Photos and Comments from Caribbean Princess Scouting Trip

[monkey1]

part 1:

 

I'm getting married on the Caribbean Princess next year, and I just returned from my wedding scouting trip. I am so glad I did this, as it reassured me that we made the right decision and there are a couple things I want to change after going on the trip. The ship is HUGE and very beautiful. First, here's a link to pictures. if you're requested to enter a password, it's wedding. http://cbscoutingtrip.shutterfly.com/action/

 

I'm also providing some of my key takeaways.

 

Chapel- the chapel is VERY small as you'll see in the pictures and the piano looks like an older traditional model, not a grand piano. On a positive note, it's right across the hall from the Lotus Spa, so if you're getting hair done, it's very convenient. I think the chapel would work best for 20 people or less. Also, there's only room for about 4 people to stand at the alter.

 

Sabatini's - Sabatini's is beautiful. If you have a large party, you may want to consider Sterlings or the dining room as this restaurant is very small. Max capacity is 98 people, but if you're a group, it's probably best for 30 or less b/c of the table set-up--mostly fixed booths

 

Sterlings - There are more stand alone tables, which offers more flexibility and it appears to be more open. The area to the left of the entrance would be good for larger groups.

 

Embarkation Weddings - There were two weddings taking place the day of my tour. If you are an embarkation bride, be prepared to wait and consider bringing fold-up chairs, portable fan and a cooler of water/other beverages for you and your guests. it was so hot, and a bride in full hair and makeup had to wait outside for a while. And, this info really applies to everyone--it's very hot and there's EXTREMELY limited seating for the boarding process.

 

On deck weddings. The Sun deck area is the most private and if you're married at sea, you'll have a beautiful ocean view. if you're in port in Fort Lauderdale, you see the city--photos of this. Just something to consider, and it's very hot with limited shade. Also, you may want to consider an aisle runner if you don't like the blue carpet. Also, most on deck locations don't provide a piano, so you'd have a CD playing or a guitarist.

 

Despite it's name, Club Fusion is very tasteful and beautiful. It's a very nice room, but huge so a smaller wedding group may feel overwhelmed. Wheelhouse or Explorer's Lounge may be better.

 

Staterooms - The closets are a decent size in all of the rooms. bathrooms are pretty small in balcony and inside cabins. Better in mini-suites and suites.

 

more in part 2.

[monkey1]

Drink Prices:

I thought overall they were reasonable. The drink of the day was $2.50 to 3.00

 

Signature Cocktails: $4.75 (colada, Long Island Iced tea, Daiquiri and Mai Tai)

Standard Cocktails: 3.95

Specialty Margaritas: 5.50

Champagne Cocktails: 5.00

Coffee Drinks: 4.25

Liquors: 3.65 to 6.50 (I have full list if you're interested)

Martini's: 4.95

Ports and Sherries: 3.90 to 6.95

Pellegrino and Perrier: 2.00

Bottled regular water: 1.5 L 2.95, .5 Liter 1.95

Cigarettes: 3.25

Domestic Beer (Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, MGD, Miller Lite) 3.25

Import beers (Becks, Becks Light, Bass, Dos Equis): 3.50

Wines by the glass: 4.50 to 7.50 (I have list upon request)

Canned soda: 1.50

Fountain Soda: 1.00

Soda Program: 27

Juice: 1.50

Non-Alcoholic Cocktails: 2.25

Chocolate Drinks: 4.25

 

 

Area Hotels: Marriott, Embassy Suites, AmericanSuites and hyatt are all nice and super close to the port. There's also a walgreen's, publix and liquor store nearby.

 

Pre-cruise gathering place close to the hotels: we like Quarter Deck. They serve food until 1 a.m. and are open until 2, so if people arrive late and are hungry they have a place to eat.

 

Cab ride from airport to Marriott Marina was $12. We walked to the pier b/c we didn't have luggage and it was about a 15 minute walk.

 

I think that's it for now. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

~Traci

[DNSKHerb]

Hi Traci

Great pictures! How fun for you to be able to tour the ship like you did.

I thought the Sun Deck looked like a great place for the ceremony, I think I will show my daughter. They had been thinking about the aft pool but the

Sun Deck might be easier for some of the guests to get to. It looked like there might be some shade too especially if it is hot.

The buffet in Skywalkers looked like it was going to be nice, is that the feeling you got?

Did you see any of the flowers, either arrangements or bouquets that the ship florists had done?

Thanks for the great shots of the balconies.

Nancy

[Ellen/Nat]

Hi Traci!

 

Thanks for the great information and pictures! We are getting married on the CP on October 16th -- and originally thought of using the wedding chapel.

 

But after seeing your pictures, the Sun Deck looks so nice with the ocean in the background. Is this where you're having your ceremony? I wonder how many guests we need to have in order to move it from the chapel - or if they make that decision on their own. Do you know?

