Coral Princess Wedding Experience

[OrlEngr]

 

Just got back from getting married on the Coral Princess. There was little info on the board regarding weddings so I thought I would share my thoughts and experience. Having details concerning the logistics of everything would have been nice for us.

 

 

 

Just a little background … we had already booked the cruise together when I proposed. Neither of us wanted the headaches of a huge wedding, so the fact that Princess would marry us worked out great (I had already investigated when I proposed and Sonia liked the idea). We came on the cruise alone – we didn’t want a big group on our honeymoon. But in the invite for our Post-Cruise Party, we include the web address of the ship camera.

 

 

 

We worked the wedding thru the Wedding Experience. We sort of got lost when one of their employees quit … but everything worked out fine. They do enough of these that I think it is straight-forward.

 

 

 

We tried several times to confirm with Princess before the cruise that we were registered to get married … but could not get the 1800Princess people to acknowledge it … weddings don’t show up in their computer. But once on board … everything had been arranged.

 

 

 

We had decided to get married on the 2nd sea day. We got a letter from the wedding coordinator (J.J.) after arriving to the room arranging for a meeting. We briefly went over all of the arrangements and confirm our choices. Unfortunately we were told that no vocalist would be available. We were disappointed because we had selected a special song and had previously FAXed the music and lyrics in. The piano player would perform the song we were told.

 

 

 

We did discover one issue during the meeting … We had sent Web-Cam notices for Eastern Standard time, but ship time was one hour different due to the travels. The ship coordinator did a good job of moving everything around much to our relief.

 

 

 

BTW, the coordinator gave us his pager number at the meeting so we had instant access to him … He was prepared to make us dinner reservations; etc but didn’t use him for any such service. Also he informed us that we were the only ones getting married on that cruise and that there were 3 vow renewals. There had been no marriages on the cruise before. I’m sure that varies with the time of year … but gives you an idea.

 

 

 

We had arranged thru Wedding Experience for massage on the day of the wedding and my bride did girly things in addition – hair, nails, etc. All appointments had been made … turned out things were a little hectic since we moved the wedding time up an hour .. but all worked out fine.

 

[OrlEngr]

I showered and changed during the time Sonia was in the spa getting her hair done and then simply read in the library during the last hour that she was changing. The ships secretary helped Sonia with her dress … buttoning hard to reach spots etc.

I met J.J. in the Crooner bar 15 minutes before the wedding. He helped with final setup such as unity candle. He also informed me that the spotlight vocalist from the previous nights show to sing for us. She did an excellent job.

The ships Passenger Director had been “drafted” to walk Sonia down the isle, so he actually picked Sonia up in the room and escorted her to the chapel. Having been careful not see Sonia in her dress (or even the dress itself), I waited in the chapel and spoke briefly with captain. We accidentally started the wedding a few minutes early since we were ready … thank goodness just a couple and most people saw the webcam. All ship personnel at the wedding were in their formal uniform.

The ceremony was brief, but nice. Afterwards, the photographer took shots around the ship. Unfortunately, the sun was so bright many of the outdoor pictures did not turn out well due to our squinting. Other pictures though were fine.

Cake and champagne followed in the room with some photos there. The cake was good. The cake topper was fresh flowers on a little plate that remained beautiful throughout the cruise.

Sonia had decided to bring her own silk bouquet so that she could keep it forever. The bouquet provided by Princess was lovely and also served to brighten out room throughout the week,

We had arranged with JJ to have dinner sent up to the room … A menu was already waiting in the room for us to choose from. Unfortunately, nothing on the menu that evening was particularly appealing so we changed our mind and went to the Bayou – which turned out great since we could dance also. [FYI. We did have dinner on the Balcony the next day and definitely enjoyed the experience.]

A couple days later, we got 4x6 proofs of all pictures taken. The memory album that came with the picture package was nice. We took only our basic picture package ( 2 8x10’s and 5 5x7’s) and decided to buy the CD-ROM with all pictures instead. That way we did not have to make decisions, and worry about bent pictures, etc. Paying $500 for a CD hurt me … but figured it was the right move for unlimited pictures for the family and our album.

[OrlEngr]

Can’t really think of anything to complain about... everything was organized and handled professionally. WebCam viewer had no problems. Getting married on the ship made us instant celebrities. Throughout the trip, guest wishing us well constantly greeted us in the elevator. We did get to tour the bridge, but were not invited to eat with captain or anything. Just as well … but it is a question I have been asked several times. Oh yeah … Our room steward did a great job of decorating our room and making it festive.

 

Hope this answers some questions for others … let me know if there is anything I missed. The cruise itself was great and flew by. Can’t wait for our next - already put a deposit down for next -- just have to decide when and where.

 

[egalley]

Thanks for all the great info. I'm getting married on Nov 8th on the Island princess (the sister ship to the Coral). Wow 500 bucks for the CD. That's a bit pricy, thanks for the heads up on that one.

 

I do have one quick question. Was it your option to have the crew watch? We have another couple joining us, and we wanted to keep it kinda private.

 

Thanks

 

Eric

[OrlEngr]

The only people @ the wedding were :Captain, Passenger Director- Walked Sonia, Margaret - who helped Sonia get ready, JJ - Wedding Coordinator, Pianist, Vocalist, Photographer, Video Operator. It's not like random crew members were there.

[kadiebug12]

Thanks so much for sharing! We are getting married on the Caribbean Princess in January with 35 sailing guests and can't wait. We've added on lots of extras such as flowers, brunch at Sabatini's, open bar and DJ in Skywalkers and a custom cake. We're hoping Princess comes through (as they do so often) and the wedding is great. Thanks again!!

[TheSimmons]

Hey, Orl....remember inviting me to watch your wedding? Well, I did! It looked wonderful, and gave me a much better idea of what Bruce and I can look forward to when we get married on the Coral January 18, 2005.

 

In case nobody else did, I saved the pictures of your wedding on my laptop and can send them to you if you want!

 

I'm glad everything went smoothly for you and Sonia, but I have a question...we are getting married at 3:30pm and would like family back home to be able to watch via web cam. Was the time an hour behind? ie: 3:30 there would be 2:30 here? Also, how many pictures were there on your CD? I was thinking of the same package...

 

Thanks for your review!

 

p.s. The monkeys were cute, too!

LOL

[LARGIN]

Orl.. I understand you were upgraded to an AA. Can you tell me a bit about the room? I see the AA'a are forward. Was that a problem? noise, rocking, etc ?? Anything else I should expect. We will be on the Island, her sister ship in April in Room B229. Looking at the deck plans it looks like the AA's are a bit wider than the rest of the mini's.

[OrlEngr]

kadiebug12 --- You wedding sounds great ... can we make it 37 guests ... j/k I'm sure they will do great.

 

TheSimmons -- It was 2:30 ship time to be 3:30 Eastern ... but that varies by the day of the week and where the ship is ... ie first day ... no time change ... which day are you getting married? Thanks for saving the pictures ... but my sister did the same ... The monkeys were a gift at a tropical engagement party someone threw for us. We got about 200 pictures ... again many were not good .. but our expressions and not photographers fault ... I'm going to load them to shutterfly soon so I will send you a link to give you more background

 

Largin --- Our room was great ... balcony was private with sun. Noise was not a huge issue ... perhaps being high caused us to rock more ... but we would not have traded. I'm not sure what separates the AA from others ... but noone over us was nice. I loved the cabin and the ship layout