Newly engaged:) any advice between princess & Royal Caribbean greatly appreciated!!

[vegas82]

Hi Everyone,

My fiance and I have decided we want to go for a cruise wedding in Feb 2015!!! I have been on one cruise with Celebrity, about 12 years ago haha. And he has never been on one.

 

We have narrowed it down to:

1)Princess-Caribbean Princess (due to location and dates)

2)Royal Caribbean - Allure or Oasis (preferably Oasis due to dates)

3)Norwegian - Getaway (last choice as ceremony at sea is only symbolic)

 

We have a ton of questions, and have started working with a travel agent and I called a few wedding co-ordinators today. Here is what we are hoping for:

-Legal ceremony performed at sea by the captain

-Followed by private reception, with dinner and dance (privacy for speeches etc)

 

I have been told by the wedding planners that a private reception is not an option, however, saw a msg on here that said through Group bookings, it might be. Has anyone done this before? Are you able to book your reception separately and have your own music, and party room? This is our hope.

 

Anyways, I'm a wedding rookie (never been a bridesmaid, haha) and kind of not sure where to start. If anyone here has gotten married on those ships, or attended a wedding on them, any information you could offer me would be appreciated (which boats are awesome/less awesome). Cost will be a major determining factor, but we want to know all our options- and it seems like people on this site are knowledgeable and helpful!!!!

 

Thank you for reading

~Vegas82

[KookyGuava]

Congratulations on your engagement!

 

My fiancé and I also want to get married at sea by the captain, so we’re having our wedding onboard the Grand Princess this September. We chose Princess because we knew that the captain would perform the ceremony (and also for the itinerary and for the fact that Royal Caribbean’s package was more expensive).

 

I am assuming that the reason your reception is not private is because you want dinner as part of it, and the cruiseline won’t close off an entire restaurant/dining room for it (unless you pay to rent out an entire specialty restaurant).

 

Princess offers a cocktail reception package with open bar and hor d’oeuvres, have you considered this? Since they take place in lounges, it is more likely to be closed off from the public. And you can add on to the package a DJ for your dancing/music needs and additional food stations for something heartier than the offered hor d’oeuvres.

[gillyE]

Just to let you know that my daughter got married on the Celebrity Constellation a month ago. It was a four night cruise leaving on a Thursday so very convenient for guests not having to take a week off of work. It was a symbolic wedding in so far as we brought a rabbi onboard with us to perform the ceremony but he signed the wedding certificate/license prior to the ship leaving the port. However the ceremony was just a few hours later on the night of embarkation. The Wedding Experience (the company who Celebrity outsources to) did a fantastic job of setting up a gorgeous wedding canopy, exquisite flowers, aisle with rose petals and the lighting guy did the most spectacular lighting for the ceremony. We bought out the Tuscan Grille for a cocktail hour with pass round appetizers and then a full dinner. We hired a DJ for the entire evening, who was fantastic. The maître d of the Tuscan Grille arranged the tables to allow for a dance area. There we're a total of 43 guests and bridal party and it was absolutely amazing from start to finish. We used a very experienced travel agent who worked closely with the groups department and has done weddings on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean. I'll try to answer any questions you have.

[vegas82]

Thanks to both of you for the feedback!

 

I am very interested in renting out a private space for our reception. I am not a fan of the cocktail hour, as I really want to be able to have my groupie together for the first dances, speeches, etc. I don't need it to go until midnight or anything but I really want a party of our own to do those special 'reception' things.

 

I also have a family member coming that will be a family of 5 (kids will be 9,7 & 2)...wondering how that will work for rooms and if one ship is better than the other?

 

I am not a huge fan of the idea of symbolic ceremony but if any one has info about Norwegian Getaway I'd like to hear :) they are an option as well because I think my guests would like it.

 

Bottom line, struggling to get a price on privacy lol. I'm hoping my travel agent will be able to connect me to the right person to get all these questions answered.

 

I want to get save the dates out ASAP and ppl are already wanting to know which boat we r going on slim starting to get a little frazzled.

 

Any help or reassurance about any of these boats would be greatly appreciated!!!!!!! :)

 

 

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[KookyGuava]

I think Royal Caribbean (especially if you’re considering the Allure or Oasis) is the best of your choices if you’re concerned about a family of 5 staying in one stateroom, since they have several staterooms that can accommodate more than 3 or 4 people. Otherwise, there’s always the option of booking two interconnecting staterooms. This is a question best asked of a travel agent, once you decide on which ship to book for your wedding.

 

I don’t know how much info you’ll get on the Getaway yet since it’s still fairly new. But with the Breakaway being virtually similar, you can get a general idea. This bride posted a review of her symbolic wedding at sea on the Breakaway: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1863371 But she mentioned that the ceremony took place in a conference room, with the ambiance pretty lacking. I don't know if this matters to you, but it's something to consider if you’re on the Getaway.

 

I’m not sure if you’ve done this yet, but have you contacted the cruiseline onboard group coordinator? I think they’ll best be able to help you with information about reserving a private area. I mean, if they can reserve a lounge/space for Cruise Critic Meet & Greets, they might be able to do the same for you? But it's possible they'll just refer you back to the wedding company since it's for your reception.