Carnival Liberty Brides

[~St.T Bride~]

Hi

 

Just wanting some input from those who have sailed the Carnival Liberty...must do's, things to miss, photography spots to think about.

 

We're having our wedding dinner in the Supper Club, any reviews.

 

Ideas for group activities on the ship....

 

Anything Liberty specific would be great!

[CruiseBride10]

Hi St. T Bride,

 

Congrats on your upcoming wedding! I'm getting married on the Carnival Liberty a few months after you on May 2. We are going to get married on the ship in Half Moon Cay. I've been searching online for reviews from anyone who has been married on the Liberty also. I would love to hear about your wedding when you get home.

 

Hope to hear from you.

[~St.T Bride~]

Hello!!

 

Let me just say that Carnival Liberty is beautiful! I had such a great overall experience.

 

I'm glad you say you're getting married ON the ship in Halfmoon Cay, because that's one stop our cruise didn't make. There were 20 ft. swells and the captain didn't think it was safe to tender.

 

If you want a great dining experience speak with the hostess in Harry's Supper Club. We dealt with Polina who made the night perfect and she had such great attention to detail. The gave us one who side of the restaurant so we could do speeches, and allowed us to bring a CD with our first dance songs for the dance floor!

 

My hair was done in the salon for $65. I had the one male hairstylist and my hair was PERFECT! I'm sorry I can't remember his name.

 

The spa staff are subpar, not customer service oriented and well....BITCHY. Stay away and get your spa services at home. Especially Rachel and Raquel...Beware you're 'couples massage' may not end up in the 'couples massage room', but rather in two small massage rooms with the middle divider panels removed with your heads opposite ways and about 3 ft. between you. They were unapologetic and unwilling to make it 'better' for us. I would have rathered paid the price for a single massage.

 

And if you can upgrade to an ocean suite. Makes more room for getting ready on the wedding day, and it was just SO NICE!

 

You're going to enjoy yourself...Have fun.

 

There's a few pictures under my "Just Married =)" thread.

[sadie]

Hey there! I am getting married on the Carnival Liberty in 2011 and I was hoping you could answer some questions for me?

 

We are gettting married on the ship and wanted to be married outside but they won't do that, so I was wondering what is a nice place indoors that is well lit...near windows perhaps?

 

I'm getting the impression that you had a private reception? I thought the reception was snacks and alcohol for an hour in the place you got married. Did you pay extra for a full reception?

 

Congratulations!! Can't wait to hear all about it:)

[~St.T Bride~]

Hmmm, have they given you different options for locations? I'm having a hard time thinking about one that would be private & by the windows? If they moved tables the Silver Olympian dining room has panoramic windows in the back!

 

We weren't married through the cruise ship, so we just made a group reservation - paid by us- for Harry's and they pulled out all the stops and made it feel like a formal reception.

 

Hope this helps!

[CruiseBride10]

Congratulations and Welcome back!

 

Your pictures are absolutely beautiful! It sounds like you had an amazing time. I'm glad to hear you were impressed with the salon. Your hair was beautiful!

We were also planning a couple massage. We'll have to check into it before we make an appointment.

 

Hopefully we won't have any trouble docking in Half Moon Cay. We are staying on the ship but the minister has to make it out to the ship from the island. I'm not going to worry too much about it though everything always works out.

 

Our ceremony is going to take place in the Tapestry room which has large windows Sadie. You can see pictures of the Tapestry room set up for a wedding on Webshots. After the ceremony we are having our reception in The Stage (won't be confirmed until 2 weeks before). We booked the deluxe romance package with Carnival. They typically have the reception in the disco but the disco on the Liberty has tattooed arms and legs sticking out of the floor which didn't really go with the theme haha. There are 60 people going with us which limits us to certain rooms as well.

 

It's great to hear you had such a great time St. T and Sadie I'll post when I get back as well. It's such a stress free planning process I'm so glad we decided on a destination wedding!

[tonijmccann]

Hey everyone! I'm planning on getting married on the Liberty in April 2011. (The cruise is going to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica) I'd LOVE to hear any of your experiences! Tips, pictures, recommendations? Which room did you guys have/which one are you having the reception in? Did you do/are you doing yours the day of departure?

