Cruise Wedding?

I have been on many cruises , never married on one . But one of the cons I have heard is the fact that you have to use their photographer ,which sometimes is not all that great. Also , I LOVE carnival Cruise lines . Plus you get a wedding and honeymoon all in one

Thank you StealingTheKredel! We love the idea of wedding, honeymoon, and family and friend vacation in one.

If I knew my family would all be on board (pun intended ) for the cruise wedding I would for sure do it. We go on one once a year anyways.

I don't have personal experience but my MOH's mom got married on a cruise when we were in college and I heard such good things about it

Thoroughly thought about it!

Pros: one lump price (a very small one at that!) Also, carnival let's you do it in port before it leaves so non-sailing guests can attend the wedding before the boat leaves.

Cons that I found: they can't guarantee what part of the ship you will have it in, but will be able to "try" to go with the one you choose. Use THEIR cake/flowers/photographer/decorations/food. Also, only great if you're doing VERY small guest list. Outside of that, the price gets outrageous OR simply isn't allowed (depending on cruise ship and cruise line). Also, you pretty much have to get ready at a hotel before heading to the ship. You will have time on the ship, but I didn't think 2 hours was enough for hair, make up, all that.

I don't have any ports near me, not even in my state. It would mean ALL of my guests, even non-sailing, would have to travel out of state, plus I'd be having someone I don't know doing my hair & makeup unless I had time to travel out of state for a trial. There would also be no cake tasting, meeting with caterer, or any of that so I decided it was too much left to chance, and if it didn't turn out how I wanted it, I'd never get a chance to chance it. I did however have a friend do it about 10 years ago and loved it. She only had 6 guests though and it was a relaxed second marriage.

@Nicole thank you for sharing, what such things did you hear?

@FutureMrsH thank you SO much for the detailed answer! I really appreciate it. It's kinda odd they can't guarantee which part of the boat you will have it on...

The photographer isn't something I would like to leave to chance either..

Lots to consider.. Thank you!

I like the idea of the cruise wedding. I went to one in May where we had to fly down to attend, and because FH has anxiety about boat travel, we opted not to do the cruise. Which was a bummer. As someone else said, make sure all your guests would be able to actually attend.

We went on a cruise over Thanksgiving (Royal Caribbean). There were 3 couples that got married. We got to know the one couple, they seemed to really enjoy it. The weddings took place on sea days. I saw some of their pics and they were gorgeous. The only downside to me was that the weddings took place mid day. The receptions couldn't last too late.

@2ndTime I hadn't considered the anxiety of boat travel. Thanks for sharing!

@FutureRand thank you for story! Question, were all 3 weddings on the same day? I feel like that might be a bit odd for me.. what do you mean the receptions couldn't last too late? Like 9ish, 10ish?

I LOVE Celebrity Cruise Lines!

Women I work with was married on a cruise. She said even after some of the drama. She would never make a different decision. She said it was the best day/week of her life.

I'm a fan of Royal Caribbean. Also met a couple who got married during the cruise. However, their ceremony was at one of the stops. St. Lucia I believe. I'm sure there are destination wedding packages on the islands that understand you'll be stopping by mid cruise to get married. They seemed really happy. Con: your family is on your honeymoon so you're not really isolated and might feel the need to hang out with them. You're going to run into them all the time on the ship anyway. Pro: you could think of it as a 7 day celebration!

Thank you @Vanessa!! & Thank you @LastJuneBride!! I appreciate the insight

I think someone here once said that you have to get legally married while the ship is still docked because once it hits the water, you're technically no longer in the US. I could be wrong so check on that.

I couldn't go on a cruise for someone's wedding - or ever - I have such awful motion sickness there would be no way I could subject myself to a possible week (or whatever length of trip) of sickness. I have meds, use alternative medicine options - and I still get ill with travel - so if you have anyone like me on your guest list - we would likely hate it - but would have to miss it.

No they were on three separate days and only on sea days not on days at port.

My best friend and now MOH got married on a Carnival cruise in 2015 and it was pretty awesome. She got married at a port in Turks and Caicos which was beautiful (although super hot but that wasn't in anyone's control lol). She got all her pictures the next day and everyone had a pretty amazing time. The only problems in my opinion were that she didn't get her marriage license for months, which ended up being a problem for insurance and all that, and when we went to get our hair and makeup done the morning of we found out that we were expected to bring our own makeup which I thought was super weird. Fairly minor all things considered, but worth a heads up if you're planning on having them do your makeup on the ship.

We considered it bc we are cruise people but ultimately decided against it because the photography is one of the most important things & you have to use their photographer if you get married on the ship. We always cruise in October which is hurricane season- another reason we decided against it. Depending on the cruise line you choose, you can get married in the ship on sea days or while it's still at port. It ended up not being for us but it's a great destination wedding idea! If you decide to do a cruise wedding at a port the ship stops at, there's always a chance it won't get to go to that port due to weather so keep that in mind.

I have seen many people marry on cruises. I think every ship is different with the way they do some things, so I think if you want to marry on a cruise, choose a newer ship and just do your research. I'm sure you'll be fine.