Question about cruise ship weddings

annakb8 · January 2012

This has come up multiple times today and I am genuinely curious. What is the appeal? I get why some people prefer destination weddings, and I understand why some people like to take a cruise on their honeymoon, but why the mix? Are cruise companies pimping this out like crazy? Is it really cheap? Can someone please satisfy my curiosity?

ahhhitsshannyn · January 2012

I remember reading a while back that someone said they won't have to pay for a reception since all the food is included in the price of the cruise. Well that certainly is nice of you.

baystateapple · January 2012

I really have no idea. I said in the other thread that someone did this while we were on our cruise.

I wouldn't want my parents, et al., coming along on my honeymoon with me. But that's just me.

mica178 · January 2012

I don't understand the appeal either, but that applies to a bunch of things, not just cruise ship weddings.

krizzo17 · January 2012

We actually talked about it for about 10 seconds, but our idea was to pay for our parents' and brothers' tickets, just like we would have paid for their meals at a traditional reception. Then we each panicked about being stuck on a boat with our inlaws for a week, and that was that.

annakb8 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_question-cruise-ship-weddings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:6756e58b-44a9-4fe1-8288-a47ef4576118Post:836faf9b-2b75-4a92-8709-10a8be519423">Re: Question about cruise ship weddings</a>:
[QUOTE]I don't understand the appeal either, but that applies to a bunch of things, not just cruise ship weddings.
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>Yeah, there is plenty of stuff I don't really get, but this is one thing that I'm stuck on I guess. I feel like there must be some secret about it I don't know about.

</div>

midgetthemighty · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_question-cruise-ship-weddings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:6756e58b-44a9-4fe1-8288-a47ef4576118Post:f22664ed-6ec4-49ad-a172-86ff08ba586d">Re: Question about cruise ship weddings</a>:
[QUOTE]I really have no idea. I said in the other thread that someone did this while we were on our cruise. <strong>I wouldn't want my parents, et al., coming along on my honeymoon with me. But that's just me.
</strong>Posted by baystateapple[/QUOTE]

Ditto. This reminds me that a friend recently told me they thought FI and I were staying with his Aunt and Uncle in FL for our HM. Um..no. We're <em>visiting</em> them one day and probably staying the night but we have our own suite.

We're already dreading the "do you need some alone time?" comments they'll most likely be making.

Holy awkward batman.

hoffse · January 2012

I get doing cruises for HMs because you can visit multiple destinations for pretty cheap. But having your inlaws stuck on the boat with you during the honeymoon is a completely different thing.

Matty143 · January 2012

I don't get it.
Seems like its more about convenience for the B&G than the experience of the guests.

specialk84 · January 2012

I think I'd jump overboard if I was stuck on a boat with my ILs, even the semi-normal ones.

I don't get the appeal either. I think it's horribly inconvenient for all of the guests. Then again, I think most DWs are inconvenient for most of the guests. Exceptions are when the wedding is held near a large chunk of the guest list, but the other half has to travel.

Didn't one of the OPs say she was inviting 250 people to a cruise wedding? That just sounds asinine.

deanozzi · January 2012

We love the water and thought it would be great to get our family and friends to join us on a wedding/ family cruise. This idea popped into my head when my grandmother said she would love to do a 80th birthday celebration on a ship. The more I thought about it, the more it appealed to me because our family would already be planning on coming anyways and we all love cruising. The cost is reasonable but def. not free. 100 ppl invited total cost under $6,000 which includes everything.

We have also asked that our suite is not nearby any of our family and friends. It will be on a separate level.

We are able to have sailing and non-sailing guests because we are getting married in the port of Miami. Our non-sailing guests will be able to enjoy the wedding and reception with the rest but they will have to leave the ship once the reception is over.

We are having a separate honeymoon with just the 2 of us right after we get back.

mica178 · January 2012

I've been to DW where the couple hung out with the guests for the week surrounding the wedding. I guess a cruise ship wedding is the same idea. Only with 2500 other randos and the risk of Norovirus.

annakb8 · January 2012

I guess if your whole family loves cruising that much I guess it is more understandable.

I'm curious, does that figure cover your and your FI's trip? Or just the ceremony/reception?

annakb8 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_question-cruise-ship-weddings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:9Discussion:6756e58b-44a9-4fe1-8288-a47ef4576118Post:3a083c9c-8b25-4d4a-8bd4-18e4af22b421">Re: Question about cruise ship weddings</a>:
[QUOTE]I've been to DW where the couple hung out with the guests for the week surrounding the wedding. I guess a cruise ship wedding is the same idea. Only with 2500 other randos and the risk of Norovirus.
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]<div>
</div><div>And you are stuck on a ship. I'm weird and I hate being trapped anywhere, which is probably why I don't really go for cruises. This is clearly my own personal problem though, haha.

</div>

deanozzi · January 2012

And no one will feel like they have to attend the cruise because it is up to them to sail with us or not. There were other options, such as getting married in another country but we didn't want anyone to feel obligated to cruise with us and spend crazy amounts of money to see us get married. The wedding will be similar to getting married in a hotel. Once it is over the majority of people will leave and go home. The rest will party away for 4 days and we think it will be really fun! We do not need a honeymoon the night after because we have been together for 14 years.

Habs2Hart · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_question-cruise-ship-weddings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:6756e58b-44a9-4fe1-8288-a47ef4576118Post:3a083c9c-8b25-4d4a-8bd4-18e4af22b421">Re: Question about cruise ship weddings</a>:
[QUOTE]I've been to DW where the couple hung out with the guests for the week surrounding the wedding. I guess a cruise ship wedding is the same idea. Only with 2500 other randos and the risk of Norovirus.
Posted by mica178[/QUOTE]

And hitting ground and flipping over apparently.

