TightyWhitey

I love that set up! I wonder if she can do the same for me at the Royal resort in PDC...

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ I'm so happy for you! I know the stress must have been killing you but I so glad you were able to still work everything out! That must have been some job to pull off! Did you have any cancellations from your guests? Thanks Stephanie! It was a little 'touch and go' for a bit and I had major concerns about my TA but in the end she pulled off a miracle. It's only costing us an extra $47 per guest + I now have to arrange for transfers from the airport to the hotel but that's no biggy. Initially we had 4 couples cancel but this was mainly due to quarantine issues at work. As of this morning, two of those couples got the go-ahead from work that the quarantine is being lifted and they are free to go. They've already rebooked and because they had insurance on their original packages and were able to get a full refund, when they rebooked this morning they ended up with better pricing.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kriswim Hey Girls! I am back!!! Wow! What a wonderful wedding! I am working on my review today. But i just wanted to post a quick hello! Everything went SOOO well! The wedding coordinators at the Royal are WONDERFUL! I met them all. Michelle (mine) is the best though!! SHE ROCKS! Truely she is the sweetest person and always is calm and reassuring. I will miss her! My weddig went off with a hitch ( minus the 18 or so people that canceled). :-( It was really upsetting to hear day by day all of our friends cancel but Chris reminded me that we are here to get married and that is the most important thing. And he was right! Well stay tuned for my review!!! Shay - i hope everything goes well for you and you get to enjoy the Dominican. It will all work out! I'm so glad everything went well and you had a wonderful time despite all the stress. Can't wait to hear your review! We've managed to keep our date despite Air Canada and Air Transat canceling everyone's reservations. We're rerouting our guests via the US; the excitement is building again!

Quote: Originally Posted by heidi_lk As far as I understand the gov of Canada did not ban flights, but all the tour companies did. So of course we were cancelled. But I do know that American operators in Canada were still flying to Mexico. Too bad our company wouldnt refend our money so we could rebook with them. Oh well, I have taken my lemons and made a trip to Cuba. I can't believe I replanned a wedding in 4 days!!!! I got everyone but 2 guests rebooked, a wedding date, and recently just scored a photographer, which I hear is not an easy feat in Cuba!!!! We leave in 10 days!!!!!!!!! Can't believe its actually working out (knock on wood, knock on wood, knock on wood I agree. From what I understand, there was no ban from the Canadian government. Instead, Public Health Agency Canada issued a travel advisory, urging travellers to postpone "elective or non-essential travel to Mexico until further notice." What I find really hypocritical is Air Canada is STILL flying into Mexico City.

Wow, I love the photos you posted!

Quote: Originally Posted by ltl_leah Today's the day! Found out that we are the only wedding today! Best of luck today, ltl_leah! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 Yay, i hope they will do this for my guests too... Keeping my fingers crossed for you! I'm still waiting on Air Transat. Hopefully we'll have some more good news tomorrow.

OMG, some positive news this morning! Air Canada has agreed to reinstate the land portion of their packages, meaning my guests will still have their reservations.

Could things suck any more? I've been trying my a$$ off to still get everyone there through US carriers. After getting a 'maybe' from Airtransat about reinstating the hotel reservations, I got a 'no' from Air Canada. Ugh. I've also had 3 couples drop out today. :-(

Omg, I can write a novel on how dumb Air Transat is being right now! They cancelled half our guests' flights. I've been trying to get alternate flights for my guests to still make it to Cancun via the US. Guess what I found out this morning? Air Transat cancelled my guests' hotel reservations with the Royal. WTF? I had to find out by calling the resort myself. My agent has been telling me nothing has been cancelled. Really?!?!?! So, why is the resort telling me Air Transat cancelled the bookings?

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ Why would they charge to rebook?! They cancelled the flights! They wouldn't charge to rebook but if the fare was higher for the new flights they would charge the difference. Sorry, I should have been clearer with what I meant.

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 I really wish that someone with a brain would have only canceled the first 2 weeks of flights in May if they HAD to an not the whole month...jump the gun much. Now that things are calmed down...my wedding wasn't supposed to be till the 27th...yet we still can't go because air transat are idiots! We are re booking in July, but now having to reschedule all of our guests and it is LESS than ideal for sure Maybride, how many guests do you have flying with AirTransat and do you know what they're charging to rebook (assuming the prices are higher)?

I just got a message that Air Transat has postponed all their flights to Mexico until June 1st. That means 90% of my guests now cannot come. I'm now looking into other locations.

Quote: Originally Posted by Summer&Nicholas I think you mean cases. I don't think anyone has died in Canada or Spain. There have only been six confirmed cases in Canada. Two in British Colombia and four in Nova Scotia (I think...or else New Brunswick?) Sorry I am not 100%, just know it's one of those east coast places. I also apologize for my earlier post, I dont know what I understood on CNN thinking that they'd raised it to a phase 6. Oh, I hope you're right. I just saw the update on the CNN ticker. I hope I miss-saw it!

