Any GOOD reviews on Royal Romance??

[travelb]

All I see are negative comments on RCCL Royal Romance on the board. Are there any good reviews or comments anyone can give me? I'm considering a basic onboard ceremony on Legend of the Seas in February. We don't want a reception, just the ceremony and cake cutting for our guests. I'm looking for some words of encouragement please! Thanks!

[cruiseescape]

Hi Travelb

 

There are some good reviews on here. I have had some bumps along the way with them but if you stay on top of them they usually come through. My wedding is Sunday. When I get back I will post a review and I am keeping very good thoughts that everything will be perfect! :)

 

Lori

[DoubleAK]

We're just using RR for the ceremony too, just cake in a lounge for a reception. I'll post a review when I'm back!

[travelb]

Congratulations to both of you! I look forward to hearing your reviews and I would love to see some pictures from the shipboard photography if you could manage to put some online. Thanks!

[jess&marc]

We aren't until the 30th, but we decided on a whim to do this, and got everything set up and arranged start to finish within 7 days. i would have gone crazy except for the people at RR- the folks in St Thomas are top knotch, on top of everything. We are eloping just us two, cake and champagne, but they have taken care of every detail and still made me feel like a bride. :)

 

I say - read between the lines - some brides will always be bridezilla, no matter where they are married :p

[MentalVacation]

jess&marc -- i am not sure that the brides on here who have had problems should ALL be characterized as bridezillas. Clearly there are some legitimate problems with RR/TWE and I think that the ladies on here have come up with some very good working solutions to some of the problems.

 

The fact of the matter is that there will always be good and bad, and I realize that as brides in the planning stage, you all want to hear that it is going to be perfect and that you are not going to have any problems.......but it doesn't always work that way. It might. There are good odds that it will. But you might also have problems (related to RR/TWE or not) so let's not classify people as difficult simply because they haven't been thrilled with the service they've gotten.

 

It is funny, but it is alot like the regular boards -- anyone who writes a negative review, or makes a complaint, is clearly nitpicking or being difficult, even if they say 100 good things to the one negative. People come to these boards not just to be entertained but to be informed, and it shouldn't be one sided. I found good and bad in my experience, and I shared both of those things with the people on this board. I was definitely not a bridezilla. I have merely shared my experiences good and bad with this group.

 

A side note -- I am happy your St. Thomas wedding planning is going well (great place, and I've heard the RR St. Thomas crew is great). However, I think the majority of the people with problems on here have been those trying to coordinate larger affairs, which involve more work/experience/diligence on the part of the TWE/RR coordinator. That may explain some of the problems. Also, I think perhaps the Miami/FLL office has several newer coordinators, which causes some of those "different person, different answer" problems. I'm guessing St. Thomas hasn't had the turn over....who would want to leave? :-) Just a thought.

[scottishflower]

Thank you MV, I felt a bit put off by that Bridezilla remark. I would add, expecting good service, especially when spending good money, does not a Bridezilla make.

 

But always being a "benefit of the doubt" person, I would invite jess&marc to clarify her position.

 

I was glad to get all views of RR, and coupled that information with a couple of phone calls to RR customer service in FL who could have cared less, this experience helped me make the decision to plan my wedding outside the RR loop. I don't think that makes me a Bridezilla, but an informed consumer with choices.

[jzkaylor]

I was married on Sovereign of the Seas 8/5/05. RR did a great job with everything. We had the cermony and cake cutting with champagne for 80 sailing guests.

 

I was a bit concerned during the planning process about the details since you talk to someone different everytime but everything turned out great. We had a couple special requests that were honored perfectly. I also ordered a special cake after sending RR a photo. The cake was even better than the photo and it tasted so good that many of our guests kept coming to our cabin for more during the whole cruise.

 

I have said this before and will say it again. If this is your first wedding and you want to be intimately involved with all the details and want someone to babysit you 6-8 months prior --- then this is not the way to go for you.

 

Cruise ships have many international rules that must be followed and many times there isnothing RR can do with the limitations (time and others) set on weddings.

 

Goodluck to all and my wedding was like a dream come true. Everything was perfect.