[sadie]

Where have I been? Thanks for getting back to me! I'm going to look into the Tapestry Room right now.

[CruiseBride10]

Hi Everyone!

 

We are back from our cruise wedding! We had such an amazing time.

56 of our friends and family flew from Canada to Miami and sailed with us on the Carnival Liberty May 1-8. I thought I would break down my review because it is so long.

 

Carnival Wedding Coordinator

 

This was the only aspect of the cruise wedding we were surprised with. The wedding coordinator we dealt with prior to the wedding was Carolina and she was excellent. We had a lot of questions and she was very patient with us. They contacted us two weeks prior to our departure with our ceremony time and location. We were given the rooms we requested which was great.

 

Carolina told us the onboard wedding co-ordinator would contact us the night before the wedding (first day of cruise) but we did not hear from her. She told us after she thought we were late seating dining and game to the dining room to speak to us. Later that night my bridesmaids and I were getting things ready and I decided to call guest services and they transferred my call no problem.

 

The morning of the wedding the wedding coordinator met us at the hair salon to collect our passports, sail & sign cards, & marriage application original (requirements for Bahamas). She also took some items I had for the reception like my cake topper, guestbook, & first dance music.

 

My FH told me after their was an issue before the ceremony because the wedding coordinator told the officiant she did not have these documents and that he was responsible for taking these to the ceremony. My husband is a high stress individual so needless to say this but him over the edge a little. Everything worked out and the coordinator realized she left the documents in her office so it was no big deal.

 

Before I entered the ceremony an employee from the offiicant office handed me a customs claim form to fill out. This was unexpected and I would of rather do this earlier that morning but I got it done after the third try after making mistakes on the first two loll.

 

Overall these were only minor things and they in no way impacted our day. I thought I would share my experience just as a heads up.

 

Hair/Makeup

 

Myself and my bridesmaids made hair appointments as soon as we boarded the cruise on Saturday. The salon/spa was open right away and they had no trouble accommodating 10 appointments. Our appointments started at 9 am and we were all ready by 11 am. Everyone was really impressed with their hair and the stylist were very friendly.

 

I was expecting to have my makeup done in the salon as well but was surprised they do not offer this service. I didn't check this out before hand so it was my own fault. My brother-in-law ended up doing our make-up and did a fabulous job.

 

 

Ceremony

 

We were married on board the ship while docked in Half Moon Cay, Bahamas.

The ceremony took place in the Tapestry Room at 1 p.m. About 20 minutes before my FH and the groomsmen went down to great and seat the guests as they arrived at the Tapestry Room. We were waiting for the coordinator to come get us but we just headed down on our own. The ceremony was about 15-20 minutes and was perfect! After exiting we greeted out guests and directed them to the reception location. We then signed the registrar and posed for pictures with the bridal party and our family.

 

Reception

 

The reception blew us away! It took place in the stage lounge and was decorated so beautifully. We had a guestbook table set up with petals I had brought along and the cake was gorgeous with silk flowers I had brought. We hired the trio for the reception and it was a latin band called Mambo Magic. They were excellent and they also took on the MC duties as well. We also brought a cd with our first dance, parent-child dance, as well as songs for the garter & bouquet. The band also set this up for us.

 

Our guests are still talking about the food at the reception. The platters were always being refilled and they were as full at the end of the reception as they were at the beginning. The drinks were just as abundant as well. The bar staff had 30 or 40 drinks ready waiting on the bar, their were table service waiters, and the bar would make any drink at request. Needless to say this made for a lot of funny dance moves to Mambo Magic later in the reception.

 

Photography

 

This was by far the best surprise. Our photographer was Melbin and he did an outstanding job. He was very patient with us during the posed portraits and took a lot of candid shots as well. We were so happy with his photographs. We met with Melbin the last night of the cruise to review the photos and decide on a package. We spent a lot more than we had planned. We got about 90 8x10's, 65 5x7's, and 3 16x20 canvas wall art prints for $2000. We definitely could have worked him down to a better price but we were rushed to make it to supper and he was too cute to barter with.

 

I'll try to post some photos as soon as I find out how.

[goodtoglow]

Congratulations! I can't wait to see pictures. I'll be on the same itinerary departing Oct 29 2011.