Newbie Intro: Cruise/St. Thomas Wedding

Arch713 · June 3, 2012

Hi All,

I am recently engaged and somehow did not find this website until now. Of course, like everyone, I find myself here learning so much from the fabulous individuals on this board.

I'm Katy from Minneapolis, MN.

Looking to get married Sept/Oct 2013 - however, not confirmed. We are wanting a beach side ceremony in St. Thomas but are having some trouble deciding which cruise ship.

My fiance and I have cruised a lot on Carnival and Royal Caribbean and would love to get married while on the Oasis or Allure of the Seas. However, due to cost, that is almost double what you would pay for one a great Carnival ship. I would be curious if any Oasis or Allure brides experienced any concerns/issues regarding price?

I look forward in learning so much from all of you! From what I've read - there are some really friendly and amazing people here!

acireta · June 4, 2012

Welcome to BDW! We cruised to St. Thomas on the Carnival Liberty. I would LOVE to do an Allure or Oasis cruise some day! It was too cost-prohibitive for us for the wedding :-( I think it will really depend on your must-have guests and what they think their travel budget will be. Have you talked to parents or bridal party about your options yet? Good luck! Happy planning!

Arch713 · June 4, 2012

Hi Acireta -

I saw your post on cruise critic - and therefore, have to thank you for guiding me to this site. If I wouldn't have found your post - I would never have found this site!

I have to say, your wedding was amazing. From one midwest bride to another, I can truly say your wedding is an inspiration for mine!

Would you recommend the Liberty? Just curious, what made you choose the Liberty over other ships? How many total people cruised with you?

Thanks for all your help!

acireta · June 4, 2012

Awesome, glad you made it over here! This site is so incredibly helpful for the wedding stuff, while CC is more helpful for the cruise details, it seems.

Thanks for the compliments, that's very sweet

I would totally recommend the Liberty, we've sailed on that ship twice. We chose it mostly because of the itinerary - stopped in St. Thomas, only two sea days, lots of ports (only one I hadn't been to before), price, Spring Break dates Saturday to Saturday (one of my BMs is a teacher and it had to be specific for her Spring Break). We only had 13 guests cruising with us and 8 more met us on the island for the wedding.

The Liberty really is a beautiful ship and recently had some updates done to it, we loved it. It probably doesn't really compare to the Allure or Oasis, but it really worked well with all of our requirements!

Reenie87 · June 26, 2012

I am new to this site and thank goodness I found it! We are getting married via carnival liberty in St. Thomas on Lime Tree Beach in December 2012. We also went back or forth between carnival and royal Caribbean.

Decided on carnival as it seems to be more "fun" for all ages and seemed more wedding friendly and definitely more affordable. At the time of our wedding booking I did not even know that we could use outside vendors so our whole wedding (ceremony and reception) is booked through carnival.

So far they have been working patiently with us. I am a bit nervous since I will have no idea what to expect, but I am sure it will all work out. The company that takes care of the ceremony is called Royal Wed.

Our reception will be in the cabinet lounge. We booked the piano player for that who is able to play 100's of songs. It is the 2 hour cocktail reception. I have read very positive reviews about the ship and wedding experience so this gives me some peace of mind.

Good luck in your decision!

I will keep you posted with any progress and suggestions