Cruise weddings: Getting hitched in a sea of love

[Ned]

Anita wrote a great article, available on Tripso today entitled Cruise weddings: Getting hitched in a sea of love (http://www.tripso.com/2008/02/wedding.php?page=all).

Several of my friends and relatives have had "Cruise Weddings." in recent years. When my older son was married in LA on the beach (not a "cruise wedding") they were married by RCCL's most prolific "reverend," who. when not on a cruise, lives in LA. He had some amazing and wonderful "cruise wedding" tales.

Personally, I think "cruise weddings" can be wonderful, for the couple, and for the family and friends, but with a MAJOR caveat. Here are two examples of "cruise weddings" which illustrate the potential problem.

Wedding #1:
The kids decided for a "cruise wedding" which would take place in the first port visited on the cruise; Key West. Each guest had the option of just going to the wedding in Key West, or going on the cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale to be at the wedding. Since the wedding was in the US, the choice of location was reasonable for the guests. With 6 months notice, you could get pretty inexpensive plane tickets to Key West, and they got a group rate at a reasonably priced, nice hotel, for out-of-towners for anyone who wanted that. The cruise they chose was a 5 day Caribbean cruise so it wouldn't cost anyone an arm and a leg to accompanying them. We figured you could attend the wedding for about $800, which any out of town wedding can cost, if you have to fly to it.

Wedding #2:
The kids decided for a "cruise wedding" which would take place in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. The cruise was a 10 night Caribbean cruise. I have a big problem with this choice for a "cruise wedding." First, if you wanted to take the cruise, the starting cost for the cruise alone was about $2,000, plus airfare. Second, if you wanted to go to the wedding alone, airfare would run from where I live, about $500 plus they arranged for rooms at the hotel at $470/night (minimum 2 nights). So we figured you'd be spending at least about $1,500 to go to the wedding; a pretty steep price.

"Cruise weddings" are great, as long as the "happy couple" is considerate of their guests, because the cost of attending a "cruise wedding" can get out of hand in a hurry. When friends of ours were invited to Wedding #2, they made it very clear, their presence at the wedding would be their wedding present. They ended up not going, as did many others. Maybe that's what the "happy couple" wanted all along.

[wrp96]

I have a couple of caveats as well. The biggest one being, be flexible and expect the unexpected. If you have to have everything planned to the nth degree, then a cruise wedding is not for you.

If you plan it for the port of embarkation, be aware that if there are any delays with the previous sailing, your wedding will be delayed. You may end up rushed trying to get everything done, and probably won't have time for everything you planned.

If you plan it for a port of call, especially a tender port, be aware that cruise itineraries can change, sometimes months in advance, sometimes last minute. It is not uncommon for someone to plan a cruise wedding in Grand Cayman, for example, and then miss it when the ship is unable to tender at Grand Cayman. I know that while Hurricane Wilma sat over Cozumel, we had someone on Cruise Critic panicking because they'd planned their wedding for Cozumel for a month later. While the hurricane was still hitting Cozumel and then on it's way to south Florida where the cruiseline has their headquarters, this person was calling the cruiseline and demanding to know where her cruise was going to go to - and then got mad when they couldn't immediately tell her. She then got mad when Cozumel reopened in time for her cruise because she didn't want to have her wedding in a ruined port.

[Ned]

All your advice was great WRP, but the one I've quoted below, most definitely resonated with me.

...If you plan it for a port of call, especially a tender port, be aware that cruise itineraries can change, sometimes months in advance, sometimes last minute. It is not uncommon for someone to plan a cruise wedding in Grand Cayman, for example, and then miss it when the ship is unable to tender at Grand Cayman...

On our last Caribbean cruise we were able to go ashore at Grand Cayman, but the two previous cruises made by our ship were not. Even though we were able to tender in, many of the island excursions were cancelled due to high winds and seas. By the time we went back to the ship, the tenders were really rocking.

Were I to plan a Caribbean cruise wedding, I definitely wouldn't plan it for June through November. While hurricanes don't happen every day, you don't know when they will come during the season, so I'd plan any Caribbean wedding sometime from December through May, preferably during January through March.

[wrp96]

Ned, I've actually made it to Grand Cayman on both my attempts, but wished we'd skipped it the first time as it was rough tendering due to heavy rain and winds - that didn't let up the entire time. Wouldn't have been a good day for a beach wedding.

[Loonbeam]

Or as we did for our wedding, ALWAYS have a fallback plan. This won't work for the Bridezilla's out there (see above), but we planned an outdoor wedding at a country club and we had a complete backup plan in case of rain...

[Ned]

You're certainly right about needing to have a backup plan.

My kids had a backup plan for their beach wedding. The town offered them the hall in the main lifeguard station in the town, if the weather was bad. It wouldn't have been as nice, but the odds did favor the beach wedding, and they had purchased some decoration for the hall, just in case, and the flowers would have worked. Fortunately, it was a beautiful day, and the wedding went off without a hitch, other than the "hitch" of course.

Or as we did for our wedding, ALWAYS have a fallback plan. This won't work for the Bridezilla's out there (see above), but we planned an outdoor wedding at a country club and we had a complete backup plan in case of rain...

[Ned]

We've been lucky too. We've never missed GC on cruises in the Caribbean. Friends of ours haven't been so lucky.

Ned, I've actually made it to Grand Cayman on both my attempts, but wished we'd skipped it the first time as it was rough tendering due to heavy rain and winds - that didn't let up the entire time. Wouldn't have been a good day for a beach wedding.