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 Of course it is going to happen! All the panic is media related and they will get bored of it by the time we leave. All of our families are on airtransat on the 23rd, but we are on american airlines because we are flying to turks and caicos for our honeymoon...it's a long story, but that is where we originally planned the wedding... So we couldn't book a package. I hope so!

I just read that there are 6 confirmed deaths in Canada and 1 in Spain.

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 We arrive on the 23rd and leave on the 30th. Are you having a beach or gazebo wedding?? We're doing a gazebo ceremony with a beach reception. Have you confirmed your locations? Are you on the Air Transat flight out of T.O? A couple of our guests are scheduled to leave Pearson on the 23rd too but mostly everyone else is booked on the Air Transat flight that leaves the next day. I have to admit, talking about the wedding as if it's going to happen feels good.

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 Oh you are going to be there with me?? How exciting...when do you arrive? We have to have a drink...I will need one! Yup, our wedding is two days after yours. We get there on the 24th. How about you?

Quote: Originally Posted by Maybride2009 and so the swine flu heads my way. My one and only bridesmaid is not coming... You know what...absolutely EVERYTHING has gone wrong with this wedding...honestly ladies I apologize because since the day we got engaged everything has gone wrong...we were supposed to get married in turks and caicos and then my devil of a MIL interveined and so we changed to mexico and honestly...if we were getting married in turks the swine flu would have been there...so this is my fault and my damn cursed wedding's fault so my appologies to all of the other may brides that are having to suffer from my curse. PS...MY DRESS DOESN"T FIT EITHER...there...I said it. Awww, Michelle, I feel your pain, truly. Hopefully in a few weeks from now, we can share a toast at the RPDC to all the craziness that is going on right now. Hugs.

Apparently Mexico just had a 6.0 earthquake near Acapulco. OMG. Hopefully it's true that things happen in 3s (drug wars, swine flu, earthquake) and this is the end of the madness.

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ Just to make sure I looked through my materials from the Royal, this is what it says: •How late can last the reception at night? •At the beach until 11PM and the Garden until 10PM. In the ballroom of the Gran Porto until 11PM, in the ballroom of the Royal there is no limit of time. •If I want to stay longer at my reception dinner is there an extra charge? •Yes, 10 USD per person per extra hour. It will include the location, service and open bar. If your wedding is in an external area and you would like to have extra hours later than the time allowed, depending on the availability, we could move the group to the ball room. And, on the reception sheet that you fill out and turn in it says 4 hours. So I supposed you would pay for additional hours. Probably need to check with the WC. But I hope that clears up some confusion. Basically like I previously said, you can be on the beach till 11 but it depends when your reception started... Personally I'm not going to worry too much about it, I'll just head to a club if the party is still going.... Thanks for this, Stephanie. I never received or was asked to fill out a 'reception sheet' so this explains why I'd never heard of this before.

Quote: Originally Posted by MarieSam Ugh, I can't believe those kids from NY that have been confirmed cases went to Cancun!!! Just when all the drug war hype started finally dying down now this?? It's like every obstacle is being thrown our way for this wedding I just saw a news conference with Governor Patterson. Those 8 NY cases were not a result of the swine flu but a really bad cold. They are also recovering. Hopefully that offers some reassurance.

Quote: Originally Posted by ~Stephanie~ Aerazo- there is a time limit though on the receptions, its like 3 or 4 hours so depending on what time you start your reception, say 6pm you would have to be done by 10 anyways..... I didn't know that. So, basically, if your dinner starts at 6 and ends at 7, then you have speeches, first dance, etc... for 1/2 hr, you only end up with 2 hrs of dancing? And we're paying $1000 for the DJ for this?

Quote: Originally Posted by aerazo Ladies, for those who are having their reception on the beach like i am next year, do you know how late we can stay out there? Angie from Condo Villa World told me you have to be out by 10pm. I think that is way to early to end a reception!!! i also read somewhere else that you can have the reception on the beach until 11pm - so im just confused. Does anyone else know what time the reception has to end if on the beach? Anyone else concerned that 10pm is to early?! Thanks! Adriana I was told by our DJ that if the reception was in the Garden, it needed to end by 10pm. If you're having it at the beach, it's 11pm. You can go an hour longer if you have it within the ballroom.

So, in addition to the drug wars and the swine flu advisories, my TA just sent me this hotel advisory for the Royal: "PLEASE NOTE THERE IS CONSTRUCTION GOING ON BEHIND THE HOTEL, ON 1ST AVENUE. IT CAN BE NOISY AT TIMES BETWEEN 8AM AND 6PM. THIS CONSTRUCTION DOES NOT BELONG TO THE HOTEL." Fabulous....