It’s hard to believe that almost 5 months ago, Shannon and I got married on the Carnival Miracle Cruise Ship in the Port of Long Beach! Before I proposed to her, we talked about how much we loved going on cruises together and once it was official, we searched online like crazy trying to find blog posts about people who had been married on a cruise. There really wasn’t much there. Let me tell you that what our wedding was like and what Carnival described it as was so much more! It was a memory we’ll have forever.
Planning our cruise wedding with Carnival was easier than I could have imagined. I literally feel like all we had to do for the planning was come up with a guest list, choose where we wanted the reception and then decide what kind of flowers and cake would be there (my wife loved what had to be planned, but there was very little stress involved). It was a little different from other weddings in that you had to pay for the wedding and a portion of the honeymoon up front, but we loved that we didn’t have to plan EVERYTHING!!! We chose the TIME TO CELEBRATE…BIG package for our wedding. The package price of $1,975 was for up to 20 people (including the bride and groom) and included the Wedding Ceremony, a 1½ Hour Celebration, Bouquet & Boutonniere, Open Bar, Hot & Cold Canapes, Tiered Wedding Cake, Champagne Toast, Ice Carving (way awesome!!!) and Expert Photography Service. I would say to definitely pay for the Lido Lunch. In our case, our guests didn’t have a chance to eat because we were rushed to our wedding once boarding, but otherwise, they would have been waiting for a few hours for the wedding to start and food while waiting is a great idea. I believe it was only $7.50 per non-sailing person for the Lido Buffet.
You’ll want to book your date as soon as possible because Carnival only has 2 weddings a day (basically per cruise). The first one to book has the choice to have a DJ (I believe we paid $55 for that service) or the Piano Bar. With the DJ, your wedding reception will be in Frankenstein’s Lounge. It was different, but definitely a memorable place to have our reception! There was a big Frankenstein in the background!
When planning your wedding, keep in mind that you can have up to 50 non-sailing guests (this is with the biggest package), but you’ll need to pay for any guests over the 18 + groom and bride. You won’t need to pay for the guests until they are confirmed closer to the wedding date. While you can only have 50 non-sailing guests, you can have as many sailing guests as you’d like. We only had 6 other guests sailing with us, while another wedding party that day had all 20 of their guests sailing with them. It varies.
On our wedding day, we were told to be there before 10:30, as we would start boarding at 10:30 a.m. and anyone not present may not be able to board the ship for the wedding. Shannon and I headed straight for the Captain’s Lounge, which is where we met our Wedding Coordinator and the Wedding Officiant. They walked us through the itinerary of the day and then said we could hang out in the Captain’s Lounge, but since all of our family and friends were outside, we decided not to hang out there. Unfortunately, there was quite a delay and we didn’t board until about 1:30 p.m. Fortunately, there was a food truck nearby and we were able to buy the kids some snacks to hold them over until we got on the ship. Everyone in the wedding party (except for the bride and groom) had to be dressed and ready in their wedding clothes. Shannon got dressed in our cabin and I was already dressed.
Once we had clearance to board, we were the first ones on the ship. In fact, the Wedding Coordinator took Shannon to our state room and she basically had 15 minutes to get dressed. They tell you to have your hair and makeup done prior to boarding and she was really glad she did! The statement was really nice! It had a balcony, a couch, a big bed, a big bathroom and had swans and a heart made of towel figures waiting for us.
The Wedding Photographer met Shannon in the cabin and took a few pictures of the end process of getting ready. He then followed them to the Wedding Ceremony site and took more pictures. He was really nice and great to work with!
When Shannon got to the doors leading to the Phantom Lounge (where the ceremony was going to be held), her Dad and the Wedding Coordinator were already there waiting. She said she was both nervous and excited at the same time, but she was beautiful and you really couldn’t tell. I hadn’t seen her dress yet, but I knew she would be beautiful and I was right!
After we were officially married, it was time to take a few pictures with our wedding party and family. The pictures turned out great!
After pictures, we headed to Frankenstein’s Lounge for our reception. We entered Frankenstein’s Lounge to our wedding song – “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri – and proceeded into our First Dance as husband and wife. Following our First Dance, Shannon had the Father Daughter Dance with her dad, which meant a lot to her. I was so glad to see her so happy. She looked radiant!
After the traditional dances, it was time for the champagne toast and cutting our cake. Let me tell you – the cake was amazing! The package we paid for included a three-tiered cake and a pretty heart topper.
After we cut the cake and enjoyed our champagne toast, we mingled with some of our guests. The staff had a table set up for us and Shannon’s Maid of Honor got us some appetizers while my Best Man got us some drinks. The food was really good and we’re so glad we had a chance to eat!
After the reception, everyone who was not sailing had to disembark from the ship. The rest of us had to head to our muster stations for safety briefing. Shannon and I were still in our wedding attire because we were going to take pictures around the ship afterwards (another blog post to come). Our Wedding Day was amazing and more than I ever imagined it would be and it was a very affordable way to get married! You can find the most recent prices and price list here. I am the luckiest husband and dad in the whole world! I love our wacky, happy, blended family!
Have you ever been married on a cruise or attended a cruise wedding?
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