Cruise Wedding - Just Got Back!

JCWhitey

I didn't post on here much during my engagement, but answered a few questions regarding cruise weddings, so I know a few of you are planning them.  We just got back from our wedding cruise with Royal Caribbean (it was a port wedding in Grand Cayman).  I thought I'd swing by in case anyone has any questions that I could try to answer.

We used Simply Weddings Grand Cayman and got married on Smith Cove on 2/28/12 while on the Navigator of the Seas.

Jules1112

Awesome! Big Congrats! Did everything go as desired? Post pics, we'd love to see!!!

JCWhitey

Yup!  Everything went great.  We had amazing weather (not too hot), no issues with the tenders, and the ceremony was great.  I had a dream of getting married in the water and our coordinator worked it all out for us and it was perfect!

I'll be sure to come back and post pics when they're done!  My photographer swears she'll have them to me by this weekend and I'm editing some myself that I'll have done this week, too.  

BMcLeodTeam

Congrats, can't wait to see pictures

niknik15

That's awesome! How was Smith's Cove? We are getting married in Galveston before it sets sail, but we will be doing a trash the dress in Cayman. Did you take pictures anywhere else in Cayman? I can't wait to see your pictures!

Forgot to add...Congrats! Your a Mrs. now!

rmontpas

Hi, Congrats on your wedding!  I am glad it turned out the way you planned.
I have never been on a cruise before but it has always been a dream of mine so my husband is taking me on one in January. 
We had first thought of going for 2 weeks but then decided that might be too long for our first time and maybe we should go for 1 week on the boat and 1 week somewhere else.  What do you think in your expert opinion!

kimmykupcakes

Congratulations.

venus909

Congrats!  Looking forward to pics

ashleyjgetsmarried

I'm starting to think about a wedding cruise, so I'm really glad you popped in!  Congratulations on your wedding!  I'd love to see pictures of the wedding.  Did you have a lot of people attend?  Did you have a reception on the ship?  

misty722

Congrats! We are actually planning a cruise wedding to Grand Cayman, but were going through Carnival. I'm also planning on going through Simply Weddings, but were going in July so hopefully no weather problems! Can't wait to see your pictures

JCWhitey

<div>First of all, I apologize for not coming back to reply to messages... MIDTERMS!  But they are over now and I'm officially on spring break.  :)</div><div>
</div>In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_cruise-wedding-just-got-back?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:54Discussion:70120b98-60c3-4ee2-a038-8896f7151660Post:0a1152af-5ccb-4bf4-b761-3471e5b0c001">Re: Cruise Wedding - Just Got Back!</a>:
[QUOTE]That's awesome! How was Smith's Cove? We are getting married in Galveston before it sets sail, but we will be doing a trash the dress in Cayman. Did you take pictures anywhere else in Cayman? I can't wait to see your pictures! Forgot to add...Congrats! Your a Mrs. now!
Posted by niknik15[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Smith Cove is really nice!  We had our ceremony at 10:30 (it actually ended up being more like 10:45) and it wasn't crowded at all.  Maybe half a dozen people on the beach at most when we got there.  From talking to someone else on our ship I know that the 7 Mile Beach was packed by that point (at least the part that you can buy an excursion from the cruise line) so I'm happy we decided not to get married there.  There were 6 ships in port that day so there were A LOT of people.  But Smith Cove seems lesser known.  It would be a great place for a TTD.</div><div>
</div><div>We then went up to Pedro St. James Castle.  It's beautiful, but wasn't really what we were looking for as far as a location to take pictures.  I think I would love it if I were a tourist and actually went into the house and did the tour and learned the history of the building, but otherwise I think we should have just stayed at Smith Cove for pictures.  Next time we go back I want to go back to the castle and actually tour it.  

</div>

JCWhitey

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_cruise-wedding-just-got-back?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:54Discussion:70120b98-60c3-4ee2-a038-8896f7151660Post:2e22d503-fdf7-4c48-a93d-4a3f4eccf484">Re: Cruise Wedding - Just Got Back!</a>:
[QUOTE]Hi, Congrats on your wedding!  I am glad it turned out the way you planned. I have never been on a cruise before but it has always been a dream of mine so my husband is taking me on one in January.  We had first thought of going for 2 weeks but then decided that might be too long for our first time and maybe we should go for 1 week on the boat and 1 week somewhere else.  What do you think in your expert opinion!
Posted by rmontpas[/QUOTE]

<div>I'd stick with a 1 week to start.  Definitely go longer than 3-4 days, though.  That's all I'd done to this point and they were fun but our 6 day cruise was so much more interesting.  I do recommend having at least 2 days at sea so you can experience all there is to do on the ship and relax a bit.  Then fill the rest of the days with some nice ports.  I really liked all three of ours (Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios Jamaica, and Labadee Haiti) but some people aren't too happy with the Jamaica ports.  I do think Jamaica is better done on a land vacation.</div><div>
</div><div>Also, do research on the ship.  The first few ships I sailed on were small and didn't really offer much to do during sea days.  The ship we were on (Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas) had a climbing wall, ice skating rink, royal promenade, a really nice casino, inline skating track, etc.  Plenty to do, to the point where we didn't even do half of what we planned to do, which I personally preferred.</div>

JCWhitey

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_cruise-wedding-just-got-back?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:54Discussion:70120b98-60c3-4ee2-a038-8896f7151660Post:d5301936-6e3c-4614-8968-f19d4b1e8507">Re: Cruise Wedding - Just Got Back!</a>:
[QUOTE]I'm starting to think about a wedding cruise, so I'm really glad you popped in!  Congratulations on your wedding!  I'd love to see pictures of the wedding.  Did you have a lot of people attend?  Did you have a reception on the ship?  
Posted by ashleyjgetsmarried[/QUOTE]

<div>My wedding pics are done!  I just need to get them onto Facebook and I'll post them over here!</div><div>
</div><div>We had 10 guests attend (so 12 people total).  We only invited 60 people to begin with and this is what I expected as far as the size of our wedding (and what I wanted).  We also picked a 6 day cruise that was about $650/pp for a balcony, which is decent, but still pricier then some other options (like shorter ships and some Carnival ships) so it was out of the budget for a lot of our friends/family.  But, again, that was sort of by design.</div><div>
</div><div>We had our reception at the Main Dining Room at our regular dining time.  We were all at the same table to begin with so I didn't see the point of paying $500+ to rent out their ugly conference room just to have dinner in.  But that also meant we didn't do any dances or bouquet toss.  Although we did have a cake and did cut the cake.  For us, it was perfect and I don't regret not having a formal reception.  Plus it was free.</div>

JCWhitey

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-theme-boards_destination-weddings_cruise-wedding-just-got-back?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20Theme%20BoardsForum:54Discussion:70120b98-60c3-4ee2-a038-8896f7151660Post:d35df42d-ebae-4e34-9015-bcc447725a22">Re: Cruise Wedding - Just Got Back!</a>:
[QUOTE]Congrats! We are actually planning a cruise wedding to Grand Cayman, but were going through Carnival. I'm also planning on going through Simply Weddings, but were going in July so hopefully no weather problems! Can't wait to see your pictures :)
Posted by misty722[/QUOTE]

<div>You'll love Joy, she's great!  My only advice is to get married early.  We had our ceremony at 10:30 (closer to 10:45 when it actually started) and it was already getting really, really hot!  I can imagine in July it would be even hotter at that time.  </div>

shatima777

i would love to see ur pix. Congratsssss