[jzkaylor]

One more quick remark. RR will assign you your own personal wedding consultant about 2-3 weeks prior to the wedding. Just make sure you have in writing everything that someone promised you and you shouldn't have any problems. All details must be finalized 30 days prior to the wedding anyway.

[scottishflower]

I have said this before and will say it again. If this is your first wedding and you want to be intimately involved with all the details and want someone to babysit you 6-8 months prior --- then this is not the way to go for you.

 

Quite the opposite, actually. I was concerned that I would have been doing all the babysitting for RR.

 

From my perspective? It may be my first wedding (and hopefully ONLY wedding), but at my age, I don't need nor want a babysitter, I simply wanted professionalism.

[fancynancy2525]

:) Hi All,

I know that we are all under a bunch of stress to get our weddings soooooooo

perfect. Like Jess, I am getting married through RR/TWE on Valentines Day in St Thomas. The only reason I am responding is to clear up the misunderstanding that seems to be going on here. I, too had problems with initial contacts with RR/TWE when I called them to try to get things going. They turned me over to the St Thomas group immediately, and I was done with them in Miami. I have a very large group, 60 guests so far and counting. I am having the best level of service that Jess describes. I think the problem is RR/TWE must be overloaded or something. I understand my fellow brides are not bridezillas, but just frustrated by bad customer service. If your group is small or large it shouldn't matter. We should all get what we are paying for. I feel I am, and I wish everyone the best.

Nancy

[jess&marc]

oooh sorry, didn't mean to hurt feelings. Of course people have real problems, I didn't mean that...it just seems like some of these brides are just whining, which happens on the shore too ! Sorry everyone ! ! !

[travelb]

Thanks again for your replies everyone! And Jess&Marc, I knew what you meant by your comment, so don't worry about it. Some people will never be happy no matter how much planning and coordination is put into it.

 

All I hope for is a nice ceremony where things run smoothly and I'll be a happy bride. :)

[MentalVacation]

I concede....there are many bridezillas on shore and on ship. (Hence the TV show dedicated to them!) :-) Just sticking up for myself and others (non-bridezillas) who have had some troubles that would upset more than just bridezilla. RR/TWE isn't perfect (nor is any service company) and it pays to know the good and bad as you plan, so you can ask and prepare and so on.......and I would note that many of the issues we had were probably related to the cruise line's interactions with TWE/RR.

 

Good Luck to all the brides to be. We had a wonderful cruise!

[devilishlilgroom]

HI ALL!!!

 

i'm new to all of this cruiseline/wedding stuff..me and my fiance are getting married in Miami next June with RR. i have to say that the level of customer service that we've received so far has definately been WONDERFUL!!!! i think the problem with a lot of couples is that they aren't aware that its not RR's fault that they can't provide alot of the things that are requested. alot of times, they have thier hands tied..i would definately recommend this service to anyone wanting to get married..they've been professional, courteous and wonderful to work with :) :)

[greatgloriousworld]

My husband and I are sailing on the Empress of the Seas as a wedding guest in St Thomas November 8th. Royal Romance in St Thomas is handling the wedding and there are almost 200 of us sailing for this gala. I have been told many times by the families that all the wedding planning has been seamless. Because this wedding is so large, the bride and groom went so St Thomas a few months ago to meet with their planner and were thrilled. We have a little less than a month to go before our group sets sail. In reading these message boards over the last few months and others, there seems to be good and bad reviews. I guess I am trying to reassure everyone that this company seems to have their act together from the perspective of this couple. I hope this helps all of you a little, because if they can handle this large size with no problems, then that's very impressive. Good luck to everyone and I will post a detailed review when I return.

[fooshrock]

The thing with Royal Romance is it depends on where you are getting married. I've heard nothing but good things from people getting married in St. Thomas, and mostly bad thing about people getting married in port in the Northeast.

 

Believe me, I am not even close to a bridezilla, actually I'm very laid back and usually just roll with the punches, but RR has had me more stressed out in the last month then I've ever been in my whole life. Yeah the were decent when we first started booked everything, but as you get closer to the actual date of the wedding and need real guidance it all goes to hell.

 

Just my two-cents.

