]

I have moved my post to the wedding section. If you have any ideas that may help me feel free to reply here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1940164

[green eyed lady]

Can I ask what the $5000 you already paid includes?

 

My DS got married in July on the beach in Bermuda while we were docked on NCL Breakaway. They hired a local wedding planner who handled all of the details. They provided vans to pick us up at the ship and take us to Stonehole Bay...absolutely beautiful and very secluded. She hired the minister, photographer/videographer, got the license, chairs,and flowers. They opted for a heart in the sand made of rose petals and crushed seashells instead of an arch.

 

After the ceremony, we had a few hor dourves on the beach, as well as wedding cupcakes and prosecco. Also included was bottled water...sparkling and regular.

 

We brought our own sand ceremony. She provided ipod speakers and we brought an ipod loaded with the couple's favorite songs. We were picked up at the ship around 4:15, they got married around 5, and we were back on the ship before 7. We had an 8:00 dinner reservation in the steakhouse for the wedding dinner.

 

This was by far the most beautiful, meaningful wedding I have ever been to. They didn't want a whole big affair with tons of people costing tons of $$. Although they just had immediate family, so there were only 10 of us total, it was amazing.

 

Also, the rain back up plan was a local restaurant that has a covered deck overlooking the water, so they could at least have that in the background for pics.

 

I agree about wedding insurance...they purchased it in case the ship didn't make it to port. Fortunately we didn't need it, but better to be safe than sorry. Good luck with you wedding! How many guests are you having?

[Amy from Delaware]

My DS got married in July on the beach in Bermuda while we were docked on NCL Breakaway.

<snip>

This was by far the most beautiful, meaningful wedding I have ever been to.

 

Sounds lovely! Do you have an idea what the cost was for all that?

[green eyed lady]

Sounds lovely! Do you have an idea what the cost was for all that?

 

It was lovely...thanks. I think total was around $5500 including the dinner on the ship.

[pmoorefi]

Can I ask what the $5000 you already paid includes?

 

My DS got married in July on the beach in Bermuda while we were docked on NCL Breakaway. They hired a local wedding planner who handled all of the details. They provided vans to pick us up at the ship and take us to Stonehole Bay...absolutely beautiful and very secluded. She hired the minister, photographer/videographer, got the license, chairs,and flowers. They opted for a heart in the sand made of rose petals and crushed seashells instead of an arch.

 

After the ceremony, we had a few hor dourves on the beach, as well as wedding cupcakes and prosecco. Also included was bottled water...sparkling and regular.

 

We brought our own sand ceremony. She provided ipod speakers and we brought an ipod loaded with the couple's favorite songs. We were picked up at the ship around 4:15, they got married around 5, and we were back on the ship before 7. We had an 8:00 dinner reservation in the steakhouse for the wedding dinner.

 

This was by far the most beautiful, meaningful wedding I have ever been to. They didn't want a whole big affair with tons of people costing tons of $$. Although they just had immediate family, so there were only 10 of us total, it was amazing.

 

Also, the rain back up plan was a local restaurant that has a covered deck overlooking the water, so they could at least have that in the background for pics.

 

I agree about wedding insurance...they purchased it in case the ship didn't make it to port. Fortunately we didn't need it, but better to be safe than sorry. Good luck with you wedding! How many guests are you having?

 

Do you happen to know the local restaurant that has a covered deck overlooking the water that was their backup location if it rained? This sounds like a great idea for a rain location.

 

The money i already paid was actually $4695 and it covers:

Officiant, Wedding Planner, Bottle of sparking wine, beach location, wedding cake (it's small cake just for bride and groom) photography service (1 hour) , classic white rose or wild flower bridal bouquet and match groom boutonniere, round trip transportation for bride and groom to ceremony, and marriage certificate. It also covers a back up location on the ship for rain. It's on page 8 in their brochure: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/New_Royal_Romance_brochure.pdf (note: different locations have different cost)

 

Not everything is listed in their brochure, you have to call and work your magic to get answers as if it's secret, lol, and they won't talk to you until your have booked your cruise. then they won't let you pick your options until 90 days before your date- a lil annoying, that's why I'm trying decide options on my own that way when they ask i already know what I want.

