my partner and i are planning to get married next year and i was wondering how practical a cruise wedding would be and if anyone had any experiences whether it was their own wedding or someone else's...........

since it would be our first cruise too i have no idea what to expect and what cruise lines are the most reputable.........

just to make things easier or more complicated (i'm not sure which) we were hoping to take my partner's sister and husband with us and have recently found out that she is expecting her first child in february........so how practical (if at all) is a cruise for a couple with a baby of about 6 months or so........and are there any cruise lines that are more baby friendly than others.

we also figured that since we live in scotland and we would have a baby in the wedding party that a mediterranean cruise would be best so as not to be too far away from home and not have to spend too much time flying........

i'm sorry to have so many questions on my first post........as you have probably gathered i am very new to this and very excited about the possibility of having a cruise wedding which i'm sure would be that little bit extra special and different......

i look forward to any replies or advice anyone might have...

First go to a reputable travel agent and talk to them and find out what cruise ships will be in the Med next year if that is where you want to go.

As far as taking a 6 month old baby with you on your honeymoon, do you really think that would be any fun? I don't think so. Could someone not look after the baby - say grandparents - and then your sister-in-law and her husband would be able to enjoy themselves with you. A baby takes up a lot of time and you all certainly would not enjoy yourselves and have fun. What would you do with the baby at night when you wanted to party??? Not all cruise ships have baby-sitters, nor do all cruise ships have facilities for babies. Furthermore, Med cruises are port intensive - do you really want to drag a baby around with you while you sightsee? Think of the poor little thing if it is hot. They get very cranky.

I, personally, would get married at home in Scotland and then go on a cruise for the honeymoon.

Think many times about getting married in the first place.

If you actually want to get married on the ship, you might want to check into Princess as they have actual wedding chapels on board some of their ships. With Princess you can be married by the Captain in a ceremony that conforms to Bermuda Law. Rates for the Princess wedding start at $1400 USD plus $70 per head for the reception.

You can also get married on the ship, prior to departure on certain Carnival, Disney, Royal Caribbean and NCL ships depending on the port of departure. For example, Carnival supports the following ports: St. Thomas, Ocho Rios, San Juan, Nassau, Vancouver, Los Angeles, Catalina Island, New York, Galveston & New Orleans. This can also be done in a number of other ports but I am not sure which European ports are supported.

In these situations you are essentially using the ship as the "banquet hall" and pay the cruise line for the catering business. They find a local magistrate to officiate the ceremony - no Captain Stubbing officiating here. Sometimes you need to leave the ship to meet with local officials after the ceremony.

As for taking a 6-month old on board I would agree with Sympatico on that one. We took our 8-month on a cruise and had a great time, but that was just the three of us. A wedding and honeymoon trip is a bit more complicated and structured.

As a first step, when would you like to go? That will help you focus on the cruise lines and ships that will be in that area at the time. Once you've narrowed it down you can start to get the details and prices from the cruise lines.

Here's a live shot from one of the wedding chapels on the Grand Princess (...if you go with Princess, as an added bonus, we can all watch your wedding :

Hope that helps,

Joe at TravelPage.com

[ 08-17-2003: Message edited by: joe at travelpage ]

quote:

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Originally posted by gohaze:
Joe....I guess that must be a little out of date. The Princess ships with the wedding chapels are the ones

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Thanks Peter, I have updated the post. I guess that's one reason for the increase in marriages on the Princess ships.

i have looked at princess and they do look gorgeous but i'm not too sure if our budget will stretch to that which is also the reason why we are planning to combine the wedding and the honeymoon.......

there are unfortuneately no grandparents to look after the baby and no other family members who would be in a position to do so but we really wanted my partners sister and husband to be there which is why we are going to have to take the baby into consideration...............i am baby daft though so that is not a problem but it does worry me about the heat for the baby and so that would affect our decision a lot about time of year and is also why we were planning on a trip closer to home.........

i am maybe just thinking too big and might have to think of another way to go about it all........

thanks again to everyone

Have you talked to a travel agent about this? I'm sure a good agent will be able to find you some different options......