 

Lori

[MentalVacation]

I agree with the thought that some locations are better than others -- I've heard nothing but +++ from the people who have gone to St. Thomas. I've also heard good things about sea day weddings (princess). Embarkation day weddings (what we had) seem to cause some issues, but I think they are issues that can be avoided, with awareness on the part of the couple.

 

I have no delusions regarding RR/TWE's abilities or services or the fact that they have to coordinate with the shipboard personnel. It is an ambitious undertaking....one they are compensated well for. I had pretty good results pre-wedding as far as getting my coordinator to call/email back, get answers, and get out of the ordinary things done. We ran into some wedding day problems, some of which were cruiseship-coordinator-communication related and some which were just bad organization and leadership (on TWE/RR AND the ship's part). I don't think that RR/TWE's only problems lie in the answer/response/planning department. We had more troubles with execution of the plans, frankly. This is why I advocate written communication -- so you have that if something doesn't go right, or as planned. I think that is the best way to get RR/TWE to work for you. I have no doubt that they can pull off a 200+ person affair, and intimate couple-only vows.....the thing that should be focused on is making sure they do it consistently, which seems to be the challenge. I think this board is a good springboard for brides (and grooms!) to gain information in order to aid TWE/RR in the success of the event. Best Wishes and Good Luck! I wish I were cruising instead of facing down winter!!!!!!!!!

A bad day on a cruise ship is better than a good day at work! :-)

[sas80]

Just married Oct 4th on Vision. Will post later about the wedding which was THE BEST WEDDING EVER

with no help from royal romance and

ALL HELP FROM THE WONDERFULL CUSTOMER SERVICE ORIENTED PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR ROYAL CARIBBEAN ON THE VISION OF THE SEAS!!!

 

Royal Romance SUCKS. Hands down, bar none, they SUCK. they have no concept of professionalism OR customer cervice and I am quite sure that, when complaints are made to RCCL, Royal Romace chlaks it up to "bridezillas", overly stressed brides or overly controlling brides. And that is how they continue to stay in contract with RCCL.

 

Okay, so you want to know exactly what Royal Romances "job" is?

 

FOOD

 

That's it, that's all. If you are having a cake and champagne reception then you are good to go!

 

If you are having an actual reception then, rest assured, the food that you arrange will be great.

Other than that you need to write down exactly how you want your reception to "go". How long do people eat before the dance music starts? How long should the reception be before the boquet/garter toss? How long before the cake cutting? Best man toast beofore champagne toast or after the cake cutting, etc., etc, etc.

 

Give copies to your matron of honor or the person you can count on to speak with the wedding coordinators while you are busy. Fax/email copies to Royal Romance requesting that they give them to the wedding coordinators.

 

This sounds controlling but, with participation from people you trust, at least you will rest assured that everything will not be all willy nilly.

 

My wedding coordinators sat on their asses and ate and drank my entire reception (good thing I paid them for it!) They also tried to short me an hour on the event (good thing I was sharp enough to catch them on it)

They served the champagne for the toast at the start of the reception, even though I had specified when I wanted it served. However, since I had written down exactly when I wanted it served, they served us another glass for the toast without question or charge.

 

You have to coordinate your own wedding because Royal Romance will only make sure the food arrives.

 

Like I said, my wedding was THE BEST WEDDING EVER but that was because my wedding party and everyone sailing came together and made it happen.

 

I do keep reading posts that the St. Thomas wedding coordinators are really good though.

 

Anyways, I will post about the entire wedding, and everything that ROYAL CARIBBEAN did for me that was in the traditional RCCL TOP NOTCH category, later tonight.

 

Royal Romance sucks

I think I am going to make that my tagline here....lol

[missliad]

Welcome back and congratulations! Would love to see pictures if you are able to post/link them.

 

I am disheartened to read bad reviews of Royal Romance...why is it so difficult for them to provide good CSrvc? I just dont get it -- and I dont see nearly the amount of negative reviews for TWE than I read for Royal Romance. :sigh:

 

Cant wait till your full review!!!

[sas80]

Here comes my review!

[MentalVacation]

missliad -- TWE is RR -- they are the same company. TWE is the name when you are planning on Princess (among others perhaps?) and RR is the name when you are planning on RCCL ships. My experience was with the TWE version of the company. I'd say the negative is equally distributed. Perhaps there are more RCCL brides right now.......