Weddings at sea can be the ultimate when it comes to romance (especially if you like men in uniform). If you’re thinking about a wedding onboard or in port, here are some key questions to ask..
Imagine tying the knot under a palm tree on a Caribbean island or being married by a uniformed captain in the middle of the ocean.
Cruise-ship weddings are necessarily small, meaning you don’t have to worry who is going to drive Great Aunt Sheila to the wedding or how to get out of inviting all those uncouth second cousins.
On the other hand, planning a cruise wedding involves some logistical challenges that a land-based wedding does not. You’ll need to figure out how to get a wedding license in Jamaica or think through a Plan B if bad weather or mechanical troubles cause your ship to call off a port visit on your intended wedding day.
Plus, do you really want your mother-in-law on your honeymoon cruise?
If you’re thinking about a wedding onboard or in port, here are some key things to consider before you take the plunge.
1. Does your ship allow weddings?
For the most part, it’s the big-ship, mass-market cruise lines that have embraced full-service weddings.
Some don’t allow onboard weddings. Others – mostly in the high-priced luxury category – like Seabourn don’t have a problem with weddings or vow-renewal plans, but they eschew packages, opting to provide customised amenities to these passengers.
2. Deal with experienced wedding planners
Weddings have become so popular on some ships that Carnival, Celebrity, Azamara, Holland America and Royal Caribbean can add levy surcharges for ceremonies at certain times of the year.
The lines all have dedicated wedding planning event coordinators, so you’ll be dealing with people who plan hundreds of nuptials a year.
3. Can the Captain marry you?
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If you want to get married at sea by the Captain, you’re limited to only a handful of cruise lines, due to legal limitations that are based on ships’ countries of registry.
Princess Cruises and Cunard have Captains that are certified to marry couples at seas and have their ships registered to perform the ceremony in Bermuda.
4. How to make the ceremony ‘legal’?
Several cruises lines have private islands for wedding or vow renewals. Disney Cruise Line captains can lead wedding ceremonies onboard or at Castaway Cay.
However, because senior officers can’t perform legal ceremonies, the actual “legal” marriage (and paperwork signing) must occur in the cruise terminal before the ship leaves Port Canaveral – not terribly romantic huh. Holland America conducts weddings and vow renewals at its private island, Half Moon Cay during its Caribbean and Panama Canal cruises.
5. When is the best time to get married?
Weddings in ports of call can be fabulous, but what happens if the ship has to cancel the call? Consider very carefully ports that require ships to tender; and if it is a highly unpredictable site due to weather concerns causing the ship to skip stops at particular islands.
For the same reason, it’s not recommend to plan a shoreside wedding at a Caribbean location during hurricane season (June through November).
6. Can I invite guests to the wedding?
If you want to get married onboard and want to choose the clergy to perform the ceremony or invite people who won’t be sailing, consider having your wedding onboard while the ship is still docked at its homeport. Clergy and guests can come aboard for the wedding and after-party, then debark before the ship sails and you get the cruise as a honeymoon.
Note that it might make for a rushed start to your special day. The wedding party will typically board early, after previous passengers have disembarked but before embarkation officially begins, and the ceremony will take place around midday, so guests have enough time to celebrate before leaving in the late afternoon before sailaway.
7. Will other cruise passengers witness the wedding ceremony?
Cruise-ship weddings might not be for everyone.
If you’ve always dreamed of picking out each flower yourself or getting married in front of 300 people, you might not be happy with this simple approach.
Also think about the realities of getting married on a ship – your cabin could be small, you might have to eat meals with other people, and, if you’re inviting friends and family to your at-sea wedding, you might have an entourage for your honeymoon.
8. How do we legalising our wedding in a foreign port?
Getting married legally while at sea is complicated, so understand all the logistics before signing on, and plan well in advance. Legalising a wedding in a foreign port can also be tricky, so ask your wedding planner to explain all the details and suggest which cruise port on your itinerary is your best bet for a wedding spot.
These tips have been adapted and were compiled by Erica Silverstein for Cruise Critic.