Perhaps cruise tickets (and weddings) are going to get cheaper in the upcoming weeks...

specialk84 · January 2012

I thought about suggesting a riverboat cruise for a Cincinnati GTG (riverboats are kind of a thing here), but I figured most people would hate being trapped.

D, how long can your reception last if the non-sailing guests get kicked off the ship? If it's really short, like someone else alluded to, I think it's kind of weird to ask someone to do that.

midgetthemighty · January 2012

Daenozzi, that sounds like the most reasonable and thought out cruise wedding I've ever heard of. Good for you for thinking of your guests and giving them as many options as possible.

toothpastechica · January 2012

We looked into it...just because we knew for sure we were doing our hm on a cruise, and knew it would be a way to a smaller wedding without offending people (since being here cutting out everyone execept family our wedding is still 130ppl) , but after looking into it...(you get married in port usually, if you have a reception on the boat, you have to use thier cake cutting stuff and thier linins your not allowed to bring anything of your own and then were going to be charged FAR more then a regualar vendor for usage of stuff, you get the same meal as the dinning room anyways, and you have to pay for different marraige liscensing if you get married in a forgein port etc.) its crazzzzy expensive, and then yeah, the thought of being stuck on a boat with my inlaws....(who ironically are paying for our hm now because they said its thier gift to us!).....doesnt really appeal to me.

deanozzi · January 2012

No that cost does not include the price of the cruise. Only the ceremony and reception. Cruise weddings are not for everyone and it is understandable why people would not want to have one. For us however, it was a perfect idea. We have been together super long, love our family and friends, our family and friends love cruising, and it will be fun to just lay back and have a blast with everyone and enjoy our honeymoon later on!

deanozzi · January 2012

Yes, the reception is super short. Only 2 hours. But we have made sure that we informed our guests properly and told oot guests that it is not worth the expense (unless they are sailing). And we have also told the rest of the guests that it is a very short, quick wedding. And yes, there are tons of restrictions but that was fine for us. They plan everythig for you but you are able to make your own choices as well.

deanozzi · January 2012

You are able to bring pretty much anything with you for your wedding the only exclusions are flowers, food, and candles. But any other decorations are okay. And they really give you tons of choices for the food, flowers and candles anyways and they are not overpriced.

deanozzi · January 2012

@midgetthemighty

Thank you! I really just wanted it to be enjoyable for everyone. If people do not want to come it is totally fine with us. And we really do understand that it is a slight inconvenience. The Miami area is where most of the invites are going anyways and here are really no OOTers except the ones who chose to come on the cruise.

annakb8 · January 2012

Thank you for satisfying my curiosity, deanozzi

dawnie204 · January 2012

I explained about our cruise wedding on the SB post, but I will chime in here too. We are really thrilled with our cruise wedding plans. We are providing lunch for everyone before the ceremony and they can tour the ship until the ceremony starts. After the ceremony there will be an open bar and apps.

Anyone who wants to sail with can do so, and many are. We have a group of 12 people at the moment, with a few more looking into it. We will be taking a vacation when we get back that will be just the two of us, so we don't really consider this a honeymoon. More like a vacation with some of our favorite people. We get along really well with both sets of parents, so no problems on that front.

Also, we are only inviting about 50ish people. All of these people are really close to us, and most of them really like to cruise. They seem to be really excited. I guess the main reason we decided to go this route is because it is a way to include our closest people without costing a fortune, and still being fun. It can get expensive if you do a lot of upgrades on the ceremony but we aren't. We want to keep it simple, but we are making sure everyone is well fed and taken care of.

So, I guess it's just a personal preference, and one that we are really excited about.

dawnie204 · January 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_etiquette_question-cruise-ship-weddings?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:9Discussion:6756e58b-44a9-4fe1-8288-a47ef4576118Post:7502c14c-863b-4af6-9540-27afaf93ab20">Re: Question about cruise ship weddings</a>:
[QUOTE]Yes, the reception is super short. Only 2 hours. <strong>But we have made sure that we informed our guests properly and told oot guests that it is not worth the expense (unless they are sailing). And we have also told the rest of the guests that it is a very short, quick wedding</strong>. And yes, there are tons of restrictions but that was fine for us. They plan everythig for you but you are able to make your own choices as well.
Posted by deanozzi[/QUOTE]

We are doing the exact same thing. It's going to be quick, and if people don't want to shell out the money to drive out for it, we completely understand.

ricksang · January 2012

I don't see the appeal at all. Staying on a boat for a week where there is nothing to do but eat and gamble and gain weight is not my idea of fun.

Edit- Read the thread wrong. I don't see the appeal in cruise vacations. I think being invited to a cruise wedding would be fun.

deanozzi · January 2012

dawnie204

What ship, sail date and port are you getting married on?

dawnie204 · January 2012

deanozzi

I'm going to send you a private message.

ricksang

It's not for everyone.

However, we don't gamble and we still have a great time. There is a lot to do aside from gambling and eating.

skantrowitz · January 2012

I had a friend go to a cruise wedding last winter (her husband was a groomsman) and she said everyone had a blast. I'd agree it's not for everybody though.

goodine11 · January 2012

I wonder the samething. I am doing a destination wedding. I thought about a cruise but, it didn't seem right. You get 15 mins, some cruise ships only allot 10 for the wedding and it's over. I think you might as well elope and save the money.

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