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Here's our guide on everything you need to know about cruise weddings. If you can't stand the thought of sharing a romantic vacation with your extended family, consider an embarkation-day wedding and bid your guests goodbye after the reception. The trade-off is your pierside event might not be as scenic as an onboard ceremony with expansive sea views. On the more casual and festive end, Carnival Cruise Line weddings start at $1,499; MSC Cruises' weddings cost roughly the same.
Destination Wedding
The Romantic and Deluxe packages add additional photography services, a larger cake, specialty dinner, and even pre-wedding salon services for the couple. An MSC wedding on Ocean Cay features a blend of the three onboard packages, with a ceremony taking place in the wedding pavilion adorned with flowers on the line’s private island. Watch out for a la carte charges that can add up on Royal Caribbean.
Why Choose Royal Caribbean for a Cruise Wedding?
You can hire a full photo team from the cruise ship, complete with edited and printed photos, or do it yourself. We provided our own music so we had a sound technician present that played the songs through a speaker system. We requested to have the chocolate covered strawberries and the cake delivered to our room. Even though it was October 28th, the ship was already decorated for Halloween.
Marriage Requirements on a Cruise Ship
Additional services for floral arrangements, live music and photography can be arranged at an additional cost. Note that, if the couple gets married onboard, the captain or a ship officer will preside over the ceremony. Disney Cruise Line weddings do not include the marriage license, so the couple is responsible for providing any necessary legal documentation. If the wedding occurs on Castaway Cay, the ceremony will be performed by a Bahamian official, but it is not a legal marriage; the couple will need to already be legally married before the ship departs the U.S. Don't worry — you don't have to find an available officiant in Jamaica or the Bahamas. For example, all three of Princess Cruises' wedding packages include either a legal ceremony by the captain or one performed by a local officiant in port.
If you want family and friends to attend your at-sea wedding, consider whether you can sneak away when needed without hurting anyone's feelings. For example, as of July, Royal Caribbean is fully sold-out for 2022 weddings and is not accepting bookings for additional nuptials this year. The average price for a cruise wedding falls between $7,000 and $20,000, according to GroupTravel.org, a sliver of what a land wedding normally costs (an average of $30,000). Your specific cost will depend on which cruise wedding package you choose and which inclusions and add-ons you select. According to Princess Cruises, two-thirds of its weddings have fewer than 10 people in the group and the average size of larger weddings is 25, with about two weddings each year with 40 or more guests.
Weddings in port are available on Carnival cruise ships only in select ports (including embarkation ports), and there's a limit to how many weddings can take place on the same day. A maximum of 50 non-sailing guests may attend a wedding on the ship. Surcharges (ranging from $100 to $200) may apply for ceremonies during popular seasons, including Thanksgiving, winter holidays, Valentine's week and all of May and June.
Not every cruise line will plan your wedding.
Perhaps the biggest question is whether you want friends and family sailing with you on your honeymoon. Since wedding planning is notorious for involving a lot of work and decision-making, some people find themselves pleasantly surprised when they start browsing cruise wedding packages. Booking a wedding on a cruise ship can be a one-stop shop that simplifies the process.
From what we've seen, most mainstream lines charge less than $6,000 for even the most expensive packages. There are options that cost even less, but there are also infinite extras that can be added to drive up the cost. Cruise ships set sail on almost every corner of the world, allowing you to combine your wedding with anything from island-hopping to climbing glaciers to circumnavigating the entire globe. Check out our list of seven great cruises for first-time cruisers. Most cruise lines have a dedicated team of wedding planners who will organize and schedule everything on your behalf.
Holland America offers special wedding extras when at least eight staterooms are booked for an At Sea Symbolic or Anchors Away Harborside wedding through its Group Advantage Program. The entire group receives lunch at Pinnacle Grill (Holland America's upscale alternative restaurant), a private wine tasting and chocolate-covered strawberries, plus a bottle of in-room Champagne. Drop us an anchor below to share your experiences with cruise weddings.
Not all of P&O's ships cater to the same clientele and some don't allow children (which can be a plus for some couples). With that in mind, it's important to know your guest list (or at least the age restrictions of your wedding) before you book. Aurora and Arcadia are child-free (nobody younger than 18 is allowed onboard), while Azura, Brittania, and Ventura allow children. If you're holding anything more than an intimate wedding on a Norwegian cruise, you'll be charged an extra fee for an additional wedding coordinator for every 25 guests beyond the first 25. Each port has their own requirements to obtain a marriage license, which couples are responsible for handling. Documentation should be completed and submitted approximately two to three months prior to any legal ceremony at sea.
Carnival Cruise Guests Take Part in Largest-Ever Vow Renewal at Sea - Cruise Hive
Carnival Cruise Guests Take Part in Largest-Ever Vow Renewal at Sea.
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We got married on land and had our honeymoon on Freedom of the Seas. Since we love cruising so much, we decided to celebrate our 10 year anniversary with a vow renewal on the ship we took our honeymoon on. Since the Bahamas does not allow same sex marriages, those could not be done legally on the ship itself. Then you’ll be assigned a shoreside coordinator that will work with you to customize your ceremony and reception to your specific needs. Celebrate in style with a romantic ceremony at sea (includes the couple and up to 8 guests). Cunard can offer you a Royal Ceremony at Sea on board the majority of its voyages and on any of its ships.
In some cases, you might need to do the legal paperwork before or after your cruise wedding and have that ceremony be symbolic only. Many cruise lines and companies can accommodate weddings, including Princess Cruises, Disney Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Line, Crystal Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Royal Caribbean, among others. These cruise lines offer a variety of routes and price points so it’s often best to work with a travel agent to find the exact cruise that best suits your desired event. Browse our three At-Sea wedding packages, all offered as either legal or symbolic ceremonies. Some couples who opt for a memorable wedding at sea are frequent cruisers who use the moment to celebrate their favorite way of traveling as well as their shared love for one another.
Sailing with more than 50 guests might be its own organizational challenge, but couples looking for a larger wedding at sea can opt to hold their ceremony at a land-based venue in one of their itinerary’s approved destinations. The decision to officiate a cruise wedding onboard or in port is a personal decision, but there are a few logistical differences between the two options. Packages typically employ the cruise line’s preferred vendors, so keep in mind that it might be difficult or impossible to handpick florists or photographers.
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