 

Ellen

[monkey1]

Nancy - I thought you'd like all the balcony photos :) I can't remember how many guests you have sailing with you, but one thing to consider about the Terrace pool area is that it's a pretty tight space. Kadiebug12 has good photos of the set-up in that area. The buffet did look nice and they took time to make it elegant. I did see one bride's flowers. They were handtied multi-colored roses. Simple and basic.

 

Ellen-I don't think you have to have a certain number to move the ceremony outside. You can just make the request to TWE for the location and they should be able to confirm with you shortly--October is so soon! Congrats!

 

Traci

[Ellen/Nat]

Hi Traci,

 

 

Is the Terrace Pool the same as the Aft Sun Deck? If we had it on the deck, I wonder what we do for music??

 

Oh yes ---- it's 60 days from today!!!!! YIKES!!!!!

 

 

Ellen

[monkey1]

Ellen-

 

60 days is soo exciting!

 

The sun deck overlooks the Terrace Pool. In my pics, if you look at number 56 (titled outrigger bar), it shows the stairs down to the Terrace Pool (left side of pic); the Outrigger bar (directly to the right) and then the Sun Deck is directly above the Outrigger bar. Pic 61 shows the view of the Terrace Pool from the Sun Deck.

 

For music, you have a few options. You can have a keyboardist, request a guitarist or pipe a CD through the sound system. They normally have music playing in this area, but during weddings they shut it off, and only the wedding music plays. I hope this helps.

 

Please let me know if you have any other questions. It helps keep the ship fresh in my mind :)

 

Traci

[MentalVacation]

The deck above the Terrace/Aft Pool is covered a bit by the 'path' to skywalkers. I was thankful for this after standing in the sun waiting to make my 'entrance'. It was quite warm. I agree with the idea of having an aisle runner if you are up there (unless you are doing B/W photography perhaps?) as the carpet is blue! I think there is a link to my pictures around here somewhere. You can also see some on http://www.dustinjonesphotography.com under portfolio then weddings. There is at least one ceremony shot there that shows that location.

 

We had the guitarist. It was 80.00 I think. A violinist would have been 300.00 I believe. We also considered a harpist. The guitar was nice.

[kadiebug12]

We were married at the Aft Pool (AKA the Terrace Pool) and since with the "at sea" package a pianist is included they set up a keyboardist out there (out of the way, on the same level as the outrigger bar, but he could be seen) and they hooked his keyboard up to the speaker system and piped the music through there so it could be heard VERY well, even with us sailing at sea. So, it was live music, but it was amplified via the sound system (I think the Aft Pool has it's own sound system or at least that's what the Captain told us).

 

Good Luck! The entire ship is gorgeous and any spot on deck makes for a beautiful wedding as well as does the Chapel.

[Ellen/Nat]

Hi Kadie!

 

So nice to hear from you again --- hope that you're all settled with your company and new house!

 

I'm starting to lean towards having our ceremony outside - afterall, that was one reason we opted for the cruise wedding - for the love of the sea! The background should be so gorgeous! Lisa from TWE tells me that weather could be a problem -- as it gets very windy out there......

 

Did the keyboardist know all of your music or did he play what he chose?

 

Ellen

[kadiebug12]

Hi Ellen,

We're all settled into the new house and actually have the place to ourselves these days so we're happy campers. Our mangos are ripe, we've got over 100 bananas that will be ripe in about 2 weeks and our Papayas are coming along. We're also working on planning our 1 year anniversary (I'm surprising my husband with a weekend cruise) this January + another cruise to Europe in May 06. What more could we ask for, right? :)

 

We really liked having our ceremony on deck. For us, it truly made it an "at sea" wedding and people always ask us if the backdrop for our pictures was fake because it's so gorgeous. LOL It can be windy, but since the Captain marries you, he can slow the boat down to cut down the wind (that's what he did for us and we got married during the windy season). Also, they can steer around rain, so even if you hit rain, they'll steer out if it if they can.

 

The keyboardist played the music we selected for the ceremony. We didn't have anything specialized though, we chose from the standard selections that the wedding experience lets you chose from. I think we had 1 song for the processional, then the bridal march for my entrance, then some light ceremony music, then music for the log signing. He did a great job turning the sound up and down appropriately and playing (funny thing was, until after the ceremomy when I turned where I could see him I thought it was recorded music). He did a very nice job.

[Ellen/Nat]

Kadie,

 

Thanks for sending the info!

 

I'm really liking the way the 'deck' sounds --- after all, how many opportunities will we have like this! Gosh --- wonder how much the TWE would charge to have some dolphins jump out of the water for us! lol

 

Ellen

[monkey1]

Hi, Kadie and Lisa--thanks for sharing your experiences. it's nice to see you ladies still on the boards :)

 

 

Ellen--I checked with TWE yesterday, and they'll set-up a keyboard as part of the package on the Sun Deck--essentially the same set-up Kadie had. Other instruments would be an additional charge. There are stairs coming from the top and from below, so you could make an entrance that way, and wait in the air conditioning in the cafe below there.