BOOKING my CRUISE Wedding

[CAKnight]

The fees that Carnival (as well as the other cruise lines, I'm sure) are outrageous! The price for just the marriage license is $375. YIKES! 

For a somewhat basic wedding, they want to charge about $2k. No thanks...I will try my luck with someone on the island! Hopefully, I will be able to customize it more for a fraction of the price. 

Originally Posted by Teemojo 

We chose Shaw Park because I was told by Carnival that they use that resort. We didn't do the wedding through the ship. We found it more costly. I booked directly through the resort. I didn't like the fact that they wanted all of there money upfront. We had payments with the resort. Paying for everything ourselves has made things a little less ideal but hopefully it will all work out.

[Teemojo]

Hi CAKnight,

You definitely will be able to personalize your day. You may have to bring your own items or pay a little extra. We saved on the marriage license fees by getting legally married here a week before. My husband is paranoid, as was sure something would go wrong. We a had a civil ceremony and on the island we had a symbolic ceremony. No one noticed. Actually we never told anyone. They have great wedding planners on a lot of the islands. Just make sure that they have references from past brides.

Let me know if I can help.

Good luck!

[CAKnight]

Yeah, I've contemplated getting married here first. But, honestly there isn't that much of a price difference between getting married here and having a symbolic ceremony vs just getting married there. So, for now, it looks like our wedding will be in Grand Cayman. 

 

Where are you getting married? 

Originally Posted by Teemojo 

Hi CAKnight,

You definitely will be able to personalize your day. You may have to bring your own items or pay a little extra. We saved on the marriage license fees by getting legally married here a week before. My husband is paranoid, as was sure something would go wrong. We a had a civil ceremony and on the island we had a symbolic ceremony. No one noticed. Actually we never told anyone. They have great wedding planners on a lot of the islands. Just make sure that they have references from past brides.

Let me know if I can help.

Good luck!

[gresley]

How far in advance did you guys book your cruise dates? I want to "claim" my date, per se, but right now the guest count is up in the air. How did you guys handle that? Does a travel agent help significantly?

[Teemojo]

We were married in Ochie, as the locals refer to it, at Shaw Park Hotel in Jamaica.

Getting married here knocked our fee from $275 to $100. We only paid for the minister. We put the extra money towards taxi service for our guests to and from the ceremony location.

 

Also be aware that if you are using outside vendors for your ceremony, the resort/hotel will charge you a fee. We didn't feel comfortable with the photographer that the resort recommended.

[CAKnight]

It sounds like it was definitely a good deal for you to get married before then. 

Where did you have your reception? On the ship or in Ochie?

Originally Posted by Teemojo 

We were married in Ochie, as the locals refer to it, at Shaw Park Hotel in Jamaica.

Getting married here knocked our fee from $275 to $100. We only paid for the minister. We put the extra money towards taxi service for our guests to and from the ceremony location.

 

Also be aware that if you are using outside vendors for your ceremony, the resort/hotel will charge you a fee. We didn't feel comfortable with the photographer that the resort recommended.

[Teemojo]

We did a mini-reception at the resort because we started everything early. It was about $25 a person. There was more than enough food to hold us until dinner.

[CAKnight]

For dinner, did you eat in the formal dining room or one of the specialty restaurants?

Originally Posted by Teemojo 

We did a mini-reception at the resort because we started everything early. It was about $25 a person. There was more than enough food to hold us until dinner.

[Teemojo]

People were so tired after the ceremony. We started at 10:30am (at least that was the plan). Then we had to board the ship at 2pm. We made it just in time.

I would say it all depends on how you have your day scheduled. We had the use of the beach after our ceremony.

What we had at the resort was called a mini-reception with hors d'oeuvres and fruit. I believe we had local food like jerk chicken,a seafood item and a vegetable item plus salad.

 

Everyone that traveled with us skipped dinner and went to the midnight buffet.

[CAKnight]

Mhmm...a midnight dinner buffet! That sounds like an interesting and unique idea! My FH and I will have to consider this option!