 

But I'm planning to have extras like: different flowers, bamboo arch, flower peddles down the aisle.

 

Some other things that cost extra that i was able to get pricing for are like: reception, chairs for guest (not included lol), extra hour of photos and transportation for guest.

 

I almost don't want to have royal Caribbean handle the planning of my wedding but it was the cheapest option i found. Most planners in Bermuda cost $5000 just for the planning and nothing else. If you know of a cheaper planner please let me know.

[green eyed lady]

Do you happen to know the local restaurant that has a covered deck overlooking the water that was their backup location if it rained? This sounds like a great idea for a rain location.

 

The money i already paid was actually $4695 and it covers:

Officiant, Wedding Planner, Bottle of sparking wine, beach location, wedding cake (it's small cake just for bride and groom) photography service (1 hour) , classic white rose or wild flower bridal bouquet and match groom boutonniere, round trip transportation for bride and groom to ceremony, and marriage certificate. It also covers a back up location on the ship for rain. It's on page 8 in their brochure: http://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/en_US/pdf/New_Royal_Romance_brochure.pdf (note: different locations have different cost)

 

Not everything is listed in their brochure, you have to call and work your magic to get answers as if it's secret, lol, and they won't talk to you until your have booked your cruise. then they won't let you pick your options until 90 days before your date- a lil annoying, that's why I'm trying decide options on my own that way when they ask i already know what I want.

 

But I'm planning to have extras like: different flowers, bamboo arch, flower peddles down the aisle.

 

Some other things that cost extra that i was able to get pricing for are like: reception, chairs for guest (not included lol), extra hour of photos and transportation for guest.

 

I almost don't want to have royal Caribbean handle the planning of my wedding but it was the cheapest option i found. Most planners in Bermuda cost $5000 just for the planning and nothing else. If you know of a cheaper planner please let me know.

 

For everything my son got it was a total of about $5500 which included dinner back on the ship. But we were only 10 ppl. Not sure how many you are having. They used Ginny from Weddings with Panache. She did plan a beautiful wedding for them and was very accommodating about staying in their budget, etc. BUT...she is not very good at answering emails and it was very frustrating at times. But in the end, they got everything they paid for and it was an amazing day. We had photographer/videographer for 1 hour on the beach. When we got back on the ship, they took some pics with a ship's photographer. I highly recommend getting a video...they were on the fence about it because it was a big expense, but so worth it. I cry every time I watch it.

 

Here's a link if you have a few minutes to watch...

 

I don't know the restaurant name...sorry

Edited November 7, 2013 by green eyed lady

[pmoorefi]

For everything my son got it was a total of about $5500 which included dinner back on the ship. But we were only 10 ppl. Not sure how many you are having. They used Ginny from Weddings with Panache. She did plan a beautiful wedding for them and was very accommodating about staying in their budget, etc. BUT...she is not very good at answering emails and it was very frustrating at times. But in the end, they got everything they paid for and it was an amazing day. We had photographer/videographer for 1 hour on the beach. When we got back on the ship, they took some pics with a ship's photographer. I highly recommend getting a video...they were on the fence about it because it was a big expense, but so worth it. I cry every time I watch it.

 

Here's a link if you have a few minutes to watch...

 

I don't know the restaurant name...sorry

 

Very beautiful wedding, great video, i was actually thinking of having a videographer just not likely the cost either, but it's not like we can go back in time and get it if we don't do it. thats a great price for all that. As of now i can get a full refund up until 90 days before, and go w/ another planner which I might do. I'm going to try to find the restaurant you talked about, wish me luck lol