Onboard Cruise Ship Weddings
As a cruise makes for a wonderful vacation, so too does it act as a sublime setting for a wedding ceremony, reception and honeymoon combined. For couples that have decided to tie the knot aboard a cruise ship there are many options, and knowing exactly where and how to proceed with the planning is key.
There are essentially two avenues for starting out. The first, and perhaps most obvious, is to select your preferred cruise line and explore what wedding packages they offer. Most of the cruise lines have sections on their websites devoted to onboard wedding information including detailed brochures, although some of these web pages are harder to find than others.
To make things easier, we’ve provided a list of links below for the several available wedding pages per cruise line:
A second approach is to go through a wedding planner that specializes in cruise ship weddings. Many of the packages provided by the cruise lines are effectively facilitated by third-party planners to begin with. Going through a wedding planner is a particularly good choice for those who don’t know which cruise line will best suit a particular wedding’s needs. Some of the lines that are missing from the list above do accommodate weddings although only through such planners.
These planners include the following:
In fact, my pastor emeritus and dear friend, Pastor Mike Mitschke (pictured below), performs cruise ship weddings for The Wedding Experience in San Diego and has performed an astonishing 13,000 plus weddings over his career. Pastor Mitschke describes cruise ship weddings as, “very nice. Most people have never been on a cruise ship, and the whole idea of the grandeur of the ship and the grandeur of the reception impresses people.”
While the majority of the cruise ship weddings Pastor ‘Mike’ oversees are also officiated by him, he is there as a representative of The Wedding Experience to ensure that the ceremony runs smoothly, including stepping in from time to time should the couple’s chosen minister fail to arrive. In regards to onboard weddings, Mike concludes that, “the ship is the most pleasant experience because of the setting.” Weddings usually take place in the ships’ impressive show lounges or dedicated chapels such as the one pictured below onboard the Sapphire Princess.
Perhaps the best part of a cruise ship wedding is the opportunity to set sail following the ceremony and reception on a honeymoon at sea. There is no need for a “Just Married” sign plastered to a limousine’s bumper because the ship you’re on is your transportation and resort all in one. What could make for a more relaxing wedding than that?
HEADER IMAGE SOURCE: DISNEY CRUISE LINE