Lido deck buffet up-charge

[jusilva]

We keep getting warned by carnival wedding to buy the lido buffet for our guests. They warn ominously that they don't want us to be upset or have upset guests on "your special day." I calculated the time, though, and if we board at 1130am and the wedding starts at 1pm. Then guests will likely get to Lido at 1145am and have to start making their way to the venue at 1230pm. So we'd be paying $9 per person plus tax for guests basically to run up to Lido, wait in long lines for a burger or a sandwich, and have to run down to the venue before they're done chewing. What does everyone think is the risk if a wedding just doesnt bother with it?

 

 

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[Carnival_Brides]

I can't believe that the weddings department is harping on you about this and to add "your special day" is ridiculous.

 

If your guests are local and know that your reception isn't until x o'clock, then I'm sure they'll plan accordingly. With cruise weddings there are no guarantees that the ship will be on-time, so it's possible that they may not even have time to grab a bite. Honestly, the reception food it delicious and if you think your $$$ can be better spent elsewhere, than nicely tell your coordinator that.

 

If your concern if that your being a bad hostess, you're not. You are still providing them with food and beverages after the wedding like any other land wedding.

[jusilva]

Thanks! We are still debating it, but now we worry if we don't buy it, then the hostesses will be looming over our guests, or making them wait in a room somewhere.

 

 

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[Red84]

We don't plan on paying for the extra $$$ for our guests to eat...from what I heard from other threads all you have to do is take off your guest ID tag and grab something to eat. Seems like your "coordinator" is trying to nickel and dime you. I wish you luck and hope you have a wonderful wedding of your dreams!

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

I just tonight sent off our list and credit card number to pay for our guests, but we only have 20 non sailing guests so it's not too bad. All but 2 of our guests are coming from out of town and will be in a hotel the night before the wedding, so it just seemed like the right thing to do for us. We have 5 people over the age of 70 and 6 diabetics and 2 hypoglycemics so it is almost a must for us. If we expect our guests to be at the port by 10:00 (yes we told them 10 to make sure nobody is late) and they won't eat until 1:30 or 2:00 that is a long time for them to wait. For us it wasn't worth the risk to have an embarrassing incident to mar our day by trying to sneak in the buffet line. I know the groom's mom is an incredibly slow eater and may have trouble finishing in time. My family, however, considers eating an Olympic event and can demolish a meal in well under the estimated 45 minutes in the above post. Of course if you are having the sit down dinner that would weigh into the decision as well....we are just having hors deauvres.

 

It is such a personal choice and of course depends a lot on your budget, but if you aren't having too many non sailing guests the price isn't too bad. Just MHO.

[NicoletteBory]

I am worried about this as well, if I'm spending money on the reception why buy everyone food than they won't be as hungry or hungry at all for the appetizers and drinks. I'm thinking of making goodie bags or some sorta snack baggie prior to the reception. I'm afraid of boarding late and people rushing and not making it to the ceremony on time. So I guess as it gets closer I will make a better decision. I have a good 6 months ahead January 25th 2015.

 

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[jusilva]

I believe you won't be able to board any kind of food with. But worth to ask. We made our final decision, we are not buying the buffet and we are not going to advertise to our guests. We spoke to another carnival coordinator, way better and much more clear than my own coordinator...she said they usually don't have much time anyways. Elevators are packed....by the time the make it up is time to come back.

 

 

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[NicoletteBory]

I believe you won't be able to board any kind of food with. But worth to ask. We made our final decision, we are not buying the buffet and we are not going to advertise to our guests. We spoke to another carnival coordinator, way better and much more clear than my own coordinator...she said they usually don't have much time anyways. Elevators are packed....by the time the make it up is time to come back.

 

 

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From what I read on these boards you are allowed bring food with you as long as everything is sealed. So a little snack bag while people board or as soon as they are on given a bag of goodies wouldn't be a bad idea.

 

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[jusilva]

Yes, you are right. If they are properly sealed shouldn't be a problem.

 

 

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[CruiserBren]

You can bring unopened bags onboard or give each quest an individual size bag of pretzels or chips. You can't make your own bags in baggies to hand out. One is factory sealed, the other is not.

[NicoletteBory]

Not in actual baggies. Everything left in its original individual serving and put together a decorative bag with snacks. I saw some one else om here do it and gave it everyone while they were boarding.

 

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[NL2134]

I had my wedding last week on the Carnival Dream. We had 14 sailing guests and 11 non-sailing guests. With about 1/2 of each, I didn't want non-sailing guests to feel left out if all sailing guests went to eat. We boarded the ship at about 11:15am (we were supposed to board by 11am, but got held up because a couple people were late getting off ship from previous cruise) and everyone was in buffet by about 11:30am. But, as we all know, although delays are uncommon, there is no guarantee on actual boarding time. Being the first group to board the ship, there were no lines for guests to wait in and they all seemed to really enjoy the buffet. We went to drop our stuff off in the room then rushed down to grab food before getting ready. I only had about 10-15 minutes to eat before having to go get dressed, but it was enough to grab food and eat quick. All guests had about an hour to eat. By the time I got down to buffet, all of our guests had food and they had already started boarding other priority boarding cruise guests, but there were still not that many people or any long lines to deal with.

 

But, we did have several guests later say that they hadn't expected there to be so much food/appetizers (most of them rather heavy apps) at the reception and many were full from the buffet. They may have held back and not eaten as much at the buffet if they had known. So, there is definitely enough food offered at reception to skip the buffet if you prefer. But, I would probably try to avoid having coordinator direct all sailing guests go to buffet without non-sailing guests, because that would seem rude to me. But, it really comes to personal preference.

[jusilva]

We are having 53 guests!

I am sure you had a beautiful wedding...I hope you can help me, when the family pictures are taking on ceremony?

 

 

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[NL2134]

We are having 53 guests!

I am sure you had a beautiful wedding...I hope you can help me, when the family pictures are taking on ceremony?

 

 

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Immediately after the ceremony, we spent about 10 minutes doing family photos before going to the reception. We didn't feel the need to get a billion photos there, so we opted to do one photo of the whole group then did a few photos with groups of family. We did one with all grooms family (including immediate & extended family), one with all brides family (including immediate & extended family), one with wedding party, one with our parents, one with his parents & siblings, and one with my parents & siblings, then one with non-family. It was enough to get us photos with everyone and move on quick to the reception. But, the photographer asked us what pictures we wanted, so you could do more if you choose, we just wanted to keep it quick and simple.

Edited July 2, 2014 by NL2134